League of nations

Aims

improve living and working conditions

Encourage countries to co-operate(business and trade)

encourage nations to disarm

discourage agression of any nation

Settled

Geneva, Switzerland

Membership

any action by the league need their support

weakened by first world war

both were poorly placed to take on this role

neither of them had the resources to fill the gap left by the USA

league of nations posed a real problem

both had other priorities

British politicians

more interested in rebuilding British

France

main concern was still Germany

Structure

The Secretariat

was a sort of civil service

keep records of League meetings and prepared reports for different agencies of the league

The International Labour Organisation

aim

improve the conditions of working people throughout the world

The Permanent Court of International Justice

key part of League is job of setting disputes between countries peacefully

The Assembly

every country in the League sent a representative to the assembly

could recommend action to the Council and could vote on

admitting new members to the league

appointing temporary members of the council

the bugget of the league

other ideas put forward by the Council

The Councill

was a smaller group which met more often five times a year in case of emergency

included

Permanent members

temporary members

could use a range of powers

Moral condemnation

Economic and financial sanctions

Military force

Commissions

The Mandates Commission

made sure that Britain or France

acted in interests of the people of that territory, not it owns interests

The Refugees Comittee

helped to return refugees to their original homes

after the first world war

The Slavery Commission

worked to abolish slavery around the world

The Health Committee

deal with the problem of dangerous diseases around the world

Border disputes in 1920s

Treaties signed at the Paris Peace Conference

Treaties signed at the Paris Peace Conference

disputes

Vilna, 1920

Poland and Lithuania two new states created by the post war treaties

Vilna was the capital of Lithuania

1920 Polish army took control of Vilna

Lithuania appealed for help to the League

League protested to Poland, but Poland did not withdraw

in the end the League did nothing

Upper Silesia, 1921

it was an industrial region on the border between Germany and Poland

both wanted control of it

because of its rich iron and steel industry

to prevent future disputes, the League divided the region

Both countries accept

Aaland Island, 1921

Sweden and Finland wanted control of it

League said that the Island should go to Finland

Sweden accepted the decision

Corfu, 1923

one of the boundaries which had to be sorted out after the first world war was

the border between Greece and Albania

Conference of Ambassadors was given this job

it appointed an Italian general

Tellini

he and his team were ambushed and killed

Mussolini was furious and blamed the Greek government for the murder

Mussolini bombarded and then occupied the Greek Island of Corfu

Greek appealed to the League for help

League condemned Mussolini is actions

Mussolini accepted the league decision

Geneva Protocol

Corfu incident demostrated

how the League of Nations could be undermined by its own members

Britain

France

said

if two members were in dispute

they would have to ask the league to sort out the disagreement

Bulgaria, 1925

Greek troops invaded Bulgaria

Bulgaria appealed for help

League ordered Greece

to pull out and pay compensation to Bulgaria

disapproval of the major powers in the League

Greeks obeyed

Work for a better world

Refugees

League works in getting refugees and former prisoners of war

back to their home

Working conditions

The ILO was successful in banning poisonous white lead from paint

reduced hours of work for small children

Health

worked hard to defeat the dreaded disease

leprosy

Transport

League made recommendations on marking shipping lanes and produced international highway code

Social Problems

League blacklisted four large German, Dutch, Swiss and French companies involved in illegal drug-trade

A body blow to the League

President Wilson

had problems, before the USA could even join the League

problems

cost

worried about the economic cost of join the League

USA promised to solve all international problems regardless the cost

army

USA was promising to send its troops to settle every little conflict

around the world

wanted USA to stay out of such disputes

anti-British or anti-French

thought that the league would be under the control of Britain and France

Treaty of Versailles

Wilson insisted that all that all the signatories to the Treaty should join the League

Americans hated the Treaty itself

there were millions of German immigrants

who had never approved USA joining war against Germany

wanted USA to have no part in it

There were 3 opinions on how the League should be

A parliament where representatives of all nations could meet together regularly to decide on any matters that affected them all

he opinion won

Simple organisation that would just get together in emergencies

Strong League with its own army