League of Nations Background Set up as part

League of Nations

Background Set up as part of the Treaty of Versailles It was envisioned to be a truly INTERNATIONAL organization which would MAINTAIN WORLD PEACE AND SECURITY by ACTING TOGETHER to PREVENT WAR Collective Security For a brief idea of its organisation, do look at Fig. 6 on page 43 of your textbook

Aims of the League Important Note: When EVALUATING HOW SUCCESSFUL / HOW MUCH A FAILURE the League of Nations was … you must look at HOW MUCH of its AIMS the League was able to FULFIL: Y Y To promote international co-operation, peace and security by accepting an obligation not to go to war To promote open, just and honorable relations between nations To lay out a system of international law To maintain, or help to modify, treaties between nations

Aims of the League The League of Nations also tried to influence: Aid Labour Issues Mandates Collective Security Human Rights Minorities Health Issues For a brief idea of what the League tried to influence, do look at Fig. 7 on page 44 of your textbook

Strengths of the League of Nations Dealing with social issues such as the improvement of living and working conditions worldwide (through ILO) Dealing with health issues – targeted the treatment of specific diseases (e. g. leprosy) Set up commissions that improved living conditions in poorer countries

Weaknesses of the League of Nations Weakest at dealing with issues that nations saw as a threat to their security Most members of the League were unwilling to put the security of their nations at risk in order to fulfill collective security

Weaknesses of the League of Nations Attitudes to the League Membership Mandates Difficulties in Resolving Disputes

Weaknesses of the League of Nations Attitudes to the League Many countries found the peace treaties unpopular thus they were not very accepting of the League of Nations as it was a part of the treaty The League of Nations WAS NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY by Britain and France The USA was not a member – sending the signal that if the USA did not take the LON seriously, why should other countries?

Weaknesses of the League of Nations Membership USA was not a member Germany, Austria and Hungary were not allowed to join (resented by Germany) Constant shift of membership as joining and leaving the League was very easy Many countries left because the League opposed their actions or because it wasn’t doing much to help The League had very little control over its member states

Weaknesses of the League of Nations Mandates The legal right to govern under the control of the League Took over most of Germany’s former colonies Countries holding colonies in mandate had to help the colonies move to self-government as soon as possible However, even after 20 years, this was not happening and many countries who had been in favour of the League turned against it

Weaknesses of the League of Nations Difficulties in Resolving Disputes Usual form of punishment for disobeying the League was the imposing of SANCTIONS (not allowing trade to take place) Method was quite useless because sanctions hurt trade with other countries so they were removed as quickly as they were imposed League had no force of its own (expected members to contribute troops) so it could not prevent the rise of authoritarian regimes in Germany, Italy and Japan

Success & Failures (Conflict) FAILURE The Ruhr (1923) Corfu (1923) Vilna (1923) PARTIAL SUCCESS Upper Silesia (1921) Memel (1923) SUCCESS Aaland Islands (1921) Albania (1923) Greek-Bulgarian Border Dispute (1925)

Successes: Social issues – improvement of living and working conditions Health issues – improvement in the treatment of diseases such as leprosy Solving some territorial disputes and conflicts Failures: Unable to enforce collective security Unable to act as an effective deterrent towards aggressive countries Attitudes towards the League Lack of strong membership Failure of the mandate system Difficulties in resolving disputes

What is Disarmament? Dismantling of armies and the breaking up of weapons to be in the position of making war impossible Disarmament was part of collective security because if nations cut down their use of weapons, the world would be safer

While nations felt that collective security was good, many still wanted to focus on individual security:

Britain: France The need to defend the Empire and to stop trouble in parts of the Empire seeking independence Defend France from Germany China Civil War in progress and the need to defend China against Japanese advances

Japan: Switzerland Power of the Japanese Army and the need to defend Japan against European land-grabbing in the Asia. Pacific Army was small and only big enough to defend their neutrality Poland Need to defend their new country, especially from Germany and Russia

Supervised by the League of Nations Was slow and took advantage of several loopholes: Trained its cut-down Army as officers so as to secretly train others to be ordinary soldiers

Naval Disarmament Targets set by agreeing to a ratio of shipbuilding between nations Tensions between countries based on ratios allocated Proportions were applied to all warships Everyone could build submarines but at a low level Look at Fig. 11, page 52

Military Disarmament 1923 Treaty of Mutual Assistance Y Y Y 1924 Geneva Protocol Y Countries would limit arms League of Nations would come to their assistance Very few agreed to the TMA Nations would agree to bring disputes to arbitration instead of going to war 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact Y Y Signed by 65 nations Promised no war over the next 5 years except in self-defence

Post-War Economic Problems War Damage (esp. France) Broken Trade Links Industrial Problems Disrupted Communication Systems Debt

Special Case: Germany Reparations made Germany’s economic problems after the war, WORSE: Prices Rose Wages Fell High Unemployment High Levels of Discontent French Invasion of the Ruhr after debt default Strikes by German workers worsens the situtation The Weimar Government responds to the situation by printing more money and creating inflation

Children using bundles of money as building blocks

A housewife using bundles of money to light her stove In 1923, it cost 200 Billion Marks to buy a loaf of bread in Germany…

Inflation Simplified Simply put, inflation is a rise in prices relative to money available. In other words, you can get less for your money than you used to be able to get. Here's an example: You buy a candy bar for 50 cents. A year later, you go to buy the same candy bar and it's 60 cents. You still have only 50 cents, but the prices of the candy bar has gone up. We can say that inflation is at work. The price of that bar has been inflated. When inflation rises but people's pay-checks don't, this means that people have to spend more of the money to buy the same things that they used to be able to buy for less. Let's go back to the candy bar. You have only 5/6 of what that candy bar now costs. Your money supply hasn't changed, but the price of what you want has. That's inflation.

Gustav Stresseman Became Chancellor of Germany in 1923 Replaced the German mark with the Rentenmark and reduced government spending Improved relations with Germany’s enemies (e. g. Treaty of Locarno) Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929

Stresseman’s Reforms Introduced the Rentenmark Borrowed money from overseas to increase Germans’ confidence in the new currency (had proper currency to back the value of the new currency)

German Mark (before Rentenmark)

German Rentenmark

Stresseman’s Reforms The Ruhr, Germany’s most industrialised area, was occupied by France after Germany defaulted on her reparations. As a result, workers went on strike or worked slowly, generating little or no profits. This was harming the German economy. Stresseman negotiated with the workers and the economy improved. He also borrowed money from overseas for building schemes, taking off many unemployed people off the streets.

Protest placard against the occupation of the Ruhr District (Theo Matejko, 1923): Hands off of the Ruhr District!

Stresseman’s Reforms Signed the Locarno Treaty in 1925, normalising relations with Britain and France Entered the League of Nations in 1926 Signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928 Stresseman’s efforts encouraged the USA to produce 2 plans to cut down the amount of reparations and lend Germany money

Charles Dawes & Owen Young

Dawes Plan 1924 Germany was to pay less money USA would lend Germany money French troops would leave the Ruhr Germany would give the A/G for Reparations gold, which would be invested and the interest used to pay off the reparations Profits from the German railways would be used as well

Young Plan 1929 Cut German reparation amounts to ¼ of the original amount Lengthened the repayment period by 59 years Made the repayment method fairer and more achievable

Feasible? The Results: Despite the 2 plans, Germany still could not meet the requirements Most of the borrowed money went to economic recovery programmes Some of the money was funneled towards secret re-armaming When Hitler took over power in the 1930 s, the Young Plan was abandoned