LoN Failure - Corfu & Washington

Invasion of Corfu, 1923

Mussolini invaded Corfu and killed 15 people in 1923 after the murder of Tellini; an Italian man sent by the League of Nations.

Tellini

An Italian man, Tellini, was murdered in Greece after surveying the land at the request of the League of Nations.
Mussolini (the leader of Italy) was outraged at this and blamed the Greek government and demanded that anyone associated with the murder of Tellini be round up and shot!

Compensation

He also demanded that he have compensation paid to him by the Greeks.
When the Greeks didn’t do this, Mussolini invaded Corfu and killed 15 people.

Invasion of Corfu

The Greeks complained to the League of Nations and asked them to get Mussolini out and to catch the killers of their people.
But, the League of Nations agreed that Mussolini (or Italy) should be paid compensation over the murder of Tellini.

Overriding the League of Nations

However, Mussolini went further and got Britain, France, and Japan to agree to make Greece pay compensation and also formally apologise to Italy.
This showed Mussolini and other leaders that if they pushed hard enough they could get what they wanted, regardless of what the League of Nations said.

Washington Arms Conference

The Washington Arms Conference (1921–22) was held to discuss how big countries' navies should be. However, the League of Nations was not invited to participate in the conference.

The conference

Major countries such as the USA, Britain, Japan and France attended the Washington Arms Conference.
They discussed how big navies should be, without any input from the League of Nations.

Navy sizes

The decision was that Britain and America could have the same size navy.
Then, for every 5 tonnes of each of their battleships weighed, Japan could have 3 tonnes.

Weakness of the League of Nations

This treaty didn’t even include the League, which undermined the League of Nation's rights to make rulings around military or naval matters.
It also showed that the USA could be involved in international affairs but only the affairs that they wanted to. The USA was not a member of the League of Nations.

1Key Topics

1.1Conflict & Cooperation 1918-1939

1.1.1The Treaty of Versailles

1.1.2The Terms of Versailles 1

1.1.3The Terms of Versailles 2

1.1.4Versailles & the League of Nations

1.1.5LoN Successes & Failures

1.1.6LoN Failure - Upper Silesia

1.1.7LoN Failure - Corfu & Washington

1.1.8End of Topic Test - Treaties and Agreements

1.1.9The Great Depression

1.1.10Tension in Europe in the 1930s

1.1.11WWII & Failure of the League of Nations

1.1.12End of Topic Test - Tension in the 1930s

1.1.13Grade 9 - Conflict & Cooperation

1.2The Cold War 1945-c.1989

1.2.1Emerging US-Soviet Rivalry

1.2.2Communism in the 20th Century

1.2.3The Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan

1.2.4East-West Alliances

1.2.5Berlin Crises

1.2.6The End of the Berlin Wall

1.2.7End of Topic Test - East & West

1.2.8Build-up to the Cuban Missile Crisis

1.2.9The Cuban Missile Crisis

1.2.10Cold War Conflict - Vietnam

1.2.11Cold War Conflict - Afghanistan

1.2.12End of Topic Test - The Cold War 1945-1989

1.2.13Grade 9 - The Cold War

1.3From the End of the Cold War to 9/11

1.3.1Reagan & Gorbachev

1.3.2Consequences of the Soviet War in Afghanistan

1.3.3End of Topic Test - End of the Cold War to 9/11

1.3.4Grade 9 - The End of the Cold War

2Changing Interpretations

2.1Changing Interpretations

2.1.1Appeasement

2.1.2The Responsibility for Cold War Tensions

2.1.3End of Topic Test - Appeasement

2.1.4Grade 9 - Changing Interpretations

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