League of Nations and International peace Flashcards
What was the League of Nations?
- vision for bringing the world together in peace
- world parliament
Which countries were initially banned from joining the League and why?
- Russia -> communist
- Countries who had lost the war -> included Germany
What was collective security?
-if all countries worked together they could make sure peace was kept
What was the Permanent Court of International Justice?
- an international court
- establish international laws
- just advice, not compulsory ruling
What was the Fountainebleau Memorandum and when was it issued?
- Lloyd George said he completely supported the league
- 25th March 1919
Where was the League based?
-Geneva, Switzerland
How did the League settle disputes?
1) Mitigation - getting countries to talk through their problems
2) Moral condemnation - telling off
3) Economic sanctions - would not trade with warring countries
4) Ask members to lend their armed forces
Four aims of the League
- stop war from breaking out again
- encourage disarmament
- improve working conditions
- tackle deadly diseases
What was the Assembly?
- every member could send a representative
- met once a year
- decision had to be unanimous to pass a vote
What was the Council and who was in it?
- four permanent members -> GB, France, Japan and Italy
- four other countries also chosen to sit a three year term
- had the power of a veto (could stop a ruling with its vote)
What was the Secretariat?
- civil service of the League
- in charge of administration
What happened in Vilna and when was it?
- 1920
- capital of Lithuania - majority of people living there wanted to be Polish
- asked League for help
- League did nothing + Poland took Vilna
What happened in Upper Silesia and when was it?
- 1921-25
- 1921 -> plebiscite took place to decide who would own it
- 60% votes won by Germany
- Poles said this was unfair + LoN decided to split the area into regions
- outcome accepted by both
- final settlement was considered unfair by both parties
- Poles -> received roughly half the population, but only a third of the land
- Germans -> lost three quarters of the coal mines they had owned prior
- 1922: Germans complained to the League -> able to import coal at a heavily discounted rate
- 1925: agreement ended and relations worsened
What happened in the Aaland Islands and when was it?
- 1921
- both Sweden and Finland claimed the land and threatened to go to war
- LoN decided the land should go to Finland -> land was not to be used a base to attack Sweden
- Sweden accepted the terms
What happened in Corfu and when was it?
- 1923
- Italian team murdered in Greece
- 31st August -> Italy gained control of Corfu and killed 15 people
- Greece appealed to the League
- LoN condemned the act and would look after the money until the killers were found
- Mussolini persuaded the Conference of Ambassadors to undermine the League
- Greece forced to apologise and pay compensation to Italy
- LoN proved that they could be ignored and overturned by other international groups
