Download The Paris Peace Conference

Versailles: The Paris Peace Conference
Overview
The conference met to sort out the peace after WWI.
Most people wanted a lasting peace, but many people wanted to 'make Germany pay'.
President Wilson of America (who wanted the League of Nations) fell out with President Clemenceau of France
(who wanted to destroy Germany), with Prime Minister Lloyd George of Britain in the middle wanting a
compromise.
Facts
1 Jan 1919, delegates from 32 countries met at Versailles
2 25 March Fontainbleau Memorandum - Lloyd George forced Clemenceau and Wilson to agree (he got
Clemenceau to accept the LoN, and Wilson to accept Clause 231).
3 28 June: the Germans were forced to sign.
Versailles: What the Big Three Wanted
Wilson
Clemenceau
Lloyd
George
Wilson wanted a fair peace based on his 14 Points, including:
1. self-determination
2. International Co-operation (League of Nations)
Clemenceau wanted revenge, to punish and destroy Germany by:
1. Reparations (’make Germany pay’)
2. an independent Rhineland.
Lloyd George had promised to 'make Germany pay', but did not
want revenge like France - he wanted a 'just' peace, including:
1. expand British Empire by getting Mandates
2. protect British navy (by reducing the German navy)
Versailles: What the Big Three Got
Wilson
Clemenceau
Lloyd
George
LIKED/GOT
• League of Nations
DISLIKED
• War-guilt clause
• colonies were given no say in their future
LIKED/GOT
• War-guilt, disarmament and reparations
• Getting Alsace-Lorraine
DISLIKED
• only got Saar for 15 years)
• wanted an independent Rhineland, not just demilitarised.
LIKED/GOT
• reducing German navy
• getting German colonies as British mandates
DISLIKED
• harshness of reparations
Versailles: Importance of the Big Three
Wilson
Clemenceau
Lloyd
George
1. Got the League of Nations - new way of keeping the peace still
seen today (in UN).
2. Failed to get US Congress to agree ToV or LoN - so made sure
they both failed
1. Harshness of ToV angered the Germans and gave Hitler his
chance.
2. Weakened Germany until Hitler re-armed after 1935.
1. Helped the British empire and the British navy
2. Saved the Conference by the Fontainbleau memorandum
Versailles: The Treaty of Versailles
Guilt
• clause 231 blamed Germany for causing the war.
Army
•
•
•
•
Reparations
• £6,600 million – in instalments, until 1984
Germany
lost land
• Alsace-Lorraine to France
• Saar to France (15 years)
• Danzig a ‘free city’
army: 100,000
no submarines or aeroplanes
6 battleships
Rhineland de-militarised
• In all, Germany lost 10% of its land.
LoN
Extra
• set up
• forbade Anschluss.
Versailles: How Germany felt about the Treaty
Overview
Germans thought the Treaty was unfair, because they had not been allowed to take part in the Conference and
had been forced to sign.
They hated:
the War-guilt clause (they said Russia had caused the war)
the tiny army (which meant that Germany couldn't defend itself)
reparations (which they said would cause starvation)
the loss of land (which meant that other countries ruled over Germans) and
Anschluss forbidden.
Facts
1. German newspapers attacked ‘the disgraceful treaty’
2. Kapp Putsch (1920) to try to overturn the Treaty
3. President Hindenburg denied war-guilt in 1927
Versailles: Importance of the Treaty of Versailles
1.
2.
3.
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League of Nations was set up by Versailles - forerunner of the United Nations of today
Drew the map of Europe for the next 20 years.
Led to Hitler and World War II:
Unfairness of Treaty outraged Germans.
Severity of reparations caused 1923 crisis in Germany.
Unfairness of Treaty forced 'appeasers' to say that Hitler's claims were 'reasonable'
League of Nations: Membership
Overview
42 countries joined at the start - by the 1930s this had risen to 60. The leading members were Britain, France,
Japan and Italy - America refused to join, Germany was not allowed to join, and the USSR did not join because
it was Communist.
Many countries left during the 1930s, when the League was failing to keep peace.
Facts
1. Germany was admitted in 1926, but Hitler left in 1933.
2. The USSR joined in 1934 when Germany was rearming, but left in 1938 in protest at appeasement.
3. Japan left in 1933 when a vote went against it over Manchuria. Italy left in 1937
League of Nations: America
Overview
Wilson failed to persuade Americans to approve the Treaty of Versailles.
Many Americans were 'isolationist' and did not want to get dragged into the League of Nations.
Wilson set off on a 8000 mile tour of America to try to persuade the public, but he had a stroke and was ill (until
he died), so in 1920 the Senate rejected the ToV/LoN
Facts
1. many German Americans thought the ToV was unfair
2. the leader of the opposition to Wilson was Senator Cabot Lodge
3.• 1920: Harding was elected President promising 'a return to normalcy'.
