KQ2 Flashcards

Question

How id the Great Depression harm the work of LoN

Answer 1

- in Germany, it led people to vote for the Nazis - Japanese economic problems was on of the reasons for Manchurian crisis - Italy’s economic problems encouraged Mussolini t try an build up overseas empire to distract people’s attention - Britain was unwilling to get involved in sorting out international disputes while its own economy was in trouble - the USA was unwilling to support sanctions at a time when its own trade was in a mess

Answer 2

- September 1931 - Great Depression hit japan hard, especially as china and USA put up protective tariffs against Japanese goods - army leaders argued that the solution to japan’s economic problems was building up a Japanese empire by force - the excuse was that the Japanese arm claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the south Manchuria railway an invaded Manchuria in retaliation, setting up a puppet government and renaming the area Manchuko - the Japanese government ordered the army to withdraw but instructions were ignored - the Japanese claimed they had invaded in self-defence to keep peace in the area, because china was in a state of anarchy

Answer 3

- didn’t delver a report on the situation until September 1932 (a long delay) - the Lytton report ruled that the Japanese invasion was illegal and Manchuria should be returned to china and the assembly approved the report 47 votes to 1 - japan was the only country to vote against the report - in march 1933 japan withdrew from the league and invaded more Chinese territory

Answer 4

- economic sanctions were discussed but would be meaningless without USA participation (japan’s main trading partner) - Britain wanted to keep a good relationship with japan - Britain and France didn’t want to risk their navies in a war against japan in the faraway pacific - only USA and USSR had the resources to deal with japan and neither were in the league - members of league were worried if they took military action, japan would retaliate and there would be another war

Answer 5

- obvious japan had committed a blatant act of aggression and got away with it - proved that the league was powerless to stop nation from pursuing an aggressive foreign policy - Hitler and Mussolini both observed the situation and were encouraged to follow similarly aggressive foreign policies

Answer 6

- disarmament was seen to be a more urgent problem after the Manchurian crisis - an international conference finally got underway in 1932 - in July 1932 the Germans walked out of the disarmament conference because other countries wouldn’t agree to disarm down to German levels - the Germans returned to the conference in January 1933 when it was agreed they could have equality of arms - in February 1933, hitler started secretly rearming Germany - in October 1933 hitler withdrew from both disarmament conference and League of Nations - other powers starting rearming as well

Answer 7

- the Italians had suffered an embarrassing defeat in 1896 at the battle of adowa, and had been defeated by poorly equipped tribesmen - Mussolini had his eyes on Abyssinia’s resources and agriculture - Mussolini wanted the glory of a military conquest and had often spoken of his dream of restoring the glory of the Roman Empire - Mussolini knew that success in Abyssinia could divert attention away from economic problems in Italy

Answer 8

- the excuse for the Italian invasion was a dispute between Italian and Ethiopian soldiers at the oasis of Wal Wal inside of Abyssinia - Mussolini claimed it was Italian territory - prepared an army for invasion - emperor haile selassie appealed to the league for help

Answer 9

- britain ad France wanted to keep Mussolini as a potential ally against hitler - 1935 stresa pact: Britain, Italy and France, a protest against German re-armament and agreements to stand up to German aggression (some historians believe Britain and France turned a blind eye to Abyssinia for Mussolini to sign to the pact - many British politicians disagreed with Italy and talked about collective security but no practical steps were taken to discourage Mussolini - in September 1935, LoN committee reported that the Wal Wal incident was nobody’s fault and recommended that part of Abyssinia should be given to Italy. This was rejected by Italy who now launched a full-scale invasion

Answer 10

- the league imposed an immediate ban on arms sales to Italy - all loans to Italy were banned - all imports from Italy were banned - the export of rubber, tin and metals to Italy was banned - the suez-canal was not closed to Italian ships, which was a fatal blow to Abyssinia - hoare-laval was a secret plan to give Mussolini 2/3 of Abyssinia if he would call off the invasion - details were leaked to the press and the french and British public saw it as n act of treachery against Abyssinia and the league

Answer 11

- some believed that tough sanctions on Italy would not work unless supported by the USA - others believed that sanctions would damage British and french economic interests - some feared that closing the Suez Canal to Italian ships would result in war with Italy - when Hitler moved into the Rhineland in 1936, the french were more desperate than ever to gain the support of Italy and were therefore prepared to allow Mussolini to have Abyssinia

Answer 12

- in may the Italian captured the capital - haile selassie wen into exile - entire country was annexed by Italy - the idea of collective security had shown up as an empty promise - the LoN had failed and this time they could not claim that action hadn’t been taken because it was a faraway part of the world - LoN lost all credibility of being a peace-keeping organisation - hitler was encouraged with his expansionist ambitions - Britain and France hoped that their relationship with Mussolini against hitler would be strengthened but they were wrong as hitler and Mussolini signed the Rome-Berlin axis in November 1936

Answer 13

- self inertest o leading members - some important countries (USA and USSR) weren’t members so the league lacked authority and sanctions were ineffective - economic sanctions didn’t work, members were reluctant impose them because they bought the wouldn’t work without the USA - lack of troops - decision making was slow - the treaties the league had to uphold were seen as unfair (ToV)

KQ2 Flashcards

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