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Peace of Westphalia, European settlements of 1648, which brought to an end the Eighty Years’
War between Spain and the utch and the !erman phase of the "hirty Years’ War # "he peace
was negotiated, from 1644, in the Westphalian towns of $%nster and &snabr%c' # "he Spanish(utch treaty was signed on )anuary *+, 1648# "he treaty of &ctober 4, 1648, comprehended the
-oly .oman emperor /erdinand 000, the other !erman princes, /rance,
and Sweden# England, oland, .ussia, and the &ttoman Empire were the only European powersthat were not represented at the two assemblies# Some scholars of international relations credit
the treaties with pro2iding the foundation of the modern state system and articulating the concept
of territorial so2ereignty#
The delegates"he chief representati2e of the -oly .oman emperor was $a3imilian, !raf count5 2on
"rauttmansdorff , to whose sagacity the conclusion of peace was largely due# "he /rench en2oyswere nominally under -enri 00 d’&rlans, duc de 7ongue2ille, but the maruis de Sabl and the
comte d’92au3 were the real agents of /rance# Sweden was represented by )ohn &3enstierna,
son of the chancellor of that name, and by )ohn 9dler Sal2ius, who had pre2iously acted forSweden in negotiating the "reaty of -amburg 16415# "he papal nuncio was /abio :higi, later
ope 9le3ander ;00# <randenburg, represented by )ohann, !raf 2on Sayn(Wittgenstein, playedthe foremost part among the rotestant states of the empire# &n )une 1, 164=, /rance and Sweden brought forward propositions of peace, which were discussed by the estates of the empire from
&ctober 164= to 9pril 1646# "he settlement of religious matters was effected between /ebruary
1646 and $arch 1648# "he war continued during the deliberations#
The decisions>nder the terms of the peace settlement, a number of countries recei2ed territories or were
confirmed in their so2ereignty o2er territories# "he territorial clauses all fa2oured Sweden,
/rance, and their allies# Sweden obtained western omerania with the city of Stettin5, the portof Wismar , the archbishopric of <remen, and the bishopric of ;erden# "hese gains ga2e Sweden
control of the <altic Sea and the estuaries of the &der ,Elbe, and Weser ri2ers# /rance obtainedso2ereignty o2er 9lsace and was confirmed in its possession of $et?, "oul, and ;erdun, which ithad sei?ed a century before@ /rance thus gained a firm frontier west of the .hine
.i2er # <randenburg obtained eastern omerania and se2eral other smaller
territories# <a2aria was able to 'eep the >pper alatinate, while the .henish alatinatewasrestored to :harles 7ouis, the son of the elector palatine /rederic' ;# "wo other important results
of the territorial settlement were the confirmation of the >nited ro2inces of the Aetherlands and
theSwiss :onfederation as independent republics, thus formally recogni?ing a status which thosetwo states had actually held for many decades# 9part from these territorial changes, a uni2ersal
and unconditional amnesty to all those who had been depri2ed of their possessions was declared,
and it was decreed that all secular lands with specified e3ceptions5 should be restored to those
who had held them in 1618#E2en more important than the territorial redistribution was the ecclesiastical settlement# "he
eace of Westphalia confirmed the eace of 9ugsburg 1===5, which had
granted 7utherans religious tolerance in the empire and which had been rescinded by the -oly.oman emperor /erdinand 00 in his Edict of .estitution 16B5# $oreo2er, the peace settlement
e3tended the eace of 9ugsburg’s pro2isions for religious toleration to the .eformed :al2inist5
church, thus securing toleration for the three great religious communities of the empireC .oman:atholic, 7utheran, and :al2inist# Within these limits the member states of the empire were
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bound to allow at least pri2ate worship, liberty of conscience, and the right of emigration to all
