Organs

the of
League
Main Organs of the League
ASSEMBLY (PARLIAMENT) COUNCIL SECRETARIAT

Met once a year. Met 4-5 times a year and in
crises to solve
All League of Nations international
members could attend. disputes.
Decisions only by I had permanent and
unanimous vote. temporary members.
Considered matters of 4 permanent members
general policy. (Britain, France, Italy, &
Japan until Germany joined
in 1926).
Comprised of officials who
worked permanently in
Geneva. They organised
and coordinated a different
function of the
League
Sir J. Eric DRUMMOND
Was the first Secretary
General of the League

Permanent members had a

veto.

The Assembly
● The Assembly was the parliamentary main body of the League of Nations,
● It was the meeting place of all the members.
● Each country which was a member sent someone to represent them at the
Assembly.
● The Assembly couldn’t enforce actions but could recommend them to the Council
of the League of Nations.

Areas the Assembly Could Not Vote on

● There were 5 main areas the Assembly had no say on
01. Permitting other countries to join the League,
02. Electing non-permanent members of the council,
03. Approving and deciding the budget of the League
04. Recommending action for voting to the Council.
05. Formulating policies for the League of Nations.
The Council
● The Council was the decision-making body of the League and would hear the
disputes of other countries
● Each permanent member had a veto.
● The Council could also administer economic sanctions or muster an international
force if agreed.

Permanent Members of The Council

01. Britain
02. France
03. Italy
04. Japan

The Secretariat
● The staff of the League's secretariat were responsible for:
○ Preparing the agenda for the Council and Assembly
○ Publishing reports of the meetings and other routine matters,
○ Effectively acting as the civil service for the League.

ILO
● International Labour Organisation
● Dealt with matters relating to labour and work.

ICJ
● International Court of Justice
● Mediated matters between countries.

Powers of The League

● Collective security was the intended means by which the league was to maintain
peace.
● The four stages that could be followed to stop an aggressive power (Country) were
as follows:
○ Condemn
○ Arbitration
○ Sanctions
○ Military Interventions

Important Notes:
★ Some major countries such as the USA, USSR and Germany were not members of
the league
 Wall Street Crash and Great Depression

★ Wall Street Crash

○ The Wall Street Crash exploded in New
York City in 1929.
Note:
○ It came after the Roaring 20s, an era of -Roaring 20s
prosperity following the First World War
in Europe and America. -Wall Street Crash
○ Five main factors led to the Wall Street
-Great Depression
crash and subsequent depression.

★ Roaring 20s
○ The Roaring Twenties was an era of
spectacular prosperity in Europe and
America.
○ It was a period of economic, social and technological advancement that
came with the Industrial Revolution and a distinctive cultural edge in the
Western world.

★ Wall Street Crash

○ The Wall Street crash was also called Black Thursday following the most
devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States.
○ The Great Crash was the day of the largest sell-off of shares in U.S. history
that collapsed the stock market. (24th October,1929)
★ Great Depression
○ The Great Depression was the
worst economic downturn in the
Note:
-Depression can be physical,
history of the industrialised psychological, economic,
world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. mental
It began after the stock market or emotional.
crash of October 1929.
- It is a disorder that puts an
○ individual in a state
of unrest
★ Consequences
○ The Great Depression led to
major unemployment.
○ Japan sustained their economy through a reliance on international trade.
○ Britain was inactive in the league during the great depression because they
were sorting out unemployment in their country.
○ It led to the rise of dictators
■ Benito Mussolini of Italy
■ Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany

★ Effects of the Great Depression

○ The world economic crisis caused by the Great Depression caused millions
to lose their jobs.
○ In desperation, they turned to extreme political parties.
■ Dictators rose to power as they promised a solution to
■ Problems.
■ In Germany, the Nazi Party was elected to solve economic and social
problems and to overthrow the Treaty.’
○ In Italy, economic problems encouraged Mussolini to look abroad for
distractions from the difficulties facing the government.

○ In Japan, the country’s economy was in collapse because they relied heavily
on international trade and this led to the takeover of Manchuria.’

