Conflict + Tension

End of WW1

1918- Germany surrendered + signed Armistice
Jan 1919- Paris Peace Conference (32 countries including Russia but major decisions made by Big 3)

Paris Peace Conference

JAN 1919
32 countries including Russia but major decisions made by Big 3

Wilson's 14 Points

WAS AN IDEALIST + DIDN'T WANT TO PUNISH GERMANY
No secret treaties
League Of Nations
Free sea access + trade
All countries disarm
Self-determination
Alsace-Lorraine to France
Reduce German army
Independent Belgium
Colonies have a say

Georges Clemenceau's Aims

REALIST + WANTED REVENGE
Wanted Alsace-Lorraine
Most damaged country
Disarm Germany
Security for France
Large German reparations

David Lloyd George's aims

REALIST + THE COMPROMISE BETWEEN OTHER 2
Lost 1 million across Empire
"Squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak"
"Hang the Kaiser"
Maintain navy supremacy
Protect Empire by taking Germany's colonies

Pros of TofV for Wilson

LofN created
Small nations became independent (Poland, CSlovakia)

Cons of TofV for Wilson

Most of 14 points ignored
Treaty was harsh overall
Germany's navy was reduced but Britain was more powerful
LofN gained colonies

Pros of TofV for Clemenceau

France gained Alsace-Lorraine
Demilitarised Rhineland
France got Saar's coal for 15 years

Cons of TofV for Clemenceau

Though reparations too small
Germany still had army
Felt they should permanently own Saar

Pros of TofV for Lloyd George

Britain still had naval supremacy
Empire gained colonies

Cons of TofV for Lloyd George

Harsh reparations -> Loss of trade
Threat of possible war with unhappy Germans

Diktat in TofV

Peace dictated to Germany as they had no input

Territorial Changes in TofV

Alsace-Lorraine given to France
Anschluss forbidden
Saar coalmines given to France for 15 years + Saar was a mandate of LofN
Eupen + Malmedy given to Belgium
North Schleswig given to Demark
Poland was independent
Polish corridor given to Poland from Germany (Seperates Germany + East Prussia)
10% of Germany's land and 12.5% of people lost

Military Restrictions in TofV

German army limited to 100,000 men
Rhineland demilitarised (German + France border)
No conscription, tanks, submarines or aircrafts
6 Battleships
15,000 navy men

War Guilt in TofV

Article 231- Germany had to accept responsibility for war

Reparations in TofV

Britain's reaction to TofV

People thought it was fair but could be tougher
Press declared that Germany wouldn't threaten Britain again
Lloyd George viewed as a hero + re-elected
Lloyd George concerned about future problems due to harsh terms
Britain could now "rule the seas" with no German threat

France's reaction to TofV

Though it could be way harsher- worst affected by WW1
Pleased about Saar as it helped industry
Rhineland no longer threat yay
Clemeceau voted off as he hadn't done enough for revenge

U.S.A's reaction to TofV

People though was harsh as only joined in 1917
Thought Wilson helped Britain + France to gain power at Germany's expanse
Favoured isolationalism -> thought US shouldn't be involved in European affairs
TofV used against Wilson by republicans (trump)
Wilson scared of war

Germany's objections to war guilt

Most hated part.
Weimar government blamed Kaiser's government for "mistake" and labelled them as November Criminals.
Germany thought they could win the war without the armistice.

Germany's objections to diktat

Felt the Treaty had been forced onto them and they weren't invited to speak about it.

