International Relations

Nationalism

Pride in one's own country OR states acting in their own interests

Internationalism

Solving problems between countries based on co-operation rather than conflict  

Who were the big three?

France (George Clemenceau), Britain (David Lloyd George), and the US (Woodrow Wilson)

Causes of the Paris Peace conference:

40million dead/injured in WWI

No one wanted another war

Many believed lasting peace could only come by replacing nationalism with internationalism 

What did Woodrow Wilson want:

Disarmament

No secret treaties

Justice for small nations

International co-operation

The league of Nations (appealed to many) 

Causes of France’s views to peace

60% of their young men were killed/injured

Around 250,000 buildings were destroyed

Consequences of France’s views to peace (support by David Lloyd George)

Didn’t think a peace treaty could live up to Wilson’s ideas

Didn’t want Germany to regather strength, risk of attacking France

Didn’t want to give up their overseas empires (National interest)

What was THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE?

1919-20

None of the defeated nations were invited

5 treaties  

The Big three ignored most of the advice given

Consequences of the Paris Peace conference (The Treaty of Versailles)

1.       A compromise of all of the big three’s aims

2.       Germany grudgingly accepted the war blame – Germans thought this unfair

3.       Germany had to pay a (later) reduced amount for the war damage (Reperations)

4.       Germany lost 10% of land, its overseas empire and former colonies, which went to the League.

5.       The League of Nations was set up for international co-operation, Germany could only join once it had proven its peaceful intentions.

6.       The German armed forces were heavily reduced, the Rhineland was demilitarised (French and German border)

Reactions to all the treaties:

All of them were protested against by the defeated countries.

Germans’ reactions to the Treaty of Versailles

Angry at not being represented at the peace talks

Believed they had only agreed to an armistice, hadn’t lost the war

Wanted all the countries to share the war guilt

Outraged over all the terms, lost lots, no say.

They felt vulnerable to an attack, had to completely disarm, no-one else did.

French and British reactions to the Treaty of Versailles

French = not harsh enough

British = too hard, didn’t want to give reason to future conflict

 The other treaties:

The Treaty Of St Germain 1919 (Austria)

The Treaty Of Neuilly 1919 (Bulgaria)

The Treaty Of Trianon 1920 (Hungary)

The Treaty Of Sèvres 1920 (Turkey)

The Treaty Of St Germain 1919 (Austria)

Austria's army was limited to 30,000 men and forbidden from uniting with Germany

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up, creating new states in central and eastern Europe, which contained large minority groups

 The Treaty Of Neuilly 1919 (Bulgaria)

Bulgaria lost land, limited army and had to pay reparations 

The Treaty Of Trianon 1920 (Hungary)

Hungary lost land, was supposed to pay reparations but its economy was so weak that it never did.

 The Treaty Of Sèvres 1920 (Turkey)

Turkey lost land, severely limited armed forces, lost a lot of its empire, mostly to France and Britain.

Turkey used force to reverse some of these terms, changes were set out in a new treaty, the treaty of Lausanne, in 1923

All members of the league:

Promised to not go to war

Agreed to make open, honourable relations between nations

Agreed governments should act according to international law

Agreed to maintain justice and respect for all treaty obligations.

The League’s  4 main aims:

Stopping aggression

Co-operation

Improving living/working conditions

Disarming

1. Stopping agression

The league would do anything to stop aggressive wars, as they were a crime against the whole human community. Countries had a duty to stand in and prevent threats of war becoming real.

Co-operation

amongst countries was important for everyone, working together to achieve internationalism/other aims and to prevent countries from being vulnerable/too armed.

Improving living/working conditions

by solving problems from the war, improving poverty and social problems to reduce international tension and the risk of these problems causing future conflict

Disarm

all peace treaties stated that the league had to make sure all nations disarmed, meaning no threat from countries/way to be future wars.

Strengths of the league

The council met 5 times a year

Had a court of international justice, for countries to come to in a dispute 

When co-operating, lawyers, trade unionists, financial experts from member countries came together under the League to help each other.

Weaknesses of the League:

They only had 4 permanent members who shared all the power, could veto any action of the League

Decisions had to be unanimous

Some countries wanted to have independence in their actions – Nationalism

The assembly only met once a year.

Powerful countries weren’t part of the league, were threats as they had free will or their nation

 Collective security

League members protected each other if attacked

Economic sanctions

If any member illegally went to war, others had to impose these and stop trading with that country. Was a powerful way of containing aggression without a war.

France and Britain’s view of the League

Clemenceau wanted France to be able to act independently, and thought the League needed an army to achieve anything.

Lloyd George wanted a simple organisation only for emergencies (already existed), and for Britain to be free to act in its’ own interests.