The League of Nations 1920

The League of Nations was formed on the 10th of January 1920. It was the brain child/idea of the then
American President, Woodrow Wilson because of his 14th point which called for the formation of the
League of Nations. However, other statesmen did contribute to its formation such as Jan Smuts of South
Africa and Leon Bourgeois of France. Its headquarters were in Geneva, Switzerland.

Aims of the League

To maintain peace between nations of the world through collective security

To encourage nations to disarm in order to stop aggression

To improve the living conditions of people throughout the world

To encourage international cooperation between nations

Organs/structure of the League of Nations

Main organs (Describe any four main organs of the League and state their functions)

The Assembly- to admit new members into the League.

to prepare the budget for the League.

The Council- to impose economic sanctions on the aggressor

Use military force on the aggressor

The Secretariat- keep records of the League`s meetings

Prepare agenda items for the League`s meetings

The Permanent Court of International Justice- interpreted agreements between member states

Dealt with legal disputes between member states

International Labor Organization (ILO)- Introduced old age pensions

Specified adequate minimum wages

Minor organs/ committees and Commissions (Outline any four minor organs of the League and state
their functions)

The Mandates Commission- supervised territories taken from Germany and Turkey after World War 1.

It ensured that territories were ruled according to the wishes of the

occupants of such territories.

Refugees Committee – returned prisoners of war to their after the war.

Organized drought relief programmes for countries like Russia

Disarmament Commission- encouraged member states to reduce their arms

Monitored the disarmament process among member states

The Health Committee- educated people about health and sanitation

Dealt with dangerous diseases like polio and Tuberculosis

Slavery Commission- abolished slavery throughout the year

Drugs Committee- it was against the use of illegal drugs

Fought against drug trafficking

Successes of the League in the 1920s (outline/Describe any four successes of the League in the 1920s/
explain the successes of the League in the 1920s)

Aaland Islands 1921: It was a conflict between Sweden and Finland over the control of the islands. The
islands belonged to Finland but Sweden claimed them because most of the islanders wanted to be ruled
by Sweden. The matter was referred to the League of Nations which ruled in favor of Finland and war
was avoided.

Upper Silesia 1921: It was an industrial area between Germany and Poland occupied by both Germans
and Poles. Both countries wanted total control over the area. A referendum was organized by the
League for the Silesians to decide their future. Those in the industrial area voted for Germany while the
rural areas preferred Poland. The area was divided peacefully between the two countries and war was
avoided.

Greek-Bulgarian war 1925: A frontier war broke out between Greece and Bulgaria. The League ordered
the two countries to stop fighting pending a commission of enquiry whose findings favored Bulgaria.
Greece was found guilty and ordered to pay 45 000 British Pounds as compensation. Both sides
accepted the League`s decision and the conflict was solved successfully.

Austria 1922: Austria was faced with serious economic crisis after World War 1. The League sent a team
of experts to assess the situation. The team helped to revive the Austrian economy by re-organizing
Austrian finances and its currency.

The Health Committee: It managed to help some countries control the outbreak of life threatening
diseases. For example, it combated typhus pandemic in Russia.

Failures in the 1920s

Vilna 1919-20: It was a conflict between Poland and Lithuania. Vilna was made a capital city of Lithuania
though its population was largely Polish. The Polish army attacked Vilna forcing Lithuania to appeal to
the League which ordered Poland to withdraw but she refused. The Conference of Ambassadors
recognized and awarded Polish sovereignty over Vilna. Poland and Lithuania remained bitter rivals and
in a state of war. The League had failed to take action against Poland as Britain and France differed.

The Corfu Incident 1923:It was a conflict between Italy and Greece. It occurred after the Italian General
and 3 others were ambushed and killed on an official duty of marking the border line between Greece
and Albania. The Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini was angered and blamed Greece for the murder. He
demanded compensation to be paid within 5 days failure of which he invaded the island of Corfu.
Greece appealed to the League which Mussolini to withdraw but he refused. The League failed as the
matter was solved by the Conference of Ambassadors in favor of Italy.