religious minorities and dissidents within their domains# "hese measures of toleration did not
e3tend to non(:atholics in the hereditary lands of the house of -absburg, howe2er#"he difficult uestion of the ownership of spiritual lands was decided by a compromise# "he year
164 was declared the Dstandard year according to which territories should be deemed to be in
.oman :atholic or rotestant possession# <y the important pro2ision that a prince should forfeithis lands if he changed his religion, an obstacle was placed in the way of a further spread of both
the .eformation and the :ounter(.eformation# "he declaration that all protests or 2etoes of the
eace of Westphalia by whomsoe2er pronounced should be null and 2oid dealt a blow at theinter2ention of the .oman :uria in !erman affairs#
"he constitutional changes made by the treaty had far(reaching effects# /or !ermany, the
settlement ended the century(long struggle between the monarchical tendencies of the -oly
.oman emperors and the federalistic aspirations of the empire’s !erman princes# "he eace ofWestphalia recogni?ed the full territorial so2ereignty of the member states of the empire# "hey
were empowered to contract treaties with one another and with foreign powers, pro2ided that the
emperor and the empire suffered no preFudice# <y this and other changes the princes of the
empire became absolute so2ereigns in their own dominions# "he -oly .oman emperor andthe iet were left with a mere shadow of their former power#
Aot only was the central authority of the empire replaced almost entirely by the so2ereignty ofabout *++ princes, but the power of the empire was materially wea'ened in other ways# 0t lost
about 4+,+++ suare miles 1++,+++ suare 'm5 of territory and obtained a frontier against
/rance that was incapable of defense# Sweden and /rance as guarantors of the peace acuired theright of interference in the affairs of the empire, and Sweden also gained a 2oice in its councils
as a member of the iet5# /or many years !ermany thus became the principal theatre of
European diplomacy and war, and the natural de2elopment of !erman national unity was
delayed# <ut if the "reaty of Westphalia pronounced the dissolution of the old order in the empire,it facilitated the growth of new powers in its component parts, especially 9ustria, <a2aria, and
<randenburg# "he treaty was recogni?ed as a fundamental law of the !erman constitution and
formed the basis of all subseuent treaties until the dissolution of the -oly .oman Empire in18+6#
The Concert of Europe (also Vienna system of international relations), also known as
the Congress System after theCongress of Vienna, represented the balance of power that existed
in Europe from the end of the Napoleonic Wars (!") to the outbreak of World War # ($%)&
Contents
• 'eriew
• 'rigins
o & *rench +eolution
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o & ol- .lliance
o &/ 0uadruple .lliance
o &% 1ifferences between the ol- .lliance and the 0uadruple .lliance
• / .greements
• % 2radual erosion (!!3$%)
o %& World War 'ne ($%3$!)
• " 4ee also
• 5 +eferences
• 6 *urther reading
• ! External links
Overview 7edit8
The Concert of Europe was founded b- the powers of .ustria, 9russia, the +ussian Empire and
the :nited ;ingdom, who were the members of the 0uadruple .lliance that defeated Napoleon and
his *irst *rench Empire& #n time, *rance was established as a fifth member of the Concert&
.t first, the leading personalities of the s-stem were <ritish foreign secretar- =ord Castlereagh,
.ustrian Chancellor ;lemens on >etternich and Tsar .lexander # of +ussia& Charles >aurice de
Talle-rand?9@rigordof *rance was largel- responsible for Auickl- returning that countr- to its place
alongside the other maBor powers in international diplomac-&
9rince >etternich, .ustrian Chancellor and an influential leader in the Concert of Europe&
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The age of the Concert is sometimes known as the Age of Metternich, due to the influence of the
