How far did the
League of
Nations succeed
in the 1920s?
BORDER DISPUTES
2. Aaland Islands, 1921
• Sweden & Finland: territorial dispute
over Aaland Islands
1. Vilnius, 1920
3. Upper Silesia, 1921
• Threatened to go to war
• Poland took control of
• Area between Ger &
• League intervened: decided that
Vilnius (capital of
Poland
islands belong to Finland
Lithuania)
• Dispute over who it
• Lithuania appealed to • Sweden accepted ruling
belonged to
League
• League told Poland to
leave Vilnius
• Plebiscite (vote)
overseen by League
• Poland did not leave
– Br and Fr did not
want to intervene
• Area divided
between the two
countries
Homework
Read the information under
‘Corfu, 1923’ on pg 33
Select the points which you
think are relevant/ that you
need to know in order to
answer an exam question
Write down those points in
your books.
x
Corfu, 1923
• Post-war boundary bet Greece & Albania
needed to be defined
• League’s Conference of Ambassadors =
responsible
- An informal meeting of the important
members of the League (often made
decisions)
• Tellini = Italian supervisor of the team
- Ambushed and killed on Greek side of the
border
• Mussolini (Italian dictator) ordered
Greece to pay compensation to Italy
and execute the murderers
• Italy bombed and occupied Corfu
• Greece appealed to the League
• SERIOUS situation (risk of an all out
war)
• League condemned Mussolini
• Greece to pay compensation – money
to be looked after by League until (if,
when) Tellini’s killers were found
• Mussolini refused to accept
decision
• France and Brit had different
opinions
- Br prepared to intervene to force
Mussolini out of Corfu
- Fr backed the Italians
• Br not prepared to act alone
• Council’s ruling was changed
• Greece had to apologise & pay
compensation to Italy
• Caused anger within the League
• Showed weakness of great
powers
INDIVIDUAL
Source Analysis
activity p. 33
Geneva Protocol
• Corfu (and Ruhr in 1923)– leading
member of League could ignore the
Covenant = shows how weak the League
was
• Br & Fr = drew up Geneva Protocol 1924
• If two members of League were having a
dispute they HAD to go to the League to
settle the dispute and they HAD to accept
the Council’s decision
- Meant to strengthen League
• BUT British elections – new party in
power – refused to sign protocol
- ‘not in Britain’s interests’
• Protocol weakened League
Bulgaria, 1925
• Another test for League
• Greek troops invaded Bulgaria after incident on
border where some Greek soldiers were killed
• Bulgaria appealed to League & sent instructions
to army
• Council ordered both sides to step down &
Greece to leave Bulgaria – League acted quickly
• Both Br & Fr backed the decision
• League ruled in favour of Bulgaria
- Greece had to pay compensation (League would
impose sanctions if they refused)
• Greece accepted decision
• Different standards for smaller nations than
bigger nations? (Think Corfu)
How did the League of Nations work for a better world?
1. Refugees
• Nansen report – easier for
refugees to return
home/resettle
• Approx 400,000 prisoners of
war returned home by
Refugees Commission
• NB in Turkey 1922 – refugee
crisis
- League worked hard to
eradicate cholera, smallpox &
dysentry in camps
• Success in 1920s
• OFTEN SHORT OF FUNDS;
LESS EFFECTIVE IN 1930S
2. Working Conditions
• ILO successfully limited
working hoursfor small children
• Campaigned strongly for
employers to improve working
conditions
• Resolution for 48 hour max
working week, 8 hr day (but
only adopted by small number
of countries – would raise
industrial costs)
• Influential – raised awareness
about abuses
• BUT could only ‘name and
shame’ countries/companies
• LIMITED FUNDS
3. Health
• NB achievements – on of the most
successful of L of N
• Funded breakthrough research –
development of vaccines,
medication for deadly infectious
diseases (eg leprosy, malaria)
• Global campaign to eradicate
mosquitoes – greatly reduced
malaria and yellow fever cases
Right: League of Nations Malaria
Investigation Committee to India. A British
doctor in India indicating the size of a
young child's spleen enlarged by malaria ...
4. Transport
• Introduced international highway code for drivers
• Helped with spread of communication,
expansion of transport networks (eg shipping
lanes)
5. Social problems
• Blacklisted drug companies
involved in illegal drug trade
• Anti-slavery – brought about
liberation of 200,000 slaves
in Sierra Leone
• Organised raids vs slave
traders in Burma
• Challenged use of forced
labour in building the
Tanganyika (present day
Tanzania) railway (death rate
was reduced from 50% to
4%)
Disarmament
Study the information in the
‘factfile’ box on p. 36
With a partner, invent an easy way
to remember each conference
agreement.
Washington Conference 1921
• UK, France, USA, Japan - limit size
of navy
• WASHINGTON = WATER = NAVY
1921 Washington Conference
• USA, UK, France, Japan agree to limit navy size
1922 Rapallo Treaty
• USSR & Germany re-establish diplomatic relations
1924 Dawes Plan
• USA lent money to Germany to help it pay reparations
1925 Locarno Treaties
• Germany accepted its western borders (as per dictated by T of V)
• Paved way for Germany to enter League
1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact
• 65 nations agreed not to use force to settle disputes
• But no clear consequence for any member who broke the pact
1929 Young Plan
• Reduced Germany’s reparation payments
• Disarmament = failure
• Never progressed beyond 1921
Washington Conference
• Damaged League’s reputation esp. in
Germany (Germany was the only
country which was forced to disarm)
• Other countries were not prepared to
give up own armies
• BUT failure over disarmament did not
appear too serious in 1920s (see
previous conference agreements)
Economic Recovery
• Late 1920s, economies =
recovering
• Dawes Plan 1924 helped
Germany out of its
economic crisis
• Also helped BR and FR’s
economies
• Trading relations improved
between these countries
(Germany joined League in
1926)
• When countries trade =
less likely to go to war