QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - LEAGUE OF NATIONS. The League of Nations was an international organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, created after the First World War to provide a forum for resolving international disputes.

1. CONTENT
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
20 QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
8

2. 1. Given the state of the world
in the 1920's and 30’s,
why was there only one general
assembly per year
for the LON?

3. The Assembly met once a year in ordinary session, normally in
September.
If necessary, it could meet at any moment at the request of one
or more members, if approved by most of the Member States.
This happened in 1926, when Germany applied to be included
in LON.

4. 2. Why was Russia not a member of
the League, in the beginning?

5. The League of Nations was one of the planners and developers of
anti-Soviet campaigns. The Soviet government was fighting against
attempts of the LON to intervene in the internal affairs.
In mid-1930’s, due to rising threat from Nazi Germany, fascist Italy
and militarist Japan, the governments of some countries were
seeking cooperation with the Soviet Union.
September 15, 1934: 30 delegates of the LON addressed the Soviet
government with a telegram, inviting the Soviet Union to join the
League and “bring its valuable cooperation". Soviet Government
replied by letter that it accepted the proposal.
39 members of the League voted for the acceptance of the USSR. 3
members (Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland) were against. 7
members abstained. The USSR joined the League of Nations and
became a permanent member of the Council.
In December 1939, after the beginning of Soviet-Finnish war of
1939-1940, the Council excluded the USSR.

6. 3. Did the LON have any ideas/plans
that they never got to carry out
because they fell apart and what
effects could they have had?

7. One of the most important idea for the future was to end the
colonial tyranny, and to pave the way for new forms of
statehood, as the mandate system put the colonial powers
under international observation.
These actions were delayed by the war and the post-war
conferences were aligned with the post-war realities, rather
than the idealistic world that the League wanted to project for
the future.

8. 4. Explain how exactly the
British politicians in
Abyssinian crisis ‘got tough’.

9. United Kingdom imposed an embargo on arms sales to both
Italy and Ethiopia. The embargo was a response to Italy's
decree that it would view arms sales to Ethiopia as an act of
unfriendliness toward Italy, but it was clear that the United
Kingdom was protecting its economic interests in East Africa.
The British Parliament supported the initiative of Konni
Zilliacus and unanimously authorised the imposition of
sanctions against Italy if it continued its policy towards
Ethiopia. All the toughness of the British politicians was
dictated by interests and the proximity of the elections.

10. 5. How did the US react to the
invasions of Manchuria and
Abyssinia?

11. It was more of the isolationism that had kept the United States
out of the League of Nations. The idea of preventing war was
not popular in the US. More popular was the idea that it was
not America's business to be involved in Europe or Asia.
Following Italy's invasion of Ethiopia on October 3, 1935,
Roosevelt declared the United States neutral. Following the
LON failure in November regarding trade sanctions against
Italy, merchants in the United States would continue sending
to Italy the materials that Italians needed to conduct their
belligerence.
Roosevelt looked upon with contempt. He saw Mussolini as
part buffoon. Responding to a photo of Mussolini goose-
stepping, he commented: "It's wonderful what middle-aged men
can do when driven to extremes."

12. 6. Why were France and the UK seen
as the powerhouses of the LON after
they had done nothing economically
or militarily to stop the invasions of
Manchuria and Abyssinia?

13. At that point, after the second major failure in Abyssinia, the
“main” powers France and Britain, already lost all the respect
and fear, so they were not regarded as powerhouses anymore.
The year was 1937, when they already realized that Hitler,
Mussolini and their allies will rage war all over Europe.

14. 7. Why did the UK and France
secretly agree with Italy invading
Abyssinia?

15. They truly believed that Mussolini would
keep Germany at bay, and they did not see
any problems in, yet another colonial move.
A. J. P. Taylor argued that it was the
Hoare-Laval pact that "killed the League"
and that the pact "was a perfectly sensible
plan, in line with the League's previous acts
of conciliation from Corfu to Manchuria"
which would have "ended the war; satisfied
Italy; and left Abyssinia with a more
workable, national territory" but that the
"common sense of the plan was, in the
circumstances of the time, its defect".
A. J. P. Taylor was a British historian who
specialised in 19th- and 20th-century
European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a
broadcaster, he became well known to
millions through his television lectures.

