The Failure of the League of Nations

Causes of World War II:
The Failure of the League of Nations

bao-bao and van

Evidences:

1.
The first crisis the League had to face was in north Italy In 1919, Italian nationalists, angered that the "Big Three" had, in their opinion, broken promises to Italy at the Treaty of Versailles, captured the small port of Fiume. The Treaty of Versailles had given this port to Yugoslavia. For 15 months, an Italian nationalist called d’Annunzio governed Fiume. The newly created League did nothing. The situation was solved by the Italian government who could not accept that d’Annunzio was seemingly more popular than they were – so they bombarded the port of Fiume and enforced a surrender. In all this the League played no part despite the fact that it had just been set up with the specific task of maintaining peace.

2.
The next crisis the League faced was at Teschen, which was a small town between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Its main importance was that it had valuable coalmines there, which both the Poles and the Czechs wanted. As both were newly created nations, both wanted to make their respective economies as strong as possible and the acquisition of rich coal mines would certainly help in this respect. In January 1919, Polish and Czech troops fought in the streets of Teschen. Many died. The League was called on to help and decided that the bulk of the town should go to Poland while Czechoslovakia should have one of Teschen’s suburbs. This suburb contained the most valuable coalmines and the Poles refused to accept this decision. Though no more wholesale violence took place, the two countries continued to argue over the issue for the next twenty years.

3.
The League was mostly silent in the face of major events leading to World War II such as Hitler's re-militarisation of the Rhineland, occupation of the Sudetenland and Anschluss of Austia, which had been forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles.

4.
This problem was inter-linked with the fact that the League was very slow at making decisions. With no armed forces this made it difficult to impose decisions. Therefore when a crisis occurred the League was supposed to act fast with resoluteness. Although, often the League met too infrequently and took far too long to make critical decisions. This need for all members to agree on a course of action undermined the strength of the League. The League was too indecisive; they needed some influential countries.

Citation:

"League of Nations Failure." History Learning Site. 7 Jan 2009 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/league_nations_failures.htm.

"League of Nations." Wikipedia. 6 January 2009. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 7 Jan 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations.

"The Failure of the League of Nations." Planet Papers. 7 Jan 2009 http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/1677.php.

QUESTIONS ON NAZI GERMANY

1. What was a weakness of the Weimar Republic?

a. They were the government involved in the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

b. There was no tradition of democracy in Germany.

c. There was no strong leadership, instead, there were coalition governments.

d. All of the above



2. In November 1923, a new Chancellor was appointed. He helped Germany get back on its feet economically, what was his name?

a. Gustav Stresemann

b. Dr Wolfgang Kapp

c. Matthias Erzberger

d. Walter Rathenau



3. Who were the 3 leaders for the SA, the SS, and the Gestapo?

a. Goebbels, Stresemann, Hindenburg

b. Rohm, Stalin, Himmler

c. Heydrich, Rohm, Himmler

d. None of the above



4. In 1934 Hitler set up the People's Court, this is the equivalent of what during Russia's revolution?

a. Purges

b. Show trials

c. Court trials

d. Executions


5. Who were the Undesirables?

a. People who were loyal to Hitler, but betrayed him in the end.

b. People who were not Aryan, and did not fit in the society.

c. Aryans

d. All of the above









Answers:
d a c b b

Propaganda Posters

Today, advertisements are used to persuade us to buy a particular piece of item. Similarly, propaganda is information that is used to convert a person, so that they believe in something they originally didn’t believe in. Propaganda also is the government’s message to the people–regardless if it’s true or false–to influence their opinions or decisions. Studying propaganda posters in history may allow us to have a better understanding of how they tried to manipulate different people, and how they targeted specific types of people with one poster.


"Image: Soviet propaganda.jpg." Wikimedia Commons. 7 November 2006. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 27 Oct 2008 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Soviet_propaganda.jpg.


