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Founding of League of Nations
The League of Nations was created as part of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Period: to
Lifetime of the League of Nations
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Aland Islands crisis
The argument over the ownership of these islands between Sweden and Finland escalated to the point of war, but the League managed to intervene and ended the conflict by handing the archaepelago to Finland, with Sweden reluctlantly agreeing. -
Upper Silesia Dispute
The vital economic area of Upper Silesia was thrown into consternation when both Germany and Poland claimed ownership of the land. When the League was asked to settle the problem, the situation was solved when Germany recieved most of the land but Poland recieved the more economic area. -
Occupation of the Ruhr
Angry at the lack of effort Germany was putting in to fulfil the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, France, Belgium and the United Kingdom decided to take the area of the Ruhr (Rhineland) by force. They aimed to seize vital economic areas for natural resource production, such as coal and timber. The League did very little to sort out the siuation, most likely because two mandates were involved with the invasion, and Germany did not reoccupy the area until Hitler took it back. -
'War of the Stray Dog'
After a Greek soldier who has chasing his dog had been shot by Bulgarian border sentries, Greece was infuriated and decided to invade the Bulgarian border town of Petrich. They also demanded compensation for the deaths of the soldiers killed. However, the League intervened, instead blaming Greece for the incident and fining them 45,000 pounds. -
Wall Street Crash of 1929 (Black Tuesday)
The Wall Street Crash that led to the Great Depression was a very important turning point during the League's lifetime. It caused many to focus on domestic and economic problems rather than political ones. It gave the perfect opportunity for dictators like Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini to rise to power, which gave the League new problems to deal with. It also arguably led to Japan's invasion of Manchuria, who heavily relied on international trade for supplies. -
Invasion of Manchuria
A miniature explosion on a railway in Manchuria, China, led to a Japanese invasion of the area on the grounds that 'it needed to secure the railway' due to Japan's need for resources that came from this railway. However, the explosion was actually detonated by a Japanese lieutenant and the whole invasion was set up. The League did little about the siutation when China turned to them for aid, mostly because of the Great Depression, and Japan was a vital member of the League itself. -
Disarmament Conference
Disarmament was one the League's main goals since its creation. However, it continually struggled to get an organisation together to discuss it until 1932, over ten years after it had been agreed on. Even at the actual conference there was minimal success; many European countries were unwilling to disarm due to fear of being invaded, and eventually Germany walked out in October 1933, and soonafter withdrew from the League permanently. -
Abyssinia Crisis
After increased tensions between Italy and Abyssinia (Ethiopia), a fight broke out between Italian soldiers and Ehtiopian natives during 1934. Mussolini then declared the area Italian territory and soon after began a full-scale invasion. The League could not make excuses to avoid the conflict like it had with Manchuria, as the situation was much closer and Abyssinia had borders with British colonies. After attempting embargoes on Italy, which eventually backfired, the League watched helplessly. -
Tehran Conference
At the Tehran conference, members of the USSR, UK and USA agreed to reinstate the League of Nations as the United Nations. They promised to set up and design it be far less flawed and would work together better in attempt to create an effecient, co-operative Parliament. The Palace of Peace was handed over, and a year later, the League gave its final conference.
