International Relations Pre-Cold War

GCSE History OCR

Who were the Big Three?

French Prime Minister: Georges Clemenceau

British Prime Minister: David Lloyd George
US President: Woodrow Wilson

When and what was the Versailles Peace Settlement

Big Three met at Versailles in 1919 to discuss terms to be imposed upon Germany after World War 1

What was France’s aim and motives at Versailles?

• Believed Germany should pay severe reparations for cost of war and humiliation suffered by France + for large areas of France destroyed

• Wanted Rhineland and Alsace-Lorraine to be handed to France

What was Britain’s aims and motives at Versailles

• Britain had paid an enormous cost for victory (£5.700,000 a day) and wanted Germany to pay

• Didn’t want Germany to suffer too much but be allowed to recover

What was USA’s aims and motives at Versailles

• Hadn’t suffered any damage

• Wanted to ensure that war couldn’t ever break out again (Came up with “Fourteen Points” one of which suggested setting up League of Nations

• Believed in “Self Determination” - Wanted people to run their own affairs

• Didn’t want Italy taking of Adriatic Coast

What was Italy’s aims and motives at Versailles

• Britain and France signed secret Treaty of London - Agreeing Italy to take possessions of Adriatic Coast of Balkans

• Expected Allies to honour promises made in Treaty of London

What was Japan’s aims and motives at Versailles

• Expected reward for supporting Allies throughout War

• Wanted Manchuria

When was the Treaty of Versailles Signed?

28th June 1919

What was the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles? (Land)

• Lost 10%, Alsace-Lorraine was given back to France

• Polish corridor was created

• Lost land to Belgium, Denmark and Czechoslovakia

• Rhineland was demilitarised and to be occupied for 15 years by Allies

• The Saar was occupied for 15 years and France was allowed to mine coal

What was the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles? (Rest)

• Colonies: Colonies were take away and handed to LoN

• Armed Forces: Reduced to 100,000 Men + Conscription banned + Airforce was destroyed + only allowed six ships

• Reparations: Pay for damage caused by war (£6,600,000,000)

• Accept full blame for the War

What was Germany’s Reaction?

• Didn’t expect so much punishment

• Delegates considered restarting the war

Why did Victors not get everything they wanted?

• France not allowed to occupy Rhineland - in the case of antagonising Germans

• USA didn’t get freedom of Seas - Britain wanted to maintain naval supremacy

• Italy didn’t get Adriatic Coast

• Japan didn’t get Manchuria

When was the Treaty of Saint-Germain signed?

• Signed between Allies and Austria on September 10th 1919

What were the Terms of The Treaty of Saint-Germain?

• Austro-Hungarian Empire broken up

• Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia declared independent

• Austria Handed to Eastern Galicia, Trentino, South Tirol, Trieste and Istria

• Austrian Army limited to 30,000 men + Reparations paid for 30 years

• Union of Austria and Germany forbidden without LoN agreement

When was the Treaty of Trianon signed?

• Signed by Allies and Hungary on June 4th 1920

• Delayed due to war between Hungary and Romania - leading to Invasion by Romania

What were the Terms of the Treaty of Trianon?

• Hungary lost ¾ territory and 2/3 population

• Slovakia given to Czechoslovakia and Western Hungary given to Austria

• Croatia + Slavonia given to Yugoslavia and Transylvania given to Romania

• Hungarian army limited to 35,000

• Hungarians agreed to pay part of Austrian reparations and hand over war criminals

When was the Treaty of Neuilly signed?

• Signed between Allies and Bulgaria on November 27th 1919

What were the Terms of the Treaty of Neuilly?

• Bulgaria lost land to Yugoslavia and Adriatic coast to Greece but gained some from Turkey

• Paid reparations of £100,000,000

• Army limited to 20,000

When was the Treaty of Sevres Signed?

