Cause - The Failure Of The League Of Nations

Question 1

Who formed the League of Nations

Answer 1

Woodrow Wilson

Question 2

Why was the League of Nations formed

Answer 2

Was set up because it features in one of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points. Wilson believed that the existence of a collective power would prevent another world war

Question 3

When was the League of Nations formed

Answer 3

10th January 1920

Question 4

How many countries joined the League

Answer 4

42

Question 5

Who wasn’t allowed in the league

Answer 5

The countries that were defeated in WW1 and the Russians since they were Communist

Question 6

What did America do after the League was formed

Answer 6

America did not join the League since he could not get the support of congress. This was because the US public was angry about the American death toll (100,000) and because they thought it would tie them to more conflict that may occur on the other side of the world. This was known as the American Policy of Isolationism

Question 7

What was the League’s main Strength and idea

Answer 7

Collective Security (strength in numbers).

Question 8

How was naval superiority handed to Japan?

Answer 8

The US, Great Britain, Japan, France and Italy on Feburary 6, 1922 agreed to The-Five-Power Naval Limitation Treaty, which reduced their navies

Question 9

When did Japan decide it to be the best time to strike Manchuria?

Answer 9

When the US was distracted with the pain of the Great Depression (1931)

Question 10

What was the Japanese elected government not informed of before it taking place?

Answer 10

When the Japanese forces in Manchuria seized the capital

Question 11

What was the League’s response initially?

Answer 11

To condem Japan almost universally

Question 12

What was Japan’s response to the League’s initial backlash?

Answer 12

Japan said that they could not accept the report made by the assembly. They then walked out and officially left the League

Question 13

Why did Japan invade Manchuria (what was going wrong there)

Answer 13

The Great Depression harshly struck Japan as well, and their largest trade (the silk trade) was not being profitable since trading partners were looking to support home economies. The land was also very poor, and found it increasingly hard to feed their expanding population

Question 14

Why did Japan invade Manchuria (their values)

Answer 14

Japan was a very proud nation and looked down on China since they had beaten them badly in the 1st Sino-Japanese war. They also felt they were given a bad deal by their Allied companions at the end of WW1

Question 15

When did the Manchurian Incident happen

Answer 15

18th Spetember 1931

Question 16

How did the League fail Manchuria

Answer 16

Japan just walked out and suffered no reprocutions, making it look like a joke

Question 17

What did Japan rename Manchuria + what Manchuria became

Answer 17

Manchukuo (made it a puppet state - completely dependent on an outside power and follows its orders)

Question 18

How the League failing Manchuria effected Europe

Answer 18

When the League did nothing, it completely underminded the idea of collective security.
Before their failure with Manchuria, Hitler and Mussolini were worried about how the League may react to them if Germany disregarded the TOV, however when they did nothing they were filled with the confidence that they could do anything and the League would not interfere

Question 19

Who was Mussolini

Answer 19

The first fascist leader in Europe, taking control of Italy in 1922. He dreamed of Italy returning to its former greatness by establishing a large empire

Question 20

Why did Mussolini invade Abyssinia

Answer 20

Italy already had a number of small colonies in North Africa and so Mussolini looked to expand Italy’s influence and it’s ‘spazo vitale’ by invading the independent African nation of Abyssinia

Question 21

What is Abyssinia today

Answer 21

Ethiopia

Question 22

When did Italy first attempt to annex Abyssinia and what was it called

Answer 22

1895 - 1896 and it was called the First Italo-Ethiopian War

Question 23

What was the result of Italy’s first attempt of conquering Abyssinia

Answer 23

Their attempt was unsuccessful as the Abyssinian King Menelik ll was able to hand the Italians a humiliating defeat after devastating their army at the battle of Adwa

Question 24

Why did Italy fail so badly at annexing Abyssinia

Answer 24

The Italians heavily underestimated the Abyssinians. Menlik ll secured rifles from Russia and capitalised on using superior numbers of troops (he commanded an army of 200,000 men) landing devastating blows on the italian units that had become isolated in an attempted assault

Question 25

What did Mussolini do that was contridictory

Answer 25

Mussolini publically renounced war whilst at the same time built up his forces in Africa in preparation for an invasion of Abyssinia

Question 26

When did the Italian army invade Abyssinia

Answer 26

October 1935

Question 27

When did the capital fall in Abyssinia

Answer 27

Addis Ababa fell in May 1936

Question 28

Why was Abyssinia not able to fight back as affectively as before

Answer 28

The Abyssinians could not hope to stand up to a modern army - they were equipped with pre-WW1 rifles and little else. Italians used armoured vehicles and even mustard gas in their attack

Question 29

Who was removed from the throne when the Abyssinian capital fell

Answer 29

Haile Selassie was removed from the throne and replaced by the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel

Question 30

When did Haile Selassie appeal to the League and how did he do so

Answer 30

1935 - In his speech he stated “I assert that the problem submitted to the assembly today is much wider than a question of settlement of Italian aggression; it is collective security, it is the very existence of the League”

Question 31

What was the League’s response to Abyssinia

Answer 31

The League was slow to react, but it condemned the attack as it did with the Japanese attack on Manchuria. This time however the League also went further; it imposed sanctions on Italy

Question 32

What were the sanctions imposed on Italy

Answer 32

Gold and textiles. However Italy was able to cover these. Importantly sanctions on oil were never enforced which would have had an immediate impact on their ability to conduct the war

Question 33

Why were the sanctions so weak?

Answer 33

Britain and France did not want to upset Mussolini and lead him towards an alliance with Hitler, war was to be avoided at all costs

Question 34

What was the Hoare-Laval Pact

Answer 34

A secret pact Britain and France formed in December 1935. It was designed by the nation’s foreiyn ministers and the plan determined to carve Abyssinia into 3 parts, giving two thirds of the country to Italy. The plan however was leaked and public outrage in Britain meant that it was scrapped

Question 35

What was the first important effect on Europe the Abyssinian crisis had

Answer 35

The sanctions annoyed Mussolini and he increasingly looked to Hitler for support, driving Europe into two opposing camps

Question 36

What was the second important effect on Europe the Abyssinian crisis had

Answer 36

Following from the League’s faliure to act on Japanese aggression the failure of the League to take action on Abyssinia proved to Hitler that the League was weak and that collective security would fail. This led him to persue a more aggressive foreign policy to expand Germany’s borders