World War I and the Interwar Period

World War I and the Treaty of Versailles

  • The Treaty of Versailles ended World War I.
  • The lesson assesses the fairness and balance of the Treaty of Versailles.
  • The treaty was written by France, Britain, and the United States.
  • Japan and Italy were initially involved but withdrew due to disagreements.
  • Germany was blamed for the war and had limited power to negotiate.
  • Consider what "fair" and "balanced" mean throughout the study of this unit.

Terms

  • Treaty: A legal agreement between nations created through negotiation.
  • Ratify: To approve and sign a treaty, making it officially valid.
  • Militarism
  • Authoritarianism
  • Propaganda
  • Balkans
  • Mobilize
  • Imperialism
  • Archduke Franz Ferdinand
  • Foreign Policy
  • Lusitania
  • Reparations
  • Allied Powers of WWI
  • League of Nations
  • Artillery
  • Demilitarized Zone
  • Wilson's Fourteen Points

Fairness and Balance

  • A treaty is a legal agreement between nations negotiated and ratified when all parties agree and sign.
  • Considerations regarding fairness in agreements:
    • Is it fair if one party is outnumbered?
    • Is it fair if one party feels pressured to sign?
    • Is it fair if one party is threatening violence?
  • At the Paris Peace Conference, Germany had just lost a brutal war with devastating losses on all sides.
  • The treaty aimed to keep the peace and address the conditions that caused the war.
  • Germany was expected to pay for war damages, but the treaty was not supposed to be a punishment.
  • Balance in Agreements:
    • Balance involves even distribution.
    • Achieving balance requires correct proportions.
    • The purpose of balance is to create steadiness.
    • Balance in an agreement should result from negotiation.

The Start of World War I

  • Germany was blamed for starting WWI according to the Treaty of Versailles.
  • World War I Names:
    • War to End All Wars
    • War of the Nations
    • The Great War.
    • WWI or WW1
  • Assassination:
    • Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914, in Bosnia.
    • Princip and other nationalists wanted to end Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
    • The assassination triggered a rapid escalation, with Austria-Hungary blaming the Serbian government and seeking to settle Serbian nationalism.
  • WWI Causes:
    • A tangle of alliances to maintain the balance of power in Europe.
    • The Bosnian Crisis of 1909, where Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia, angering Serbia.
    • European countries building up their military forces, arms, and battleships.
    • Desire to regain lost territories and build empires.
    • The Moroccan Crisis of 1911, where Germans protested against French possession of Morocco.

Ten Interpretations of Who Started the Great War

  • Sir Max Hastings - military historian:
    • Germany: Germany had the power to halt the descent to disaster by withdrawing its "blank cheque" which offered support to Austria for its invasion of Serbia.
  • Sir Richard J Evans - Regius professor of history, University of Cambridge
    • Serbia bore the greatest responsibility for the outbreak of WW1 because Serbian nationalism and expansionism were profoundly disruptive forces.
    • Austria-Hungary bore only slightly less responsibility for its panic over-reaction to the assassination of the heir to the Habsburg throne.
    • France encouraged Russia's aggressiveness towards Austria-Hungary and Germany encouraged Austrian intransigence.
  • Dr. Heather Jones - associate professor in international history, LSE
    • Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia: A handful of bellicose political and military decision-makers in Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia caused WWI.
    • Austria-Hungary's military hawks saw the Sarajevo assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a Bosnian Serb as an excuse to conquer and destroy Serbia.
    • German political and military figures egged on Austria-Hungary, Germany's ally, to attack Serbia.
    • This alarmed Russia, Serbia's supporter, which put its armies on a war footing before all options for peace had been fully exhausted.
    • This frightened Germany into pre-emptively declaring war on Russia and on Russia's ally France and launching a brutal invasion, partly via Belgium, thereby bringing in Britain, a defender of Belgian neutrality and supporter of France.
  • John Rohl - emeritus professor of history, University of Sussex
    • Austria-Hungary and Germany: WWI did not break out by accident or because diplomacy failed. It broke out as the result of a conspiracy between the governments of imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary to bring about war
  • Dr. Annika Mombauer - The Open University
    • Austria-Hungary and Germany: In Vienna the government and military leaders wanted a war against Serbia. Without Germany, their decision to fight against Serbia could not have been implemented.
  • Gerhard Hirschfeld - professor of modern and contemporary history, University of Stuttgart
    • Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Britain, and Serbia: Long before the outbreak of hostilities Prussian-German conservative elites were convinced that a European war would help to fulfill Germany's ambitions for colonies and for military as well as political prestige in the world.
  • Sean McMeekin - assistant professor of history at Koc University, Istanbul
    • Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Britain, and Serbia: Germany does bear responsibility. But it is equally true that absent a terrorist plot launched in Belgrade the Germans and Austrians would not have faced this terrible choice.
  • Gary Sheffield - professor of war studies, University of Wolverhampton
    • Austria-Hungary and Germany: The war was started by the leaders of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Vienna seized the opportunity presented by the assassination of the archduke to attempt to destroy its Balkan rival Serbia.
  • Dr. Catriona Pennell - senior lecturer in history, University of Exeter:
    • Austria-Hungary and Germany: It is the political and diplomatic decision-makers in Germany and Austria-Hungary who must carry the burden of responsibility for expanding a localized Balkan conflict into a European and, eventually, global war.
  • David Stevenson - professor of international history, LSE
    • Germany: The largest share of responsibility lies with the German government. Germany's rulers made possible a Balkan war by urging Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia, well understanding that such a conflict might escalate.

