READING


Reading Comprehension - The League of Nations


Develop your reading skills. Read the following text and do the comprehension questions


League of Nations

The League of Nations

The League of Nations was the first international organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. This intergovernmental organisation was founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War 1. Its principal goals included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Other issues in this and related treaties included labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, human and drug trafficking, the arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe.

Failures

Although the diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift from the preceding hundred years, it had its pitfalls. The League lacked its own armed force and depended on the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions, keep to its economic sanctions, or provide an army when needed. However, the Great Powers were often reluctant to do so. Sanctions could hurt League members, so they were reluctant to comply with them. During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, when the League accused Italian soldiers of targeting Red Cross medical tents, Benito Mussolini responded that "the League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out."

After a number of notable successes and some early failures in the 1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers which included Germany, Italy, and Japan in the 1930s. Germany withdrew from the League, as did Japan, Italy, Spain, and others. The onset of the Second World War showed that the League had failed its primary purpose, which was to prevent any future world war. The League lasted for 26 years; the United Nations (UN) replaced it after the end of the Second World War on 20 April 1946 and inherited a number of agencies and organisations founded by the League.

Source: Wikipedia

Comprehension:

  1. The League of Nations was founded after the first World War.
    a. True
    b. False
  2. Its mission included only maintaining peace between nations.
    a. True
    b. False
  3. It was successful in carrying out its missions.
    a. True
    b. False
  4. Many agencies of the League of Nations were inherited by the UN.
    a. True
    b. False

Related materials