○ Britain was suffering high unemployment. It was not willing to get involved
in sorting out international disputes while its economy was suffering.’

Notes:
The great depression was one of the major factors
leading to the failure of the league.
 Failures
The LeagueOfIn
The 1930s
● The 1930s are always seen as bad for the league in comparison with the 1920s.
● There were three huge failures for the League in the 1930s:
○ The Japanese invasion of Manchuria
○ The failure of the disarmament conference
○ The invasion of Abyssinia by Italy

Manchuria 1932
● In 1932, Japan invaded Manchuria, China because it needed to safeguard its
railway.
● China appealed to the League for help and the League ruled that the Japanese
should return Manchuria to Chinese rule.
● Despite this Japan continued to invade new areas of China

Why did it Fail

● The League’s attempt to stop Japan failed for several reasons
Japan was too far away
The League were worried about offending Japan which was an important
member of the League
Britain and France were more concerned about the problems resulting from
the depression in their own countries
Russia, the only country with troops and resources enough to combat the
problem quickly in the region, was not a member of the League

The Disarmament Conference 1932-33

● In February 1932 the League of Nations began the long-awaited disarmament
conference.
● It produced resolutions to limit the size of artillery and tanks, and ban the
bombing of civilians and chemical warfare. HOWEVER, nothing was agreed upon
as to how they would enforce these limits.
● They were also unsure as to what to do about Germany- should all countries
disarm to her level or should Germany be allowed to re-arm?
Key Events
● July 1932 -Germany walked out after the other countries failed to agree
● to all countries disarming to its level
● December 1932- An agreement was finally reached to treat the Germans equally
● January 1933 -Germany announced that it was coming back
● February 1933 -Hitler started to re-arm Germany in secret
● October 1933 -Hitler walked out of the Conference permanently and soon after
withdrew Germany from the League of Nations

Abyssinia 1935
● 1934 There was a dispute between Italian and Ethiopian soldiers at an oasis 80
km inside Abyssinia.
● Mussolini began preparing an army for an invasion
● Mussolini claimed it. was Italian territory
● The Abyssinian emperor appealed to the League for help

Reaction of the League

● The League could have done more.
● The League was anxious to keep Italy on the side. Italy was their best ally against
Hitler.

● Britain and France signed an agreement with Mussolini about standing united
against Germany and the problem in Abyssinia was not even Discussed

● There was much talking and negotiating but nothing was done to discourage
Mussolini

● Eventually, a committee reported to the League that neither side was responsible
for the conflict at the oasis. The League put forward a plan that would give Italy
some of Abyssinia. But Mussolini rejected it.

Consequences
● October 1935 - A full-scale Italian invasion of Abyssinia commenced
● The League watched helplessly. Mussolini annexed the whole country. The League
had failed.

Reasons Why The League Failed

● Self-interest
● Absence of important countries
● Lack of Troops
● Decisions were slow
 ● Sanctions were ineffective

Important Notes:
★ After these failures, the league essentially lost all power and respect.
 Hitler’s Foreign Policy (Steps to World
War Two)
Main events leading to
WW2:
- Withdrawal from the League
of Nations:
- Re-introduction of
Conscription and
Rearmament.
- The Saar Plebiscite
- The Re-militarisation of the
★ Withdrawal From The League Rhineland
- Anschluss with Austria
○ In 1933, Hitler walked out of the
disarmament conference after the other
countries failed to disarm to Germany’s level.
○ Soon after, Germany withdrew from the League of Nations.

★ Reintroduction of Conscription
○ Hitler was determined to build up his armed forces to carry out his aims.
○ Thus in 1933, he started re-arming by:
■ Increasing the German Peacetime army from 100,000 to 300,000.
■ Introducing the German Air Force (The Luftwaffe).
■ Building 1,000 aircraft
■ Launching over 54 Submarines and 10,000 tonnes of Warships.
■ Two years after the commencement of the Rearmament, he re-
introduced conscription (i.e. Unlawful recruitment of Soldiers.)
○ The above was a challenge to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

★ The Saar Plebiscite

○ In 1935, the League of Nations held the anticipated plebiscite for the people
of Saarland to vote on whether their region should return to German rule,
unite with France or remain under the control of the League.
○ Over 90% voted to return to Germany.
○ This was a great boost for Hitler.

