The League of Nations worked towards achieving its aims.
a) Describe the work of the League in relation to refugees. [4]
The League of Nations established the refugee commission in 1921. They helped 1.2 million
people who fled the Russian revolution. With the help of Nansen, the famous Norwegian
explorer, the league rescued 427000 people more and distributed them in 26 different
countries. They also developed a Nansen Passport for people who did not recognize with any
nation state.
b) Why was collective security ineffective in practice? [6]
The aim of collective security was the corporation of the member nation states, to meet the
breach of peace with the power of all the nations combined. As a concept it was quite strong
but the reasons that collective security was ineffective in practice was that all nations that were
part of the league were keeping their own aims and intentions as priority because of which the
nations sometimes argued regarding matters and the decision making skills of the league was
hampered. The support of Britain and France were deemed to be the most important. These
two major countries often clashed with each other on matters that regarded their own vested
personal interest. The clash of these two nations would hamper the strength of the decision
taken.
c)
‘The League of Nations achieved its peacekeeping aims in the 1920s.’ How far do you agree with
this statement? Explain your answer. [10]
The League of Nations wanted to maintain world peace and it achieved this aim by discouraging
aggression, encouraging co-operation, encouraging disarmament and improving living
conditions. 1920s saw a large number of border disputes. The league was able to solve some of
them but the rest of them got out of hand. The failures of the league in the 1920s were more
than its successes. Thereby I believe that it is safe to say the league was not able to achieve its
peacekeeping aims in the 1920s. The biggest failure of the league during the 1920s was its
involvement in the Corfu crisis in 1923. This may have also led to increase in tension across the
world and may have also helped in the start of the world war. After the war there was confusion
between the borders of Albania and Greece. The border was surveyed by the Conference of
Ambassadors. An Italian ambassador was assassinated by Greek criminals. This angered the
Italian leader Mussolini and in response he occupied the island of Corfu. The Greek government
approached the league in this matter. The league was not able to make a proper decision due to
which the league suffered a blow to its reputation. This can be blamed on the lack of trust
between Britain and France. The league was successful in solving the Greco Bulgarian conflict;
this did not help the leagues reputation to a very large extent as the generalised opinion was
that this was not a severe matter and that the nations that were involved in this conflict were
not very powerful. This led to the generalised opinion that there was a different way of
approach for the powerful nations and other for the less powerful ones. This inequality led to
many countries losing their trust in the league. Although it did achieve a portion of its aims that
were present in regard to improving the living conditions of people and it did help out many
people who were destroyed by the war.
The League of Nations in theory was strong but in practice was weak.
(a) Describe the work of the Lytton Commission. [4]
The Lytton commission was employed by the League of Nations to investigate the Manchurian
invasion and find out the real reason behind the invasion and determine who was at fault. After
a six week stay in Manchuria’s Northern provinces they determined that both parties were at
fault in this case, China for planning that anti Japanese plot and Japan for the invasion.
(b) Why did Japan invade Manchuria? [6]
Japan was facing the problem of over-crowding due to the rapidly increasing population and the lack
of space that Japan as a country had. Manchuria was located on the eastern Seaboard of China.
Manchuria promised a space of nearly 200000 square kilometres which would be enough to
accommodate the Japanese population. It also promised a lot of raw materials and it was rumoured
to be rich in forestry. The Japanese people looked down upon the Chinese. They believed that
Manchuria was a solution to all their problems. Japan had invested a large sum in the Southern
Manchurian Railways. When the railways was bombed the Japanese treated it as an attempt of
sabotage thereby they officially started their invasion in 1931.
Which was the more important cause of the failure of the League: its organisation or its
membership? Explain your answer. [10]
The league lacked members like the usa. Therefore the top members of the league were France and
Britain. The league also lacked members like the Soviet Union and Germany. Therefore the leagues
members were always in disagreement so that they could keep the vested interests of their country
in mind. The clashing ideologies really affected the league. The league became slower and slower in
decision that led to the untimely death of the league. The members of the league got so divided that
they signed treaties without the knowledge of the league such as the Hoare Laval pact that stopped
the league from taking any action. This really harmed the leagues internal system. The organization
of the league can be also blamed for the failure of league as they did not have very good
management. The secretariat of the League of Nations consisted of only 75 members which made it
very difficult to coordinate between different nation states. This slowed down the league even
more. The lack of organizational stability led to leagues weaknesses being exposed.
The League of Nations was set up to keep the peace.
(a) What was the role of the Permanent Court of Justice? [4]
The most basic role of the Permanent Court of Justice was to settle disputes between the
nation states. It would imply sanctions and condemn nations if it felt that the nation state
was at fault. It would also give legal advice to the assembly and the council but it also had to
way to enforce its ruling.
