The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the World War I. It was the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. As stated in its Covenant, its primary goals included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes throgh negotiation and arbitration.
Other issues in this and related treaties included labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, human and drug trafficking, arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members.
Though President Woodrow Wilson was instrumental in its inception, the League of Nations never gained the support of the United States of America.
The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift from the preceding hundred years. 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. When, during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, 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."[4]
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 in the 1930s. Germany withdrew from the League, as did Japan, Italy, Spain and others. The onset of World War II showed that the League had failed its primary purpose, which was to prevent any future world war. The League lasted for 27 years. The United Nations (UN) replaced it after the end of the war
Friday, April 12, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Day 75, April 11
Child labor peaked in the early years of the 20th century. Factories owners often preferred children as workers, because they were viewed as more manageable, cheaper, and less likely to strike. Growing opposition to child labor in the North caused many factories to move to the South. Children were frequently treated little (or no) better than slaves.
By 1900, states varied immensely in how they enforced child labor laws, if, indeed, any existed at all. By then, American children worked in large numbers in mines, glass factories, textiles, agriculture, canneries, home industries, and as newsboys, messengers, bootblacks, and peddlers.
In 1904, a federal child labor law was put into effect. Still, unsafe working conditions persisted.
By 1900, states varied immensely in how they enforced child labor laws, if, indeed, any existed at all. By then, American children worked in large numbers in mines, glass factories, textiles, agriculture, canneries, home industries, and as newsboys, messengers, bootblacks, and peddlers.
In 1904, a federal child labor law was put into effect. Still, unsafe working conditions persisted.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Day 74, April 10
During the Industrial Revolution, children as young as four were employed in production factories with appalling, and often fatal working conditions. Up until this time, children worked alongside their parents on the farm. Though this was far from easy work, the children had the protection of their parents.
The managers of factories had no compunction about having the child-laborers work twelve to fifteen hours a day. Unsafe machinery, sooty air, and little or no food were only a few of the conditions that these children faced every day. There were no days off, no lunch hours, no breaks.
It would take decades for labor reform to make conditions safer for children, and, for that matter, adult workers. Reform came slowly, with advocates for it battling business owners and managers.
The managers of factories had no compunction about having the child-laborers work twelve to fifteen hours a day. Unsafe machinery, sooty air, and little or no food were only a few of the conditions that these children faced every day. There were no days off, no lunch hours, no breaks.
It would take decades for labor reform to make conditions safer for children, and, for that matter, adult workers. Reform came slowly, with advocates for it battling business owners and managers.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Day 73, April 9
As more people moved west, the need for settling the large expanses of land, making it profitable, grew. Cyrus McCormick's reaper paved the way for the Midwest. Before McCormick's invention, a farmer would have to work for four days, with the help of two farmhands, driving six miles. With the reaper, he could harvest as many as ten acres per hour.
Another invention, one that saw to the needs of farm wives, came about at the same time. The sewing machine, invented by Elias Howe, transformed how women fashioned their clothing. This invention was complemented by the rise of industrialization in eastern cities, as cloth was manufactured more quickly and expediently.
Why include such inventions in a blog devoted to history and patriotism? Both these machines, and others, contributed to a different kind of culture and society. While they eased much of the manual labor, the effects of industrialization brought with it a host of other problems.
Another invention, one that saw to the needs of farm wives, came about at the same time. The sewing machine, invented by Elias Howe, transformed how women fashioned their clothing. This invention was complemented by the rise of industrialization in eastern cities, as cloth was manufactured more quickly and expediently.
Why include such inventions in a blog devoted to history and patriotism? Both these machines, and others, contributed to a different kind of culture and society. While they eased much of the manual labor, the effects of industrialization brought with it a host of other problems.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Day 72, April 8
When the Civil Ward ended, the west was still largely a region of great untamed wilderness, earning it the nickname, "The Great Plains." However forbidding it was, the West was gradually being settled. The federal government had acquired various terrirotires like Utah.
In 1889, the government opened up the Oklahoma territory, which resulted in the famous Oklahoma land rush. Pioneers raced each other to claim choice parcels of land. Though some settlers made good lives for themselves, others turned back upon confronting the challenges, including Indians, severe weather, and isolation.
In an expansion further north, Secretary of State Seward purchased Alaska for 7 million dollars in 1867.
In 1889, the government opened up the Oklahoma territory, which resulted in the famous Oklahoma land rush. Pioneers raced each other to claim choice parcels of land. Though some settlers made good lives for themselves, others turned back upon confronting the challenges, including Indians, severe weather, and isolation.
In an expansion further north, Secretary of State Seward purchased Alaska for 7 million dollars in 1867.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Day 71, April 7
Following the Civil War came Reconstruction. During this period, the South was transformed, through a series of congressional acts, from a totally segregated region where former slaves had no rights became a totally segregated region where these same slavs were supposed to have rights but did not.
Much of this dubious progress occurred during the admnistration of President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1868, Grant defeated a man named Horatio Seymour.
Grant had his work cut out for him, healing a nation which, for the most part, did not want to be healed. Feelings ran high, both in the North and the South. The common ground that the two parts of the same nation supposedly possessed was proving elusive.
Much of this dubious progress occurred during the admnistration of President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1868, Grant defeated a man named Horatio Seymour.
Grant had his work cut out for him, healing a nation which, for the most part, did not want to be healed. Feelings ran high, both in the North and the South. The common ground that the two parts of the same nation supposedly possessed was proving elusive.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Day 70, April 6
Despite that it was formed on the day of President Lincoln's assassination, the Secret Service has only been working at presidential inaugurations since 1885. Early on, their role was to help local police stop small crimes along the parade route and to keep people from “annoying” the president, while military and police officers were responsible for guarding the president. It was not until 1902 that the Secret Service provided full-time protection for the president of the United States.
In the first years of this new assignemnt, only the president received Secret Service protection. In 1913, this was expanded to include the president-elect. The president’s immediate family was added to the list of those protected by the Secret Service in 1917, and the vice president was added in 1951.
As a result of Robert Kennedy’s assassination during the 1968 presidential election campaign, major presidential and vice presidential candidates and nominees also joined that list.
In the first years of this new assignemnt, only the president received Secret Service protection. In 1913, this was expanded to include the president-elect. The president’s immediate family was added to the list of those protected by the Secret Service in 1917, and the vice president was added in 1951.
As a result of Robert Kennedy’s assassination during the 1968 presidential election campaign, major presidential and vice presidential candidates and nominees also joined that list.
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