.ustrian chancellors conseratism and the dominance of .ustria within the2erman Confederation,
or as the European Restoration, because of the reactionar- efforts of the Congress of Vienna to
restore Europe to its state before the *rench +eolution& #t is known in 2erman as
the Pentarchie (pentarch-) and in +ussian as the Vienna System (DFGHIJ GKGLMI, Venskayasistema)&
The Concert of Europe had no written rules or permanent institutions, but at times of crisis an- of the
member countries could propose a conference& 78 >eetings of the 2reat 9owers during this period
included .ix?la?Chapelle (!!), Carlsbad (!$), Troppau (!O), =aibach (!), Verona (!),
=ondon (!/) and <erlin (!6!)&
The Concerts effectieness came to an end due to the rise of nationalism, the !%! +eolutions,
the Crimean War , the unification of 2erman- and the Risorgimento in #tal-, and the Eastern
0uestion and other factors&
Origins7edit8
The idea of a European federation had been alread- raised b- figures such as 2ottfried =eibniP78 and
the =ord 2renille&7/8 The Concert of Europe, as deeloped b- >etternich, drew upon their ideas and
the notion of a balance of power in international relations, so that the ambitions of each 2reat
9ower would be restrained b- the others
The Concert of Europe, as it began to be called at the time, had &&& a realit- in international law,which deried from the final .ct of the Vienna Congress, which stipulated that the boundaries
established in !" could not be altered without the consent of its eight signatories&7%8
French Revolution7edit8
*rom the outbreak of the *rench +eolutionar- Wars in 6$ to the exile of Napoleon to 4aint
elena in !", Europe had been almost constantl- at war& 1uring this time, the militar- conAuests
of *rance had resulted in the spread of liberalism throughout much of the continent, resulting in
man- states adopting the Napoleonic code& =argel- as a reaction to the radicalism of the *rench
+eolution,7"8 most ictorious powers of the Napoleonic Wars resoled to suppress liberalism
and nationalism, and reert largel- to the status quo of Europe prior to 6!$&758
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Holy Alliance7edit8
The ;ingdom of 9russia and the .ustrian and +ussian Empires formed the ol- .lliance (5
4eptember !") with the expressed intent of presering Christian social alues and
traditional monarchism&768
Eer- member of the coalition promptl- Boined the .lliance, sae forthe :nited ;ingdom, a constitutional monarch- with a more liberal political philosoph-&
Quadruple Alliance7edit8
<ritain did howeer ratif- the 0uadruple .lliance, signed on the same da- as the 4econd 9eace
Treat- of 9aris (O Noember !"), which became the known 0uintuple .lliance when *rance
Boined in !!& #t was also signed b- the same four powers that had signed the ol- .lliance on 5
4eptember !"&7!8
Differences et!een the Holy Alliance and the QuadrupleAlliance7edit8
. lot of debate has occurred between historians as to which treat- was more influential in the
deelopment of international relations in Europe in the two decades following the end of the
Napoleonic Wars& #n the opinion of historian Tim Chapman the differences are somewhat academic
as the powers were not bound b- the terms of the treaties and man- of them intentionall- broke the
terms if it suited them&7$8
The ol- .lliance was the brainchild of Tsar .lexander #& #t gained a lot of support because most
European monarchs did not wish to offend the Tsar b- refusing to sign it, and as it bound monarchs
personall- rather than their goernments, it was eas- to ignore once signed& 'nl- three notable
princes did not sign 9ope 9ius V## (it was not Catholic enough), 4ultan >ahmud ## of 'ttoman
Empire, and the <ritish 9rince +egentbecause his goernment did not wish to pledge itself to the
policing of continental Europe, and in the opinion of =ord Castlereagh, the <ritish foreign secretar- at
the time of its inception, it was Qa piece of sublime m-sticism and nonsenseQ& 7$8 .lthough it did not fit
