Successor States

Yugoslavia

• Established 1918

• Made up of Serbia & Montenegro, Habsburg empire

• Home to various ethnic & Religious backgrounds

• Serbs, Croats, Germans, Albanians, Romanians

• Religious and ethnic disputes & violence

• Impossible to develop institutions of democracy

• Alexander I banned all political parties & proclaimed himself

• 1920: little entente with czechoslovakia, romania, and france

• 1924: yugoslavia joined an alliance with greece, romania, and turkey

• weak and vulnerable

• bad agricultural methods and industry

• heavily dependent on western loans

Poland

• re-emerged as an independent nation in november 1918

• paris peace conference confirmed their independence in june 1919

• 1926: josef pilsudski led a military coup and established himself dictator

• border disputes brought Poland into conflict with Germany, Czecholslovakia, Lituania, and Russia

• Polish leaders wanted to extend Poland’s territory beyond what was established during the PPC

• Gained control over Ukraine and Lithuania since the PPC

• Poland defeated Russia in the Battle of Warsaw and was ended with the Treaty of Riga in 1921, adding a strip of land to Poland’s eastern border

Czechoslovakia

• emerged from the collapse of the Habsburg Empire in October 1918

• maintained a democratic system of government

• developed protective alliances with Yugoslavia, Romania, Italy and France

Austria

• industrial areas were given to Poland and Czechoslovakia by the Treaty of Saint Germain

• experienced enormous economic problems

• increasingly reliant on foreign loans and inflation ran high leading to political instability

• austrians believed that the solution to their problems was union with germany, which was forbidden by the PPC

• foreign loans were only given in response to austrias commitment to not seek union with germany

Hungary

• the aftermath of the first world war led to political chaos in hungary

• the hungarian communist party seized control

• the hungarian soviet republic under the leadership of bela kun was announced on March 21, 1919

• hungarian troops invaded Czechoslovakia with the aim to extend hungary’s border. france intervened and hungary retreated

• hungarian troops to invade romania were quickly defeated

• kun’s government collapsed

• the hungarian military leaders formed a new, heavily anti-communist government that took violent reprisals

Treaty of Saint-Germain

• September 1919

• Austria

• Lost territory to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, etc.

Treaty of Neuilly

• November 1919

• Bulgaria

• Lost territory to Greece

• Demilitarized (20,000)

• Paid reparations of 400M

Treaty of Sevres

• August 1920

• Turkey

• Lost territory to Greece and Italy

• Dardanelles were permanently open for shipping and trade

Treaty of Trianon

• August 1920

• Hungary

• Lost Territory to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia

• Caused disputes and problems due to the mixing of cultures and people

Ruhr Crisis

• 1923

• Angered by Germany’s failure to pay reparations, France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr

• They took coal, machinery and timber as payment

• Germany lost money as the Ruhr was one of the biggest industry moneymakers

Washington Conference

• 1921-1922

• USA invited 9 nations to discuss naval reduction and the situation in E.Asia

• Five Power Treaty: (US, Britain, France, Japan & Italy) Japan would withdraw from recently acquired Chinese territory and limit its navy to 3/5 of Britain/U.S. naval. In return, Westerns would not develop new bases near Japan

• Four Power Treaty: (U.S., Britain, France, Japan) Respecting each other’s rights in Pacific and Far East; fixing future disagreements by negotiation instead of military action

• Nine Power Treaty: (Signed by all) Protection for China against invasion; upholding open door policy

Genoa Conference

• 1922

• Discussed ways to fix post-war economic issues in Germany;reparations

• Achieved nothing: Germany departed wuickly and Russia left soon after to establish relations with Germany

Rapallo Pact

• 1922

• Germany and Bolshevik Russia

• Renouncing territorial claims and meeting economic needs of both countries

• economically benefit both countries, causing fear in France due to the rise of communism in Russia, caused fear in Poland due to landlocking

Treaty of Lausanne

• 1923

• Aimed to prevent border disputes in Turkey

• Recognized Turkey’s independence

• nullified reparations

Successes of the LON

Aland Islands (1921): Settled disputes between the ownership of Aland islands between Finland and Sweden; Finland kept ownership of the Islands but weapons weren’t allowed there

Upper Silesia (1921): Settled disputes between the ownership of U.Silesia between Germany and Poland, officially dividing the country to be part of both

Yugoslavia-Albania (1921): Settled the disputes over the war between the two countries; taking favor with Albania and making Yugoslavia withdraw its troops

Memel (1923): Lithuania wanted ownership of Memel; invading. League decided Lithuania owns Memel’s surrounding area, Memel an international zone (EXCEPTION)

Failure of the LON

Invasion of the Ruhr (1923): Members of the LON were breaking the rules of the Covenant when invading the Ruhr, making the LON look weak