HUMANITIES YEAR 8 REVISION GUIDE/2 C A TEST ND

1. What are the two major alliances at war in 19 century Europe and the countries under each
th

alliance

Triple Alliance:

Germany

Austria-Hungary

Italy

Triple Entente:

Great Britain

France

Russia

2. What is the league of nations?

The league of nations was an organisation where countries could settle their disputes without
going to war, based in Geneva, Switzerland (neutral).

3. When was the League formed and when did the League collapse?

The league of nations was formed 10th January 1920 and died 20th April 1946.

4. What were the main aims of the League of Nations?

K.E.E.P.P

Keep world peace by discouraging aggression from any country

Encourage international cooperation in trade and commerce.

Enhance living and working conditions all around the world.

Persuade all countries to disarm

Peace Treaty of Versailles, to uphold its terms

5. What were the power processes of the League of Nations?

Condemn: This is telling a country they are wrong in front of the open assembly

Arbitration: Offering to mediate between the two conflicting countries

Military Sanctions: If all above fail, the military of the other members can be joined together and
used against that country.

6. Mention all the organs of the League of Nations in its structure

Assembly

Secretariat

Council

7. Explain 3 functions of each organ of the League of Nations

Assembly

Debate and Decision Making: The assembly provided a forum for discussing and voting on
international issues.

Approving the Leagues budget: The Assembly approved the financial budget for the Leagues
projects.

Electing Non-Permanent members of the Council: The assembly voted for non permanent
members to join the council.

Council:

Conflict resolution: Negotiate and mediate during international disputes to keep peace

Sanctions: Impose economic or military sanctions on countries breaking international laws.

Emergency Response: Quickly think of solutions to international crises.

Secretariat:

Administrative Support: Handle the administrative functions of the League

Information Dispersion: To Collect and disperse reports and relevant information

Organise meetings: Set up and prepare for meetings of the Assembly and Council

8. Describe the Treaty of Versailles and the main terms of the treaty

The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed in 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference, which
ended World War 1 between The Allied Powers and Germany.

Terms of the Treaty:

War Guilt Clause: This term of the treaty forced Germany to take full blame for starting the war.

Reparations: This term of the treaty forced Germany to pay a large amount of money to make up
for the casualties and damages done during the war.
Military Restrictions/Disarmament: Germany’s military was reduced to about 100,000 men, their
navy was restricted and they could not have an Air Force. Additionally, they had to surrender
all prohibited war material in 2 months.

Loss of Territory/Land: Germany was to give up its land to Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Poland.
It also had to return Alsace Lorriane to France and give up all of its colonies to the Allied
Nations.

Exclusion from the League of Nations: Germany could not join the league of nations, this was
because defeated countries were not allowed to join the league of nations.

Anschluss: The word ‘Anschluss’ means ‘joining’, ant this term of the treaty meant that the
unification of Germany and Austria was not allowed.

9. Mention other smaller treaties and briefly explain them

Treaty of Saint- Germaine (1919):

This treaty dismantled the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which led to the formation of many new
countries like Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia etc. Austria also saw the independence of
Hungary.

Treaty of Neuilly (1919):

This treaty forced Bulgaria to give up its territories to Romania, Greece and Yugoslavia, disarm
and pay reparations.

Treaty of Trianon(1920):

Hungary lost a significant amount of land to Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia,

Treaty of Sevres(1920):

This treaty dismantled the Ottoman Empire, allocating its land to the various Allied Powers,
creating new states. This was not fully implemented due to Turkey's resistance

Treaty of Lausanne(1923):

This treaty replaced the Treaty of Sevres, establishing the borders of modern Turkey and
nullifying Turkey’s previous territorial losses

10. The Aaland Island dispute was against which country

Sweden and Finland (1921)

11. Recall all the countries not allowed to join the league when it was formed and why.
Germany - Germany was not allowed to join the League of Nations because it was a defeated
nation in World War 1

Russia - Russia was not allowed to join the League of nations mainly due to its communist
government

America - America did not join because it was isolationist (isolating itself from current world
affairs)

12. What was the decision of the League of Nations over the Aaland Island dispute?

The League of Nations decided to give the Aaland Island to Finland, both Finland and Sweden
accepted, meaning it was a success for the league.

13. How was the League important in managing the Greek Bulgarian incident?

The league of nations interfered and ordered a cease fire, both sides (Greek and Bulgaria)
accepted. Greece was asked to pay a fine of 45,000 pounds.