★ The Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

○ In March 1936 Hitler moved his troops into Rhineland against the advice of
his generals who were against such a move.
○ It was a daring move, as it was against the Treaty of Versailles.
○ Hitler told his Army to Retreat if they met resistance from the French Army,
however, no resistance came either from France or Britain.
★ Anschluss with Austria
○ In 1938 Hitler made another attempt to unite Germany and his homeland
Austria after the failed attempt of 1934.
○ Hitler encouraged the Nazi party in Austria to stir up trouble for the
government and ask for union with Germany.
○ The Austrian Chancellor(Schuschigg) called for a plebiscite and the people
of Austria voted 99.75% for Anschluss.
○ Yet again Hitler has gone against the Treaty of Versailles.

★ The Sudetenland Crisis

○ At the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1920, a German-speaking area was
given to them called Sudetenland.
○ However, it was badly hit by the great depression. This led to resentment of
Czech control and support for Konrad Henlein, a pro-Nazi Sudeten German.
○ He, together with Hitler in 1938, demanded that Sudetenland unite with
Germany.
○ After a series of talks, Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler in Munich on 29
September 1938 by handing over Sudetenland to him.

Notes:
Due to the League’s loss of influence, they could not
do anything to combat Hitler’s breach of treaty.
 Hitler's
Road
WarTo
Adolf Hitler
● In 1933 Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. He had several aims in his foreign
policy as contained in his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) Which are as follows:

Destroy the Treaty of Versailles

● Hitler had never accepted the Treaty of Versailles and was determined to restore
German pride through a reversal of every ban the treaty imposed on Germans such
as:
○ Re-armament,
○ Reintroduction of conscription
○ Re-uniting with Austria etc

Create A Greater Germany.

● He wanted to create a greater Germany by uniting all German-speaking people in
one homeland/Reich.

Acquire Lebensraum or Living space.

● Hitler intended to expand Germany towards the East by taking over Poland and
the West of the USSR to create more space for Germans.

Destroy Communism
● Hitler hated communism. Thus he intended to destroy every country that operated
communism such as the USSR.

Build Up A Central European Empire

● Once he had achieved the above-mentioned, Germany would be among the most
powerful countries in Europe and the world

Important Notes:
★ Use stars here to type them or print and write in this section
 Appeasement

★ Appeasement
○ In 1937, Neville Chamberlain became
Prime Minister of Great Britain. He
Note:
wanted to avoid war at all costs. -Appeasement was used to
○ The policy he carried out to keep the settle the Sutedeten crisis.
peace was known as Appeasement.
○ Loosely known as Giving way to a bully.
○ This meant negotiating with Hitler and if
possible giving him everything he
demanded.

★ Arguments in Favour of Appeasement

○ There was sympathy for Germany. Many
felt that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair. Thus they believed that Hitler’s
demands weren’t unreasonable.

○ Nobody wanted a repeat of the horrific experiences of the First World War
which an attempt to stop Hitler would have caused.

○ The USA was still isolationist. Britain and France weren’t sure they could
take on Germany without America’s help.

○ The British people hoped that a strong Germany would stop the spread of
Communism.
■ The USSR under Stalin was seen as a much greater threat.

○ Britain and France weren’t ready for war. Appeasement Gave them time to
build up their armed forces.
 ○ The great depression affected Britain and France. So they needed to spend
money at home and not fight wars.
★ Arguments Against Appeasement
○ Appeasement relied on Hitler’s promises. It was based on the mistaken
idea that Hitler was trustworthy.

○ Appeasement encouraged Hitler to take more and bigger risks.

○ Appeasement gave Hitler a head start. Because while Britain and France
were banking on Hitler’s promises, he was busy re-arming and
strengthening his military.

○ The appeasers missed an excellent opportunity to stop Hitler, especially

over the reoccupation of the Rhineland.

○ Appeasement did not stop the war coming in 1939.

Notes:
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