World War I

  • Americans joined World War I after 128 Americans were killed by a German submarine.
  • On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the war.
  • Casualties: 8 million soldiers died and 21 million were injured during WWI.
  • Mobilization: About 65 million troops were mobilized.
  • Battle of the Somme: About 58,000 British soldiers were lost on the first day.
  • Chemical Weapons: Chemical weapons, specifically mustard gas, were first used in World War I.
  • German Collapse: By 1918, German citizens were striking and demonstrating against the war.
  • Armistice: A peace armistice was signed on November 11th after German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on November 9th, 1918.
  • Empire Collapse: The Russian, Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires collapsed because of the war.
  • Treaty of Versailles: The Treaty of Versailles officially ended WWI in 1919. It required Germany to:
    • Accept full responsibility for causing the war.
    • Make reparations to some Allied countries.
    • Surrender some of its territory to surrounding countries.
    • Surrender its African colonies.
    • Limit the size of its military.
  • League of Nations: The Treaty also established the League of Nations to prevent future wars. The US Senate refused to let the United States join the League of Nations.
  • Germany's withdrawal: Germany joined the League of Nations in 1926 but withdrew in 1933. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933, and Italy withdrew three years later.
  • Many believe World War I never really ended, and that World War II never would have happened if not for WWI.
  • More than 100 countries were involved in World War I.
  • More Africans and South Asians fought in WW1 than Canadians.
  • The Canadian Parliament didn't choose to go to war in 1914.

Canada and the Treaty of Versailles

  • The Treaty of Versailles imposed peace terms on Germany by the Allied victors of WWI.
  • Canada had separate representation at the conference, marking a movement toward Canadian independence from Great Britain.
  • The treaty broke up and redistributed the German Empire and required substantial reparation payments from it, contributing to German resentment.
  • Adolph Hitler systematically undid the treaty in the 1930s.
  • Canada had little impact on the treaty's final shape, but Prime Minister Robert Borden fought for separate Dominion representation at the peace conference and signatures on the treaty because Canada had more than 60,000 war dead.
  • This increased Canada's prestige and the opportunities for making its views known.
  • The British prime minister signed the treaty for the entire empire, including the Dominions, which reduced the importance of their individual signatures.
  • Canada remained subordinate to Britain but its emerging international personality had been recognized.
  • Canada would have its own membership in the League of Nations, providing another vehicle for the advancement of the country’s national status.

Treaty of Versailles

  • The treaty consisted of pages and articles outlining conditions Germany was forced to agree to.
  • Key aspects of the treaty include:
    • The German Army was limited to only 100,000 men of all ranks.
    • No large artillery pieces, tanks, or aircraft were allowed for the German military.
    • Limits on German Army Reserves
    • No General Staff was allowed.
    • The German Navy was limited to six cruisers, two old battleships and some smaller ships for port duties.
    • Submarines were completely forbidden.
    • The Allies were to occupy the Rhineland for 15 years in a demilitarized zone, with Germany paying for the cost of the Allied troops.
    • Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France.
    • Parts of Germany occupied by Polish people were given to Poland.
    • All German overseas colonies were divided up and given to France, England, and Japan.
  • The Allies declared that Germany was responsible for the war and had to pay reparations based on damages to civilian property, which upset Germany.
  • Austria-Hungary and Turkey:
    • Separate treaties were written and signed by all other countries that fought with Germany.
    • Austria-Hungary was broken into smaller nations including Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia.
    • The Turkish Empire was broken up and new countries were created from areas under its former control.
    • The conditions placed upon these countries were considered less harsh than upon the Germans.