Germany's objections to lost land

Against principles of self-determination
Deprived Germany of valuable industrial and agricultural income
Lost 10% of land + 1.5 million people + 16 million in colonies

Germany's objections to military restrictions

Needed army for protection, without it, they were vulnerable
Germany was the only country disarming when Wilson's 14 Points stated that all countries should

Germany's objections to reparations

War was also costly for Germany.
Lost industrial land
Inability to pay led to hyperinflation later on

Strengths of TofV

Brought peace to Europe
Set up LofN to keep international peace
Reparations helped to start rebuilding + returning to normal
Independence for countries that didn't want to be part of Austria-Hungarian Empire
Losing + causing side should face consequences + punishment

Weaknesses of TofV

Germany wanted revenge + land back
US didn't sign (didn't want to limit sovereignty)
US didn't join their own idea of LofN
Led to economy crashes
Showed that treaties can't be enforced
Neither of the Big 3 were satisfied
Humiliated and vulnerable Germany

Treaty of St.Germain

1917 -> AUSTRIA
LAND= Lost to Italy,Romania+Poland. Also taken to make Czechoslovakia + Yugoslavia
MONEY= No set amount
MILITARY= Only 30,000 volunteers + no navy
OTHER= No Anschluss

Treaty of Neuilly

1919-> BULGARIA
LAND= Lost to Yugoslavia, Greece + Romania
MONEY=£100 million

MILITARY=20,000 volunteers, no air force, 4 battleships

Treaty of Trianon

1920-> HUNGARY
LAND= Lost land to Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Austria
MONEY= Agreed but no fixed amount (economy collapsed)
MILITARY= 30,000 volunteers + 3 battleships
IMPACT= Industry suffered from loss of population + raw materials

Treaty of Sèvres

1920-> TURKEY
LAND=Turkish Empire split up and new European mandates. Lost almost all European land.
MONEY= None
MILITARY=50,000 volunteers, 7 sailboats + 6 torpedo boats
IMPACTS=Not successful as Turkish forced Greeks out of Smyrna leading to Treaty of Lausanne.

Treaty of Lausanne

1923->TURKEY
Officially ended World War I in the Middle East, recognizing the modern borders of Turkey and replacing the earlier, unratified Treaty of Sèvres. Gave Smyrna, Dardanelles Strait and Bosphorus back to Turkey. Withdrew military limits and Allies.

Impacts of Treaties

Austrian economy collapsed in 1921 due to loss of industrial lands to Yugoslavia
Revolt over Treaty of Sèvres as it was forced
Eastern Europe now made up of lots of small countries
Creation of Czechoslovakia + Yugoslavia, recreation of Poland
Polish Germans unhappy.

Formation of LofN

JANUARY 1920
One of Wilson's 14 Points and aimed to bring world peace
Based in Geneva, Switzerland (neutral country)

Covenant of LofN

26 laws that all members agreed to follow:

1. Disarmament - Avoid future arms races
2. Registration of all treaties - Avoid secret alliances
3. Collective Security - If one state attacked the other, all word work against agressor

How many members of LofN

42 founder members, 52 by 1930

Who didn't join LofN

Defeated countries = Germany (joined 1926-33)
Russia = communist (Joined 1934-1939)
U.S.A = Wanted isolationism. Involvement with Europe could decrease economy, promote wars, lose troops.

Membership of LofN

"League of Victors"

Structure of LofN

Assembly, Council, Secretariats, Permanent Court of International Justice, Agencies

Assembly (LofN)

Representative from each member country
Unanimous decisions
Met annually

Council (LofN)

4 permanent members (France, Britain, Italy, Japan and later Germany)
4 non-permanent members elected by Assembly for 3 years
Had power to veto any decisions made by Assembly

Secretariats (LofN)

Composed of international civil servants
Managed admin and organising action the League wanted to take.
Not always effective

Permanent Court of International Justice (LofN)

15 judges
Dealt with arguments
Could only advise and couldn't enforce decisions

Agencies (LofN)

Dealt with major problems (health, slavery, refugees)

Powers of LofN

Could take action against countries that ignored their decisions:
Moral sanctions= Turn opinion against guilty country
Economic sanctions= Refuse trade with guilty country from League members
Military force= Armed forces could unite (League had no army of it own)

Work of LofN's agencies

International Labour Organization
Health Committee
Commission for Refugees
Slavery Commission
Economic and Financial Committee
Permanent Central Opium Board
Mandates Commission
Women's Rights Commission
World Disarmament Commission

Aims of International Labour Organisation

Bring workers, employers, governments together to improve working conditions

Successes of International Labour Organisation

1928- 77 countries set minimum wages
Reduced death rate in Africa railway building from 50% to 4%

