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Causes for the failure of the League of Nations

Causes for the failure of the League of Nations

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The League of Nations did not succeed in its prime aim of settling disputes among nations through peaceful means. Its failure was not its fault. It was indeed the failure of the member nations because they were responsible for it.

1) The United States of America, whose President was responsible f o r founding the League of Nations, could not become a member. Hence the league looked like a building without deep foundation.

2) Whenever the member nations were not happy with the attitude of the League, they were permitted to leave the Organisation.

3) In 1931 Japan captured Manchuria and  renamed  it Manchuko and made it a puppet state. When the League protested against this, Japan resigned from the League. It weakened the League.

4)   The  League  of  Nations  did  not have a permanent force or army of i t s own to implement its policies.

5)  The rise of   dictatorship   in Italy, Japan and Germany weakened     t h e chances of  success of the League.

6)   The statesmen who dominated the League lacked  practical wisdom. Their approach remained somewhat  Utopian and it began to be called by some as “Geneva Conference of Fools”.

7) The above factors where responsible for the failure of league of nations. Yet it  tried its level best to solve international problems and paved way for the formation of U.N.O after the second world war.

First World War (1914-1918)

Central Powers Allied Powers
Germany

Austria- Hungary

Bulgaria

Turkey

Britain

France

Russia

Romania

U.S.A

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Principles of the League of Nations

The Fundamental Principles of the League of Nations

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The  following were the fundamental principles of the League of Nations.

  • It should promote unity among nations and keep peace and security in the world.
  • The member nations of the League should respect and safeguard the frontiers of the neighboring nations without indulging in acts of aggression.
  • The member nations should solve the problems arising among themselves only through the League of Nations. They should wait  atleast  for  three  months  to hear from the League of Nations.
  • If any of the member nations would indulge in war violating the conditions of the League,  the affected nations would be saved, even by resorting to the weapons of war.
  • All treaties contrary to the principles of the League of Nations should be given up.

Organs of the League of Nations

  1. The GeneralAssembly
  2. The Council
  3. The Secretariat
  4. An International Court of Justice
  5. International Labour Organization.

Achievements of the League of Nations


The League of Nations succeeded in solving various problems during its existence for about 20 years which deserve appreciation.

1) It settled  a  problem  between Finland and Sweden regarding the ownership of Aaland  Island in Baltic.

2) It solved a boundary dispute in Silesia and  prevented a war between Poland and Germany.

3)  It settled a dispute between Greece and ltalyoverthe island of Corfu.

4)  It avoided a war between Greece and Bulgaria  over the border disputes.

5)  In 1926 Germany was admitted as a member of the League of Nations followed by Soviet Russia in 1934.

6) It solved a border issue between Peru and Columbia.

7) Through its other organs the League prevented the spread of many diseases.

8) It extended its helping hand in solving the problems of refugees  and lepors. It whole heartedly promoted cultural co-operation among the nations.

9)  It attempted to raise the standard of Education in various states.

10) The international Court of Justice handled more than thirty cases. It delivered judgments in some cases and in some others gave advisory opinions.

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THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS -1920

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS -1920

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In the flames of World War I, Europe was consumed. It made the western countries to realize some international organization must be set up to prevent  war in future.

On the initiative of Woodrow Wilson, the President of USA, in January, 1919 a Peace Conference was  held in  Paris and  the representatives of forty two countries took part in it.

A council of ten with two representatives each from America, Britain, France, Italy and Japan was formed.

They worked hard to make the council  function  well.  But  Francis Clemenceau of France, Lloyd George of England, Woodrow Wilson of America and Orlando of Italy, played a major  role  in  the  conference.

The League of Nations was founded on the basis of their ideas.

In the Paris Peace Conference a suggestion was  given  for the establishment of  an organization of nations.

It was thought that only such an organization could prevent any future wars in the world. Before the foundation of such an organization, other institutions also came up.

They were:-

The League of Nations Society (1915),The world League for Peace (1917),and The League of free nations Association (1918) and the League of Nations Union.

On the 14th  February, 1919  the Peace Conference examined a note on maintaining peace in  the world.

According to it on January,  20th 1920, the League of Nations was officially founded with its headquarters in Geneva,Switzerland.

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Results of the War

Results of the War

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The First World War came to an end by the Pans Peace Conference of 1919.

The main personalities of the conference were, Clemenceau of France, Lloyd George of Britain, Orlando of Italy and President Woodrow Wilson of America.

The Peace Treaty with Germany was signed and it was called as Treaty of Versailles.

Separate treaties were also concluded with other defeated countries.

The Treaty of St Germaine was concluded with Austria,the Treaty of Trianon with Hungary, the Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria and the Treaty of Sevares with Turkey.

