League of Nations

Thursday, October 30, 2014

7:26 AM

Met for the first time in December 1920

Initial membership was 32 Allied states and 12 neutral states, though all ex-enemy states had
joined by 1926
USSR admitted in 1934, even though economic structures incompatible
USA never joined
How the League operated:
o Articles 1-7 membership + structure of organization
o Articles 8-17 prevention of war
o Articles 18-21 treaty obligations of members
o Articles22 mandated territories (A, B, C)
o Article 23 humanitarian issues (labor, human and drug trafficking, health issues, arms
trade)
o Article 24 special commissions
o Article 25 promotion of the red cross
o Article 26 how to amend Covenant
5 permanent bodies
o Assembly
Debating chamber
All members represented with one vote
Required unanimous decision
Met annually
o Council
Decision maker
Permanent members : Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Germany (after 1926) had veto
Non-permanent members varied, elected by assembly
o International Labor Organization
Advisors on economic and social issues
o Permanent Court of Justice
15 Judges
Based in the Hague
Settle member disputes
o Secretariat
Administrative
Recorded decisions
Prepared reports
Special Commissions
o Mandates
o Health
o Traffic in drugs, drink, and arms
o Slavery
o Refugees
o Minorities

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Traffic in women & children

Aid to underdeveloped states

Quotes about the League

o *the League+ depended on the goodwill of nations to work, though it was the absence
of goodwill that made it necessary Hugh Brogan, The Penguin History of the USA, 2001
o ...successive British governments took care to confine any specific political military
commitments they might make to Western Europe, although under article 10 of the
League Covenant they had undertaken to preserve...against external aggression the
territorial integrity and existing political independence of all members of the League
Ruth Henig, Versailles and After 1919- 1933, 1995
o the allies had been so impressed by the effect of economic embargoes employed
against Germany in the war that economic sanctions were chosen as the Leagues main
weapon. The possibility of military sanctions was admitted, but their extent was left
undefined, and they could only ever be applied if a member state agreed to put its own
forces at the disposal of the League. R.M. Rayner, The Twenty Years Truce, 1943
o Rival states can be frightened into friendship only by the shadow of some greater
danger. British historian A.J.P. Taylor (popular figure, had a TV show)

League Successes and Failures (I dont feel like typing these out; you should have done them
anyways hopefully)
o Aaland Islands (1920)
o Vilna (1920-1923)
o Upper Silesia (1921)
o Corfu (1923)
o Mosul (1924)
o Bulgaria (1925)

Attempts to strengthen the League/Collective Security

o 1922, Washington 4 Power Naval Treaty: USA, G.B., France, Japan - halted building of
capital ships for 10 years and established a ratio of capital ships for each power (5 for
USA & GB; 3 for Japan; 1.67 for France and Italy)
o In 1923, the Ruhr Crisis occurs (occupation of the Ruhr pocket by France after Germany
defaulted on reparations)
o 1923, Draft Treaty of Mutual Assistance: sponsored by France, called for general
disarmament, required all League members to come to assistance of members of
aggression, rejected by GB
o 1924, Geneva protocol: sponsored by France, called for a general disarmament and
made arbitration compulsory in all disputes (rejected by Britain)
o Dawes Plan presented at the London Conference in 1924 by Charles Dawes, US
economist
Mortgage taken in German railways and industry + popular tax
US 'reparations agent' resides in Germany to supervise repayment
Amount of reparations reduced

1925-30 the Locarno Era:

o 1925 the Locarno Treaties Ger. Foreign Secretary Gustav Stresemann & Fr. Foreign
Minister Aristide Briand agreed to settle all disputes by arbitration and the Franco-

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German border is formalized. Britains Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain signs as a

guarantor.
1926- Germany admitted to League- reflection or Locarno and proof conditions are
bettering
1928 the Kellogg-Briand Pact - US Sec. of State William Kellogg & Aristide Briand sign a
pact that in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war
as a solution to international controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of
national policy in their relations with one another.
1929 the Young Plan proposed by American Owen Young; reduced the total sum of
reparations to be paid to to $112 billion to be paid over 59 year period & called for the
Allied evacuation of the Rhineland (5 years early).
1930 the European Federation proposed by Briand at the 10th League Assembly,
called for a federal link between the peoples of Europe. Stresemann also encourage
a European customs union in addition to a common currency.

The Great Depression

o World trade falls by 70%
o Us national income drops by almost 50% between 1929 and 1932 withdraw loans
o In France, the moderate government was replaced by a radical left wing government in
1932
o In Britain, irons and steel production dropped by 50% and politics shifted to right-wing
parties.
o In Germany, the loans stopped the economy collapsed. Unemployment rose from 1.4
million in 1928 to 12 million in 1932. The Welmar government lost credibility and Franz
von Papen assumes control in 1932.
o In Japan, 50% of the factories closed and silk production fell by 67%. Military factions
carried out a series of assignation and the radical took over.
o As governments became increasingly protectionist (economically and militarily),
tensions mounted. Economic sanctions were no longer a viable option as most
countries were afraid of the impact it would have on their own countries. Without the
means or resolve to resist aggression, many began to turn to appeasement to solve
growing concerns.

Manchurian Crisis
o In September 1931, a bomb (planted on a train by the Japanese) exploded near
Mukden giving that Japanese the excuse to invade Manchuria (mineral rich area of
china)
o The Kwantung Army sets up the puppet government of Manchukuo.
o China appeals to the League of arbitration (both are members)
Orders withdrawal of Japanese forces (Japanese government agrees, by army
refuses)
Est. a commission under Lord Lytton to investigate (takes a year to report)
League instructed not to recognize, this government, Manchukuo but to give
Manchuria back to china
o Japan withdraws as member of the league in 1933, stating that the powers were guilty
of hypocrisy
o What effect did the crisis have?
The affair suggested that the League would not follow through its philosophy

The exodus from the league set a precedent that others were soon to follow
With Japans departure, the far east was removed from the international system
of collective security
Once Japan got away with it Mussolini began planning his expansionist
adventure into Abyssinia

Abyssinian Crisis
o in 1932, Mussolini begins to plan invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia and Eritrea) in an effort
to build a North African empire (through mainly to distract Italians from economic
pressures at home)
o The first Clash was at the Wal-Wal oasis in December of 1934, through the full scale
invasion (100K troops strong) did not begin until October 3, 1935
o In the face of brutality and ferocity, Abyssinia Emperor, Haile Selassie, appealed to the
League
o The French and British were hesitant to alienate the Italians, as they assumed that only
a strong alliance with Italy would keep the increasingly aggressive Nazi Germany in
check
o Through the league officially condemned the invasion, they looked for a settlement
outside of the League
o In December, British Foreign Sectary Samuel Hoare and French Foreign Minister Pierre
Laval suggested that Italy be given 2/3 of Abyssinia in the Hoare-Laval Pact, but plan
was leaked, was shot down by British public condemnation
o By May 1936, Italy controlled Abyssinia
o What impact did this crisis have on the League?
The affair again proved that the league would not followed through
Italy, now isolated form its former allies, moved closer to Nazi Germany. The
weakness was exposed for Hitler to exploit, which he rapidly dud by remilitarizing
the Rhineland in March 1936
As the final nail in the League coffin, the League was never able to exert
authority again.