Transcript 8. How the League Dealt with International Conflicts

International Relations
1900–1939
How the League Dealt
with International Conflicts
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© Boardworks Ltd 2006
Learning objectives
Learning objectives
What we will learn in this presentation:
How the League was challenged in the
1920s and the successes it achieved.
How the Great Depression affected the
League.
Why the League failed over Manchuria
and Abyssinia.
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© Boardworks Ltd 2006
League of Nations – reminder activity
Successes of the League
During the 1920s, the League of Nations
appeared to make some progress towards
preventing future wars.
In the Washington Naval Agreement of
1922, Britain, France, the USA and Japan
agreed to limit the size of their navies.
In 1925, Germany signed the Treaty of
Locarno in which it agreed to accept its
western boundaries, as set by the Treaty
of Versailles, and also, the demilitarization
of the Rhineland.
In return, Germany was allowed to join the League of
Nations and inspections of the German army ceased.
Successes of the League
The League also encouraged the
signing of the Kellogg-Briand Pact
in 1928.
In this agreement, 15 major nations
(including Germany) promised not
to use “war as an instrument of
national policy,” and to pursue
their goals through peaceful means.
By 1933, 60 nations had made this
promise.
President Coolidge
signing the pact for
the USA.
Do you think this promise would
prevent a country going to war?
Successes of the League
It looked promising for the League, but
did these pacts really mean anything?
Nations happily signed up to the
principles of peace and cooperation, but
there was nothing to stop them simply
breaking their promises when they were
inconvenient.
After the First World War, most nations
wanted to reduce expenditure on defence
anyway.
The League would face stiffer tests in the
areas of international disputes and
border conflicts.
Early challenges to the League – the 1920s
Humanitarian successes
The League of Nations also did a lot of useful
humanitarian work in the 1920s.
Commissions dealt with many issues, including:
droughts in Africa
leprosy
child slave labour
drugs smuggling
refugees.
The League of Nations was the first to suggest that the
world community should take collective action to
tackle this sort of problem.
The 1920s – success or failure?
The depression and the League
In 1929, the collapse of the American stock
market caused an economic depression
(often called the Great Depression).
The depression was not just felt in
America – it affected the whole world.
The USA demanded repayment of the
money it had loaned to Germany and other
countries. This caused great economic
hardship and damaged world trade.
The slump in world trade was worsened
by the USA putting tariffs (taxes) on
imported goods.
The depression and the League
The depression had a huge social and
economic impact on the major world powers.
The volume of international
trade fell by 70% as
countries brought in
import tariffs – by taxing
imports, countries sought
to prevent cheaper foreign
goods undercutting their
domestic industries.
The drop in trade led to massive unemployment and
terrible hardship for ordinary people all over the world.
The depression and the League
How the depression
affected the League
Desperate people
suffering terrible economic
hardship increasingly
turned to leaders offering
radical solutions. This led
to the rise of militaristic
fascist governments.
There was less international
cooperation. The USA and
other nations looked to take
care of themselves instead of
worrying about world peace
and humanitarian issues.
Britain and France no
longer wished to sort out
international disputes
that would cost them
money and could further
damage their trade.
The depression and the League
The Manchurian Crisis 1931
The Japanese economy relied on
exporting goods to America. This
meant that the depression hit
Japan very hard.
Economic hardship led to the
Japanese civilian government
becoming unpopular and the
military increasing its power.
The army decided that the best
way for Japan to escape the
effects of the depression was to
invade Manchuria (part of China).
Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931.
Japan had conquered
Korea in 1905.
The Manchurian Crisis 1931
The Manchurian Crisis: The spark
The League’s reaction to the Manchurian Crisis
The League told Japan to leave
Manchuria but they refused.
A commission under Lord Lytton
was sent to investigate the issue.
The commission finally reported a
year after the invasion, concluding
that Japan was in the
wrong and should leave
Manchuria.
Japan’s response was to
withdraw from the League.
Lord Lytton
Four years later Japan
invaded the rest of China.
Chinese civilian casualties
The League’s reaction to the Manchurian Crisis
Why did the League not take action against Japan?
The main reason was that the great powers were not
prepared to commit troops and ships to punishing Japan.
The only two nations with the capacity to act were Britain
and the USA.
