1 Read the source
and then answer the questions which follow.
The defeat suffered by Wilsonism in the United
States strikes at the very existence of the League of Nations. America’s
place will remain empty at Geneva, and the two countries that dominate
Britain and France, are divided on almost every one of the topics to be
discussed.
Marcel Cachin (a French Politician)
1920.
(a) Describe the structure of the
League of Nations. [5] answer
(b) Why did Collective Security
often fail? [7] answer
(c) How successful was the League
of Nations in the interwar years? Explain your answer [8] answer
Suggested Answers
(a)Page 25 of
Mason has a good diagram. (also see this site)
You need to mention the Council (including the difference between
permanent and non-permanent members) the Secretariat and the Assembly. You
need to explain briefly the function of each body. You might also mention
the role of the LoN agencies (commissions) that dealt with issues like
disarmament and the Permanent Court of Justice. (Back to
Questions)
(b)You
need to begin by explaining carefully how collective security was supposed
to work. (World public opinion, trade sanctions, reducing armaments and
ultimately the use of force).The
reason for failure might begin by mentioning the same point as made above (i.e. national interests were more
important than international ideals) and the structural limitation of not
having the USA as a member. To get the top marks you need to show
knowledge of case study examples of failure: e.g. in the Manchuria crisis
members were unwilling to impose sanctions on Japan for fear of harming
there own national trade or military influence.(Back to Questions)
(c)Note
the date carefully. If you misinterpret a question you will lose most of
the marks available. Remember you must come to a balanced conclusion. The
Mason summary book has an excellent two page spread on the successes and
failures of the LoN in the 1920s. The best answers will distinguish
between success and failure in areas beyond basic peacekeeping, to include
the role of the various agencies (e.g. Refugee Committee). The best
peacekeeping success stories were the Aaland Island dispute and
Greek-Bulgarian War. Corfu was less of a success and illustrated the
limitations of the LoN when major powers (Italy) were involved. This was particularly
true after 1929 and the Depression. The two obvious examples of failure
were in Manchuria and Abyssinia. You might
also talk of basic structural successes and failures. In 1926 Germany was
allowed to join. By 1929, 54 nations had become members (an increase of
6). The USSR and the USA did not join in this period and this weakened
things. It is probably easiest to defend the LoN at this time by
emphasising the success of the agencies. (Back
to Questions)