It was on the Fourteen Points put forward  by President Woodrow Wilson the terms of the treaties were drafted.

The important  terms of the treaties were the following.

  • The covenant  of  the  League  of Nations was drawn up.
  • A huge war indemnity was imposed on Germany.
  • Her army was Germany surrendered Alsace and Lorraine to France.
  • She also gave up the Saar coal field to be occupied by France for a period of 15 years.
  • The overseas possessions of Germany were divided among the victorious nations.
  • Monarchy was abolished in Germany, Russia, Austria and the Republic of  Austria and Hungarywas  recognised.
  • The city of Danzig was internationalized. In many countries  Monarchies gave place to New Republics of Czechoslovakia and Poland were born
  • Lithuvania, Latvia and Esthonia were granted
  • The victorious nations forced the defeated nations with unfair treaties, it sowed the seeds for another world

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Course of the First World War

Course of the War

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The First World War began in July,28,   1914  and    lasted till November,11,1918.

The countries which were on the side of Germany were called as the Central Powers and those on the side of Britain as the Allies. Artillery, Tanks and Submarines were used in the war.

War in the Western Front

Germany started the offensive and she invaded France by crossing Belgium. The British and French forces were not able to stop the advance of the German forces.

But in the Battle of Marne, the Allies were able to hold them in check. Both the armies dug trenches and fought from them.

War in the Eastern Front

The Russian forces attacked both Germany and Austria. But Russia suffered a defeat at the Battle of Tannenberg.

When Austria was facing a crisis, Germany came to its aid. German forces inflicted heavy losses on the Russian forces and forced them to withdraw  from the Austrian territories.

War in the Near East Front

In October 1914, Turkey entered the war extending her support to the Central Powers.

This  was  a  terrible blow because communications between Russia and theAllies were cut off.

The British made an attempt to capture Gallipoli Peninsula with a view of controlling the Dardanelles and capturing  Constantinople.

But the Dardanelles expedition was an utter failure.

Bulgaria and Romania In the War


The failure of the British in the Dardanelles expedition emboldened Bulgaria to join the side of the Central Powers  in  1915.

Romania joined  the Alliesin 1916.

War on the Sea


While the British navy commanded the  North  Sea,  the Mediterranean sea was dominated by the French and Italian navy with the British support.

In the Battle of Dogger Bank a German battle cruiser was destroyed by the British.

In spite of the heavy losses sustained by both the parties in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, the German fleet retreated to the port.

Since it could not break the naval blockade of Britain,it used submarines to sink the ships of the Allies.

Entry of US In the First World War


In 1917 Germany drowned four merchant  ships of America, including Lusitania with her submarines.

More than hundred Americans died in this incident which made the American president Woodrow Wilson angry.

Hence, on the 6111 April 1917 Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany.

Withdrawal of Russia

Russia suffered major reversal in the war. She suffered heavily both in men and materials.

The discontent of the Russian people found expression in the October Revolution of 1917.

The Czarist  government  was  overthrown by Lenin and Russia withdrew from the war. Russia made peace with Central PowersatBrest-Litovskin 1918.

End of the war

In  the  beginning,  the  Central Powers had some victories but soon their  defenses  began  to break.

The Germans began to retreat.  The resistance   of  Turkey and Bulgaria began  to  crumble. Austria  sued  for peace.

In  November   1918,  Kaiser William II of Germany  abdicated and fled  to  Holland.  Germany  sued  for peace on November 11,1918.

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First World War And its First Causes

First World War(A.D.1914 ·A.D.1918) League of Nations

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The great war known as World War-1 made a mockery of the peace and abundance prophesied by the statesmen and scientists of the 19th century.

It was called as the World War as it engulfed all the countries of the world directly or indirectly.

The war had its impact on the material and non­ material resources of the entire world.

Causes  for the First World War

Ambition of Germany

The  unification  of  Germany  in 1870 made Germany industrially developed.

She needed additional markets and raw materials. Her colonies in Africa were not potentially rich as possessed by England and France.

Kaiser William II of Germany believed that his country alone was competent to rule the whole world.

He could not tolerate the British saying that the sun never sets in the British Empire.

Germany needed colonies not only as a sign of her world importance but also for her growing population.

In order to protect Germany he increased the strength of the army and stationed a fleet at Heligoland in North Sea.

The aggressive policy adopted by the German ruler led to the First World War.

Secret Alliances

The European powers allied themselves into opposing groups and signed several secret military alliances which led suspicion among the countries and finally resulted in the First World War.

The  two opposing groups were:

Triple Alliance-1882-ltaly, Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Triple Entente-1907-France, Britain and Russia.

Lack of International Organization

There was no effective international Organization to reconcile conflicting interests of nations.

