The League of Nations
CIE AS level History 9389 - International History
Component 1 and 2
1. Outline the development of the League of Nations
• As part of 1919-20 settlements the League reflected the inherent tensions and divisions of relations,
absence of Germany, USSR and USA detracted from its effectivenes
• League’s golden era coincided with the stability created by Locarn
2. Briefly assess the League's Covenant
• Retrospectively, the League’s constitution provided too many loopholes for war, supported the
status quo favouring the great powers and lacked the machinery for collective action against an
aggressor, perhaps this is irrelevant though – British commentary ‘if the nations of the future are in
the main selfish, grasping and warlike, no instrument or machinery will restrain them
3. Explain the organs of the League
• Initial members were the 32 allied states which had signed the peace treaties and 12 neutral state
• By 1926 all the ex-enemy states had joined, but the USSR not until 1934 and the USA neve
Assembl
a. A deliberative chamber where each state had three representative
b. Jealously guarded principle that even the smallest state had a say on international issue
Counci
a. Council in 1920 had four permanent members: Britain, France, Italy and Japan, 1926 Germany
joine
b. Smaller states represented by a changing rota of four temporary members, later increased to seven
all selected by the Assembl
c. As the Council met more frequently and the Assembly was dominated by the Great powers, it
gradually developed as an executive committee of the assembly, implementing the policies the
Assembly had endorsed in principl
d. Decisions in both bodies normally taken by unanimous vote, the votes of states involved in a dispute
under League discussion were discounted on recommendations for its settlement, prevented from
vetoing otherwise unanimous decision
Permanent Secretaria
a. Routine administrative work was carried out by the Permanent Secretariat, staffed by a small
international civil servic
Permanent Court of International Justic
a. 1921, a fourth organ added at the Hague in the Netherlands, to advise the council on legal matters
and judging cases submitted to it by individual state
4. Explain the powers of the League to solve international disputes
• Heart of the covenant, articles 8-17 was primarily concerned with the overriding question of the
, prevention of war, long term strategy outlined in article 8: => ‘maintenance of peace requires the
reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety, and the
enforcement by common action of international obligations
• Process for solving disputes defined in Articles 12-17, initially as of A12 disputes would be submitted
to a form of arbitration or League enquiry, simultaneously there would be a 3 month cooling off perio
• By A13 members committed to carrying out the judgements of the Court or council
recommendations, even if not submitted to arbitration, under A15 the Council could set up inquiry
into its origin
• Assumption that states would be willing to eliminate war using this arbitration machinery, if a state
ignored recommendations though A16
• Deemed to have committed an act of war against all other members, severance of trade or financial
relation
• Council’s duty to recommend to concerned governments what armed forces shall be contributed to
protect the covenan
• A17 League’s powers were extended by its right to intervene in disputes between non-members, A11
member states encouraged to refer to the assembly or council any international problem which might
threaten the peac
• In theory the League had formidable power, but not a world government in the making with powers
to coerce independent nation
• Existence was based A10 on the recognition of the political and territorial interdependence of
member states, A15 recognised if a dispute arose from an internal issue, the League had no right to
interven
• Gaps in the Covenant allowing potential aggressors to wage war without sanction, war had to be
officially declared before the League could act effectively, had not formula for dealing with guerrilla
warfare which instigating states could disow
• Even in the event of formal declaration of war, if the Court or Council could not agree a verdict,
League members were free to continue their wa
5. Explain how the League of Nations struggled to find a role in the 1920s
• January 1920 Great Powers viewed the League with cynicism or open hostility, French doubted its
ability to outlaw war, Germans saw it as a means for enforcing Versailles, after Republican victory
November 1920
• The US was openly hostile to the League, its officials instructed to avoid cooperatio
• Under Versailles the League administered the Saar and Danzig, inevitably associated it with allied
policy, in the Saar made the mistake of appointing a French chairman to the governing commission,
administered for French interest
• League the guarantor of agreements signed by the allies and successor states created in 1919, aimed at
ensuring various racial minorities left isolated behind new frontiers had civil right
6. Explain the League's mandates
• A22 marked a potentially revolutionary concept of international affairs, citizens and territories no
longer under the sovereignty of states formerly governing them before the war, would have their well-
being and development protected by the Covenan
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