comfortabl- within the complex, sophisticated and c-nical web of power politics that epitomised
diplomac- of the post Napoleonic era, its influence was more long lasting than its contemporar-
critics expected and was reied in the !Os as a tool of repression when the terms of the
0uintuple .lliance were not seen to fit the purposes of some of the 2reat 9owers of Europe& 7O8
The 0uadruple .lliance, b- contrast, was a standard treat- and the four 2reat 9owers did not inite
an- of their allies to sign it& The primar- obBectie was to bind the signatures to support the terms of
the 4econd Treat- of 9aris for O -ears& #t included a proision for the igh Contracting 9arties to
Qrenew their meeting at fixed periods&&&for the purpose of consulting on their common interestsQ
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which were the Qprosperit- of the Nations, and the maintenance of peace in EuropeQ& 78 . problem
with the wording of .rticle V# of the treat- is that it did not specif- what these Qfixed periodsQ were to
be and there were no proisions in the treat- for a permanent commission to arrange and organise
the conferences& This meant that the first conference in !! dealt with remaining issues of the
*rench wars, but after that instead of meeting at Qfixed periodsQ the meetings were arranged on anad hoc basis, to address specific threats, such as those posed b- reolutions, for which the treat-
was not drafted&78
Agreements7edit8
The Congress of .ix?la?Chapelle (!!) resoled the issues of .llied occupation of *rance and
restored that countr- to eAual status with <ritain, 9russia, .ustria and +ussia&
#n !, the Congress of Verona met to decide the issue if *rance could interene on the side of the
4panish ro-alists in the Trienio Liberal & .fter receiing permission, =ouis RV### dispatched fie arm-
corps to restore *erdinand V## of 4pain&
#n !/O, the <elgian +eolution against the ;ingdom of the Netherlands began& *rench
ambassador Charles >aurice de Talle-rand?9@rigord presented a partition plan for the 4outhern
9roinces to the Concert, which was not adopted& Neertheless, the 2reat 9owers unanimousl-
recogniPed <elgian independence from the ;ingdom of the Netherlands at the Treat- of =ondon
(!/$)& The treat- also established <elgian neutralit-, which would last until the 2erman inasion of
<elgium in $%&
Gradual erosion (1818–1914)7edit8
#n !! the <ritish decided not to become inoled in continental issues that did not directl- affect it&
The- reBected the plan of .lexander # to suppress future reolutions&
The Concert began to weaken as the common goals of the 2reat 9owers were graduall- replaced
b- growing political and economic rialries& #t was eroded b- the European reolutionar- upheaals
of !%! with their demands for reision of the Congress of Viennas frontiers along national lines&
The Concert unraeled in the latter half of the $th centur- amid successie wars between its
participants 3 the Crimean War (!"/3"5), the #talian War of #ndependence (!"$), the .ustro?
9russian War (!55) and the *ranco?9russian War (!6O36)& While the Congress 4-stem had a
further significant achieement in the form of the Congress of <erlin (!6!) which redrew the political
map of the <alkans, the old balance of power had been irreocabl- altered, and was replaced b- a
series of fluctuating alliances&
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"orld "ar #ne $%&%'(%&%)*7edit8
<- the earl- Oth centur-, the 2reat 9owers were organiPed into two opposing coalitions (the Triple
.lliance and the Entente 9owers)& The last conference was the =ondon Conference of $?
$/ conened to discuss the <alkan Wars&7/8
.s the $% Sul- Crisis unfolded, <ritain proposed aconference but .ustria?ungar- and 2erman- both refused to attend& 7%8 World War # would break out
in the following month& #n the aftermath of World War #, a new, permanent international organisation,
the =eague of Nations, was set up&
+eague of ,ationsCitation: C N Trueman "League Of Nations"historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 17 ar !1#. $ %ec !1#.
