Showing posts with label League of Nations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label League of Nations. Show all posts

November 12 - Peace-Keeping Organizations: Leaving or Joining?

Posted on November 12, 2020

On this date in 1933, Germans voted on their nation's withdrawal from the League of Nations. The League of Nations had been created after World War I with the intent of using diplomatic talks to solve conflicts between countries.

In other words, it was an attempt to create a global peace-keeping organization.


Nazi Germany, of course, didn't value peace as much as some do - and their withdrawal from the League, a few years before they began to take over and/or attack other nations, was a signal of their disregard for peace.

There was some pressure on the German voters to "ratify" or approve the withdrawal with a referendum vote. Almost all of the voters showed up to the polls (more than 96% turnout!), and almost all of them (95%) voted to approve leaving the League of Nations.


On this date in 1956, Morocco and Sudan and Tunisia all joined the United Nations - the world's second, and more successful, attempt at a peacekeeping organization. On this date in 1968, Equatorial Guinea joined the U.N., and on this date in 1975, the Comoros joined. These five African nations joining on the November 12, but in different years - is that coincidence? Design?

Above, Morocco
Below, Sudan


Above, Tunisia
Below, Equatorial Guinea


Above, Comoros

Note that loads and loads of African nations joined the U.N. on different dates, from Togo's joining on 9/20/1960 to Namibia's on 4/23/1990.


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

May 25 – Independence Day in Jordan

Posted on May 25, 2018



Independence from whom?

Today Jordan celebrates its 1946 independence from Britain. You might be thinking, "Oh, those British, with their huge empire!" 

But in this case, the Brits hadn't taken over the Jordanian territory in the 1800s or earlier - in other words, Jordan hadn't been a colony of Britain.


Instead, Jordan had been conquered by the Ottoman Empire - way back in the 1500s! For centuries, the Ottoman government chose to barely lift a finger to rule what is now Jordan, although yearly taxes were required, so the people living there basically ruled themselves...but in the 1800s, several groups tried to take over this territory. As a result, Ottoman forces took firmer and more repressive control over the land and people. 



The people of Jordan didn't like that. They revolted against the Ottoman rulers several times. And when World War I broke out - and the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany, the losing side...

Well, the Arab Revolt was successful at stripping the Middle East away from the Ottoman rulers. And the people of Turkey also revolted, ending the Ottoman monarchy and creating the Republic of Turkey. And the world tried to make sure that there never would be another World War by creating a worldwide organization attempting cooperation and peace negotiations between countries. And that organization, the League of Nations, in its infinite wisdom (I'm kidding), decided to split up the lands of the Middle East between France and Britain, the main winners of WWI.

The Middle Eastern lands that had belonged to the Ottoman Empire were divvied up in this way: the British Mandate was Palestine, including Jordan, and Mesopotamia, which became Iraq; the French Mandate was Syria, including Lebanon.



The thing is, the Mandate System was supposed to be really, really different than the colonial systems that nations used to use. The British were supposed to just give advice to the peoples and territories in their mandate; they were not supposed to annex, or take ownership of the territories; they were supposed to help the territory develop for the benefit of its people, not for the benefit of the Brits; the mandate was supposed to be a "sacred trust of civilization."

To find out more about all these complexities, check out this series of maps that explore and explain a lot about the history of the Middle East.

And now...Jordan:

There are some wonderful things to explore about Jordan. Check out the Dead Sea, a place so salty that towers of salt gleam in the sun, and people cannot sink:


Check out the glories of Jordan's ancient ruins:


Check out lots more of both here or here.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

January 10 – League of Nations Day

Posted on January 10, 2014


Today we commemorate something that didn't work!
On this date in 1920, the League of Nations came into being. It represented the hopes of 42 ratifying nations for international cooperation and world peace.
In 1920 the world was still reeling from the catastrophic death toll of World War I, with more than 16 million dead and many more millions wounded. More than one leader and influential person was calling for a permanent organization that would maintain peace.
That included Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, who outlined his idea of such an organization during his 14-point peace plan. Although many of his ideas did not become adopted by the other nations hammering out the treaty that formally ended WWI, the League of Nations was approved. Wilson was able to present the peace treaty and the Covenant of the League of Nations to the US Senate.
Even though the organization was mostly the “baby” of the US President, the US Senate refused to ratify it! Wilson had suffered from a stroke and was unable to flex his political muscle to reach a compromise with the Senate. Still, the League of Nations was established, without the US.
Why did the Senate refuse to ratify the covenant, you ask?
Good question. Apparently many senators thought that the organization took too much authority away from the US, which was beginning to be seen as a world power.
The sign near the bridge reads "The League of
Nations was designed by the President of the USA."

Uncle Sam is snoozing, resting his head on the keystone
from the bridge, which is labeled "USA."

Guess what happens to a bridge that has no keystone?
And apparently the senators were wrong! Because we can now see that the League had very little power or authority at all. Japan attacked China, even though both of the nations were in the League of Nations. The League condemned the attack, so Japan simply withdrew from the organization. And there was nothing that the League could do! Germany started rearming itself—and the League could do nothing. Italy invaded Ethiopia—again, even though both nations were a part of the peace-keeping organization—and again, the League could do nothing!
By the time World War II started, the League of Nations was basically defunct.
Eventually 63 nations were a part of the League of Nations—but the US wasn't one of them!
So, WWII happened, and more than 60 million—some sources say more than 72 million—people died. And voices once again called out for an organization that could work to promote cooperation and peaceful conflict resolution between nations. The United Nations was born—and this time the US joined!
To learn more about the League of Nations, check out this Brain Pop video. 

Also on this date:

National Vodoun Day in Benin












Astronomer Robert Woodrow Wilson's birthday















Plan ahead!
Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my boards for:

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)