This propaganda has a strong and bold message, and it is extremely radical. The propaganda is trying to embed patriotic feelings in the hearts of supporters of the Bolsheviks. It will cause a new surge of feelings for the people to keep fighting for a cause they believe in. The vibrant red color this whole poster is made up of is the color of the Bolsheviks; the characters in the poster play an important role for transferring the message to people, the soldier stands for the Red Army and the workers in the background are the working class of Russia (who make up the Petrograd Soviets), and the symbol in the background is that of the Soviets. The colors are extremely effective because it catches people’s attention before they see anything else; the poster is clean and simple so people can understand its meaning and not interpret it differently.



"Soviet propaganda posters." Soviet Posters. 27 Oct 2008 http://www.davno.ru/soviet-posters/propaganda/.


Using one person to send out a message to everyone, and having a few simple words underneath the picture is particularly an effective method to gain people’s attention. This poster gets its message across by using a person’s facial expression and hand signals; the words to the side and below the person also help direct a passerby towards supporting the poster. However, the person that is conveying the message is a woman, and this might stop a lot of people from paying attention to this poster; women had to fight for their voice and opinion to be heard by everyone. The propaganda is trying to get people to stop talking, and that they should be quiet and submissive. It is also trying to get people to think carefully about what they say. The message of this poster is “being quiet can save your life”. This poster is trying to promote censorship.



Flickr. 27 Oct 2008 http://static.flickr.com/54/135870813_73171afa59_m.jpg.

This poster has a message that gives hope to many people. The message of the poster is to get people to keep facing forward, and to not look back. It is trying to get supporters to keep going and to not give up. It transmits its message by using the flag, colors, and characters. The flag is red which is the Bolshevik’s color, the sun at the back is lively which could stand for a new day, and the men who are holding up the flag are the elected members of the working class. The man that is holding up the flag may be the leader of the followers, who belong to the Bolsheviks. Infusing all these elements together is an effective way to get the message across. People may react to this poster differently, but they are positive reactions.

The 3 propaganda posters presented above all have something in common; they use a variety of colors to project their meaning, and the message is usually very strong and clear. The message also comes from a group of people who are trying to get people to support their cause, which is something the posters have in common. The posters tell me that the Russians were manipulative, and it’s like playing a game of tug-of-war, they are trying to pull more people onto each one’s side. Russia is a huge place and it was difficult to govern the whole place at once, so they had to use some sort of approach to communicate with their people. Propagandas direct citizens towards something the people in power want them to be interested in. The use of propaganda is very effective because they brainwash people and lead them to believe in something else.

General John J. Pershing

"Index of illustration." 12 Sep 2008 <http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/comment/Scott/images/01front/S005.jpg>.

Time drags on in the Western Front during World War 1. The war was a stalemate when American troops arrived to give the events a little push. General Pershing was an important general in World War 1. I chose this topic because it is interesting that America did not get involved in the war until it neared the end. General Pershing was important to that involvement of America in the World War.

General John Joseph Pershing was born on September 13, 1860. He was born in Missouri, and joined the army after graduating. General Pershing led the American Expeditionary Force, and was in charge of the American troops when America entered World War 1. Within a limited amount of time, he recruited about 2 million men which became the National Army. He helped the French and British forces push back Germany, not allowing her to take over France.

These events took place in both America and France. In 1917, General Pershing had to convince the British and French to not divide the American troops up. In 1918, when the war ended, General Pershing returned to America as a hero. He died on July 15, 1948.

General Pershing was famous because he helped France and Britain defend France from Germany. He placed the American troops under France's General Foch, but refused to allow the American troops to be spilt up. He later received the title of General of Armies, which nobody had received before.

I think General Pershing is an admirable man. He helped change the history of World War 1. The stalemate was getting nowhere, and things were in bad shape in the Western Front. To pursue a point of not dividing troops up is important because this helped them win the war. Quantity doesn't matter, but the quality is something essential.

"Britannica." Britannica. 12 Sep 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/image3.jpg. >

Citation:

Dunder, Jonathan."John Pershing Biography- The Free Information Society." The Free Information Society. 12 Sep 2008 <http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=2219>.

"Pershing's Biography." Pershing Rifles C-12 (ABN). 12 Sep 2008 <http://web.mit.edu/c12abn/www/pershing.shtml>.

"John Joseph Pershing." America's Story. 12 Sep 2008 <http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/pershing>