Germany Gave Up Colonies

  • Between 1904-1907, German military forces committed genocide against indigenous people in German Southwest Africa (present-day Namibia; hereafter, GSWA).
  • Approximately 80,000 indigenous people were killed in the genocide. This figure represents about 80 percent of the Herero people and 50 percent of the Nama people.
  • The government of Namibia is seeking reparations from Germany for land stolen and lives lost.
  • Germany has not formally apologized for the genocide but is engaged in bilateral discussions as to when and if it will do so. To date, Germany has steadfastly refused to consider payment of reparations.

Propaganda, Bias, and Making Balanced Decisions

  • The early part of the war witnessed a substantial backlash against German-Canadians in Canada.
  • Public schools removed German language instruction from their curricula.
  • Some orchestras refused to play German music.
  • Winnipeg residents changed hamburgers to “nips” in order to sever the association with an enemy language.

Terms

  • Look for the following terms as they appear in this section. You will need to know them for the section quiz.

Automobiles Increase Mobility

  • The first Canadian automobile, built in 1867 by Henry Seth Taylor, was regarded as a novelty.
  • In 1904 Canada's automotive industry began with the establishment of Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd.
  • By 1913 there were some 50,000 motor vehicles in Canada; between 1918 and 1923, Canada became the world's second-largest vehicle producer and a major exporter of automobiles and auto parts.

Aviation

  • In 1911, McCurdy flew from Key West to Havana, the longest over-water flight to that date.
  • John Porte's planned flight from Newfoundland to Ireland in 1914 was cancelled by the onset of war.

Airmail Improves Communication

  • In the 1920s, mail was the primary means of communication.
  • Canada was an ideal place to begin airmail with its large land area, small population, lack of communication links, and long winters.
  • The first official airmail flight in Canada had been in 1918.
  • From 1918 to 1927 the majority of airmail delivered was aboard unofficial flights.
  • In 1927, the Post Office started to grant airmail contracts in larger numbers and began to create what would become a network of airmail routes.
  • By the spring of 1930, air routes were serving northern regions, islands and cities and towns throughout Canada.
  • After C.H. “Punch” Dickins of Western Canada Airways made the first airmail flights into the Arctic in January 1929, the Post Office contract was granted to Commercial Airways.
  • Most of the early pilots were veterans of the First World War.
  • By the early 1930s, the value of airmail was evident.

Connecting Via Telephone

  • Around the turn of the 20th century, single women were joining the workforce in larger numbers and working as a telephone operator was seen as a job a woman could do.

Women, Work, & Washing Machines

  • The role of homemaker in North American homes has been largely ignored, with their work being seen as low status, low security, and a low power job.

Popular Culture & Radio

  • Radio began to break down the isolation between far-flung communities, bringing popular culture and entertainment into Canadian homes across the country.
  • The 1920s saw the advent of commercial radio stations.
  • Smaller Canadian stations found it difficult to compete with the bigger, more powerful US stations, and, by the end of the twenties, nearly 300,000 Canadians were tuning into US stations.
  • Sporting events began broadcasting over commercial radio stations.

Advertising and Marketing Industry

  • In the 1920s and 1930s, pioneers in the marketing approach to management learned the importance of differentiating their products from those of their competitors, of having a range of products to offer consumers, and of advertising heavily to influence customers' behavior.

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

  • This lesson deals with the problems that came out of the Paris Peace Conference: the rise of aggressive nationalism, and eventually the Nazi Party in Germany, and the dissatisfaction in Italy that led to the rise of fascism.

