International Relations Knowledge Organiser

A comprehensive vocabulary review of key terms, events, figures, and concepts from the International Relations Knowledge Organiser covering the interwar period and the path to the Second World War.

The Big Three (First World War)

Leaders of the three most powerful countries that won the First World War: David Lloyd George (Great Britain), Woodrow Wilson (USA) and Georges Clemenceau (France).

Treaty of Versailles

An agreement made by the Big Three about how to punish Germany after the First World War.

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

1. Germany had to accept blame for starting the war. 2. Germany had to pay reparations of £6.6 billion. 3. Germany had to give up its colonies and some of its mainland territory. 4. Germany had its military drastically limited. 5. The League of Nations was set up.

Nationalism

The belief that you should focus on promoting your own country's interests above others.

Internationalism

The belief that countries should co-operate to prevent conflict and achieve shared goals.

Communism

A system of government in which the resources in a society, such as mines and factories, are owned by the government. In theory, wealth is divided equally.

The League of Nations

An organisation which aimed to solve international disputes without going to war.

Weaknesses of the League of Nations

1. It did not possess an army. 2. The USA did not join. 3. Its largest members, Britain and France, were not fully committed to internationalism.

Successes for the League of Nations in the 1920s

1. The Refugee Committee helped 400,000 people return to their homes. 2. The Health Committee developed vaccines against leprosy and malaria. 3. Small international disputes were resolved, such as the Bulgaria dispute.

Failures for the League of Nations in the 1920s

1. Failed to take major steps towards disarmament. 2. Corfu Crisis: Mussolini was allowed to use force to get his way.

Benito Mussolini

Italian dictator.

Great Depression

A global economic recession in the 1930s (triggered by the Wall Street Crash).

Tariffs

Taxes on foreign goods.

Rearmament

Increasing the size of the military.

Economic nationalism

Organising the economy to promote your own country's interests over others (e.g. through tariffs and rearmament).

Manchuria

A region of northern China close to Japan.

Abyssinia

A country in East Africa, now called Ethiopia.

Disarmament

Decreasing the size of the military.

Failures of the League of Nations in the 1930s

1. Manchuria Crisis (1931-33): Japan was able to use force to take over Manchuria. 2. Abyssinia Crisis (1935-6): Italy was able to use force to take over Abyssinia. 3. The Disarmament Conference (1932) failed.

Reasons for the failure of disarmament

1. The nations could not agree on how to enforce arms restrictions. 2. It was widely suspected that Hitler was rearming Germany.

Hitler's priorities

1. Tear up the Treaty of Versailles. 2. Economic recovery. 3. Rearmament. 4. Destroy communism. 5. Carve out an empire in Eastern Europe ('Lebensraum').

Hitler's actions 1933-6

1. He rearmed Germany. 2. He won back control of the Saar. 3. He remilitarised the Rhineland.

The Axis Alliance

A military alliance between Italy, Germany and Japan.

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister who carried out the policy of Appeasement.

Appeasement

Neville Chamberlain's policy of making concessions to Hitler (especially 1937-8) in the hope of avoiding war.

The main acts of Appeasement

1. Anschluss (1938): the unification of Germany and Austria. 2. The Munich Agreement (1938): the agreement that Germany could take over the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

The end of Appeasement

After Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia, Britain and France committed to declare war on Germany if it invaded Poland.