Nationalism v Internationalism in the 1920s

Who were the 'Big Three'?

Wilson (USA), George Clemenceau (France), David Lloyd George (England)

What happened at The Paris Peace Conference?

Meetings during 1919 and 1920

The fate of Germany and its allies were decided by the 'Big Three' and 5 treaties were drawn up with the Treaty of Versailles being one of them

What are the main 5 points of the Fourteen Points?

1) No secret treaties

2) Free trade between countries

3) All countries to work towards disarmament

4) Self-determination for Eastern Europeans (they should rule themselves)

5) League of Nations to be set up

What were the initial criticisms against the Fourteen Points? (2)

1) Wilson = naive, idealistic, lacking understanding of Europes complex issues

2) Clemenceau and George afraid of giving up their overseas empires

What is internationalism?

Approach to solving problems between countries based on co-operation rather than conflict

How did Wilson and George clash over the Fourteen Points?

George - did not want all nations to have access to the seas + self-determination seemed like a potential threat

Wilson - wanted opposite

How did Clemenceau and George clash over the Fourteen Points?

George - wanted Germany to recover quickly economically so it could pay Britain compensation for war damage + possible valuable trading partner + take away Germany's navies and colonies as they are a threat

Clemenceau - felt Britain was too inconsistent

How did Clemenceau and Wilson clash over the Fourteen Points?

Clemenceau - the French wanted Germany to be punished for pain and suffering + security from Germany as they shared a border

Wilson - hoped to see a democratic state emerge so couldn't punish Germany too harshly as he feared they would want revenge

What does the Treaty of Versailles entail?

1) Accept war guilt

2) Reparations of £6.6 billion set in 1921

3) Germany lost 10% of its land and 12.5% of its population (Alsace-Lorraine -> France, West Prussia -> Poland etc) + banned to form union (Anschluss) with Russia + former overseas empires became mandates controlled by LoN

4) Army limited to 100,000 + not allowed any vehicles + navy limited to 6 battleships + Rhineland demilitarised)

5) Not allowed to join LoN until proved peaceful intentions

How did Germany react to the League of Nations? (6)

1) Angry that they were being treated as a defeated nation + not having been represented at the peace talks

2) War guilt clause = unfair

3) Disarmament clause = unfair

4) Losing land was inconsistent with Wilson's demand for self-determination

5) Reparation bill blamed for their economic issues later in the 1920s

6) Excluded from the LoN was embarrassing + inconsistent

What were the promises of the members of the League of Nations?

1) Collective security - protecting one another if attacked

2) Economic sanctions if one member illegally waged war with another war member

What were George's and Clemenceau's doubts about the League of Nations?

George - thought a simpler organisation would be better (Conference of Ambassadors) + wanted Britain to be able to act freely

Clemenceau - wanted France to act freely + thought the League needed its own army to be successful

What were the League's main commissions in the 1920s? (5)

1) Refugee Committee - 400,000 displaced/prisoned people from the war to return home

2) International Labour Organisation - campaigned for workers rights, specifically of women and children

3) Declaration of the Rights of the Child

4) Health Committee - funded research for diseases and vaccines + fought against drug trafficking and slavery e.g., freeing 200,000 slaves in Sierra-Leone

5) Financial Committee - came up with economic plan to help Austria and Hungary's economies to recover

How did the incident in Corfu, 1929 start?

- Undecided border between Greece and Albania

- General Enrico Tellini appointed by CoA to supervise but was ambushed and killed on the 27th of August as well as his team when surveying Greece's side

- Benito Mussolini demanded compensation and execution of the murderers

- Mussolini attacked Corfu, killing 15, when the Greek government refused

- The Greeks appealed to the League who condemned Mussolini but also agreed with the compensation

Why was the issue given to the Conference of Ambassadors?

Disagreement between France (supported Italy as their issues in the Ruhr region of Germany limited them resource wise) and Britain (prepared to intervene to force Mussolini out of Corfu)

Did Mussolini win the argument over Corfu?

Yes as the CoA forced Greece to apologise and pay compensation and on the 27th of September he left Corfu.

How did the incident in Bulgaria, 1925?

October, Greek soldiers killed on border with Bulgaria. Greek troops invaded and Bulgaria appealed to the League. The League demanded that both sides stand down and Greek forces need to withdraw

Was the agreement over the Bulgaria, 1925 incident successful?

Yes because both leaders agreed but Greece brought up how there are different cases for smaller states like them and larger states like Italy

What happened at the Washington Conference 1921?

USA, Japan, Britain and France agreed to limit size of their navies but that's how far disarmament went which angered Germany

What were the 5 international agreements in the 1920s?

1) Rapallo Treaty - 1922: USSR and Germany re-established diplomatic relations

2) Dawes Plan - 1924: USA lent money to Germany to avert economic crisis. This propped up and restored their economy

3) Locarno Treaties - 1925: Germany accepted new borders (apart from the ones with Poland and Czechoslovakia making them nervous), paving the way for them to enter the LoN

4) Kellog-Briand Pact - 1928: agreement between 65 nations not to use force to settle disputes

5) Young Plan - 1929: reduced total amount of German reparations