There was anarchy in the International relations of the various countries.

The Hague conference of 1882 and 1907 which tried to do some work of reconciliation failed to show any results.

Militarism

Militarism was a strong factor for war. European Statesmen often said “If you wish for peace prepare for war”.

Germany, France and Russia adopted a new programme of arms expansion.

Great Britain increased its, already large, naval expenditure.

Germany, in fear of an anticipated attack from France initiated military expansion.

Colonial and Commercial Rivalry

Since Geographical discovery of the 15th and 16th century there was a race for colonies among the European countries.

The Industrial revolution increased the demand for raw material and market for their manufactured goods.

Germany made a great progress after her unification. Her goods flooded in the international market which made Britain angry.

The Moroccan Problem


When France occupied Morocco it was recognized by Britain. But it was opposed by Kaiser William II of Germany who wanted to declare Morocco an international colony.

He sent two warships-Berlin and Panther to Morocco. When Britain intervened Germany withdrew her ships from Morocco. It wanted to revenge Britain.

The Balkan Problem

The Balkan countries like Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece and Montenegro proclaimed their independence from the Ottoman Empire due to its weakness.

In 1912 the Balkan countries declared war on Turkey. This is known as the First Balkan War. Turkey was defeated.

The war came to an end by the Treaty of London. Dispute arose between Serbia and Bulgaria in sharing the spoils of the war.

In 1913, the other Balkan countries declared war on Bulgaria. This is known as the Second Balkan War.

Turkey and Bulgaria approached Germany to regain their territories.

It resulted in the war.

French interest

France wanted to get back Alsace and  Lorraine  which  she  lost during the Franco – Prussian war to Germany.

France thought that the industrial development of Germany was due to those territories.

So she was waiting for a chance to get back those territories.

Immediate Cause

The Congress of Berlin, 1878 gave the right to Austria – Hungary to govern Bosnia and Herzegovina but not to annex it.

These territories should have gone to Serbia since the inhabitants were Slavs as in Serbia.

But in 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Congress of Berlin.

It created rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.

Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia with humiliating terms. When Serbia ignored the ultimatum, Austria declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.

Russia moved her troops to support the cause of Serbia against Austria.

Germany declared war on Russia. France by her alliance went to help Russia.

So Germany declared war on France. When Britain joined France against Germany the First World War started.

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Taiping Rebellion, Second Opium war, Boxer  Rebellion, The End of Imperialism

Taiping Rebellion- A.O 1854

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The Americans, the French and other foreign countries signed similar treaties with China.

The Chinese rebelled against the native Manchu kings and the foreigners in 1854.

The rebellion was  known as Taiping Rebellion and it was also suppressed.

Second Opium war A.D1857-A.D 1860


The foreigners demanded more ports for  trade. The  Chinese government rejected the demand.

The British and French bombarded and captured Canton in 1857.It was called as the Second Opium War.

The Chinese were defeated and agreed to sign the Treaty at Peking in 1860.

The Chinese ceded the port of Kowloon to Great Britain and opened more ports for other Europeans.

Boxer  Rebellion


After Second Opium war, there prevailed peace and tranquility in China for some time.

When China was defeated by Japan in the First Sino – Japanese war in 1894, China had to give the Island of Formosa (Taiwan) to Japan.

The Chinese got angry with the Manchu ruler. But the Empress Dowager, known as old Buddha decided to divert the public anger against her.

She made the Chinese youths turn their anger towards the foreign powers which led to the outbreak of Boxer Rebellion.

The Boxers attacked the British, French, German, Japanese and  U.S settlements and all the Christians in 1899.

The End of Imperialism


The combined army of the foreign powers defeated the Boxers and marched to Peking, the capital of China.

Empress Dowager fled the capital. The U.S.A and England formulated the Open Door Policy or “Me too policy”.

The Chinese territories were partitioned among the foreign powers for trade rights.

Thus China became an  international colony.

The lessons learnt in the Boxer rebellion paved the way for the Revolution of

1911 and the establishment of a Republic of China under Dr. Sun Vat Sen.

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Imperialism in India & china

Imperialism in India

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The political condition i.e. the rivalry among the native rulers rather than the motive of the British instigated imperialism in India.

The England East India Company was formed in 1600 in England and later it set up a trading post at Surat with the permission of Mughal Emperor, Jahangir.

In the next few years the Mughals granted Britain the right to trade and to establish factories in exchange for English naval protection  to the Mughal Empire, which faced Portuguese sea power.

In 1664, the French East India Company was established by Colbert, a minister of Louis XIV of France and opened  trading centres in India.

There started rivalry between France and Britain. It led to Carnatic wars resulting in the uprooting of the French influence in India.