+eague of ,ations
-ac.ground
The =eague of Nations came into being after the end of &orl' &ar One& The
=eague of Nations task was simple 3 to ensure that war neer broke outagain& .fter the turmoil caused b- the(ersailles Treaty, man- looked to the
=eague to bring stabilit- to the world&
)merica entered World War 'ne in $6& The countr- as a whole and the
president 3 &oo'ro* &ilson in particular 3 was horrified b- the slaughter
that had taken place in what was meant to be a ciilised part of the world& The
onl- wa- to aoid a repetition of such a disaster, was to create an international
bod- whose sole purpose was to maintain world peace and which would sort
out international disputes as and when the- occurred& This would be the taskof the =eague of Nations&
.fter the deastation of the war, support for such a good idea was great
(except in .merica where isolationism was taking root)&
The organisation of the =eague of Nations
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The =eague of Nations was to be based in Geneva, 4witPerland& This choice was natural as
4witPerland was a neutral countr- and had not fought in World War 'ne& No one could dispute this
choice especiall- as an international organisation such as the +ed Cross was alread- based in
4witPerland&
#f a dispute did occur, the =eague, under its Coenant, could do three things 3 these were known as
its sanctions
#t could call on the states in dispute to sit down and discuss the problem in an orderl- and peaceful
manner& This would be done in the =eagues .ssembl- 3 which was essentiall- the =eagues
parliament which would listen to disputes and come to a decision on how to proceed& #f one nation
was seen to be the offender, the =eague could introduce erbalsanctions 3 warning an aggressor
nation that she would need to leae another nations territor- or face the conseAuences&
#f the states in dispute failed to listen to the .ssembl-s decision, the =eague could introduceeconomic sanctions& This would be arranged b- the =eagues Council& The purpose of this sanction
was to financiall- hit the aggressor nation so that she would hae to do as the =eague reAuired& The
logic behind it was to push an aggressor nation towards bankruptc-, so that the people in that state
would take out their anger on their goernment forcing them to accept the =eagues decision& The
=eague could order =eague members not to do an- trade with an aggressor nation in an effort to
bring that aggressor nation to heel&
if this failed, the =eague could introduce ph-sical sanctions& This meant that militar- force would be
used to put into place the =eagues decision& oweer, the =eague did not hae a militar- force at its
disposal and no member of the =eague had to proide one under the terms of Boining 3 unlike thecurrent +nite' Nations& Therefore, it could not carr- out an- threats and an- countr- def-ing its
authorit- would hae been er- aware of this weakness& The onl- two countries in the =eague that
could hae proided an- militar- might were <ritain and *rance and both had been seerel-
depleted strength?wise in World War 'ne and could not proide the =eague with the backing it
needed& .lso both <ritain and *rance were not in a position to use their finances to pa- for an
expanded arm- as both were financiall- hit er- hard b-&orl' &ar One&
The =eague also had other weaknesses
The countr-, whose president, Woodrow Wilson, had dreamt up the idea of the =eague 3 .merica 3
refused to Boin it& .s .merica was the worlds most powerful nation, this was a serious blow to the
prestige of the =eague& oweer, .mericas refusal to Boin the =eague, fitted in with her desire to
hae an isolationist polic- throughout the world&
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ermany was not allowed to Boin the =eague in $$& .s 2erman- had started the war, according
to the Treaty of (ersailles, one of her punishments was that she was not considered to be a
member of the international communit- and, therefore, she was not inited to Boin& This was a great
blow to 2erman- but it also meant that the =eague could not use whateer strength 2erman- had to
support its campaign against aggressor nations&
-ussia was also not allowed to Boin as in 117, she had a communist goernment that generated
fear in western Europe, and in $!, the +ussian ro-al famil- 3 the -omano/s 3 was murdered&
4uch a countr- could not be allowed to take its place in the =eague&
Therefore, three of the worlds most powerful nations (potentiall- for +ussia and 2erman-) pla-ed no