16. The military historian Correlli Barnett has
argued that if Britain alienated Italy, Italy
"would be a potential enemy astride
England's main line of imperial
communication at a time when she was
already under threat from two existing
potential enemies at opposite ends of the line
[Germany and Japan].
If Italy were to fight in a future war as an
ally of Germany or Japan, or both, the
British would be forced to abandon the
Mediterranean for the first time since 1798".
Therefore, in Barnett's view, it was "highly
dangerous nonsense to provoke Italy" due to
Britain's military and naval weakness and
that therefore the pact was a sensible option.
Correlli Barnett was an
English military historian,
who also wrote works of
economic history,
particularly on the United
Kingdom's post-war
"industrial decline“. He
died in 2022.

17. 8. Explain Rome-Berlin Axis.

18. Rome-Berlin Axis was the alliance formed in 1936 between Italy
and Germany.
It was an agreement linking the two fascist countries.
It was formalized by the Pact of Steel in 1939.
The term Axis Powers came to include Japan as well.

19. 9. How desired was Manchuria &
how the Japanese people received the
withdrawal from the LON?

20. JAPANESE PEOPLE STRONGLY BELIEVED THAT MANCHURIA
WAS JAPANESE TERRITORY.
"Japan will oppose any attempt at international control of Manchuria. It does not
mean that we defy you, because Manchuria belongs to us by right. Read your
history. We recovered Manchuria from Russia. We made it what it is today.“
Matsuoka said that Manchuria was a matter of life and death for Japan, and
than no concession or compromise was possible.
"Japan has been and will always be the mainstay of peace, order and progress
in the Far East."
EMOTIVE LANGUAGE WAS USED TO PERSUADE THE LEAGUE
NOT TO GO FORWARD WITH THE CONDEMNATION.
In objecting to proposed international control of Manchuria, he asked:
"Would the American people agree to such control of the Panama Canal Zone;
would the British permit it over Egypt? The Japanese people will oppose any
attempt in Manchuria. I beg of this body to realize the facts and see a vision of
the future. I beg of you to deal with us on our terms, to give us your confidence”.

21. 10. Do you have any tips on
remembering smaller pieces of
information such as casualties,
countries, names or dates?

22. THINK OF THE MAIN STORY
Weave a story. Spin a yarn around an important event.
MNEMONICS CAN HELP
This is a good method to memorize.
FLASHCARDS
You can create your easy and simple flashcards with the main
ideas, dates, names.
TIMELINE
Easy to remember if all the events are on a long timeline. Can be
created on many pages, with a marker and visible. You can also
stick it to your walls in your room.
CONCENTRATE/UNDERSTAND/PICTURE IT
Some students, like myself, can remember everything only by
picturing or remembering the place in the page.

23. 11. Where did the LON get their
soldiers?

24. The League lacked its own armed forces and depended completely
on the victorious Allies of World War I (Britain, France, Italy and
Japan were the permanent members of the Executive Council).
They were supposed to enforce LON’s resolutions, keep to its
economic sanctions, or provide an army when needed.
The Great Powers were often reluctant to do so.

25. 12. Why did Britain and France team
up with Mussolini?

27. 13. Why was Germany viewed as an
effective barrier against the spread of
Communist ideologies when the two
most influential communists were
German (Karl Marx and Frederic Engels)?
-complex answer-

28. Communism is an economic and political philosophy grounded in
the belief that societies are shaped by their economic systems.
According to communism, capitalism creates social problems by
dividing wealth unfairly between two classes of people. The
economic system must be reformed to distribute wealth equally.
Communist ideas spread rapidly in Europe during the 19th and
20th centuries, offering an alternative to both capitalism and far-
right fascism and setting the stage for a political conflict with
global repercussions.