Failures of International Labour Organisation

Tried to stop children under 14 from working

Aims of Commission for Refugees

Help refugees

Successes of Commission for Refugees

Freed 427,000/500,000 war prisons
1917- 1.5 million people held from Russia

Failures of Commission for Refugees

1933- Tried to appoint a High Commissioner for Refugees

Aims of Permanent Central Opium Board

Stop the creation + distribution of opium

Successes of Permanent Central Opium Board

Blacklisted 4 large companies

Failures of Permanent Central Opium Board

Key League members made money from opium so were not dedicated to stop sales

Vilna crisis (events)

1920
Poland + Lithuania = new countries created from AH empire
Vilna was capital of Lithuania but majority Polish population
Private Polish army took control of Vilna
Asked to leave by League of Nations but refused

Vilna crisis (results)

FAILURE
First crisis for LofN to make an impression and failed
France + GBritain refused to send troops to force occupants out of Vilna
France saw Poland as ally
Britain wouldn't act alone

Upper Silesia crisis (events)

1920
Upper Silesia = industrial region on Germany + Poland border and both countries wanted control over it
1921
Plebiscite was held by League- Germany won 60% of votes but Poland claimed problems with administration.
League split area between 2 countries

Upper Silesia crisis (results)

SUCCESS
Both sides accepted split
FAILURE
Neither was entirely happy as split wasn't even (Germany gained more but rural land, Poland gained less but industrial land)

Aaland Islands crisis (events)

1921
Both Sweden + Finland claimed islands which were midway between the countries
Threatened war on each other but appealed to League
League investigated + decided land should go to Finland but they weren't allowed to build forts

Aaland Islands crisis (results)

SUCCESS
Both countries accepted settlement

Corfu crisis (events)

1923
Italian general was killed whilst surveying the border between Greece + Albania
Mussolini was furious and demanded Greek compensation
Greek refused to pay so Mussolini invaded Corfu (Greek island)
League told Mussolini to withdraw + Greece would pay compensation to League until killers found
Mussolini furious and complained to Conference of Ambassadors who undermined League's decision and made Greece pay directly to Italy

Corfu crisis (results)

SUCCESS
War avoided
FAILURE
Showed powerful country's (France, Britain, Italy) willingness to undermine League's decision

Bulgaria crisis (events)

1925
Greek soldiers killed on border with Bulgaria
Greece therefore invaded Bulgaria
Bulgaria appealed for help, League ordered Greece to withdraw troops + pay compensation

Bulgaria crisis (results)

SUCCESS
Greece obeyed as they didn't want to risk poor relations with powerful League members
FAILURE
Greece thought League was being hypocritical since Mussolini had gotten away with same thing in Corfu 1923
Changed opinions of smaller nations on powerful nations

Who signed Locarno Treaties

1925
Respresentatives of France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland + Czechoslovakia met in Locarno Switzerland

Terms of Locarno Treaty

Germany, France, and Belgium pledged to respect their borders as defined in the Treaty of Versailles.
Britain and Italy committed to act against any violation of the borders between Belgium and Germany, and France and Germany
Germany accepted that Rhineland would remain demilitarised
Germany agreed to peaceful settlement of disputes with Poland and Czechoslovakia.
France + Germany agreed to settle future disputes through League

Consequence of Locarno Treaty

1926
Germany allowed to join League as the traty showed Germany finally accepted Treaty of Versailles and blame for war

Who signed Kellogg-Briand Pact

1928
Initially signed by 15 nations
Later signed by 47 nations to make total of 62 signatures

Terms of Kellogg-Briand Pact

Eliminate war as a means of settling international conflicts and promote peaceful resolutions.

