Successes and Failures of the League in the 1920s Flashcards
In the 1920s Finland and Sweden were arguing over which Islands? The League gave them
to Finland
The Aaland Islands
The League solved a dispute between which 2 countries in 1921 over part of Upper Silesia?
Poland and Germany
How did the league solve the dispute over Upper Silesia, 1921?
- Success
- 1921
- A region on the german-polish border
- A plebiscite was held to decide, whether Upper Silesia should be labelled Polish or German land
- Germany had won the plebiscite by 60% (700,000), however, the Polish claimed this to have been rigged in the German favour
- Riots aroused between those who had opposite votes
- The league consequently split Upper Silesia in accordance with how they had voted.
- They had delivered equal amounts of water supply, natural resources and other essentials to both the Polish areas and the German areas.
- However, even though this was widely regarded as a success on the League’s part, complications still remained.
- Germany complained that Poland had received the most industrial areas, whereas, Poland complained that they had around half the population, however only a third of the land.
- They ultimately went forward with the League’s decision
What was the aim of the Commission for Refugees?
Aid people who had lost their homes because of war, by improving refugee camps, helping them to return home, or finding new homes
How many prisoners of war did the Refugees commission free?
Helped free around 427,000 of the 500,000 prisoners of war still imprisoned after the First World War
What was the positive of the Health Commission?
Sent doctors to help in Turkish refugee camps.
Educated people about sanitation
Why were the League’s commissions so important?
- Most long-lasting aspect of the league
- Some adopted by the UN
Which country ignored the League in 1920 and invaded Vilna?
Poland
How did the League fail to solve the Vilna conflict of 1920-21?
- Failure
- 1920-1921
- Vilna was the capital of new country Lithuania
- However, the population contained a high percentage of Polish people
- A private polish army had invaded and ceased the city in the name of Poland
- Lithuania had appealed to the league, however, the League took no action against Poland due to it being a strong rival and ally against Germany
Which dictator ignored the League in 1923 invaded the Greek Island of Corfu?
Mussolini
How did the League fail to solve the Corfu incident of 1923?
- 1923
- Failure
- Whilst on a mission for the League and Italian General and his team were murdered whilst surveying the Greek borders
- Mussolini was outraged and demanded immediate compensation and execution for the murderers
- However, Greek was not aware of the situation did not know who the murderers were. They also felt that compensations were unfair due to a third party’s actions
- Consequently, Mussolini invaded the Greek island of Corfu, which was between both nations.
- Greece appealed to the league.
- The league morally condemned Mussolini
- However, Mussolini undermined the league by complaining to the Conference of Ambassadors, a group of countries which contained the most powerful nations- Britain, France, Italy and Japan.
- Due to this the League had forced Greece to provide a formal apology to Italy and Mussolini and to provide compensation.
- Mussolini had demonstrated that the league could not enforce justice when the countries involved were larger and stronger.
- “The league had one rule for strong countries and another for weak ones” - Greece 1925
How did the League fail to solve the Bulgaria incident of 1925?
- 1925
- Success/Failure
- Also known as the War of the Stray Dog
- Due to a similar incident like Corfu in 1923
- Greece invaded Bulgaria when Greek soldiers were discovered killed on the border town of Petrich in Bulgaria due to rescuing his stray dog
- Bulgaria appealed to the league
- The league morally condemned Greece and forced her to pay compensation and to withdraw her troops.
- Greece complied due to not being able to handle having world opinion against her.
- However, the League did not escape without criticism, Greece claimed that “the league had one rule for weak countries and another for the strong ones”.
- This presented the League as hypocritical due to allowing Mussolini to be free without punishment.
Which 1925 Treaty saw Germany promising to keep troops out of the Rhineland while promising
not to invade France and led to Germany joining the League?
Locarno
Who was involved with the Locarno treaty?
German and French Foreign Ministers Briand and Streseman
When was the Locarno Treaty signed?
1st December 1925
