League+of+Nations

=League Of Nations=

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The League Of Nations was an organization that was formed after the first World War. Its mandate was to attempt to make war obsolete. The idea for the League Of Nations was first proposed in 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson of the USA. The League of Nations was located in Geneva, Switzerland due to their neutral status and already existing Red Cross Organization. At first it consisted of several nations, the most powerful being France and England. They would not let Germany join because of the damage that Germany caused during World War l. Russia was not allowed to join because they were a feared communist country. The United States of America chose not to join because after the war they tried to stay out of international issues and organizations.



History
Before August 1914, countries relied on their ambassadors to handle all of the relationships between various countries. Many in later years referred to this method of sloving problems as "Old Diplomacy." This method had its good and bad points. One of its greatest advantages was that by having representatives in many, many countries a government got a very broad veiw of the world. The ambassadors had to be well informed and very good negotiators. The disadvantages included how ambassadors were selected and the increasingly complex world. Ambassadors were often selected not for their knowledge and skills, but rather due to their status in society. Communication and technological advances were creating a completely new and complex global village. The entire world was scared and horrified by all the death and destruction that took place in Europe during World War I. No one wanted this to ever happen again. A great deal of termoil resulted from the Versailles Treaty, and leaders were looking for a way to solve disputes without warfare.

Organization
If a dispute betweeen countries occurred, the League Of Nations could only do three things. First, it could invite the disputing countries to sit down and discuss their problems together in a civilized manner. The League's parliament would listen to both sides and make a decision. The League could issue a warning to the country at fault. If the aggressor nation refused to take the League's advice, economic sanctions would be introduced. This meant that other members of the League would trade with the aggressor nation in the hope that this would force the aggressor to accept the League's decision. Under the League's covenant, if economic sanctions proved unsuccesful the League could introduce physical sanctions. However, the League didn't have a military force of its own so this was an empty threat.

Successes
In 1921 the League succesfully arbitrated a dispute between Finland and Sweden over the Aaland Islands. The League's decision still remains in force today. Also in 1929, the League resolved a territorial dispute between Germany and Poland involving Upper Silesia. In 1923 the League settled a dispute involving the port of Memel by making the port an "international zone." Following a bloody war in Turkey the League responded to the refugees created by the war with humanitarian aid. The League Of Nations stopped a war between Greece and Bulgaria in 1925 by sending experts and ordering both armies to stop fighting. Thankfully both nations accepted the decision. The League did achieve important humanitarian successes. It created a health organization with the idea of wiping out specific diseases from the world. It worked to improve women's status in society and eradicate child slave labor. They also attempted to deal with the problems incurred by the use of illegal drugs.

Failures
The League's covenant stated: " Any war or threat of war is a matter of concern to the whole League and the League shall take action that may safe guard peace." Because of this, any war must be considered a failure of the League. Some of the wars that occurred during the League's tenure included Italy in 1919, when Italian nationalists captured Fiume. The League did nothing to stop Polish and Czech troops that fought in the streets of Teschen. When Poles seized the Lithuanian city of Vilna in 1920, the Lithuanians asked the League for help but the League did nothing. The League did nothing again when the Poles invaded land held by the Russians. Two League members went against the League's covenant by invading the Ruhr, Germany's most important industrial zone. The League did nothing about this either. When Benito Mussolini attacked the Greek island of Corfu the League endorsed Italy's actions by implementing a fine on Greece!

The Demise of The League
By the mid 1930's With the rise of fascist governments in Italy and Germany The League became even more ineffective. All meaningful deplomacy was once again occurring directly between the concerned nations, and the League became more and more irrelvent. In hind sight one has to credit the League Of Nations with altering the mindset of the world. Nations came to see that collective security and collective action had the potential to benefit all. The United Nations was created in the footsteps of the League Of Nations. The UN attempted to learn from the mistakes of the League's charter.