Consequences of diplomacy outside of the League

Unofficially marked the end of League of Nations as individual countries acted independently.
Made it look like League was not a place to help countries to find practical solutions to their problems + disputes

Effect of Depression on LofN

Members reluctant to act in time of economic crisis
Members more focused on individual problems
Affected relations between countries due to damaged trade
Rise of extremism due to hardships changed politics
Funding for humanitarian work limited severely

Manchurian Crisis (events)

1931
Japanese staged Mukden incident
Used incident as excuse to inavde Manchuria (raw materials)
1932
Japanese set up puppet government in Manchuria (ex-emperor of China)
China appealed to League
League had to act carefully as Japan was leading member
Japan refused to remove troops after being asked to
Lord Lytton asked to issue a report (took a year)
Report stated that Japan had acted unlawfully and Manchuria should be self-governing
Japan ignored and renamed Manchuria 'Manchukuo'
1933
Japan controlled all of Manchuria
LofN condemned Japan so they left lol
1937
Japan launched invasion on rest of China

Manchurian crisis (Consequences)

SHOWED LEAGUE'S WEAKNESSES:
Membership limited powers- Japan's main trading partner was USA. USSR could've sent troops but weren't allowed to join.
Unwillingness to promote collective security- Britain + France weren't willing to risk war/trade
Aggressive dictator wants to invade- LofN was powerless
Loss of Authority
Encouragement of Aggression- Emboldened Italy + Germany

Abyssinian Crisis (Events)

1935
Mussolini invaded Abyssinia for their resources
Sanctions imposed
Hoare-Laval Pact
1936
Italians capture Abyssinia capital and made it part of Empire

Why was League reluctant to act against Mussolini after invading Abyssinia

League had to be careful as Italy was permanent Council member
Britain + France thought Italy to be greatest ally against rising power of Hitler
Peace Ballot held in Britain before attack but government still hesitant to act

What did League do to act against Mussolini after invading Abyssinia

Took Britain + France 2 months to introduce sanctions that would've only been effective if immediately introduced
Banned loans + sales of arms to Italy + imports from Italy
League banned members from selling arms to Abyssinia which left them with nothing to defend themselves with against Mussolini's modern, powerful army
Didn't ban iron, coal, steel or oil which are necessary for invasion
Didn't close Suez Canal (owned by Britain + France) which was easiest route to Abyssinia

Hoare-Laval Pact

Britain + France secretly agreed to give Italy 2/3rds of Abyssinia in exchange for support against Hitler
Leaked plan showed selfishness

Consequence of Abyssinian crisis

Strain on foreign relations- Italy leaves LofN
Loss of credibility- Secret pact + hesitant actions
Encouragement of Aggression- Germany remilitarised Rland

Why did LofN fail to avert war in 1939

Poor organisation + slow decision making (due to unanimity, infrequency, delays, veto powers in system)
Important nations absent (USA, Germany, USSR's late join, Italy + Japan's departure)
Ineffective Sanctions
Lack of military power
Self-interests of members
Great Depression (Countries looked after themselves)
Crises

Hitler's Aims

Hitler states his aims in Mein Kampf 1924
ABOLISH TREATY- Unjust and signed by "November Criminals"
LEBENSRAUM- "Living space" Wanted Anschluss and German minorities in other countries to be united
DEFEAT COMMUNISM- Jewish strategy to subjugate Germany

Hitler's aims (GASSED)

G= Glorious country and army
A= Anschluss, Unite all German speaking people under him
S= Space, Gain territory to provide living space
S= Secure Friendship, Ideally with Britain + France
E/D= End/Destroy TofV

Dollfuss Affair

1932
Dollfuss was Austria's Chancellor who stopped socialists + Nazis from gaining power
1933
Banned communists, Nazis + other opponents from elections
1934
Hitler ordered Austrian Nazis to take over.
Dollfuss assassinated
Army protects government so coup failed
New Chancellor= Schuschnigg

Saar Plebiscite

Saar= Industrial, German-speaking area taken from Germany in TofV and put under LofN's control
A vote meant to be taken by Germans 15 years later to decide where it should go
JANUARY 1935
Plebiscite held- 90% voted Saar to be returned to Germany

Germany's rearmament

1933
Hitler withdrew Germany from LofN
Hitler secretly started rearmament because other countries had also refused to disarm and needed self-defence
MARCH 1935
Hitler re-introduces conscription
"Freedom to rearm rally"- Hitler shows off weapons + troops

