ECZ History Paper 2 (2167/2) tests World Affairs. A question on the League of Nations or the causes of World War I appears in almost every alternating exam. Examiners reward essays that balance both long-term and immediate triggers rather than narrating military battle scenes.
Train pupils to analyze the League of Nations objectively: acknowledge its notable social/humanitarian successes in the 1920s (Aaland Islands, Upper Silesia, combating typhus, refugee passports) before detailing its high-profile political failures in Manchuria (1931) and Abyssinia (1935).
Table of Contents
- 1. The Long-Term Causes of World War I (MAIN)
- 2. The Sarajevo Spark & the July Crisis (1914)
- 3. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles & Its Harsh Terms (BRAT)
- 4. The League of Nations: Aims, Structure & Organs
- 5. Successes of the League in the 1920s
- 6. Why the League Failed: Manchuria, Abyssinia & Structural Flaws
- 7. 20-Mark Model Essay Plan with Examiner Commentary
- 8. Frequently Asked Questions
1. The Long-Term Causes of World War I (MAIN)
World War I (1914–1918) was not caused by a single isolated event, but by a combustible mixture of four entrenched geopolitical developments spanning decades:
| Cause | Historical Evidence & Geopolitical Impact |
|---|---|
| Militarism | Aggressive buildup of military armaments and standing armies. Anglo-German naval race to build modern Dreadnought battleships created deep paranoia in London and Berlin. |
| Alliances | Europe was partitioned into two armed rival camps: Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy - 1882) and Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia - 1907). A localized conflict between two states automatically dragged all allies into total war. |
| Imperialism | Intense colonial rivalry for raw materials and global markets. Crises in Morocco (1905 and 1911) brought France and Germany to the brink of armed warfare. |
| Nationalism | Extreme patriotic pride and ethnic self-determination. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Slavic minorities (Serbs, Croats) agitated for independence, aided by Serbia and Russia (Pan-Slavism). |
2. The Sarajevo Spark & the July Crisis (1914)
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by Gavrilo Princip, a young Bosnian Serb nationalist belonging to the Black Hand secret terrorist society.
The Domino Chain Reaction:
- Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia and secured a "blank cheque" of unconditional military backing from Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.
- Austria-Hungary delivered an intentionally harsh 10-point ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July; Serbia accepted 8 points, but rejected Austrian police participation inside Serbia.
- Austria declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.
- Russia ordered general mobilization to protect Slavic ally Serbia.
- Germany declared war on Russia (1 August) and France (3 August), initiating the Schlieffen Plan through neutral Belgium.
- Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 to defend Belgian neutrality under the 1839 Treaty of London.
3. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles & Its Harsh Terms
Signed on 28 June 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, the treaty imposed punitive settlement terms on defeated Germany, formulated predominantly by the "Big Three": Woodrow Wilson (USA), Georges Clemenceau (France), and David Lloyd George (Britain). Memorize the terms using the acronym BRAT:
The BRAT Punitive Terms:
- B - Blame (War Guilt Clause 231): Germany was forced to accept full, sole moral and legal responsibility for starting the entire war.
- R - Reparations: Germany was required to pay astronomical financial compensation of £6.6 billion to the victorious Allied powers, bankrupting its post-war economy and triggering hyperinflation.
- A - Armed Forces Disarmament: German army restricted strictly to 100,000 volunteers; conscription banned; no tanks, military aircraft, or submarines permitted; navy restricted to 6 small battleships; Rhineland permanently demilitarized.
- T - Territory Confiscated: Germany lost all overseas African colonies (Tanganyika, South West Africa, Togoland, Cameroon) as League mandates; Alsace-Lorraine returned to France; Polish Corridor created, splitting East Prussia from Germany.
4. The League of Nations: Aims, Structure & Organs
Formed as part of Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points, the primary objective of the League of Nations was to maintain international peace and prevent future global conflicts through collective security, disarmament, and diplomatic arbitration.
The Assembly
The general parliament where all member nations had one vote. Decisions on major policies required unanimous consent, making quick action virtually impossible.
The Council
The executive steering committee consisting of 4 permanent members (Britain, France, Italy, Japan) and temporary non-permanent members. Any permanent member held veto power.
The Secretariat
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, managed civil administrative work, records, and humanitarian commissions under the Secretary-General.
