Paris Versailles Peace Conference - End of WWI

This conference came with the conclusion of WWII. There were discussions of commitments and reparations aimed at rebuilding Europe.

The Russians were left out

  • They signed a treaty with Germany under Lenin’s Communism.

East Europe

Russia was a MESS

  • The government basically fell apart

    • The Tsar is removed and liberals take over to establish an elective government

  • soldiers refused to battle

  • Spanish Flu was running around

West Europe

Americas

The president at the time was Woodrow Wilson

  • Elected in 1912, where the war COULD’VE broken out

    • not ready for war

  • Not interested in getting the U.S. involved in Europe’s conflict

Africa

Middle East

Asia (China and Japan)

China is slowly moving towards a republic with voting rights, and the Confucian-educated bureaucracy is still in the government.

  • Rich still controls everything

  • China was neutral in the war

The Japanese got into the war on the same side of Britan, Russia, etc, which makes them on the wining end of the war.

  • what did they win?

    • Pacific islands from the Germans

    • Control of the Chinese coast

      • idea that China can be carved up like Africa

      • against US interest

China had people upset from the control from Japan bc they JUST got rid of imperial rule, and therefore, deserved SOME say on their country.

  • birthed population nationalism to resist foreign control

    • May 19th Movement from small population made of farmers and workers

    • Karl Marx and Russian workers’ movement…communism…

1936 - Japanese Invasion of China

Economics

During the war, there was a large cut in silk products for the war effort, so to combat this, Japan went after China. 

  • US doesn’t like that…

There is a strong effort to involve the colonies in the war

  • Nigeria

    • We just fought to rid your oppressors…shouldn’t we do the same?

  • More emphasis was put on colonies due to the great depression


1938 - Hoover becomes President

  • comes from a working family in Colorado and is a mining engineer, where he builds up his wealth and ststus in African mining

    • the American dream! the American way

  • …literally worst President to be elected or the Great Depression

  • “savior” of the war

    • first time American leader went out to Europe for European matters

      • what to do with Russia?

      • set up first international food aid

There was an issue of payment for damage

  • France wanted Germany to run that money

  • England still wanted to trade with Germany, so they didn’t ask for much, and yet they also wanted to squeeze everything germany had outta them

  • US insisted loans and money get paid back

    • the American way :) 

  • the Germans never paid close to what they owed in reperations

    • more money invested in Germany o the inside than what they were paying

      • Germany economic grew in the 20s