Failures in the 1930s (Explain the failures of the LoN in the 1930s)

The Manchurian crisis 1931: It was conflict between China and Japan. The Japanese economy was
negatively affected by the Great Depression and she decided to attack the Chinese province of
Manchuria so as to exploit its natural resources. In 1932, Japan set up a puppet regime in Manchuria
called Manchukuo. China appealed to the League for help which ordered Japan to withdraw but she
refused. The League appointed a Commission of Enquiry (The Lytton Commission) which found Japan
guilty. Instead, Japan left the League in 1933 and thus the League had failed to act on Japan.

Failure of the Disarmament Conference 1932-33: The Conference was called by the League of Nations
with over 60 countries in attendance. Its aim was to encourage member states to disarm so as to
maintain world peace. However, the Conference failed as some countries especially France refused to
disarm claiming to fear Germany. During this conference, Germany was the only nation forced to disarm
as per the Versailles Treaty. Therefore, Hitler used the French attitude to withdraw from the League in
1933 and embarked on a massive rearmament programme. The League failed to take action against him
as he was violating the terms of the Versailles Treaty.

The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935-6: In 1935 Italy under Benito Mussolini invaded Abyssinia
(present day Ethiopia) so as to expand his empire. Abyssinia appealed to the League for help. The
League responded by condemning Italy and imposed ineffective sanctions on her. The sanctions did not
include oil, iron and coal and were never imposed. Besides, Italy continued trading with non-members of
the League namely Germany and the USA. By 1936 Italy had conquered Abyssinia and left the League.
The League had failed, and Hitler, the German leader, had noted its weaknesses.

The re-militarization of the Rhineland 1936: In 1936 Hitler ordered his soldiers to re-occupy the
Rhineland. By so doing, he was violating the terms of the Versailles treaty. When this happened, the
League only protested to Hitler to withdraw his troops but he refused. Britain refused to commit her
soldiers as she sympathized with Germany. France was militarily weak to fight Germany alone. This
demonstrated the failure of the League as it made Hitler too powerful after realizing that the League
was a toothless bull dog.

The Anschluss 1938: In 1938 Hitler ordered his soldiers to attack Austria as part of creating a “Greater
Germany”. Once more, he was violating the terms of the Versailles Treaty which forbade the two from
uniting. When this happened, the League of Nations took no action apart from protesting to Hitler to
withdraw from Austria which he refused. The failure of the League encouraged Hitler to continue with
his acts of aggression as he was confident that no action will be taken against him.

German invasion of Czechoslovakia 1939: At the Munich Conference of 1938, Hitler promised Britain
and France that Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia) was his last territorial claim. Britain and France
who were by then following the policy of Appeasement decided to award Hitler the whole of
Sudetenland. However, in 1939 Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. The League did not take
action. Hitler was encouraged by these developments and his next move was Poland. Thinking that the
League will not act, in September 1939 he attacked Poland and World War 2 started.
Reasons for the failure of the League of Nations to maintain world peace in the 1930s (Explain reasons
for the failure of the LoN to maintain world peace in the 1930s)

It had no peace keeping forces of its own: The League had no army of its own which made it a toothless
bull dog. It depended on countries to release their soldiers to fight aggression. This was clear when the
League failed to take military action against Japan in 1931 and Italy in 1935 as well as Hitler in 1939.
What the League did was to offer moral condemnation because it had no teeth to bite.

Absence of the USA: Though the League was the idea of the then American president, Woodrow Wilson,
the USA rejected it as she felt that World War 1 was a European affair. The USA was the most powerful
state after World War 1 and she could have contributed financially and militarily towards the success of
the League. Her absence from the League was serious blow as it had a negative psychological effect on
the League of Nations hence its failure.

It took too long to solve problems: Failure to solve political problems on time made such problems to
become too complex and became impossible to solve them. This was due to the clash of interests
between Britain and France. For example, if Mussolini could have been tamed in 1935, Hitler could not
have become too powerful and uncontrollable which ultimately led to World War 2.

It was French- British Affair: The absence of countries like Japan, Italy and Germany coupled with the
hostility between the USA and Russia made the League to be a British-French affair. The responsibility of
maintaining world peace lied in the hands of two powers. This was not easy as countries like Japan, Italy
and Germany embarked on a series of aggressions. Besides, the two powers, Britain and France,
considered their self-interests at the expense of maintaining world peace hence the failure.