Specialized Commissions
International Labour Organization (ILO), Health Organisation (combating leprosy, malaria, and cholera), Refugees Commission (headed by Fridtjof Nansen), and Mandates Commission.
5. Successes of the League of Nations in the 1920s
It is an examiner error to assert that the League achieved nothing. In the 1920s, before the Great Depression, the League scored notable successes:
- Aaland Islands (1921): Successfully settled a territorial dispute between Sweden and Finland; islands awarded to Finland with Swedish minority protections.
- Upper Silesia (1921): Handled a peaceful border plebiscite between Germany and Poland, partitioning the industrial region fairly.
- War of the Stray Dog (Bulgaria vs Greece, 1925): League ordered Greek troops to withdraw from Bulgaria and fined Greece £45,000 for invasion; Greece complied.
- Social & Humanitarian Work: Repatriated over 400,000 prisoners of war; introduced the "Nansen Passport" for stateless refugees; freed 200,000 enslaved people in Sierra Leone; established standard 8-hour work days via the ILO.
6. Why the League Failed: Manchuria, Abyssinia & Structural Flaws
The credibility of collective security was shattered during the 1930s when confronted with aggressive militarist regimes:
| Crisis | League Action | Outcome & Fatal Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Manchurian Crisis (1931–1933) | Japan invaded Chinese Manchuria following the staged Mukden Railway incident. The League dispatched Lord Lytton's commission, which took a full year to publish a report condemning Japan. | Japan simply walked out of the League in 1933 and kept Manchuria. Proved the League could not restrain a great power thousands of miles away without US naval power. |
| Abyssinian Crisis (1935–1936) | Benito Mussolini's fascist Italy invaded Emperor Haile Selassie's Ethiopia using poison mustard gas. League imposed limited sanctions, but exempted coal, iron, and petroleum (oil). Britain left Suez Canal open to Italian troopships. | Italy conquered Abyssinia, withdrew from the League, and formed the Rome-Berlin Axis with Hitler. Secret Hoare-Laval Pact exposed British and French hypocrisy. |
7. 20-Mark Model Essay Plan with Examiner Commentary
"To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles responsible for the outbreak of the Second World War?" [20 Marks]
Model Structure Plan:
- Introduction (2 Marks): Define the Treaty of Versailles (1919). State the hypothesis: while Versailles created intense German resentment and economic vulnerability, other factors—such as the Great Depression, Hitler's expansionist ideology (Lebensraum), the weakness of the League, and Anglo-French appeasement—were equally decisive.
- Section A - Role of the Treaty of Versailles (8 Marks):
- Clause 231 (War Guilt) wounded German national pride, creating the "stab-in-the-back" (Dolchstoß) myth exploited by extremist parties.
- Crippling reparations triggered hyperinflation in 1923 and left Germany financially vulnerable.
- Territorial losses (Polish Corridor, Danzig) created a persistent national obsession with territorial revisionism that Hitler promised to undo.
- Section B - Other Contributing Factors (8 Marks):
- The 1929 Wall Street Crash and Great Depression caused 6 million German unemployed, driving voters to the Nazi party.
- Hitler's aggressive racial and territorial worldview seeking Lebensraum (living space) in Eastern Europe.
- British and French policy of Appeasement (remilitarization of Rhineland 1936, Anschluss with Austria 1938, Munich Agreement 1938) convinced Hitler Western democracies were too weak to fight.
- Failure of the League of Nations to provide collective security after Manchuria and Abyssinia.
- Conclusion (2 Marks): Conclude that Versailles provided the ideological fuel and popular grievances, but the Great Depression and Hitler's calculated militarism were the catalysts that ignited the war in September 1939.
8. Frequently Asked Questions
Why didn't the United States join the League of Nations?
Although President Woodrow Wilson championed the League, the US Senate, dominated by Republicans led by Henry Cabot Lodge, refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. Americans favored a policy of isolationism, fearing Article 10 would force US troops into endless European wars.
What was the Munich Agreement of 1938?
A pact signed by Britain, France, Italy, and Germany allowing Hitler to annex the Sudetenland border region of Czechoslovakia in exchange for a pledge of future peace. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain hailed it as "peace for our time," but Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia six months later.
What triggered Britain and France's formal declaration of war in 1939?
The German blitzkrieg invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, following the secret German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). Britain and France honored their mutual assistance guarantee to Poland and declared war on 3 September 1939.