International Instituions- League of Nations

Seite 1

The League of Nations

Woodrow Wilson

End of WW1 - 1919

Series of conferences at Versailles

14 points, fundamental principles of Treaty of Versailles

Member states agreed to respect and preserve the territorial integrity and political independence of states

Members agreed to try different methods of dispute settlement (not violence), but failing that, LoN given power to enforce settlements through sanctions

Represented idea of collective security and national self-determination

SUCCESSES

Oversaw plebiscites in Silesia and the Saar

Oversaw the Mandated Territories system (Palestine)

Settled boundaries between Poland and Germany

Settled some minor disputes - Greece and Bulgaria 1925

ILO - International Labour Organisation, set minimum standards of basic labour rights

FAILURES

WW1 settlement, unjust to come countries (Germany)

UK/France still colonies (no interest in abandoning them)

France looked outside the LoN for alliances

US returned to policy of isolationism, withdrew from international affairs and didn't join LoN

Generally failed to act against aggression - Manchurian invasion by Japanese 1931, Ethiopian invasion by Italy

Failed to oppose Hitler's remilitarisation of the Rhineland and occupation of Czechoslovakia and Austria

Proved unable to prevent the rise of economic nationalism in 1930s