CoT- Evidence

Paris Peace Conference & Big Three — key stats

WW1 ended 11 Nov 1918 · Conference began 18 Jan 1919 · Treaty signed 28 June 1919 · 32 countries attended but only Big Three made decisions · Germany NOT invited — had to sign or face renewed war

Paris Peace Conference — Big Three aims

Clemenceau (France): wanted Germany CRIPPLED — maximum reparations, permanent Rhineland occupation, break Germany into smaller states · Lloyd George (Britain): wanted Germany punished but stable — feared harsh terms would cause another war · Wilson (USA): idealist — Fourteen Points, self-determination, League of Nations · US Senate later REFUSED to ratify the Treaty — USA never joined League

Treaty of Versailles — GARGLE

G — GUILT: Article 231 War Guilt Clause — Germany accepted sole blame for WW1 · A — ARMED FORCES: army limited to 100,000 men, no conscription, no submarines, no aeroplanes, only 6 battleships, Rhineland demilitarised · R — REPARATIONS: £6.6 billion set 1921 — Germany still paying end of 20th century · G — GERMANY LOST LAND: Alsace-Lorraine → France · West Prussia + Posen → Poland (created Polish Corridor, split Germany from East Prussia) · North Schleswig → Denmark · Saar coalfields under League control for 15 years · ALL overseas colonies lost · Total: 13% territory, 10% population, 16% coal, 48% iron · L — LEAGUE OF NATIONS created · E — EXTRAS: Anschluss (union with Austria) specifically forbidden · Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania made independent

Treaty of Versailles — German reaction & consequences

Germany called it a DIKTAT (dictated peace) — no say, forced to sign · War Guilt Clause → "stab in the back" myth → Hitler exploited national humiliation to rise to power · Reparations → Germany couldn't pay → 1922 fell behind → Jan 1923 France + Belgium invaded the Ruhr to take goods → German workers struck → government printed money → HYPERINFLATION → money worthless · Army limit → humiliating for military pride → secret rearmament began immediately · Polish Corridor especially hated — split Germany from East Prussia · Lloyd George privately predicted another war within 25 years — proved correct

League of Nations — structure weaknesses

Assembly: ALL members met only ONCE A YEAR — too slow to respond to crises · Council: Britain, France, Italy, Japan (permanent) + rotating members — met only 4-5 times a year · UNANIMOUS decisions required — any one member could veto → paralysingly slow · NO ARMY — relied on members to enforce decisions → members refused to risk war → League toothless · Only power: SANCTIONS (stopping trade) — but members broke them for self-interest

League of Nations — who was excluded & why it mattered

USA — Senate rejected membership May 1920; feared being dragged into European wars → richest most powerful nation absent → sanctions had no bite without USA · Germany — excluded as punishment until 1926 → the nation most likely to cause conflict had no voice · USSR — excluded; Western powers feared communism · Without USA the League could never truly enforce collective security

League of Nations — 1920s successes & failures

SUCCESSES: Aaland Islands 1921 (Finland vs Sweden — League ruled for Finland, Sweden accepted ✓) · Bulgaria 1925 (Greece invaded — League ordered withdrawal + compensation ✓) · Freed 200,000 slaves · Returned 500,000 WW1 prisoners home · FAILURES: Vilna 1920 — Poland seized from Lithuania, League did NOTHING ✗ · Corfu 1923 — Mussolini invaded Greek island, League SIDED WITH MUSSOLINI, Greece paid compensation ✗ · Corfu showed powerful states could defy League without consequences

Dawes Plan, Locarno & Kellogg-Briand

Dawes Plan 1924: USA lent money to Germany to pay reparations → stabilised German economy → period of growth · Locarno Treaties 1925: Germany accepted western borders (Versailles), Rhineland stays demilitarised → Germany joined League September 1926 → "Spirit of Locarno" — real optimism for peace · Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928: 63 countries agreed to renounce war → high point of international cooperation → BUT no enforcement mechanism → meaningless when Depression hit 1929

Wall Street Crash & impact on League

US stock market collapsed October 1929 → Great Depression → USA recalled loans from Germany + Europe → mass unemployment across Europe · Countries turned inward + nationalistic → self-interest replaced collective security · Military spending became more attractive than cooperation · Depression directly caused: Japan invaded Manchuria 1931 (needed resources) + Italy invaded Abyssinia 1935 (Mussolini needed empire) → League's two biggest failures both Depression-driven