Terms

  • nationalism
  • fascism
  • ethnic
  • cordon sanitaire
  • Beer Hall Putsch
  • hyperinflation

Nazi Nationalism

  • Nationalism may be defined as “loyalty to one’s nation,” and a nation is often seen as people who have a common language, culture, and tradition.
  • An increased sense of ethnic identity—ethnic nationalism—began to take hold in parts of Europe in the nineteenth century too
  • A member of a Serbian nationalist group assassinated the Austrian archduke, and this was used as a reason for Austro-Hungary to start fighting with Serbia—which led to the First World War.
  • The early twentieth century saw many monarchs of Europe overthrown.
  • The First World War came about in part because of the growth of nationalism.
  • The five Paris treaties were problematic because they were negotiated in the context of conflicting, sometimes contradictory nationalist war aims.
  • Consider the following regarding the outcome of World War I:
    • France suffered more damage than the other Allies and felt justified in demanding Germany be punished severely with reparations and loss of territory.
    • Britain favoured a more lenient settlement
    • Germans, while admitting that they had lost the war, did not feel they had been defeated on the battlefield
    • Italy wanted the German and Slavic territories promised in the secret treaty it had signed with Britain in 1915.
    • US President Woodrow Wilson came to Paris with a mission to reform a Europe and refused to recognize the treaty on which Italy based its territorial claims, since one of his Fourteen Points forbade secret treaties.

Border Changes & New Countries

  • A principal criticism by historians of the treaty process after World War I was the haste in which the negotiations took place—five major treaties completely redrawing the map of Europe and dividing up the losers’ colonial possessions in Africa and the Far East—all concluded in little more than a year.
  • Among other things, the treaty negotiators intended to:
    • sharply curb Germany’s military power
    • create new states with ethnic and nationality considerations in mind
    • establish a north-south buffer of independent, democratic states as a shield against the spread of communism from Russia.
    • In “diplomatic-speak” this is called a cordon sanitaire, a French term meaning a quarantine line or zone.
    • Below are the new states that were created as a result of World War I.

Dismantling Austro-Hungary

  • The former Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled to create the new states of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia.
  • Albania was created out of the old Ottoman Empire.
  • Territory formerly part of Germany, Russia, and Austria made up the newly restored Republic of Poland.
  • In addition, the states Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were created out of the former Russian Empire.
  • Czechs and Slovaks ended up in the same country.
  • Austro-Hungary was forced to give away parts of the old Hungary to Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Austria, and to pay reparations as well.

The Rise of Mussolini

  • Italy had been a nation for less than sixty years.
  • Italians were never firmly united behind the war.
  • There was widespread unemployment and steep inflation.
  • Lenin’s Communist revolution in Russia fired up the socialists and in 1919 there were strikes triggered by inflation that reduced the value of the lira to one-fifth its pre-war level, and there were food shortages.
  • The parliament seemed powerless to cope with the unrest.
  • The Allies did not grant them territorial demands they felt had been promised, and the result was a nation divided and adrift.
  • In 1922, Italy was in a state of virtual civil war.
  • Mussolini’s Blackshirts paraded and fought and murdered at will.
  • The Fascist party had over 300,000 members.
  • The failure of the general strike called by the Socialists and the Communist Party led directly to Mussolini’s “March on Rome. ”
  • Mussolini declared Fascism’s loyalty to King Victor Emmanuel, assured the Roman Catholic Church that Fascists would protect Italy’s churches in the event of violence, and made certain that the Italian army would not interfere in his attempt to seize power.
  • On October 24, Mussolini ordered his Blackshirts to march on Rome.
  • The weak and indecisive King Emmanuel refused to sign the order to set up martial laws and asked Mussolini to form a new government.

Rise of Hitler

  • From November 8 to November 9, 1923, Adolf Hitler and his followers staged the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, a failed takeover of the government in Bavaria, a state in southern Germany.
  • Since 1921, Hitler had led the Nazi Party, a fledgling political group that promoted German pride and anti-Semitism and was unhappy with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the peace settlement that ended World War I (1914-18) and required many concessions and reparations from Germany.
  • In the aftermath of the failed “putsch,” or coup d’état, Hitler was convicted of treason and sentenced to five years in prison.
  • After prison, he worked to rebuild the Nazi Party and gain power via legal political methods.
  • A major part of Hitler’s plan for a greater Germany was what Hitler called der Drang nach Osten, or the drive to the east.
  • Ukraine, as “the bread basket of Europe,” was a critical element of the Drang nach Osten.

