League of Nations summary

Aims of the League of Nations - SIDE:

• Stop wars
• Improve living & working conditions across the world
• Disarmament
• Encourage international trade.

• Based in Geneva, Switzerland.
• 42 members - main members, Britain, France, Japan
• Non members - USA, Russia, Germany.
• Germany not allowed to join.
• USA did not join as American people did not want to be involved in other countries' problems.

League consisted of:

• Assembly - met once a year
• Council - met regularly to consider crisises
• Secretariat - to handle paperwork
• Court of International Justice
• Committees including International Labour Committee and Health Organisation to carry out humanitarian work.

Four Main Powers:

• Covenant - all members promised to keep the peace
• Condemnation - the League could tell a country it was doing wrong
• Arbitration - the League could offer to decide between two countries
• Sanctions - trade

Strengths:

• Set up by Treaty of Versailles so agreed by all countries at the conference.
• Able to offer arbitration through Court of International Justice or impose sanctions.

Weaknesses:

• Set up by Treaty of Versailles - hated by all nations
• Germany, Russia and USA not members
• No army
• All decisions had to be unanimous

Successes:

• Aaland Islands 1921 - traditionally belonged to Finland but islands' people wanted govenance by Sweden.  Neither country could decide who owned the islands and…