The Structure and Organisation of the League Flashcards
(10 cards)
How was the League of Nations organised?
The Secretariat.
The Assembly of the League.
The Council of the League.
The Permanent Court of International Justice.
The International Labour Organisation.
The Commissions.
A Council of Ambassadors existed between 1920 and 1931.
What did Britain think of the League of Nations?
David Lloyd George was critical of the League to begin with. However, in March 1919 he issued the Fontainebleau Memorandum which gave it his full support.
What made Britain change its opinion of the League of Nations?
The League was to run German colonies lost under the Treaty of Versailles as mandates.
Historians have argued Britain saw this an an empire-building opportunity.
What did France think of the League of Nations?
France was supportive of any measure that would protect them from another German invasion
What were the weaknesses of the League of Nations?
The League had 8 weaknesses that meant it struggled to be effective.
(1) The USA was never a member of the League. It became isolationist after the Paris Peace Conference, meaning the League didn’t have America’s powerful and influential support.
(2) Germany wasn’t allowed to join the League until 1926, which meant the organisation looked like a ‘winner’s club’. Germany left in 1933 after Adolf Hitler came to power.
(3) (Soviet Russia wasn’t invited to join the League until 1934, because it was communist.
(4) Along with France, Britain was one of the League’s most influential and powerful members. However, it was mostly concerned with its empire rather than prioritising the League’s principles.
(5) Along with Britain, France was one of the League’s most influential and powerful members. However, the country was worried about maintaining its security against potential German aggression, rather than prioritising the League’s principles.
(6) The League was slow to reach decisions as its Assembly only met once a year.
(7) The League had to rely on members donating their armies, as it didn’t have its own. This made it weak against aggression.
(8) All decisions in the League had to be unanimous, so each country had an equal say. This meant just one country could veto an action being taken.
What was the collective security in the League of Nations?
Collective security was the principle on which the League of Nations worked. It was based on the idea that if all members worked together, they could force any aggressive country to stop threatening the peace.
What was collective security in the league of Nations also known as?
It was known as Article 10 in the Covenant of the League.
What were the powers of the League of Nations?
(1) Moral disapproval (also known as condemnation). If the Council voted to condemn the action of a country, it knew the weight of the world’s opinion was on the League’s side.
(2) Economic sanctions. If a country was aggressive, the Council could decide that League members would refuse to trade with it or lend it money. This is also known as being ‘blacklisted’.
(3) Military sanctions. As a last resort, the Council could decide to send in an army of soldiers from member states.
Who were members of the League of Nations?
The League had 42 member countries when it was first set up, and 59 by the end of the 1930s.
The USA was never a member of the League, even though it was US president Woodrow Wilson’s idea.
In the absence of the USA, Britain and France were the most dominant and influential members of the League.
Germany was allowed to join in 1926, but left to rearm in secret shortly after Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933.
The USSR was allowed to join in 1934.
Japan, a permanent member of the Council of the League, left in 1933 after the Manchurian Crisis.
Italy, a permanent member of the Council of the League, left in 1937 after the Abyssinian Crisis.
What did the different parts of the League of Nations do?
The League consisted of several bodies that each performed a different function:
The Secretariat was the League’s civil service.
The Assembly was a big meeting of all member countries to make important decisions about the League, and was effectively its parliament.
The Council of the League was a smaller executive body which decided how the League would react to events.
The Permanent Court of International Justice was a mostly independent body that reached legal decisions when countries had disputes.
The International Labour Organisation (p.0) was mostly independent and worked to improve working conditions in all its member countries.
The Commissions were agencies set up by the League to tackle specific problems in member countries.
The Council of Ambassadors was a group of important diplomats that had existed before the League was created.
They represented the allied powers in issues around the peace settlements. It was dissolved in 1931.