• Signed between Allies and Sultan of Turkey on August 10th 1920

• Delayed by war between Turkey and Greece + Invasion by Italy

What were the Terms of The Treaty of Sevres?

• Arabia and Armenia became independent

• Syria became French mandate and Mesopotamia and Palestine became British mandates

• Britain Gained Cyprus

• Allies would be allowed to station troops in Turkey to ensure Treaty was obeyed

When was the Treaty of Lausanne signed and What were the Terms?

• Signed on July 24th 1923

• Turkey Recovered some territory from Greece but gave up claims to non-turkish territory lost at end of war

• All claims for reparations from Turkey dropped

What were the long-term consequences of the peace treaties in 1919-1923

• Germans resented loss of territory + demilitarisation of Rhineland

• Hitler was able to play on people’s fears and humiliation

• Led to Appeasement

What was the League of Nations?

• Fourteenth Point of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points

• Attempt to create international organisation that would prevent wars

• Adopted “Collective Security” - Attempt to unite nations of world in joint guarantee of peace

Membership of the League

• Open to all countries who signed Covenant of League - rules that members had to accept

• Germany + Russia was not allowed to Join - both joined later (1926 + 1934)

Structure and Organisation of the League

• Council met 3 times a year

• 4 permanent members (Britain, France, Italy and Japan) took most of important decisions

• Permanent court of Justice was set up in the Hague to settle disputes between countries

What sanctions could the League use to punish a country which broke the Covenant?

• Economic Sanctions banned trade

• Military Sanctions meant a declaration of war by each member (League had no army so individual countries had to declare war)

What were some key successes of the League?

• Settled disputes between countries in 1920s (Finland and Sweden over the Aaland Island)

• 1920s LoN had support of most major countries

• Attempted to stamp out slave trade and tackled disease

• Border disputes between Germany and Poland about Upper Silesia + Albania Hungary etc. were settled in 1921 + 1922

What were some key problems faced by the League?

• USA didn’t join

• Unable to solve issues of Greek-Turkish conflict or Russian-Polish War

• Unable to prevent Poland seizing Vilna from Lithuania

Corfu

• Italy broke covenant in 1923 when Mussolini occupied Corfu as, In august, five Italian surveyors mapping Greek-Albanian border were shot and killed

• Mussolini demanded compensation and was ignored so Italian navy bombarded Corfu

• League backed Italy and forced Greeks to pay compensation

What were some Weaknesses of the League?

• League had no army and was very European based

• Some powers acted without the consent of the League

How far did weaknesses in the League make failure inevitable?

• Corfu incident suggested that major powers could ignore Covenant when it suited them

• Lack of army meant military sanctions were impossible

• Disputes could be settled when in Europe

• Absence of major powers (USA + USSR) weakened league

• Delay in organising Disarmament Conference made the League look indecisive

The Young Plan

• Reduced Germany’s Reparations

Disarmament key problems

• Delayed until 1932

• Germany wanted same level of Armament as everyone else

• Hitler withdrew from both Conference and the League of Nations

Worldwide Economic Depression

October 1929 Wall Street Crash

Impact of Depression on League of Nations

• In Germany, wiped out the recovery taken place since 1924

• Created massive unemployment and poverty

• Increased support for Extremist Parties

• Japan, Italy + Germany: militarism became more influential

Why did Japan become more militarist in the 1920s and 1930s

• Failed to gain land expected from Treaty of Versailles

• Population grew rapidly and Japan needed more land + materials

• Price of rice fell and exports of silk were affected by Depression

Manchuria Crisis

• Manchuria had resources of coal and iron that Japan lacked

• 1931 Japan invaded, claiming that they acted in self defence

• Claimed railway had been blown up at Mukden on 18th September

• Japan set up puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932

How did the League of Nations react to Manchuria Crisis

• Set up Commission of Inquiry however in October, The commission reported that there was no evidence that Japanese had acted in Self-Defence and that Manchuria should be under Chinese control

• Japanese ignored report and resigned from League in 1933

• League failed to act effectively and lost Japan as a Permanent Member of the Council

Why was League unable to do anything about Manchuria?

