Some may argue that it was a success, but it is undeniable that The League of

Nations was not without its flaws. In this section we will discuss the achievements of the
League Of Nations. At the same time, the strengths as well as its weaknesses that
eventually led to its failure will be discussed. Undoubtedly there were numerous
contributions by the League of Nations. As explained above, the main objective of the
league was to prevent an outbreak of war by settling international quarrels.

The league had a number of successes in fulfilling its central aim. In the conflict
of Upper Silesia in 1921, there was a riot on the disputes of whether Silesia should be
part of Weimar Germany or Poland. The league decided to split Upper Silesia between
these 2 countries.1 The decision was accepted by all the parties. At the same year, the
league resolved territorial dispute of Aaland Islands. The islands were traditionally
belongs to Finland but the inhabitants wanted to be governed by Sweden. The league
adjudicated and decided that they should remain with Finland.2 It is still remaining in
force until today. Also, the league averted a war between Greece and Bulgaria, which
stemmed from the incident of Petrich.3 A Bulgaria sentry killed a Greek soldier while
patrolling on their border. As a result, the Greek army invaded Bulgaria. The league
intervened and ordered a ceasefire decided that it was Greece's fault.

The league had other achievements and success other than its main objectives.
From many aspects like social, economic growth and so on. That being said, the success
of the league at these aspects has always been sidelined or forgotten. The league set up a
health committee which was endeavored to fight epidemic diseases that were plaguing all
over the world like malaria, cancer, syphilis and other. In 1919, the International Labour
Organization was founded with the purpose of fighting for labour rights. It seeks to
improve working condition, setting minimum wages, encourage the formation of trade
union and other initiatives concerning labour rights.

1
League of Nations Successes. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-
world-history-1918-to-1980/league-of-nations-successes/
2
Six Successes of the League in the 1920s. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.johndclare.net/league_of_nations_TASIBO_VIMCOB.htm
3
Incident at Petrich. (2018, July 03). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_at_Petrich
 Another significant achievement is on humanitarian. The league had improved
people’s lives by taking in 400,000 prisoners of wars home and fed them.4 After the war
between Greece and Turkey, a refugee camp was set up and relief operation was
conducted. On the issues of slavery, the 1926 Slavery Convention or the Convention to
Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery was created and signed on 1926, with the
objectives of suppressing the practice of slavery and the slave trade. The league then
attacked slave traders in Africa and Burma which later freed 200,000 slaves. The league
also mandated countries to commit themselves to end slavery as a condition of
membership.

4
GCSE Bitesize: Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir1/successfailuresrev1.shtml