Stresa Front

APRIL 1935
Britain, France + Italy sign agreement to refuse future attempts by Nazi Germany to alter terms of TofV
Response to Germany's rearmament

Anglo-German Naval Agreement

JUNE 1935
Britain allowed Hitler to rebuild his navy to 35% of size of British navy
Baldwin didn't consult with Italy or France before agreement

Consequences of Anglo-German Naval Agreement

Hitler saw this as Britain admitting TofV was unfair
Britain appeared to agree with German's rearmament
Promoted International criticism as it as a betrayal of TofV
Selfish Britain only wanted to avoid naval arms race

Remilitarisation of Rhineland

MARCH 1936
Hitler gained confidence after no opposition to rearmament
Hitler sent troops back into Rhineland
No country took any action against Hitler

Mussolini + Axis

Italy and Germany became allies in Spanish Civil War after joint involvement and support of fascist General Franco
OCTOBER 1936
Rome-Berlin Axis linked two countries. Informal statement of friendship (besties forever #4Liferz)

Anti-Comintern Pact

NOVEMBER 1936
Japan + Germany made allies against Communism (USSR)
NOVEMBER 1937
Italy joins

Anschluss

FEBRUARY 1938
Schuschnigg + Hitler meet and Hitler demands Nazis are given key government posts
Hitler puts pressure on SN and Austria and Nazis orcehstrate coup
MARCH 1938
9th- SN announces referendum
10th- Hitler orders referendum to be cancelled (wanted Anschluss to happen on his own terms). It is, SN resigns and is replaced by Seyss-Insquart. Hitler prepares for invasion
12th- German troops move into Austria. Hitler controls Austria.
Seyss-Inquart = minister of interior but had to follow Nazi domestic policy
Hitler held a rigged referendum. The results showed that (99.73%) of people liked referendum

What was appeasement?

Diplomatic policy in 1930s aimed at avoiding conflict by allowing Germany to expand territory + military unchecked.

Arguments for Appeasement

TofV too harsh already
Communism was a bigger threat than Nazism
Britain and other countries not ready for another war and were still suffering damage from WW1 + Great Depression
Public opinion strongly supported peace

Arguments Against Appeasement

Germany had too much power + confidence
Hitler could break international agreements
Allowed Hitler to grow Germany into a strong nation with a strong army with no sign of stopping until all aims met
Often involved sacrificing small nations (Czechoslovakia)
Undermined collective security (ineffectiveness of LofN)
Strengthened dictatorships (Italy)
Encouraged aggression (Anschluss)
Missed opportunities to prevent growth of power (e.g. Remilitarisation of Rhineland)

Result of Appeasement

Short term success
Long term failure
Undermined trust

Sudeten Crisis

Hitler wanted CS Sudetenland (home to 3 million Germans)
APRIL 1938
German troops begin amassing on Czech borders
MAY 1938
Hitler orders plans to invade (destroy) CS
Czech president mobilised troops to resists Hitler
Hitler claims plebiscites would be held
15 SEPTEMBER 1938
Chamberlain meets Hitler and agrees that CS shouldtransfer part of Sudetenland to Germany
22 SEPTEMBER 1938
They meet again and Hitler demands all of Sudetenland and threatens war

Munich Conference

29th-30th SEPTEMBER 1938
Germany allowed Sudetenland and CS forced to agree and weren't present at conference
Chamberlain + Hitler also met privately and promised never to go to war against each other. Chamberlain returns a hero

Consequences of Munich Conference

Peace maintained
Czechoslovakia betrayed and becomes vulnerable
Hitler gains more land
Britain + Germany appear to be friendly
USSR left out

Occupation of Czechoslovakia

MARCH 1939
Chaos in CS and loss of strong defensive system
15th MARCH 1939
Hitler took rest of CS and claimed he was "restoring order".

Nazi-Soviet Pact

AUGUST 1939
Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact.
Secret agreement to split Poland into 2