League of Nations PDF

League of Nations Evaluation of success/ failure Aims of the League of Nations https://www.jo hndclare.net/E L1.htm Membership of the League: - USA did not join as the Congress and American people...

League of Nations Evaluation of success/ failure Aims of the League of Nations https://www.jo hndclare.net/E L1.htm Membership of the League: - USA did not join as the Congress and American people were pushing were America to go back into isolationism and never became a member - Russia was not allowed to join as the powers were suspicious of a Communist state (allowed in 1934 and left in 1939) - Germany was not allowed to join till it proved that it had peaceful intentions (joined in 1926 and left by 1933) Work of the League 1920s Vilna 1920-1929 - Vilna was a part of Lithuania but its border was left unclear - Poland appealed to the League. A provisional border was drawn up retaining Lithuanian control - Both sides signed the agreement on 30th September, 1920 - Polish General Lucjan Zeligowski marched into Vilna. Suspected of having being backed by Polish government - Lithuania not a member of the League, but raised the matter - Poland refused to withdraw - Plebiscite was rejected - The Hymans Report was rejected - League was unsuccessful (Issued a public statement) - Conference of Ambassadors recognised Vilna as part of Poland (March 1923) Vilna 1920-1929 Aaland Islands 1921 Corfu, 1923 Bulgaria, 1925 Practicing 10 mark answers ‘The Treaty of Versailles was too harsh”. How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer Homework practice question How far do you agree that the League was a success in the 1920s? Explain your answer. International agreements of the 1920s Diplomatic agreements The Rapallo Treaty - April 1922 between Germans and Russians - Pledged future cooperation and diplomatic relations - Germany recognised the Soviet government and both countries renounced reparations - Close economic cooperation - Military cooperation allowing Germany to rearm and secretly train in Russia The Locarno treaties February 1925 Negotiated by Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany - Germany accepted its western borders with France and Belgium giving up its claim on Alsace- Lorraine, Marmudy, and Eupen - Received French reassurance that no attack would come from the west- eliminated chances of an independent Rhineland - Signed agreements with Czechoslovakia and Poland that all eastern boundaries will be settled through arbitration only - Germany was given entry into the League of Nations Disarmament 1919: Article 8 of the Treaty of Versailles. Article 8 of the League's Covenant gave the League the task of reducing armaments ‘to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations’. Nations were anxious to find ways to cut the huge costs of armaments, as well as agreeing in principle with disarmament. (As President Roosevelt of the USA said in 1931: ‘If all nations will agree wholly to eliminate from possession and use the weapons which make possible a successful attack, defences automatically will become impregnable and the frontiers and independence of every nation will become secure.’) Disarmament 1921: Washington Naval Conference. A start was made in at the Washington Naval Conference (1921), when the USA, Britain, and Japan agreed to limit size of navies according to the ratio (5-5-3 - this ratio was changed to 10-10-7 at the London Naval Conference of 1930, and the agreement collapsed altogether in 1935 when the Japanese demanded parity with the USA and Britain). Failure: Germany was upset that it was the only country that was asked to disarm completely Disarmament The Kellogg-Briand pact, 1928 Faced with the failure of disarmament, the French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand and the US Secretary of State Frank B Kellogg worked outside the League of Nations to persuade 65 nations to sign the General Treaty for the Renunciation of War, also known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact (August 1928), in which all the signatories agreed to condemn war as a means of settling disputes. Reparations and economic recovery 1921 and 1923: Invasions of the Ruhr. After the war, the value of the German mark began to fall, which increased the burden of payments. In addition, public opinion in Germany was determined not to pay. Payments all-but-stopped after 1921 In 1921 (May-September) French, Belgians and British forces - and again in January 1923, French and Belgian forces - invaded the Ruhr (the coal-producing area of Germany) to take the reparations due. The German miners went on strike (the French barely managed to seize enough coal to pay the cost of their invasion). The German economy collapsed, and 1923 saw hyperinflation and rebellions in Germany. Reparations and economic recovery 1924: The Dawes Plan. Germany was about to collapse, the French franc was beginning to fall in value, and the world economy was teetering. In the meantime, the conciliatory Gustav Stresemann had become Chancellor of Germany. The USA and the UK set up a Committee under US Budget Director Charles Dawes. The Dawes Plan calmed the crisis: The Reparation Commission was downsized and payments overseen instead by a 'Transfer Committee'; Payment was not to be made if doing so endangered the value of the German mark; Payments were to be set which Germany could afford, based on an agreed 'prosperity index'; The term was extended indefinitely; The US gave Germany a loan equivalent to £800 million. Germany agreed and kept to the agreement, the French withdrew, the German economy boomed, and Dawes won the Nobel Peace Prize! Reparations and economic recovery 1929: The Young Plan. The Dawes Plan had not set a date or a total sum, so in 1928 Germany requested that the matter be finally settled. A Committee met (Feb-June 1929) under American banker Owen D Young: The Young Plan came into force in May 1930: The final total sum would be £5.6bn; A schedule of payments was agreed which would end in 1988; The yearly payment was the equivalent of 7% of the German government's yearly revenue; A 'Young Bond' was floated, which provided a loan to Germany. The Reparation Commission was disbanded - i.e. the League of Nations' involvement with reparations ended; Great Depression of 1929