The British
economy was
in dire straits.
The British navy was on
the verge of mutiny after
the government was forced
to cut wages due to the
depression.
The USA
was still
reeling from
the depression. President
Hoover argued that
imposing sanctions on
Japan would be to risk
war for no real gain.
Source analysis
How does this cartoon reflect how the League
dealt with the Manchurian Crisis?
The Abyssinian Crisis 1935
Italy was also suffering due to the
depression.
To distract the
Italian people from
economic problems
and to satisfy Italian
imperial desires,
the Italian leader,
Mussolini,
suddenly invaded
Abyssinia (modern
Ethiopia) in October
1935.
The Abyssinian Crisis 1935
The invasion was very brutal and
initiated without declaration of war.
Although the Abyssinian army was
larger, they were armed with out-ofdate rifles, spears and bows. They
were no match for the Italian
machine guns, artillery and planes.
The Abyssinian army
The Italians also used large
quantities of mustard gas against
Abyssinian troops, civilians and even
the Red Cross. This was a clear
violation of the Geneva Protocol
which Italy had signed in 1925.
The Italian army
The Abyssinian Crisis 1935
The Abyssinian Crisis 1935
Italy and Abyssinia were both
members of the League of Nations.
The League agreed that Italy was in
the wrong, but it took months to make
a decision about what to do next.
In the end they punished Italy with
economic sanctions.
Mussolini
However, Italy could continue to
trade with countries like America
that were not in the League.
The Abyssinian Crisis 1935
Crucially, they did not
include oil in the list of
embargoed goods. The
League knew if their members stopped
selling oil to Italy, we’d just get it from
the USA instead.
Britain continued to let Italian ships use
the Suez Canal to reach Abyssinia.
Mussolini
How effectively did the League deal
with the Abyssinian Crisis?
Were the great powers really interested
in punishing Italy?
The Abyssinian Crisis 1935
It is important to consider the Abyssinian Crisis in context.
It was part of a wider situation that led to the failure of
the League.
Whilst this crisis was being played out, Hitler sent German
troops into the Rhineland, breaking the Treaty of Versailles.
Desperate to get out of the Abyssinian Crisis without either
giving in or going to war, Britain and France privately talked
to Italy. They agreed to let Italy have two-thirds of Abyssinia
(under what was called the Hoare-Laval Plan) in exchange
for support against Hitler’s actions!
How did the Hoare-Laval Plan undermine the League?
What does it reveal about British and French attitudes?
Hoare-Laval Plan
The plan was leaked to the newspapers.
Hoare had been condemning Italian actions
while secretly negotiating to give Abyssinia
to Italy. He was forced to resign.
The Hoare-Laval Plan in effect ended the
power of the League.
Italy had shown that the League’s principal
powers had no desire to stop an aggressor.
At the same time, France and Britain
Sir Hoare
managed to annoy Mussolini to the point
where he opened diplomatic talks with
Germany.
France’s alliance with Italy, against Germany, was over.
Your application to the Foreign Office
Source analysis
The Awful Warning
Text below the cartoon reads:
“We don’t want you to fight
but, by jingo if you do, we
shall probably issue a joint
memorandum suggesting a
mild disapproval of you.”
What is this cartoon trying to
say about the attitude of
Britain and France and the
effectiveness of the League?
Anagrams
Exam question
1. Describe how the events following the 1935 Italian
invasion of Abyssinia led to Italy withdrawing from
the League of Nations in 1937.
[6]
This is a straightforward select and explain question.
To get a grade C in this question you need to select
one point and explain it in detail.
To get a B or an A, you need to explain at least two
points in detail.
Exam question
1. Describe how the events following the 1935 Italian
invasion of Abyssinia led to Italy withdrawing from
the League of Nations in 1937.
[6]
You can look at:
details of the attack itself
the League’s response
the Hoare-Laval Plan
the attitudes of the great powers to Mussolini
and the crisis
Mussolini’s relationship with Hitler.
Writing frame
The Italian invasion of Abyssinia led to…
This was when…
This is important because…
Remember, to get a grade A or B (5 to 6 marks) you
need to look at a minimum of two aspects in this
way. You can use these sentence starters as a guide
for all the aspects you look at.