(b) Why did the League not include all countries in its membership? [6]
The reason that the league did not include all countries in its membership as the country’s
leading the league was that the leading countries were Britain and France. They included
only those countries who they thought were worthy enough to be a part of the international
organization. They did not include their rivals of the war in the league. They denied other
nations thinking that they were too weak or if the thought that the nation could potentially
take away their lead or be able to contradict them.
(c) ‘The League of Nations failed in its peacekeeping role.’ How far do you agree with this
statement? Explain your answer. [10] Failure
The clash of French and British interests led to the weakening of the league due to which the
league had to suffer from lack of support. The reasons were that the league had to face
major crisis like the Abyssinian crisis and the Corfu crisis. This weakened the league influence
as an organization. The league also lacked strong members like the usa which decreased the
leagues strength. The league also lacked an army of its own therefore it was not able to
enforce any of its sanctions. It had to borrow army from the member nations which
weakened the leagues stand even more. The sanctions that the league would imply were
weak due to the guilty countries were not affected to that extent. The league also supported
treaties that were deemed unfair by many nations. The era that league existed in a lot
economic turmoil due to which the countries saw rise of dictators. These dictators
discredited the league and this weakened its influence further. The league also had a weak
structure. The meetings were not well organized and its secretariat had only 75 members
that made its meeting hard to manage. The league was making its decision slowly due to
which people started disrespecting the league. This combined with the above given reasons
was responsible for the death of the league.
The League of Nations aimed to secure world peace and co-operation.
(a) Describe the work of the League of Nations in the 1920s in relation to health. [4]
The league worked with the government of the Soviet Union to end the typhus epidemic.
They also worked t end leprosy, Yellow fever and malaria. The Health bureau formed by the
league helped by two more portions of the league worked to help this cause in the form of
campaigns and extermination.
(b) Why was the League of Nations ineffective in resolving the Corfu Crisis? [6]
The main possible reason for the failure of the league in the Corfu crisis was that the person who
was responsible for this was the Italian leader Mussolini. Italy was deemed to be a world power and
was not responding to the leagues actions. The leading nations of the league were not ready to
enforce the direction. The league had no other way to enforce its decision and the only thing the
league could do was to condemn and no physical action was taken.
(c)‘The main reason for the League of Nations failing to preserve world peace was that not all
Great Powers were members.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
[10]
The reason that the league was weakened is because U.S.A was not a part of it. USA was the
strongest nation at that time. The league also lacked nations like the USSR and Italy. The
league could have really benefited from the influence of these nations. The nations that
league did not invite were capable of influencing great spheres. This would have really
helped the league as they would have been able to help to league to form actions in distant
places. This way the league would have been able to help improve the living standards of
many refugees and many citizens that were suffering at the hands of poverty. The league
would have been able to persuade more countries to disarm which could have stopped the
ww2 from happening. While this was leagues biggest weakness we cannot blame the league
for letting the second world war from happening as the dictators who set off the second
world war would have anyways ignited the fire of the second world war as they were
seeking a lot of personal gain for the country for which they would have faced retaliation.
The Soviet Union wanted to exercise control over Eastern Europe following the ending of the
Second World War.
(a) By 1956, what made Hungarians unhappy with Soviet control? [4]
The communism style of government took away all the money of the Hungarian people.
They lost their freedom and had to abide by the Soviet rule. People stripped of their
personal freedom and savings.
(b) Why were the Soviets concerned about events in Hungary in 1956? [6]
Hungary had been a soviet satellite state post the world war. It had also been a Warsaw pact
member. This meant that if the west were to invade USSR by land, its Warsaw nations would
also pose retaliation to the west thereby giving the USSR more time to response and
weakening the forces of the enemies before they arrive. Hungary quitting the Warsaw pact
would mean that the western forces would be able to easily cross Hungary without facing
any retaliation, thereby making the battle harder for USSR. Nikita Khrushchev was the leader
of the USSR at that time and was against Hungary quitting the Warsaw pact as it would
hamper soviet security.
(c) ‘The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 to prevent mass migration.’ How far do you agree with this
statement? Explain your answer. [10]
The Soviet Union was facing problems of mass migration. The migration problems stemmed from
the fact that West Germany was much more developed and allowed more freedom in comparison to
East Berlin. People who lived in East Germany would go to Berlin, cross over to West Berlin and from
their go to West Germany. In order to stop this and seal migration to West Germany the Soviet
Union made the Berlin wall dividing the whole city so that people won’t go into West Berlin. The
evidence for this comes from the reports of people being shot who tried to go over the Berlin wall. If
it was not to stop migration then there would have been a system in which the citizens would be
authorized to cross over but in reality nobody was allowed to go back to West Berlin. Anyone who
tried was treated with harsh actions that sometimes extended to death.
