The League's successes and failures in peacekeeping during the 1920s
Six Successes of the League in the 1920s
[TASIBO]
1. Teschen, 1920
An Act of the League Assembly, signed by 23 nations and supported
by 65 countries, accepted the Pact to outlaw war; it was the highest point of the
League’s work.
2. Aaland Islands, 1921
The League settled a dispute between Sweden and Finland – after
an investigation it said that the islands should belong to Finland; Sweden
and Finland agreed.
3.
Silesia,
1921
The League settled a dispute between Germany and Poland – it held
a plebiscite and suggested a partition; Germany and Poland agreed.
4. Iraq, 1924
The Turks demanded Mosul, a part of Iraq (a British mandate). The
League supported Iraq; Turkey agreed.
(Interesting fact: in 1992, the people of Mosul, who were being persecuted by Saddam Hussein, went to the United Nations and cited League of Nations documents which guaranteed them minority rights in 1924, when the League gave Mosul to Iraq. The incident may have been a success for the League, but it was a disaster for the Kurds who lived there.)
5. Bulgaria,
1925
Greece invaded Bulgaria, which did not fight back, but appealed to
the League. The League ordered Greece to withdraw, which it did.
6. Other
 |
400,000
Prisoners of War repatriated |
|
Turkish
refugee camps helped (1922) |
|
Work
against leprosy (extermination of mosquitoes) |
|
Drugs
companies blacklisted |
|
Attacks
on slave owners in Sierra Leone and Burma |
|
Economic advice to Austria (1922) and Hungary (1923) |
|
The Permanent Court of International Justice |
Six
Failures of the League in the 1920s
[VIMCOB]
1. Vilna,
1920
The Poles captured Vilna (the capital of Lithuania). The League
ordered Poland to withdraw, though Britain and France supported Poland.
Poland refused. The League could do nothing.
2. Invasion
of the Ruhr, 1923
France invaded the Ruhr when the Germans did not pay reparations;
the League was not even consulted, and Britain disagreed.
3. Memel,
1923
Lithuania seized Memel, a German port under League control. The
League told Lithuania to leave, but the Conference of Ambassadors gave
Memel to Lithuania.
4. Corfu,
1923
An Italian general named Tellini was murdered in Greece, so Italy
occupied Corfu. Greece appealed to the League for help, which ordered
Mussolini to leave – but the Conference of Ambassadors overruled the
League and forced Greece to pay compensation to Italy.
5. Other
Treaties
It
is a sign that most countries relied, not on the League, but on separate
treaties to keep them safe:
|
Washington
Treaty, 1921 (naval agreement between USA, Britain and Japan) |
|
Dawes
Plan, 1924 (to sort out reparations) |
| Locarno
Pact, 1925 |
The
Geneva Protocol, 1925 (a mutual promise not to use poison gas or germ
warfare - failed because Britain changed its mind at the last minute and refused to sign it!
6. Bolivia, 1928
In South America, Bolivia and Paraguay went to war over an area of land called the Chaco. Paraguay appealed to the League of Nations, but the League was unable to help because Bolivia refused to agree (in the end, the dispute was solved with the help of other South American countries).