The 1920s:Efforts at Peace

Earlier Efforts

• The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 were efforts to solve problems before they led to a major war

• A third Hague Conference was scheduled for 1915 – it never took place because of World War I (1914-1918)

United Nations TODAY

General Assembly Meeting in New York, March 1, 2011

United Nations TODAY

Nawaf Salam (at podium), Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the UN, Pictured behindMr. Salam (from left): Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Joseph Deiss, President of the sixty-fifthsession of the Assembly; and Muhammad Shaaban, Under-Secretary General for GeneralAssembly Affairs and Conference Management.

League of Nations

• international organization• Proposed in President Woodrow Wilson’s

Fourteen Points• formed as a result of Paris Peace Conference

after World War I (1919-1920)• first met in 1920• first action was to ratify the Treaty of Versailles

League of Nations

First assembly in Geneva, representatives from 41 nations attended

League of Nations - GOALS

• prevent war through collective security (primary purpose)

• disarmament • settle disputes through diplomacy and by

improving the general welfare (living conditions) of people

League of Nations - Structure

• Secretariat, headed by the General Secretary – day-to-day staff

• Council• Assembly• numerous Agencies and Commission

League of Nations - Council

• had the authority to deal with any matter affecting world peace

• four permanent members – Britain, France, Italy, Japan (Germany eventually became fifth permanent member)

• four rotating members – each served a three-year term – eventually increased to eleven members

13th Council Session

League of Nations – other bodies

• Permanent Court of International Justice• Health Committee• Mandates Commission• International Labor Board• Permanent Central Opium Board• etc., etc., etc.

League of Nations - Methods

• Diplomatic negotiation• Condemnation• Economic sanctions

League of Nations - Weaknesses

• United States never joined• had no army of its own – had to depend on

the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions• Britain and France were reluctant to use

sanctions and even more reluctant to take military action

• Japan, Germany, and Italy all quit the League during the 1930s

United Nations - Peacekeepers

Polish soldier (left) and Indonesian soldier, right), patrol officers for United Nations ObserverMission in Georgia (UNOMIG), stop by various houses to interview locals in the Gagida village inAbkhazia region.

United Nations - Peacekeepers

Maj. Frank Hengstermann (right), doctor of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia(UNOMIG) medical team, gives first aid treatment to a local resident in the Gali sector ofAbkhazia region, Georgia.

League of Nations - Failures

• could not prevent the aggression of the Axis Powers during the 1930s

• failed to prevent World War II

Ethiopian emperor Halie Selassie passes through Jerusalem on his way to exile in Britain. He had appealed to the League of Nations for help on June 30, 1936 after Italy invaded his country.The League took no action.

Washington Naval Conference

• The Four-Power Treaty signed by the United States, Great Britain, France and Japan at the (1921).

• By the Four-Power Treaty, all parties agreement to maintain the status quo in the Pacific– respecting the Pacific holdings of the other countries – not seeking further territorial expansion– mutual consultation with each other in the event of

a dispute over territorial possessions

Washington Naval Conference

Tonnage limitations

Capital ships Aircraft carriers

British Empire 525,000 tons 135,000 tons

United States 525,000 tons 135,000 tons

Japan 315,000 tons 81,000 tons

France 175,000 tons 60,000 tons

Italy 175,000 tons 60,000 tons

Kellogg-Briand Pact

• The pact renounced aggressive war, prohibiting the use of war as "an instrument of national policy" except in matters of self-defense

• It made no provisions for sanctions.