[HISTO 102] World War 2

Paris Peace Conference

meeting of Allied Powers (victors) following the end of World War I

Paris Peace Conference (Venue)

French Foreign Ministry Office (also known as Quai d'Orsay)

Paris Peace Conference (Aim)

to set the peace terms for the Central Powers (losers)

Paris Peace Conference (Real Aim of Victors)

to advance their own interests

Allied Powers (Victors - Big Four)

David Lloyd George (Britain)

Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

George Clemenceau (France)

Woodrow Wilson (United States)

Paris Peace Conference (start and end date)

• Start: January 18, 1919

• End: January 21, 1920

Paris Peace Conference (Peace Treaties)

• Treaty of Versailles (Germany)

• Treaty of Saint-Germain (Austria)

• Treaty of Neuilly (Bulgaria)

• Treaty of Trianon (Hungary)

• Treaty of Sevres (Ottoman Empire)

• Treaty of Lausanne (Ottoman Empire)

Treaty

a written agreement between countries in which they agree do a particular thing

Treaty of Versailles (Germany)

Aim: to place the sole responsibility for the war on Germany and her allies

Treaty of Versailles - Article 231 ("War Guilt Clause")

placed sole responsibility for the war on Germany and her allies

Treaty of Versailles

Aim: to make Germany pay the cost of the war

Treaty of Versailles

Result: made Germany pay reparations amounting to 226 billion Reichsmarks or $26B

Reparations

the making of amends for a wrong that one has done by paying money

Treaty of Versailles

Aim: to limit Germany’s military

Treaty of Versailles

Terms:

• reduced Germany’s army to 100,000 troops

• limited Germany’s navy to 15,000 men

• abolished conscription

Army

an organized military force equipped for fighting on land

Navy

the branch of a country’s armed services that conducts military operations at sea

Conscription

mandatory enrollment of individuals into a country’s armed forces often during times of war or national emergency

Treaty of Versailles

Military and Naval Matters:

• limited Germany’s naval forces to 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boats

• prohibited the inclusion of submarines in the naval forces

• prohibited the import and export of weapons

• prohibited poison gas, armed aircraft, tanks and armored cars

• prohibited blockades on ships

• restricted the manufacture of machine guns and rifles

Treaty of Versailles

Aim: to take over Germany’s colonies

German Colonies

given to Britain:

1. German East Africa (Tanganyika)

2. German Southwest Africa (Namibia)

German Colonies

given to France and Britain:

1. Cameroons

2. Togoland

German Colonies

given to Japan:

1. Marshall Islands

2. Caroline Islands

3. Marianas Islands

4. Palau Islands

German Colonies

given to New Zealand:
1. German Samoa

German Colonies

given to Australia:

1. Bismarck Archipelago

2. German New Guinea

3. Nauru

German Colonies (Significance)

placed under the mandate system

Mandate System

a mechanism established by the League of Nations to administer territories formerly under the Ottoman and German Empires

Treaty of Versailles

Aim: to prevent the resurgence of Germany

Treaty of Versailles

• ceded Alsace and Lorraine to France
• ceded West Prussia to Poland, granting it access to the Baltic Sea
• ceded Northern Schleswig to Denmark
• placed the Rhineland under allied troop occupation for a period of 15 years
• gave the rich coal mines of the Saar to France

Treaty of Versailles (Significance)

• returned to France the provinces that she lost in her defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
• created the “Polish Corridor”
• separated East Prussia from mainland Germany
• returned the “Polish Corridor” to Poland which Prussia annexed in the Partitions of Poland
• placed Poland again on the map of Europe as an independent nation (after being partitioned by Prussia, Austria and Russia in 1795-1798)
• Germany lost 13% of its land to France, Belgium, Poland and Denmark (where nearly 10% of its people lived)

Treaty of Saint-Germain (Austro-Hungarian Empire)

Aim: to dismember the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Treaty of Saint-Germain

• created the Republic of Austria
• created the Republic of Czechoslovakia
• created the Republic of Yugoslavia
• gave Austrian territory to Poland, Italy, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia

Treaty of Trianon (Hungary)

Aim: to weaken Hungary

Treaty of Trianon

• gave Hungarian territory to Rumania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia

Treaty of Sevres (Ottoman Empire)

Aim: to dismember the Ottoman Empire

Treaty of Sevres

• made Syria a French mandate
• made Iraq and Palestine as British mandates

Paris Peace Conference

did not provide a just and lasting peace

League of Nations

• a worldwide inter-governmental association

• principal mission: to maintain world peace

• founded: January 10, 1920

Peace

period of time in which there is no war

League of Nations (Proponent)

Woodrow Wilson (U.S. President)

Woodrow Wilson

• Fourteen Points (14): A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

Covenant

a formal agreement or promise, usually included in a contract, to do or not to do a particular act

League of Nations

Aim: to prevent war

League of Nations (Headquarters)

Geneva (Switzerland)

League of Nations

Measures:

• reduction of armaments

• abolition of secret diplomacy

• submission of disputes to arbitration by the League

• taking joint action against members who defy the League’s decision

• creation of a Permanent Court of International Justice

Armaments

arms, weapons and equipment of a military unit

Arbitration

procedure in which a dispute is submitted to an independent person or body who makes a binding decision on the dispute

Diplomacy

method of influencing the decisions and behavior of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation and other measures short of war or violence

Dispute

a serious disagreement between two parties

League of Nations

Aim: To Carry Out the Provisions of the Peace Treaty

Measures:
• holding of plebiscites to determine boundaries

• administering disputed areas

• creation of Permanent Mandates Commission

Plebiscite

the direct vote of all the members of an electorate on an important public question

League of Nations

Aim: To Assist in Improvement of Social and

Economic Conditions

Measures:
• creation of International Labor Organization

• repatriation of prisoners of war

• resettlement of refugees

• assistance to new nations in procuring loans

• encouragement of cooperative research projects

Repatriation

the return of people to their own country

Refugee

a person who has been forced to leave his country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster

League of Nations

Aim: To Assist in Improvement of Social and Economic Conditions

Measures:

• rebuilding of schools

• restocking of libraries

• assistance in controlling epidemics

• assistance in establishing standards of nutrition

League of Nations

Failure:
• unable to make the United States (principal proponent) to join
• unable to attract countries to become members - 63 members (in 1937)
• too weak to stop aggression of countries (because it did not have its own military)

Aggression

use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another state

Military Aggressions

• 1932: invasion of Manchuria by Japan
• 1935: invasion of Ethiopia by Italy
• 1938: German annexation of the Sudetenland by Germany

Annexation

taking a piece of land by force or without permission

Fascism

a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

Dictator

a ruler with total power over a country, usually obtained control by means of force

Fascism

• manifested as an extreme form of nationalism

• looked to an authoritarian leader:

1. to guide the state

2. to rally the people

Fascism

• advocated dictatorial one-party rule

• denied individual rights

• insisted on the supremacy of the state

Fascism

• believed that each class had its place and function in society (did not seek a classless society)

• believed in the alliance of workers with aristocrats and industrialists (did not claim a dictatorship of the workers)

Fascists

• wore uniforms or shirts of a certain color

• used special salutes and war cries

• held mass rallies

Italy

After World War I: Economic Difficulties

• poverty of the country

• disorganized industry and trade

• stagnant agriculture

• increase in public indebtedness

Italy

After World War I: Political Instability

• Socialists: warred on capitalists, set up “revolutionary tribunals,” armed themselves as “red guards”

• Government: unable to press for any real social reform or employ armed force against lawlessness and disorder

Benito Mussolini (1883-1944)

• organized the Partito Nazionale Fascista (The National Fascist Party) in Milan in 1919

Measures:

• denounced parliamentary government

• attacked the Socialists and the Liberals

• enlisted support of a growing number of ex-

soldiers, property owners, youthful intellectuals

• used the newspaper as a means of propaganda

Propaganda

communication primarily used to influence or persuade

Partito Nazionale Fascista

Inspiration: from “fasces” referring to a bundle of wooden rods tied around an ax handle carried by ancient Roman officials as symbols of authority