• Lack of army meant countries had to persuaded to declare war on Japan

• Manchuria was remote

• Took 9 months for League to produce a report

What effects did the League’s actions have upon Japan?

• Japan’s government fell under control of army

• From 1932, more of China was occupied by Japan

• July 1937 - Japan invaded Northern China

Abyssinian Crisis

• Italy invaded Abyssinia on 3rd October 1935

• Mussolini wanted an African empire to fulfil his aims to revive the Ancient Roman Empire

• He wanted to divert public opinion in Italy away from his failures which were making him unpopular

• Britain and France signed secret Hoare-laval pact allowing Italy to have a large portion of Abyssinia

What Impact did the Invasion of Abyssinia have on the League?

• Italy was a Permanent Member of the Council and deliberately broke the Covenant which severely weakened the authority of the League

How did the League react to the invasion of Abyssinia?

• Sanctions were applied to Italy: arms embargo, banning Italian imports and all financial dealings

Why did the League not take effective action? (Abyssinia)

• Britain and France wanted Mussolini on their side against Hitler

• Didn’t want Italy to resign from the LoN (eventually left in 1937)

What were the consequences of the failures of the League in the 1930s?

• Led to creation of Axis - dictators of Germany, Italy and Japan formed alliance during WW2

The Saar

In January 1935, the people of the Saar, administered by LoN, voted to re-join Germany - Propaganda victory for Hitler

Rearmament

In 1935, Hitler began rearmament: Conscription and air force were reintroduced

Anglo-German Naval Treaty

• Allowed Germany to build navy 35% of the size of Britain's

The Rhineland

• In 1935, Allied troops were withdrawn and the following year Hitler reoccupied it

How was Hitler able to get away with the reoccupation of the Rhineland?

• League was concentrating on Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia

• Britain refused to act

• This convinced Hitler that Britain + France were unlikely to act against further aggression

What does the Anschluss mean?

Union of Germany and Austria, banned by Treaty of Versailles

Why did Hitler want to unite Germany and Austria?

• Hitler wanted to destroy the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles

• Hitler was born in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire

• He wanted Germany to include all German speaking people

Anschluss

• Between 1934 and 1938 relations between Austria and Germany deteriorated

• Austrian Chancellor, Schussnigg, met Hitler and agreed to appoint Nazi ministers in Austrian Cabinet

• Hitler sent ultimatum demanding resignation of Schussnigg - Austria + Germany were united

Czechoslovakia 1938

• Germany surrounded Czechoslovakia on 3 sides

• Chamberlain met with Hitler and Hitler demanded that Sudetenland was to be handed over to him

• The 4 powers met at Munich in 1938 and agreed to let Hitler have Sudetenland (Munich agreement)

Why did Chamberlain adopt appeasement?

• Chamberlain’s letters suggested that he actually trusted Hitler

• He wanted to prevent war - he believed it was inevitable and tried to put it off as long as possible

Why did French governments support Appeasement?

• They were inclined to oppose Hitler but were afraid to do so without Britain’s support

Hitler’s actions in March 1939

Hitler occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement

Events in April 1939

Britain made defensive alliances with Romania and Poland

Events in June - August 1939

France, Britain and Soviet Union discussed alliance against Hitler

Event in August 1939

Germany and the USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact

Nazi-Soviet Pact

Non aggression pact between two countries

Soviets allow Germany to attack Poland
Germany allow Soviets to occupy eastern Poland

25th August 1939 events

Britain responded by signing a formal alliance with Poland

1st September 1939

Germany invaded Poland

2nd September 1939 Events

British Government sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding that forces should be withdrawn from Poland or war would be declared - this was ignored.

3rd September 1939 Events

Britain declared war on Germany