The League of Nations faced many challenges.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2022). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] (a) Greece appealed to the League.
2. [1] (a) The League condemned Mussolini's invasion.
3. [1] (a) Mussolini refused to cooperate with the League.
4. [1] (a) Mussolini threatened to leave the League.
5. [1] (a) Mussolini insisted the League refer the case to the Conference of Ambassadors.
6. [1] (a) The Conference of Ambassadors ruled in Mussolini's favour.
7. [1] (a) Greece was made to pay compensation.
8. [1] (a) Greece was made to apologise.
9. [1] (a) The Italians left Corfu.
10. [1] (b) It was a dispute between Poland and Lithuania.
11. [1] (b) It was the first test for the League.
12. [1] (b) The Poles refused to listen to the League.
13. [1] (b) The Conference of Ambassadors awarded Vilna to Poland.
14. [1] (b) The Conference of Ambassadors contradicted the League.
15. [1] (b) It undermined the League's power and authority.
16. [1] (b) Poland's actions went against the principle of self-determination.
17. [1] (b) France was more concerned with keeping Poland as an ally against Germany.
18. [1] (b) Britain would not send an army without France's support.
19. [5] (b) The Vilna dispute was a challenge for the League of Nations because Poland refused to do as the League asked. The Polish troops had invaded Vilna which was a city in Lithuania. The League asked them to leave but they refused and this made the League seem very weak.
20. [1] (c) The USA was the most powerful country in the world.
21. [1] (c) The USA had a large army.
22. [1] (c) The USA undermined economic sanctions.
23. [1] (c) The Depression affected relations between countries.
24. [1] (c) The League failed to do anything about disarmament.
25. [1] (c) There was weakness shown in several incidents such as Corfu, Manchuria and Abyssinia.
26. [1] (c) Britain and France often disagreed.
27. [1] (c) League members were self-interested.
28. [1] (c) The League took too long to reach decisions.
29. [1] (c) The League lacked a standing army.
30. [1] (c) There were too many absent powers.
31. [5] (c) The absence of the USA was important because it was difficult to apply economic sanctions when the USA was not a member of the League. The USA could continue trading with the offending country, such as Italy in the Abyssinian crisis, making the threat of sanctions almost meaningless.
32. [5] (c) Other factors were also important. The Depression caused members of the League to change their priorities. Britain suffered high unemployment and it was not willing to get involved in sorting out international disputes while its economy was suffering.
33. [10] (c) Explanation of both sides (Level 4, 7-9 marks) with evaluation of 'how far' (Level 5, 10 marks).