Soviet influence in Eastern Europe was being challenged from 1956.
(a) Describe the reaction of the Soviet Union to events in Hungary in 1956. [4]
The Soviet Union was not pleased with the actions that were taking place in Hungary. The
Soviet leader during that time was Nikita Khrushchev. He had allowed the satellite states a
lot of freedom but the events in Hungary indicated that the buffer zone that USSR had
obtained will be lost. In order to maintain the soviet security he responded by engaging his
military in Hungary.
(b) Why did the building of the Berlin Wall worsen relations between the Soviet Union and the
West? [6]
The building of the berlin wall prevented anyone from croosing over to west berlin from east berlin.
This showd that the soviet control was not allowing freedom of movement. The problem that
occurred due to the berlin wall was that people who were part of east berlin had a rather low quality
of life them not being abe to expirince . The strict control showd that communism was making its
grip stronger and now it had entered Europe. The allies feared the spread of communism as it had
been noticed that under weak economic conditions people were inclined to adopt communism.
(b) How far was Solidarity responsible for the decline of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe?
Explain your answer. [10]
Solidarity had transformed itself from a simple trade union to a political party with the support of
the Catholic Church on its side. The solidarity movement was started by Lech Walesa. The solidarity
movement had members up to 9 million, almost half the working population in Poland was a
member of Solidarity. It had shown to the world that it was possible to stand up against communism
without facing very harsh actions. It had affected the way that people looked at freedom. This
specifically affected the eastern portion of Europe as many countries in this area were satellite
countries under the Soviet Union and any action for the support of capitalism was faced with
violence. Any attempt at changing the government would be faced with military action from the
Soviet Union. Thereby all the capitalist aristocrats were not able to change the government. This
time solidarity had been successful and due to good planning solidarity had been able to avoid
aggression from the side of the Soviet Union. This was a major blow to the reputation of the
communist style of government.
Following the end of hostilities in 1945, differences between the USA and the USSR surfaced.
(a) What was discussed at the Yalta Conference? [4]
The Yalta Conference saw the participation of three countries USA, USSR and France. While
the conference was still on the world war was raging. They discussed matters regarding
Japan and the ongoing war, Poland and its borders, the division Of Germany, United Nations,
elections in German occupied territory (as by then Germany had surrendered), the dealing
of war criminals and the influence of USSR in eastern Europe. USSR was represented by
Stalin, UK by Churchill and USA was represented by Roosevelt.
(b) Why did Roosevelt’s death after the Yalta Conference affect what happened at the Potsdam
Conference? [6]
This happened due to the difference between Roosevelt and his successor Harry Truman. Truman
was a stronger anti communist personality than Roosevelt. He was more radical in his approach
towards Stalin. His towards Stalin was as if America had been babysitting him. He wanted to stop
this behaviour and wanted to treat Stalin harshly. Truman was much more direct and frank in his
approach. This can be seen when he discloses to Stalin during the Potsdam conference that America
had successfully tested and atomic bomb. Now that Truman was dominating the conferences the
British representatives had to change their approach which really changed the course of the
conference. His straightforwardness helped in intimidating Stalin.
(c) ‘Blame for the Cold War rests with Stalin rather than with Truman.’ How far do you agree with
this statement? Explain your answer. [10]
It will be morally wrong to blame the cold war on one single country as the main cause of the cold
war was the existence of mutual destruction which meant that one country would not attack first at
the thought of being destroyed by the other in the form of retaliation. Yet it will safe to say that one
entity can aggravate the situation. The outcomes of the Potsdam conference really affected the
international relations post the world war. The whole world had just witnessed a horrifying event
therefore there was bitterness in everyone’s minds. The diplomatic dealings became even more
heated and the whole world was on a tipping point. The diplomats tried their best to quench the fire
of hatred as one wrong decision could push the world into oblivion. The diplomats had a lot of
power in their hands. The Potsdam conference saw a replacement when it came to the President of
the United States. Roosevelt had been replaced by Truman. Truman was tougher in terms attitude
towards the Soviet Union and treated Stalin harshly. If Truman would have treated Stalin with more
respect then probably the tension would have been less. In this case we also to keep in mind that
the spike in world tension also happened due to the actions of Truman’s successors. Therefore w
should not blame Truman or Stalin as the crisis was not yet at its peak. The straightforwardness of
Truman might have useful in deterring attacks by the Soviet Union as there is a possibility that Soviet
Union would have attacked USA if they did not know the presence of the nuclear bombs.