part in supporting the =eague& The two most powerful members were <ritain and *rance 3 both had
suffered financiall- and militaril- during the war 3 and neither was enthusiastic to get inoled in
disputes that did not affect western Europe&
Therefore, the =eague had a fine ideal 3 to end war for good& oweer, if an aggressor nation was
determined enough to ignore the =eagues erbal warnings, all the =eague could do was enforce
economic sanctions and hope that these worked as it had no chance or enforcing its decisions using
militar- might&
The successes of the League of Nations
#n iew of the =eagues desire to end war, the onl- criteria that can be used to classif- a success,
was whether war was aoided and a peaceful settlement formulated after a crisis between two
nations&
The =eague experienced success in
The Aaland Islands (1921)
These islands are near enough eAual distant between *inland and 4weden& The- had traditionall-
belonged to *inland but most of the islanders wanted to be goerned b- 4weden& Neither 4weden
nor *inland could come to a decision as to who owned the islands and in $ the- asked the
=eague to adBudicate& The =eagues decision was that the- should remain with *inland but that no
weapons should eer be kept there& <oth countries accepted the decision and it remains in force to
this da-&
Upper Silesia (1921)
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The Treaty of (ersailles had gien the people of :pper 4ilesia the right to hae a referendum on
whether the- wanted to be part of 2erman- or part of 9oland& #n this referendum, 6OO,OOO oted for
2erman- and "OO,OOO for 9oland& This close result resulted in rioting between those who expected
4ilesia to be made part of 2erman- and those who wanted to be part of 9oland& The =eague was
asked to settle this dispute& .fter a six?week inAuir-, the =eague decided to split :pper 4ilesia
between 2erman- and 9oland& The =eagues decision was accepted - both countries and b- the
people in :pper 4ilesia&
e!el (192")
>emel wasUis a port in =ithuania& >ost people who lied in >emel were =ithuanians and, therefore,
the goernment of =ithuania belieed that the port should be goerned b- it& oweer, the Treat- of
Versailles had put >emel and the land surrounding the port under the control of the =eague& *or
three -ears, a *rench general acted as a goernor of the port but in $/ the =ithuanians inadedthe port& The =eague interened and gae the area surrounding >emel to =ithuania but the- made
the port an international Pone& =ithuania agreed to this decision& Though this can be seen as a
=eague success 3 as the issue was settled 3 a counter argument is that what happened was the
result of the use of force and that the =eague responded in a positie manner to those (the
=ithuanians) who had used force&
Tur#e$ (192")
The =eague failed to stop a blood- war in Turke- (see =eague failures) but it did respond to the
humanitarian crisis caused b- this war&
,%OO,OOO refugees had been created b- this war with !OX of them being women and children&
T-phoid and cholera were rampant& The =eague sent doctors from the ealth 'rganisation to check
the spread of disease and it spent YO million on building farms, homes etc for the refugees& >one-
was also inested in seeds, wells and digging tools and b- $5, work was found for 5OO,OOO
people&
. member of the =eague called this work the greatest work of merc- which mankind has
undertaken&
Greece and %ulgaria (192&)
<oth these nations hae a common border& #n $", sentries patrolling this border fired on one
another and a 2reek soldier was killed& The 2reek arm- inaded <ulgaria as a result& The
<ulgarians asked the =eague for help and the =eague ordered both armies to stop fighting and that
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the 2reeks should pull out of <ulgaria& The =eague then sent experts to the area and decided that
2reece was to blame and fined her Y%",OOO& <oth nations accepted the decision&
The failures of the League of Nations
.rticle of the =eagues Coenant stated
'An$ ar of threat of ar is a !atter of concern to the hole League and the
League shall ta#e action that !a$ safe guard peace*
Therefore, an- conflict between nations which ended in war and the ictor of one oer the other must
be considered a =eague failure&
Ital$ (1919)
#n $$, #talian nationalists, angered that the <ig Three had, in their opinion, broken promises to
#tal- at the Treat- of Versailles, captured the small port of *iume& This port had been gien to
