How Successful was the League at dealing with international disputes in the 1920s?
Vilna, 1920
Poland and Lithuania were two newly created states by the Treaty of Versailles
Vilna was made capital of Lithuania, but its population were largely Polish
In 1920, a private Polish army took control of Vilna
Lithuania appealed for help, and LofN protested to Poland, but they did not withdraw
According to covenant British and French troops could have been sent in, but they were not
Britain was not prepared to act alone and send troops to other side of Europe
French were not prepared to upset Poland as they were a potential ally to Germany in the future
Poles kept Vilna
Refugee Work
Raised money, found transport, designed houses and provided medical aid for returning refugees
Estimated that between 1920-1922 they returned 425,000 prisoners of war
Helped to stamp out diseases and aid with Turkish Refugee crisis in 1922
Corfu, 1923
Italian General Tellini was given job to supervise Greek and Albanian border
Tellini was ambushed and him and all his men were killed
Italian Leader Mussolini was furious and blamed Greek Government
Greeks had no idea who the murderers were
Demanded that the murderers be executed
This led to Mussolini bombarding and occupying the island of Corfu, killing 15 people
Greece appealed to the LofN
League condemned Mussolini's actions
Suggested that Greece pay compensation but that the money be held by the League
Officially, Mussolini agreed to the decisions of the League
However he worked behind the scenes to change it , forcing Greece to apologize and pay directly to Italy
Mussolini withdrew from Corfu boasting in triumph.
Aaland Islands
Finland and Sweden disputed over Aaland Islands
Appealed to League for deliberation
League gave islands to Finland
Ruling was accepted by Sweden
Occupation of the Ruhr
Germany defaulted on reparations payments
France invaded out of anger, took resources and factories
Did not refer issue to League, simply took individual action
This further cemented idea that league was a club for the victors
Mandates
Mandates commission tasked with ensuring eventual independence of mandates
Mandates given to Britain, France, New Zealand, Australia
Iraq moved smoothly to independence, but otherwise progress was very slow