The Spanish Civil War

  • Terms:
    • insurgents
    • monarchists
    • anticlerical
    • Basque
    • Catalans
    • Falange
    • non-intervention
    • Loyalists
    • Anarchists
    • aristocracy
    • Guernica
    • aerial
    • epicentre

Causes of the Spanish Civil War

  • Background Nationalists Versus Republicans
  • At the outset of the civil war, the two different sides appeared pretty evenly matched.
  • The Nationalists had some two-thirds of the army and 90 percent of the officers.
  • They also could count on the support of the Catholic Church, die-hard monarchists, and the conservative old-line families who possessed the bulk of the country’s wealth.
  • In addition, they had the Spanish Foreign Legion and many powerful armies of the paramilitary groups, the Carlists and the Falange.
  • Republicans Fought for Change & Suffered Difficulties
  • In 1936, the election that year put in power a coalition of left and liberal parties.
  • The Republican government promised to do much more in the way of land reform to help the poor agricultural workers.
  • It also promised to secularize education

Non-Intervention Agreement Not Kept

  • Both the Nationalist and Republican sides sought help from abroad.
  • General Francisco Franco appealed immediately to Adolf Hitler in Germany and to Benito Mussolini in Italy, both of whom supplied aircraft early in the war.
  • In return for mineral concessions, the Germans supplied the Condor Legion (100 combat planes), and the Italians sent some 70,000 ground troops; both supplied tanks and artillery.
  • This support proved crucial to Franco’s victory.

International Brigades

  • Many foreign powers did not get involved in the Spanish Civil War; but even if their governments were not intervening, many citizens from around the world took it upon themselves to join the fight.
  • Canadians in the International Brigades
  • More than 1,600 Canadians fought alongside the Spanish Army against insurgent forces and did so against the wishes of the Canadian government
  • The Canadian government has done little to recognize the contributions of Canadian soldiers who were part of the International Brigades that fought against the rise of fascism in Spain.
  • There was a certain amount of hostility from official Canada, certainly throughout the Cold War
  • Since they were never part of the Canadian military, their contributions were not acknowledged by the government.
  • Many Canadians, along with other members of the International Brigades, saw their idealism crushed by the harsh realities of Soviet realpolitik.
  • Most Canadians who fought in Spain received little recognition while they were alive.

German Attack on Guernica

  • Germany and Italy supported Franco in Spain by sending army and air-force units.
  • For Hitler, the war offered a chance both to attack a government allied with communism and to try out new ways of fighting.
  • One such new technique was the bombing of civilians and cities in attacks designed to bring terror, which is what happened in the Spanish town of Guernica.
  • Guernica was completely destroyed by insurgent air raiders, with a powerful fleet of aeroplanes unloading bombs and incendiary projectiles.
  • The story raised questions about Germany’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War and its motives for attacking unarmed civilians.
  • Steer’s story was reprinted in newspapers everywhere.

The War's Impact on Writers & Artists

  • Despite the danger, writers flocked to Spain during the civil war, with some fighting on the front lines and others filing articles
  • Artists likewise produced numerous memorable works about the war.
  • Pablo Picasso is a famous artist whose work, titled Guernica, was inspired by the Spanish Civil War.
  • After reading what happened in the newspaper, Picasso changed his plans for the mural and completed the enormous painting in about three weeks.
  • Over the years, artists and critics have marveled at the painting’s powerful imagery and attempted to explain it.

Franco's Dictatorship

  • Although Franco had visions of restoring Spanish grandeur after the Civil War, in reality he was the leader of an exhausted country still divided internally and impoverished by a long and costly war.
  • Despite his sympathy for the Axis powers’ “New Order,” Franco at first declared Spanish neutrality in the conflict.
  • His policy changed after the fall of France in June 1940, when he approached the German leader Hitler.
  • The most difficult period of Franco’s regime began in the aftermath of World War II, when his government was ostracized by the newly formed United Nations.
  • Franco could now be viewed as one of the world’s leading anti-communist political leaders, and relations with other countries began to be regularized in 1948.
  • His international rehabilitation was advanced further in 1953, when Spain signed a 10-year military assistance pact with the United States, which was later renewed in more limited form. Watch the video below to learn more about Picasso and his famous painting.