How Successful was the League in the 1920s?

Question 1

When was the Vilna crisis?

Answer 1

1920

Question 2

What happened in Vilna?

Answer 2

-After WW1 countries that had been in Austria-Hungary’s empire were given independence , lots of new countries were created like Poland and Lithuania
-Vilna was to be the capital of Lithuania, but the majority there wanted to be Polish
-A polish army took control of the city and asked the League for help
-The League told Poland to remove its army, they refused

Question 3

Was Vilna a success of failure?

Answer 3

A failure - the first time the League were asked to settle a dispute they did nothing, and Poland took Vilna.

Question 4

Why did Britain and France not help with the Vilna crisis?

Answer 4

France saw Poland as a potential ally against Germany and refused to help. Britain would not send troops without the support of other countries.

Question 5

When was the Upper Silesia crisis?

Answer 5

1921-25

Question 6

Where was Upper Silesia?

Answer 6

On the border between Germany and Poland.

Question 7

Who wanted to claim Upper Silesia?

Answer 7

Both Germans and the Poles living there.

Question 8

When was a plebiscite in Upper Silesia?

Answer 8

1921

Question 9

How did France make sure the voting in Upper Silesia was fair?

Answer 9

They sent troops to police voting stations.

Question 10

What was the result of the plebiscite in Upper Silesia?

Answer 10

Germany won 60% of the votes, but Poland claimed that many of the people who voted for Germany were not longer living in Upper Silesia.

Question 11

How did the League respond to the plebiscite in Upper Silesia?

Answer 11

They decided to split Upper Silesia into regions according to how people had voted.

Question 12

How did the League make sure the partition went smoothly in Upper Silesia?

Answer 12

By ensuring rail links, water and electricity were still supplied to each side of Upper Silesia.

Question 13

What did the Poles think about the final settlement in Upper Silesia?

Answer 13

They considered it unfair; they received roughly half the population of Upper Silesia, but only a third of the land. Around half a million Poles were now in confirmed German territory.

Question 14

Why were the Germans not fully satisfied with how the League dealt with Upper Silesia either?

How did the League deal with this?

Answer 14

They lost 3/4 of the coal mines they had owned prior to the settlement - a valuable source of income.

In 1922 the German government was given the right to import coal at a heavily discounted rate. When this agreement ended in 1925 relations between Germany and Poland worsened.

Question 15

Was the League successful with Upper Silesia?

Answer 15

Not really.

Question 16

When was the Aland Islands crisis?

Answer 16

1921

Question 17

Who both claimed the Aland Islands?

Answer 17

Both Sweden and Finland.

Question 18

What did the League decide about the Aland Islands?

Answer 18

They decided that the islands should go to Finland, however, Finland could not build forts on it, so could not be used a base from which to attack Sweden.

Question 19

Was the League successful with the Aland Islands?

Answer 19

Yes, Sweden agreed to these terms so the League had successfully avoided war.

Question 20

When was the Corfu crisis?

Answer 20

1923

Question 21

Who did the League give the job of deciding the boundaries of Greece and Albania to?

Answer 21

An Italian general named Tellini.

Question 22

What happened to Tellini and his team?

Answer 22

While surveying an area of Greece, him and his team were murdered.

Question 23

What happened when Italy’s dictator, Mussolini, heard about Tellini’s murder?

Answer 23

He was furious and blamed the Greek government. He demanded the murderers be executed and that he should be paid compensation, but the Greeks did not know who had murdered Tellini and his team.

Question 24

When did Mussolini invade and occupy Corfu?

Answer 24

On 31 August.

Question 25

When happened when Mussolini invaded Corfu and what was the League’s response?

Answer 25

15 people were killed. Greece appealed to the League, who condemned Mussolini’s act of aggression but agreed that Greece should pay the compensation. The League would look after this money and it would be awarded to Italy once the killers were found.

Question 26

What did Mussolini do when he still wasn’t satisfied?

Answer 26

He complained to the Conference of Ambassadors, a group of powerful countries including Britain, France and Japan and persuaded them to undermine the League. Greece was forced to apologise and pay compensation directly to Italy.

Question 27

What had the League proved from the Corfu crisis?

Answer 27

That when a large country had threatened a smaller one with military action, the League could be ignored and overturned by other international groups.

Question 28

When was the Bulgaria crisis?

Answer 28

1925

Question 29

What was the Bulgaria crisis?

Answer 29

When Greek soldiers were killed on the Bulgarian border, Greece invaded and Bulgaria appealed to the League for help. The League condemned the Greeks and ordered them to withdraw their troops and pay compensation. Greece thought they were being hypocritical from the previous event in Corfu where Mussolini had gotten away with similar things. However Greece was a small country and unwilling to risk poor relations with powerful members of the League, so they obeyed.

Question 30

When was the Wall Street Crash?

Answer 30

1929