Zugoslaia b- the Treat- of Versailles& *or " months, *iume was goerned b- an #talian nationalist
called d.nnunPio& The newl- created =eague did nothing& The situation was soled b- the #talian
goernment who could not accept that d.nnunPio was seemingl- more popular than the- were 3 so
the- bombarded the port of *iume and enforced a surrender& #n all this the =eague pla-ed no part
despite the fact that it had Bust been set up with the specific task of maintaining peace&
Teschen (1919)
Teschen was a small town between 9oland and CPechosloakia& #ts main importance was that it had
aluable coal mines there which both the 9oles and the CPechs wanted& .s both were newl- created
nations, both wanted to make their respectie economies as strong as possible and the acAuisition
of rich coal mines would certainl- help in this respect&
#n Sanuar- $$, 9olish and CPech troops fought in the streets of Teschen& >an- died& The =eague
was called on to help and decided that the bulk of the town should go to 9oland whileCPechosloakia should hae one of Teschens suburbs& This suburb contained the most aluable
coal mines and the 9oles refused to accept this decision& Though no more wholesale iolence took
place, the two countries continued to argue oer the issue for the next twent- -ears&
+ilna (192,)
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>an- -ears before $O, Vilna had been taken oer b- +ussia& istoricall-, Vilna had been the
capital of =ithuania when the state had existed in the >iddle .ges& .fter World War 'ne, =ithuania
had been re?established and Vilna seemed the natural choice for its capital&
oweer, b- $O, /OX of the population was from 9oland with =ithuanians onl- making up X ofthe cit-s population& #n $O, the 9oles seiPed Vilna& =ithuania asked for =eague help but the 9oles
could not be persuaded to leae the cit-& Vilna sta-ed in 9olish hands until the outbreak of World
War Two& The use of force b- the 9oles had won&
-ar .eteen /ussia and 0oland (192, to 1921)
#n $O, 9oland inaded land held b- the +ussians& The 9oles Auickl- oerwhelmed the +ussian
arm- and made a swift adance into +ussia& <- $, the +ussians had no choice but to sign the
Treat- of +iga which handed oer to 9oland nearl- !O,OOO sAuare kilometres of +ussian land& This
one treat- all but doubled the siPe of 9oland&
What did the =eague do about this iolation of another countr- b- 9oland[
The answer is simple 3 nothing& +ussia b- $$ was communist and this plague from the East was
greatl- feared b- the West& #n fact, <ritain, *rance and .merica sent troops to attack +ussia after the
=eague had been set up& Winston Churchill, the <ritish War >inister, stated openl- that the plan was
to strangle Communist +ussia at birth& 'nce again, to outsiders, it seemed as if =eague members
were selecting which countries were acceptable and ones which were not& The .llied inasion of
+ussia was a failure and it onl- sered to make Communist +ussia een more antagonistic to the
West&
The invasion of the /uhr (192")
The Treaty of (ersailles had ordered &eimar ermany to pa- reparations for war damages&
These could either be paid in mone- or in kind (goods to the alue of a set amount) #n $, the
2ermans failed to pa- an installment& The- claimed that the- simpl- could not rather than did not
want to& The .llies refused to accept this and the anti?2erman feeling at this time was still strong&
<oth the *rench and the <elgiums belieed that some form of strong action was needed to \teach
2erman- a lesson&
#n $/, contrar- to =eague rules, the *rench and the <elgiums inaded the +uhr 3 2erman-s most
important industrial Pone& Within Europe, *rance was seen as a senior =eague member 3 like <ritain
3 and the anti?2erman feeling that was felt throughout Europe allowed both *rance and <elgium to
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7/21/2019 Peace of Westphalia
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These problems are still with us in the Cst 3 so it would be wrong to criticise the =eague for failing
to eradicate them& #f we cannot do this now, the =eague had a far more difficult task then with more
limited resources&
The greatest success the =eague had inoling these social issues, was simpl- informing the worldat large that these problems did exist and that the- should be tackled& No organisation had done this
before the =eague& These social problems ma- hae continued but the fact that the- were now being
actiel- inestigated b- the =eague and were then taken onboard b- the :nited Nations must be
iewed as a success&