Manchurian Crisis 1931-33 — key facts

September 1931: Japan staged Mukden Incident (explosion on own railway) → blamed China → invaded Manchuria · League set up Lytton Commission December 1931 — took almost A YEAR to report · October 1932 Lytton Report: Japan = aggressor, should withdraw · February 1933: League voted Japan must leave → Japan WALKED OUT and quit League · No sanctions agreed, no arms embargo → Britain + France unwilling to act · By 1937: Japan invaded rest of China

Manchurian Crisis — why it was a disaster

Lytton Commission took 1 year → Japan had already secured Manchuria → too slow to matter · No sanctions + no army → League couldn't expel Japan → Japan simply left → showed League POWERLESS against major nation · Japan was a permanent Council member → allowed to get away with aggression · USA not a member → only power that could hurt Japan economically absent · Hitler watched and saw the League do nothing → emboldened Rhineland 1936

Abyssinian Crisis 1935-36 — key facts

October 1935: Mussolini invaded Abyssinia — independent African nation · Haile Selassie appealed to League · League condemned Italy + applied LIMITED sanctions — crucially NO OIL SANCTIONS → Italy's war machine unaffected · Hoare-Laval Pact (secret): Britain + France planned to give Italy the richest 2/3 of Abyssinia → LEAKED → public outrage → both Hoare and Laval forced to resign · May 1936: Italy conquered Abyssinia, League lifted sanctions · October 1936: Mussolini signed Rome-Berlin Axis with Hitler

Abyssinian Crisis — why it destroyed the League

Britain + France wanted Mussolini as ally against Hitler (Stresa Front 1935) → refused strong action → betrayed League principles · No oil sanctions → the one thing that could stop Italy's war machine → made sanctions meaningless · Hoare-Laval Pact proved Britain + France would sacrifice League principles for self-interest → destroyed League's moral authority · Hitler saw League do nothing → immediately remilitarised Rhineland March 1936 → knew Britain + France wouldn't act · Rome-Berlin Axis: Mussolini turned to Hitler → Italy lost to Allied side → collective security effectively dead

Hitler's aims when he came to power 1933

1. ABOLISH TREATY OF VERSAILLES — called it a humiliation, blamed "November Criminals" for signing, wanted to undo every clause · 2. EXPAND GERMAN TERRITORY — reclaim land lost at Versailles, unite all German-speaking peoples (Anschluss, Sudetenland), Lebensraum: expand east into USSR for land + resources · 3. DEFEAT COMMUNISM — hated USSR, wanted to destroy communism by expanding east

Hitler's rearmament 1933-35 — key facts

October 1933: left League + Disarmament Conference, began SECRET rearmament (illegal under Versailles) · 1935: conscription introduced (banned by Versailles), Luftwaffe announced publicly, German army had TRIPLED · June 1935 Anglo-German Naval Agreement: Britain allowed Germany navy 35% of Britain's size → directly broke Versailles → destroyed Stresa Front (Britain didn't tell France or Italy) · January 1935 Saar Plebiscite: 90% voted to return to Germany (legal under ToV) → massive propaganda victory for Hitler · By 1938: German army reached 800,000 men (Versailles limit was 100,000)

Stresa Front 1935 — formation & collapse

April 1935: Britain, France, Italy formed coalition at Stresa to oppose Hitler's rearmament · COLLAPSED because: June 1935 Anglo-German Naval Agreement — Britain secretly allowed Germany navy 35% of its own without telling France or Italy → trust destroyed · October 1935 Italy invaded Abyssinia → Britain + France went soft (weak sanctions, Hoare-Laval) → Mussolini felt betrayed anyway · By October 1936: Mussolini signed Rome-Berlin Axis → Italy abandoned Britain + France entirely

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland March 1936

March 1936: Hitler sent troops into demilitarised Rhineland · Violated BOTH Treaty of Versailles AND Locarno Treaties (which Germany had voluntarily signed) · Hitler secretly ordered troops to RETREAT if France resisted — Germany's army still weak, this was a huge gamble · France: politically divided, traumatised by WW1, needed British support which didn't come · Britain: many felt Versailles too harsh, saw it as Germany "entering own backyard" · Outcome: Hitler got away with it completely → massive propaganda victory → generals gained confidence in Hitler · Historians: seen as LAST MOMENT Hitler could have been stopped without a full war — failure to act here made everything after inevitable