In  1757,  the  Nawab  of  Bengal Siraj-Ud-Daulah, opposed the British attempts to use Duty free Trade in Bengal.

It resulted in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 led by Robert Clive. The East India Company was granted undisputed right to trade free of tax in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and the 24 parganas near present Calcutta.

The Company acquired the civil rights of administration in Bengal from the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II after its success in the Battle of Buxar in 1764.

It marked the beginning of Company’s formal rule in India. Lord Wellesley conquered number of states in India by his  Subsidiary Alliance.

Lord Dalhousie annexed many more states by his Doctrine of Lapse. In 1857, the Great Indian Revolt  against  the English East India Company’s rule broke out and later it was suppressed.

In 1858, the administration of India was passed to the British Crown by Queen Victoria’s Proclamation.

India continued to be under the rule of British Government  till her independence  in 1947.

Imperialism in China
It is an interesting thing to study about imperialism in China. The Chinese  regarded themselves as superior, and the only truly civilized in the world.

The other Asian traders adopted  the Chinese  culture  but not the European traders.

Hence the trade with  these  foreign powers was restricted to the cities of Canton and Macao from 1757 by the Chinese Emperor.

But the Europeans were irritated by the Chinese behavior.

To India, the British imported sufficient British goods  from England for   Indian  goods.

It  avoided   them paying   in   gold.   But   the   Chinese restricted all trades to the specific ports under the supervision of government officials.

The Chinese sold tea and coffee to the British but always wanted   payment in gold. Over time, the British became worried that huge amounts of gold were ending up in China. So they found out a short cut.

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Imperialism in India

Explain in briefly about Imperialism in India?

Imperialism in china

Explain in briefly about Imperialism in china?

 

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Effects of Imperialism

Effects of Imperialism

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Positive Effects:

The powerful nations developed the transport and communication facilities in the weaker nations.

Formal educational system was They improved medical care, and better methods of sanitation.

They  introduced new farming methods, to get increased food production.

These changes meant less death in the colonies, and overall improvement in the standard of living.

It promoted order, discipline and unity in countries.

Negative Effects:

  • The colonies had no freedom. They were exploited and treated as slaves.
  • Imperialism led to the exploitation of the natural resources of the colonies.
  • The  colonies  were  used  as  the suppliers of raw materials and markets for finished products.
  • The colonies plunged into poverty and unemployment due to the disappearance of   indigenous industries.
  • The traditional pattern of agriculture was completely changed as the natives were forced to cultivate raw materials than food crops.
  • The introduction of western culture and education led to the loss of traditional culture of the colonies.
  • It also led to the extinction of some native races of Africa due to slave trade.
  • The policy of racial discrimination was practiced in some colonies.

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Effects of imperialism

What are the Effects of imperialism?

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Causes for the rise of imperialism

Causes for the rise of imperialism

Industrial Revolution

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Industrial Revolution in European countries resulted in a great increase in production. So it created a great demand for raw materials and new markets in Asian  and African continents where  the  industrial revolution had not yet spread.

They could not find market in Europe as they followed ‘Protective Trade Policy’. The purchasing power of the people was also less due to capitalism. It also introduced a great progress in the means of transport  and communication.

The telegraph system linked the whole world and reduced great distances. The development of railways speeded up the movement of goods between colonies and the mother country.

So it was easier to bring raw materials and to take the finished goods to the markets in the interior parts of the colonies in Asia and Africa.

National security

The sense of national security and self -sufficiency among the European political groups instigated colonial imperialism. Often Presidents or Prime Ministers worked towards colonial imperialism owing to the influence of business or some other interest.

Nationalism

The later part of the nineteenth century saw extreme nationalistic ideals in Europe. Germany and Italy were unified. Many nations developed pride over their race, culture and language and started feeling superior to other countries.

They felt that acquisition of colonies would enhance the  prestige of their nations. Imperialism became the fashion of the age.

The Europeans felt that it was ‘White Man’s burden’ to civilize the backward and uncivilized native people of Africa and Asia. This was another cause for Imperialism.

Balance of power

The concept of Balance of Power was one of the driving factors. European Nations were forced to acquire new colonies to achieve a balance with their neighbors and competitors.

Discovery of New routes

The discovery of new routes to African and Asian continents promoted the spirit of imperialism. The discovery of sea routes paved the way for the traders and soldiers to exploit the abundant wealth of the countries.

Growth of Population

The population growth and its impact-unemployment, forced the Europeans to emigrate in search of new lands and careers abroad.

State of Anarchy

There was no international organization to enact and enforce laws for nations to maintain peace and security among countries before the First World War. This state of anarchy supported the colonial race.

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Causes for the rise of imperialism.

Explain the Causes for the rise of imperialism.