The Work of the League of Nations in Helping People

What did the League of Nations do to try and help people?

One of the League's aims was to make people's lives better. They tried to help people around the world by improving working and living conditions.

How did the League of Nations try to help people?

The League tried to help people through it's special commissions to improve people's lives in a number of areas including: health, economics, human rights, working conditions, and the sale of harmful drugs.

Why did the League of Nations try to help people?

Making lives better by tackling things like health and human rights was seen as an important part of keeping world peace. This was based on the principle that if people were happy they were less likely to quarrel and start a war.

What commissions did the League of Nations set up to try and help people?

The League set up a number of commissions to try and help improve people's lives. These Leagues included:

• ❖ The International Labour organisation, which aimed to improve the working conditions that people worked in.
• ❖ The Commission for Refugees, which aimed to improve the lives of those people affected by war.
• ❖ The Slavery Commission, aimed at helping people by tackling the problem of slavery.
• ❖ The Economic and Financial Committee, aimed at helping people by improving the economies of nations.
• ❖ The Health Committee, aimed at helping people by improving people's health.
• ❖ The Permanent Central Opium Board, which aimed to help people by tackling the problem of harmful drugs.

How did the League of Nations try to help improve working conditions?

The League set up the International Labour organisation, to help by bringing workers, employers and governments together to improve the conditions that people worked in.

How did the League of Nations try to help improve human rights?

The League set up two commissions to help improve human rights:

• ❖ The Commission for Refugees aimed to return prisoners of war home, and support refugees by improving camp conditions and finding new homes.
• ❖ The Slavery Commission aimed to abolish slavery throughout the world.

How did the League of Nations try to help deal with drugs?

The League set up the Permanent Central Opium Board to stop the creation and distribution of opium, a highly addictive drug. It's scope was expanded in 1925 when it turned to tackle other drugs, too.

How did the League of Nations try to help improve health?

The League set up the Health Committee to improve the health of people by dealing with the spread of diseases, and sending doctors to help refugees.

How did the League of Nations commissions try to use economics to help improve people's lives?

The League set up the Economic and Financial Committee to improve nations' economies, rebuild the economies of war torn countries, and implement fair trading that all members had to adhere to.

What successes did the League of Nations commissions have in trying to help improve people's lives?

The League saw it's work in trying to improve the lives of people an important part of keeping world peace, and they had a number of successes.

What successes did the League of Nations have in trying to help improve working conditions?

There were successes in improving the working conditions of people including:

• ❖ In 1922 it recommended banning the use of white lead paint as it was poisonous.
• ❖ In 1928 77 countries agreed to set a minimum wage.
• ❖ In 1930 it helped Greece to set up social security.

What successes did the League of Nations have in trying to help improve human rights?

There were some successes in improving human rights including:

• ❖ In 1921 the League helped free around 427,000 prisoners of war still imprisoned from the First World War.
• ❖ It helped find new homes for 1.5 million refugees who fled the Russian Civil War.
• ❖ It organised raids on the camps of slave traders in Sierra Leone.
• ❖ Sierra Leone announced slavery was abolished in 1927.

What successes did the League of Nations have in trying to help improve economic conditions?

The League had some successes in improving the economic conditions of some countries including:

• ❖ Austria and Hungary were supported by economic experts to ensure they didn't go bankrupt after the First World War.
• ❖ It also developed codes for imports and exports, so that all members followed the same trading regulations.

What successes did the League of Nations have in trying to help improve health conditions?

The League had some successes with improving the health of people.

• ❖ It launched an international campaign to kill mosquitoes which spread infectious diseases such as malaria and yellow fever.
• ❖ It worked with Russia to educate people how typhus spread in order to manage the spread of the disease.
• ❖ It also set up the World Health Organisation, which is still in operation today and plays a huge role in improving the health of people worldwide.

What successes did the League of Nations have in trying to help stop the distribution of harmful drugs?

The League had some successes in dealing with drugs including:

• ❖ It set up a system that required companies to have a certificate to prove they were importing opium for medical purposes only.
• ❖ They blacklisted four companies that had been caught selling illegal drugs.

What failures did the League of Nations commissions have when trying to help improve people's lives?

The League was not always successful when trying to help improve people's lives. They experienced a number of failures.

What failures did the League of Nations have when trying to help improve working conditions?

The League failed to help improve working conditions for people in many ways including:

• ❖ In 1919 it attempted to stop children under 14 from working, but the members did not agree to this as it would cost too much money.
• ❖ In 1935 it tried to limit the working day to 8 hours. However members voted against this as it would cost too much.

What failures did the League of Nations have when trying to help improve human rights?

The League failed in many ways to help improve human rights. Examples include:

• ❖ It tried to support Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933, by appointing a High Commissioner. But Germany rejected this, so a unanimous vote could not be reached.

What failures did the League of Nations have when trying to help improve economic conditions?

The League failed to help improve economic conditions for people after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression. They didn't have the resources to deal with this crisis.

What failures did the League of Nations have when trying to help stop the distribution of harmful drugs?

The League failed to help improve problems with harmful drugs because not many members were interested in tackling the sale of opium. They gained financially from the sale of opium.

Why did the League of Nations fail when trying to help improve people's lives?

There were a number of reasons why the League's commissions failed to help people including:

• ❖ First, the League's members sometimes only acted in their own interests.
• ❖ Second, the structure of the League made it difficult to agree upon suggestions, as there had to be a unanimous vote.