Anschluss March 1938 — key facts

Hitler's long-term aim: unite Germany + Austria (forbidden by Versailles) · 1934 attempt FAILED — Mussolini moved troops to Austrian border to stop him · 1938: Rome-Berlin Axis meant Mussolini now allied with Hitler → no longer defended Austria · Hitler encouraged Austrian Nazis to cause unrest · Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg announced independence vote → Hitler feared "No" result → sent troops to intimidate voters · Plebiscite: 99.75% voted for union (widely seen as rigged) · March 1938: German troops marched in, Anschluss declared · Britain + France protested verbally but DID NOTHING · Gained 7 million more people + Austrian resources + army

Sudetenland Crisis & Munich Agreement 1938

Sudetenland: region of 3 million German-speakers in western Czechoslovakia · Hitler encouraged Sudeten Nazis to demand union · Czech President Beneš asked Britain + France for help · Munich Conference 29 September 1938: Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini · Britain + France GAVE HITLER THE SUDETENLAND · Czechoslovakia not consulted — territory handed away without their involvement · Chamberlain returned claiming "peace for our time" · Churchill condemned it: "a total defeat… this is only the beginning" · Sudetenland contained Czechoslovakia's forts, railways and industry → left completely defenceless

End of appeasement & road to WW2 1939

March 1939: Hitler invaded Bohemia + Moravia (rest of Czechoslovakia) → directly broke Munich Agreement → first non-German territory seized → no self-determination excuse → appeasement policy finally ended · British reaction: Polish Guarantee issued — if Germany attacked Poland, Britain would declare war — first firm stand · August 23 1939: Nazi-Soviet Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop) signed in Moscow → secret protocol to DIVIDE POLAND · September 1 1939: Germany invaded Poland · September 3 1939: Britain declared war → WW2 began

Nazi-Soviet Pact — why both sides signed it

WHY STALIN SIGNED: Munich proved Britain + France wouldn't stand up to Hitler · Didn't trust West to defend Eastern Europe · Alliance with Britain = immediate war with Germany · Alliance with Germany = time to prepare + half of Poland + territorial gains → chose self-interest · WHY HITLER SIGNED: avoid two-front war · Ensure USSR wouldn't defend Poland · Freed to invade Poland without Soviet interference · WHY IT MADE WW2 INEVITABLE: removed Hitler's biggest risk → invaded Poland 1 Sept → Britain had given Polish Guarantee → declared war 3 Sept → couldn't back down again

Appeasement — why Britain followed it

Fear of communism: Hitler seen as bulwark against USSR · Versailles seen as unfair: many believed Germany treated too harshly, Hitler's demands seemed like reasonable corrections · Economic weakness: still recovering from Great Depression, couldn't afford war · Military unpreparedness: British forces not ready, especially RAF needed time to rearm · Memory of WW1: 700,000+ British dead, politicians + public traumatised · No US support: USA refused involvement, Britain felt it couldn't confront Hitler alone

Appeasement — arguments for and against

FOR: bought time → RAF built up → Britain better prepared 1939 than 1938 · Hitler might have had limited aims (couldn't know he wouldn't stop) · Public genuinely didn't want another war after WW1 horrors · Economic reality — couldn't afford war after Depression · AGAINST: let Hitler grow stronger — time to build army, air force, war economy · Each success convinced Hitler Allies would NOT resist → made war MORE likely not less · Rhineland 1936 was last cheap chance — every subsequent step cost more · Abandoned Czechs, Austrians, others to Nazism · Churchill proved right — "peace for our time" lasted less than a year

Why did the League of Nations fail? — IT WAS DUMB

I — It was WEAK: sanctions useless without army, unanimous decisions paralysingly slow · T — America not a member: USA richest + most powerful — without it sanctions had no bite, Britain + France couldn't enforce peace alone · W — Structural problems: unanimous voting in Assembly AND Council → any veto = gridlock → met too infrequently to respond to fast-moving crises · A — Big aggressors defied it: worked on small 1920s disputes but failed completely when Japan, Italy, Germany challenged it in the 1930s · S — Depression: countries prioritised self-interest + nationalism → no one sacrificed trade or military spending for collective security · D — Declining credibility: each failure (Manchuria → Abyssinia) made League less respected → nations stopped taking it seriously · U — Unsuccessful members: Italy + Japan (permanent Council members) committed aggression → League couldn't punish its own major members · M — Military weakness: NO ARMY → couldn't enforce decisions or stop invasions · B — Britain + France self-interest: prioritised own security + empires, wouldn't risk war or economic damage to uphold League principles