To maintain world peace and international cooperation…
• Resolve disputes and stop wars
• Improve people’s living and working conditions
• Disarmament
• Enforce the Treaty of Versailles (peace settlement)
• It was based in Geneva, Switzerland which was a neutral country and was already home
to the international organisation the Red Cross
- The League was separated into three branches- The Council (Britain, France, Italy,
Japan and later Germany) [veto powers but had to be unanimous]- met when necessary
4-5 times a year = real power
- The Assembly: all member nations- votes had to be unanimous- met once a year to
decide on membership
- The Secretariat: slow- civil service arrange meetings
- Commissions: mandates, disarmament and slavery
- Committees: Health organisation and international labour organisation
Organisation: If a dispute occurred, under the Covenant, the League could do three
things:
• Call states in dispute to discuss the problem in an orderly and peaceful manner in the
League’s Assembly (parliament). The Assembly would reach a unanimous decision on
how to proceed. The League could introduce verbal sanctions (warnings or face
consequences).
• Impose economic sanctions which were unanimously agreed and arranged by the
League’s Council consisting of the main members of the League. The aim was to
financially hit the aggressor hard, pushing them towards bankruptcy, so that people
would force the government to accept the decision of the League
• Impose physical sanctions using a military force
What are the problems with this?
- Countries could still trade with America and Germany, which had the largest economy
and was a superpower- the country therefore wouldn't go bankrupt
- What happens if all the countries are not unanimous in the decision making?
- The armies sent to deal with the dispute, the army may not agree with what they are
fighting for and be disgruntled as they had just fought a world war- do not have their own
• Resolve disputes and stop wars
• Improve people’s living and working conditions
• Disarmament
• Enforce the Treaty of Versailles (peace settlement)
• It was based in Geneva, Switzerland which was a neutral country and was already home
to the international organisation the Red Cross
- The League was separated into three branches- The Council (Britain, France, Italy,
Japan and later Germany) [veto powers but had to be unanimous]- met when necessary
4-5 times a year = real power
- The Assembly: all member nations- votes had to be unanimous- met once a year to
decide on membership
- The Secretariat: slow- civil service arrange meetings
- Commissions: mandates, disarmament and slavery
- Committees: Health organisation and international labour organisation
Organisation: If a dispute occurred, under the Covenant, the League could do three
things:
• Call states in dispute to discuss the problem in an orderly and peaceful manner in the
League’s Assembly (parliament). The Assembly would reach a unanimous decision on
how to proceed. The League could introduce verbal sanctions (warnings or face
consequences).
• Impose economic sanctions which were unanimously agreed and arranged by the
League’s Council consisting of the main members of the League. The aim was to
financially hit the aggressor hard, pushing them towards bankruptcy, so that people
would force the government to accept the decision of the League
• Impose physical sanctions using a military force
What are the problems with this?
- Countries could still trade with America and Germany, which had the largest economy
and was a superpower- the country therefore wouldn't go bankrupt
- What happens if all the countries are not unanimous in the decision making?
- The armies sent to deal with the dispute, the army may not agree with what they are
fighting for and be disgruntled as they had just fought a world war- do not have their own