14. Examine the failures of the League of Nations in the 1920s

Vilna Poland incident(1920):

The League of Nations was involved in the Vilna Poland incident. In the early summer of 1920,
The Red Army occupied Vilna and on the 12th of July, Russia gave Vilna to Lithuania. This
caused violence between Poland and Lithuania and Poland took over Vilna. The League of
Nations demanded for Poland to leave but Poland refused, making this a failure for the
league.

Corfu Incident(1923):

In 1923, Italian forces occupied the Greek Island of Corfu after Greek rebels killed an Italian
general.

Italy demanded Greece to pay reparations but Greece refused so Italy bombarded and took
Corfu.

The League of Nations condemned Italy’s actions as illegal aggression but they could not kick
them out of Corfu.

Eventually, under pressure, Italy left Corfu after Greece agreed to pay reparations.

This was considered a failure for the League of Nation’s because they were unable to stop a
powerful nation from using military force. Also, the tension between Greece and Italy
increased

15. Narrate the Upper Silesian incident

This incident took place in 1921, Germany and Poland were struggling over who Upper Silesia(an
industrial region on their border) belonged to. This incident was brought to the League of
nations, who held a plebiscite in favour of Germany. The League of Nations decided that the
 land of Upper Silesia would go to Germany and the industries would go to Poland, both
countries agreed. Although, Germany was not pleased with the decision.

16. What are the two major pandemics of the 1920s and how it get the attention of the LONs

Leprosy and Malaria. The Health Committee, which was part of the League of Nations, worked
to defeat diseases such as Leprosy and Malaria. The Health Committee later became the
World Health Organisation

17. Describe the Mukden incident

On September 18, 1931, An explosion destroyed a section of a railway track near Mukden in
Japan.

The Japanese who owned the railway track blamed it on the Chinese nationalists and took the
incident as an opportunity to retaliate by invading Manchuria (in China).

Japan invaded Manchuria until China brought the incident to the League of Nations.

The League of Nations ordered Japan to stop invading Manchuria but they refused.

This was counted as one of the many fails of the League of Nations.

18. What do you understand by disarmament conference?

In 1932, The League of Nations held a disarmament conference. This conference produced
solutions to reduce countries’ artillery and tanks, ban the bombing of civilians and chemical
warfare. Though the League of Nations were not sure what to do about Germany. It was
either Germany rearmed or the other countries disarmed.

In 1932, Germany walked out of the League of Nations disarmament conference after the other
countries refused for them (Germany) to rearm.

Later that year, an agreement was reached for Germany to rearm.

Germany rejoined and Hitler secretly started to rearm the country.

In 1933, Hitler removed Germany from the disarmament conference and from the League of
Nations.

19. How many countries were sent as representatives?

In total 63 countries became members of the league of nations (but the most member countries
sent at the same time were 60).

20. Describe all the failures of the league in the 1930s

Mukden Incident/Manchurian Crisis (1931)

On September 18 1931 18 1931, an explosion destroyed a section of a railway near the city
of Mukden in Japan.

The Japanese owners of the railway track blamed it on Chinese nationalists and saw this as
an opportunity to retaliate by invading Manchuria (in China).
Japan invaded Manchuria until China took the incident to the League of Nations.

The League of Nations demanded Japan to stop the invasions but Japan refused, making
this a failure for the League of Nations.

Disarmament Conference (1932)

In 1932, The League of Nations held a disarmament conference. The conference produced
solutions to reduce the countries’ artileries and tanks, ban the bombing of civilians and
chemical warfare. Although, the League of Nations did not know what to do about Germany.
It was either Germany was allowed to rearm or the other countries had to disarm.

In 1932, Germany walked out of the League of Nations disarmament conference because
the other countries refused to let Germany rearm.

Later that year, an agreement was reached to treat Germany equally

Germany rejoined and Hitler started to secretly rearm the country.

In 1933, Hitler removed Germany from the Disarmament Conference and the League of
Nations.

Abyssinia Crisis (1934)

In 1934, the Abyssinian Crisis happened between Italy and Ethiopia in (or over) Abyssinia.
Bennito Mussolini, the Prime Minister of Italy at that time, claimed that Abyssinia belonged
to Italy and started preparing for an invasion. The Abyssinian Emperor took this crisis to the
League of Nations and the League of Nations told Benito Mussolini that some of the land
would go to Italy but Benito Mussolini refused. The League of Nations watched helplessly as
Benito Mussolini annexed the country of Abyssinia. This was counted as another failure for
the League of Nations.