The League of Nations

The structure
42 member states
5 main organs
The General Assembly
The Council
The Permanent Court of Intl Justice
The Secretariat
Commissions and Committees
The General Assembly
Annual meeting
One representative from each member state
One rep= One vote
Responsible for general policy
Handled the finances
Decisions had to be unanimous
The Council
8 members in total
4 permanent members (Italy, France, Britain and Japan)
4 temporary members elected for 3 years
Temporary members increased to 9 by 1926
Settled political disputes
Decisions had to be unanimous
The Secretariat
Looked after paperwork
Set agendas
Prepared reports and resolutions
Members from 30 different countries
Court of International Justice
Based in Hague
15 judges of different nationalities
Dealt with inter state legal issues rather than political issues
Started to function in 1922 and by 1939 had successfully dealt with
66 cases
Commissions and Committees
Health Committee: public health across the world e.g.
prevention of malaria

International Labour Organization: Aimed to improve work

conditions.

Refugee Organization: Refugees and disaster victims.

Slavery commission: Abolishing slavery

Disarmament Commission: persuading member states to
disarm.
Issues with the Structure
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Met only once a year
Decisions had to be unanimous
Countries sometimes remained neutral
THE COUNCIL
Met thrice a year or more
Decisions had to be unanimous
Countries remained neutral
ECONOMIC ISSUES
Member Funded

AS STRONG AS ITS MEMBERS

USA, USSR and Germany didnt join
https://youtu.be/f4xwXnHWxp8
 LoN Organisation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsB93GOLSGY
Weaknesses of the League
The Covenant
Versailles
The USA
The USSR and Germany
France and Britains Role
Weaknesses in the Covenant
No decisive action
No military force of its own
Article 16 negated by the League itself
Failure of the Geneva Protocol
Versailles
Undue favours to victors
Had to defend the hated peace settlement of Versailles
USA
Lacked any real power without the USA
USSR and Germany
Purposely excluded from the League.
France and Britain
The LoN was very Eurocentric
Conservative party in Britain signed the Locarno treaties
without the League and undermined its authority
Undermined Authority
Conference of Ambassadors allowed Poland to take Vilna
while the League had supported Lithuanian claim to the area.

Mussolini refused to accept the Leagues competence in the

Corfu incident

Great Depression
Economic crisis destroyed the living standards of the countries
which lead to right wing governments to power which
undermined the League.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UCWZyCfmnU
Strengths
Over 42 countries joined
Members supported the aims and most were determined to
avoid war
Allowed equal power to smaller states in the GA
Successes of the League
Successes with the Commissions and Committees
ILO
Fixed a max work day and week
Min wage
Sickness and Unemployment benefits
Pensions
Refugee Organization
Helped POWs return home from Russia
Helped people fleeing Nazi persecution
Health Organization
Combatted Typhus epidemic in Russia
 Mandates Commission
Efficiently governed former Ottoman and German
territories.
Successfully conducted a plebiscite in the Saar
Political Disputes Resolved
Resolved Finland and Swedens dispute over the Aaland
islands
German and Polish dispute over Silesia
Greece and Bulgaria
Turkey and Iraq over Mosul
Peru and Columbia
Bolivia and Paraguay