Fascists

wore black shirts

October 24, 1922

40,000 Fascists conduct a congress in Naples andproclaim “Either the government will be given to us

or we shall march on Rome”

October 24, 1922

the Liberal Government resigned; King Victor Emmanuel III sent for Mussolini and asked him to form a ministry

Benito Mussolini

became known as “Il Duce” (the leader) of Italy

Prime Minister:

1. initiated legislation

2. appointed officials

3. advised the King

4. directed the entire national administration

Fascists in Power

Measures:

• reformed public administration

• restored order throughout the country

• suppressed strikes

• punished Socialist agitators

• imposed strict censorship and forceful police measures

Censorship

suppression or prohibition of books, news, films, etc.

Fascists

Political Programs:

• emphasis on nationalism

• stimulating pride in the past:

1. repairing ancient monuments

2. unearthing and reconstructing the old Roman Forum

3. erecting memorials to Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar

Fascists

Economic Enterprises:

• refurbishing of railways

• construction of steamships for transoceanic service

• laying down of new cable lines

• fostering the radio industry

• manufacture of airplanes manufactured for passenger and mail service

• reforestation and reclamation of swamp lands

• development of hydroelectric power

Fascists

Military Agenda:

• universal compulsory service

• colonial expansion due to population growth

Fascism

Impact: appeared as a bulwark against national disintegration and social chaos

Fascists in Power

• began a “Reign of Terror”

• imprisoned political opponents

• silenced their critics

Germany

1929: Economic Difficulties

• closure of banks

• decline in factory production

• disappearance of profits for middle-class persons as well as landlords and peasants

• decline of wages

• rise of unemployment (40% unemployment of Germany’s work force)

Germany

Weimar Republic: creation of victorious Allied powers

• unpopular with the people:

• signed the Treaty of Versailles

a. accepted the “war guilt clause”

b. agreed to pay reparations

c. agreed to the cession of German territories

d. agreed to the transfer of colonies to victorious nations

National Socialist German Workers’ Party

Founding:

• Date: 24 February 1920

• Place: Munich

National Socialist German Workers’ Party

• started as a small right- wing political group in Munich

• called Nazis in short

Right Wing

emphasis on notions such as authority, hierarchy, order, duty, tradition, etc.

National Socialist German Workers’ Party

Philosophy:

• the people exist for the state

• the state must be national, imperial, military and expansive

• Aryan racial superiority in moral virtue and military powers

National Socialist German Workers’ Party

• believed in overturning the Treaty of Versailles

• supported by upper and middle classes
• adopted the bent cross (swastika) as its symbol
• set up a private army called Storm Troopers or Brownshirts

Adolf Hitler

became “fuehrer” (leader) of the Nazi Party

Adolf Hitler

January 30, 1933:

• appointed by German President Paul von

Hindenburg as Chancellor of German

Nazis

set fire to the Reichstag (German Parliament) building; blamed the Communists

Reichstag Fire

Impact:

• resulted in the Nazis winning a majority of seats in Parliament; allowed Hitler to demand Parliament to pass a law granting him absolute power for four years

Adolf Hitler

established a totalitarian government called Third Reich

Totalitarian

political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties

Nazi Dictatorship

Suppression of Political Opposition:

1. abolished all political parties

2. allowed only the Nazi Party

Nazi Dictatorship

Anti-Jewish Campaign:

• nation-wide boycott against Jewish shopkeepers and professionals

• wholesale dismissal of Jews and Christians (with Jewish blood) from state institutions and public offices

Boycott

withdrawal from commercial or social relations as a form of punishment or protest

Nazi Dictatorship

Totalitarian State Ideal:

1. regulation by the state of all activities of its members

2. rule of a single select political party

3. subordination of private property and class distinction to the national welfare

Adolf Hitler

Success:

• establishment of huge military industries

• full employment of German workforce

• satisfactory profits for German capitalists

Military Aggression (Italy)

Benito Mussolini

October 1935: orders a massive invasion of Ethiopia (one of few remaining independent nations in Africa)