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League of Nations in the 1920s (Disarmament (1921-22: The Washington…
League of Nations in the 1920s
Enforcement of the Provisions of the Treaties
Problems Enforcing Paris Peace Settlement
German resentment at the terms
Anglo-American guarantee never materialised
League of Nations flawed - especially with US not joining
USA retreated into isolationism
as did the USSR (with the exception of the 1922 Rapallo Treaty)
US didn't sign TOV
US Senate against TOV because it gave Japan Shandong in China
US didn't join league
US senate was against the League - because it seemed that US would act as a policeman to the world
more than half of the Senate voted to join the League - but 2/3 was necessary and it was not achieved
Wilson made sure clauses in the League stated countries are still free to act as they pleased - but US still did not join
Italy angry over 'mutilated treaty' - received too little territory
Mussolini sought to revise the settlements in Italy's favour
Japan did not care for the European aspects of the treaty
because of all the reasons above, Britain and France had to do the enforcing
Britain and France clashed over Germany
Britain wanted to revise the treaty
because it wanted to avoid conflict because:
it was indebted
it was cutting military spending
wanted to focus on its Empire
France wanted to keep weakening Germany
France felt insecure - no Anglo-American alliance
instead signed military agreements with Poland (1921) and Czechoslovakia (1924) to encircle Germany
Ruhr Crisis failed
consequently, France tried to co operate more with Germany to secure her compliance with TOV
did not stay on good terms with Germany for long
France built a series of expensive defences along the German border from 1928
Disarmament
League's Covenant referred to disarmament
there was a general disarmament conference in Geneva in 1932
1921-22: The Washington Conference
proposals for naval disarmament put forward
US keen for naval disarmament
because China was unstable and US wanted to prevent further intervention in China
February 1922: Five Power Treaty
Italy, France, Japan, Britain and USA
decided on a ratio of tonnage to ships
Britain and USA to have most, then Japan, then France and Italy (tied)
no new naval bases were allowed to be built in the Pacific
December 1921: Four Power Treaty
USA, Britain, France, Japan
ended Anglo-Japanese alliance
Recognised each other's claims in the Pacific
February 1922: Nine Power Treaty
USA, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, Belgium, China, Netherlands, Portugal
agreed to respect China's sovereignty
open door policy - all countries had equal trading rights in China
agreed to discuss problems of common interest in China
Summary
positive steps towards preventing another naval arms race
end of Britain's naval dominance - now equal to US
partial withdrawal of Britain in East Asia
Ships under 10,000 tons not restricted
Japan and Us came to agreements over Pacific
USSR let out
that was a bad decision because
isolated USSR
meant USSR kept their powerful fleet
BUT no mechanism as to what would happen if a country broke the terms
1930: London Naval Conference
USA, France, Britain, Italy, Japan
sought to extend the terms of Washington Conference
achieved this - warships will not be built for a further 5 years
submarine warfare to be regulated
1932-34: Geneva Disarmament Conferences
underlying issue - the clashes between France and Germany and the balance of their military forces
Germany insisted on parity with France
they should disarm down to Germany's level as they had after Versailles
if not, Germany should be permitted to rearm
France - not a fan
because Germany had a greater population and industrial capacity
if no parity between the two - France wanted cast-iron inspection and verification procedures and additional measures implemented to preserve international peace
Germany to leave League of Nations - on the basis that France would not accept parity
Britain and US showed sympathy towards Germany - argued TOV too harsh
Hitler came into power in January 1933 - when conference reconvened he withdrew
conference essentially over at this point - it tried to unsuccessfully reconvene afterwards
Hitler also felt free to rearm - France hadn't agreed to parity, so he had an excuse to rearm
The League of Nations
most politicians didn't trust the League to be capable of dealing with international affairs
it faced the challenged of Manchuria and Abyssinia
Aims:
promote international co operation
successful
promote disarmament and end war
unsuccessful
Effects of the Absence of Major Powers
it's most serious weakness ws the absence of the USA
Britain and France were left the dominant powers in the Leauge
but they pursued opposing objectives
Britain wanted flexibility and each situation to be addressed individually
France wanted obligations on member states and an international defence force
in 1930s, Japan and Italy pursue their own expansions objectives - regardless of the League
absence of US and USSR had awful effects
they couldn't deal with Japan after they invaded Manchuria without the USA and USSR
the League appeared to be a British and French club - any decision would be attributed to them
Japan may attack their colonies in the Far East if they made a decision
Stalin joined League in 1934
1935: Stalin signed Mutual Defence Pacts with France and Czechoslovakia and chose a side in the SCW
motivated by concerns over Hitler
Collective Security
an aggressor against any one state is considered an aggressor against all over states, which act together to repel the aggressor
Problems
no way of compelling a nation submit to any collective security
economic sanctions were only tried out against Italy over Abyssinia - proved to be of very little value
no League forces or international peacekeeping forces
Absence of major powers
League closely liked to Paris Peace Treaties
therefore, associated with its defects
League made pacts/treaties to try and increase its peacekeeping ability
this was just France's attempt to create an international security body
Draft Treaty of Mutual Assistance (1924)
Geneva Protocol (1924-25)
Successes of the League
Aaland Islands
League resolved the dispute between Sweden and Finland (1920-21)
League helped avert a Balkan war between Greece and Bulgaria in 1925
fined Greece for a border attack on Bulgaria
League acted swiftly and effectively
1923-34: League settled a dispute between Turkey and Iraq over Mosul
League also managed plebiscites effectively
Failures of the League
Poland seized Vilna from Lithuania in 1919-20
they refused to give it back after Leauge told her to do so
League could do nothing
League couldn't deal with the Russo-Polish War in 1920-21
Greek-Turkish War (1920-23)
the League you;don't resolve the dispute and had to make concessions to Turkey in the Treaty of Lausanne that overruled Sevres
Lithuania took the Prussian port of Memel in 1923
Corfu (1923) - Italian troops occupied Corfu after the murder of an Italian general by Greek bandits
Mussolini got what he wanted - a huge compensation sum from Greece
Key Events
Ruhr Crisis (1923)
Why?
by December 1922, Germany had failed to keep up with Reparation payments
Events
Poincaré (French Prime Minister) sent 60,000 French/Belgian troops into the Ruhr in January 1923
in retaliation, German chancellor, Cuno:
suspended all reparation payments
ordered a general strike of workers in the Ruhr
German government printed paper money for workers, but with no production prices inflated
they paid the workers for doing no work during the general strike
Solution
Gustav Stressmann:
introduced a new currency
called of the strike
negotiated the Dawes Plan 1924, for American loans in Germany
Britain condemned France's actions - she withdrew
Locarno and the Locarno Spring (1925)
Germany and Stresemann recognised the Western borders
Germany didn't want to commit to Eastern borders
Britain didn't want to concern itself with the East
The Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
Briand proposed a treaty that would outlaw war between France and the USA
a ploy to work towards the Anglo-American treaty
Kellogg saw through this
suggested that all countries be invited to renounce war
15 counties signed
seen as an achievement at the time - but did not stop Italy, Japan and Germany launching wars in the 1930s
renouncing war as a instrument of national security (excluding in the instance of defence against external aggression)
The Young Plan (1929)
Owen Young reduced the reparations figure
more loans to Germany
Troops withdrawn from the Rhineland
The Great Depression (1929)
hit Germany and Japan badly
Protectionism
many government raised tariff barriers to protect domestic jobs
US recalled her loans
Impact on Germany
political radicalisation - Nazis began to attract support for the first time following the economic crisis
unemployment smiled at 6 million in 1932
Nazi vote
1928: less than 3%
1930: 17%
1932: 37%