29. Socialist and communist philosophies had never been popular
with Europe’s conservative elites.
They considered these beliefs to be dangerous ideologies that
threatened their traditional political and economic control.
The Russian Revolution and emergence of the Soviet Union
increased fears of violent revolution and a radical reordering of
society. These fears played out both within Germany and across
Europe. If communism were to spread from the Soviet Union into
Germany, it would reach into the heart of Europe.
The fear of communism prompted several European leaders—
including British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain—to focus at
first on Nazism’s anti-communist credentials rather than its
territorial ambitions or antisemitism.

30. Communism was antithetical to Nazism because communism
prioritized class above nation and race.
Under the Nazis, communism was recast as Judeo-Bolshevism.
Judeo-Bolshevism claims that communism was a Jewish plot designed
at German expense.
Judeo-Bolshevism’s threat was explained by Germany’s proximity to the
Soviet Union and competing Nazi-Soviet territorial ambitions in Eastern
Europe.
The existence of a communist state so close to Germany was not merely
a political threat, but also an existential racial and ideological threat.
For Nazis, both Jews and communists were made worse by their
supposed identification with one another.
As soon as the Nazis rose to power, they began targeting communists,
both inside and outside Germany. In 1933, the first concentration camp
opened at Dachau to hold political prisoners. The first prisoners were
all communists.
Later in 1933 the Nazis banned all political parties. They intensified the
targeting of Communists, Social Democrats, and trade unionists.

31. 14. What was the reasoning behind
the League of Nations not having an
army–did anyone object to a
proposal, or was it just never brought
up?

32. It was because the members of the League of Nations were
required to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all
other nation-states and to not use or threat of military force as a
means of resolving international conflicts.

33. 15. Did the minorities commission
did anything in terms of informing
the public and fostering
understanding or was it of law
mainly?

34. It was mainly to establish a place where minorities from different
regions of the planet can have their rights recognized, so the
minorities commission informed people and established the rule of
law.
Several of the treaties concluded after the Great War contain
clauses dealing with the protection of minorities.
This protection is placed under the guarantee of the League of
Nations.
By minorities are meant groups of persons who differ in race,
religion or language from the majority.
But such persons may be further subdivided into: (a) nationals of
a foreign Power; (b) nationals of the country concerned.
The protection of minorities was also established to:
(1) be granted by the laws of the country and therefore to be
guaranteed by the state; (2) be dependent on treaties and be
guaranteed by foreign Powers.

35. 16. Did the public of the USA feel
about not being in the LON?

36. The official motivation was the Republican concerns that the
League would commit the United States to an expensive
organization that would reduce the United States' ability to defend
its own interests.
At that point, the American public voted for the Republicans to be
in power and the chose to send America in isolationism as opposed
to involving themselves in world affairs, which led to America
rejecting the opportunity to join the League of Nations.
Some other important reason was that the American public was
not enthusiastic about committing the country to another possible
confrontations or conflicts, away from the American soil.

37. 17. Did smaller countries petition
against Italy/Japan?

38. The didn’t petition but raised concerns about the power of the big
countries and the possible unfairness of the League.
However, that was not significant, as they didn’t have the power to
influence the decisions, as Britain and France were appointing
people in charge of reports, e.g., Lord Lytton.

39. 18. What really is an Axis?

40. The real meaning of an axis is a coalition of interests. In our case,
this was like a great friendship from Point A (Rome) to Point B
(Berlin), the respective capitals of Italy and Germany.
A coalition, in politics and international relations, is a group of
actors that coordinate their behaviours in a limited and temporary
fashion to achieve a common goal.
A (Rome) B (Berlin)
To achieve world
domination and
their interests
Rome-Berlin
Axis

41. 19. What was the timeline of the
League of Nations?

43. 20. What were the triumphs and
failures we need to know about?

44. Triumphs
Aaland Island
Upper Silesia
Memel
Turkey
Failures
Italy 1919
Teschen
Vilna 1920
War between Russia and Poland 1920