League of Nations: Aims, organisation and work
Stop War
Improve
lives and
jobs
Disarmament
ORGANISATION
• Assembly (met once a year - needed a unanimous decision)/ Council (GB+Fr+It+Jap+ Ger after
1926) met 4-5 times a year/ Secretariat (too small for all work)/ Court of international justice
SUCCESSES
• 1925: Greece invaded Bulgaria, but withdrew when Bulgaria appealed to the League.
FAILURES
• Manchuria and Abyssinia in the 1930s.
ORGANISATION
To be accomplished by the 'agencies' of the League:
• Health committee/ International Labour Organisation/ Refugees committee/ Mandates commission/
Slavery commission
SUCCESSES
• 400,000 PoWs repatriated / Leprosy/ Drugs companies closed down/ Attacked slave owners
FAILURES
• The ILO failed to get a 48-hour week
ORGANISATION
• Disarmament Conferences in 1923 and 1931
SUCCESSES
• Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928: signed by 23 nations, to outlaw war.
FAILURES
• Britain objected to the 1923 conference/Hitler wrecked the 1932-1934 conference
League of Nations: Importance of the Powers
Moral
Persuasion
Arbitration
Sanctions
Military
force
SUCCESSES
• 1925: Greece invaded Bulgaria, but withdrew when Bulgaria appealed to the League.
FAILURES
'Moral persuasion' did not work with powerful or determined countries
• Manchuria and Abyssinia in the 1930s/ Hitler
SUCCESSES
• 1921: the League said the Aaland Islands should belong to Finland; Sweden and Finland accepted
this.
FAILURES
Useless where countries determined to go to war:
• Manchuria and Abyssinia in the 1930s/ Hitler
SUCCESSES
• None - countries refused to impose sanctions because it hurt them as well.
FAILURES
• Abyssinia, 1935: the League banned weapons sales, and put sanctions on rubber and metal, but this
hurt Abyssinia not Italy.
SUCCESSES
• none - it was NEVER attempted.
FAILURES
• The problem with this was that only Britain and France were big enough to do this, and they were not
prepared to pay.
League of Nations: Manchuria, 1931
Overview
Japan invaded Manchuria - China appealed to the League.
The League appointed a commission.
After a year, it said that Japan ought to leave Manchuria - so Japan left the League.
The League could not agree what to do, so Japan was left in control of Manchuria.
In 1933, Japan invaded China.
Facts
1. Because of the Great Depression, Japan wanted an empire to get raw materials.
2. Japan's excuse claimed that the Chinese had sabotaged the Railway, which it ran.
3. The League's Commission was led by Lord Lytton
League of Nations: Results/importance of Manchuria
1.
2.
•
•
•
This was the beginning of Japanese expansion in the Pacific.
The Manchuria affair showed the weaknesses of the League:
A country could get its own way if it just ignored the League
The League was slow (the Lytton Report took almost a year)
Even the great powers in the League (Japan was on the Council) ignored it.
League of Nations: Abyssinia, 1935
Overview
After a border dispute, Mussolini started preparing to invade Abyssinia.
Abyssinia appealed to the League, who set up a Commission, which said Italy should get part of Abyssinia.
Italy ignored it and invaded with great cruelty.
The League banned weapons sales (which hurt Abyssinia, not Italy)
By this time Italy had conquered Abyssinia, and the League gave up.
Facts
1. The League commission, set up in Feb 1935, only reported in Sept.
2. Britain and France made a secret agreement (called the Hoare-Laval Pact) to let Italy take Abyssinia.
3. June 1936: the Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie went in person to appeal to the League of Nations but he
was ignored.
League of Nations: Results/importance of Abyssinia
1.
2.
3.
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•
•
•
•
Hitler TOOK ADVANTAGE of the Abyssinia crisis to invade the Rhineland in 1936.
After Abyssinia, Britain and France turned to the policy of appeasement.
Abyssinia 'killed' the League. It showed:
A strong country could get its own way if it just ignored the League
The 'moral force' of the League was powerless.
Even Britain and France were prepared to betray it.
The League was slow and cumbersome
The historian AJP Taylor said Abyssinia showed the League to be 'a useless fraud'.
Road to War: Hitler's Aims and Policies
Hitler declared most of what he did up-front in Mein Kampf in 1924:
1. Abolish the Treaty of Versailles
his explained everything Hitler did before 1939. H hated the ToB because of:
• The tiny armed forces (so he re-armed German after 1935).
• Rhineland demilitarised (so he marched in in March 1936).
• Anschluss forbidden (so he annexed Austria in March 1938)
• Germans under Czech and Polish rule (so he took over the Sudetenland in Sept 1938, and attacked Poland
in Sept 1939).
2. Lebensraum and Aryan supremacy
• The Nazi-Soviet Pact Aug 1939 gave him half of Poland, which he attacked in 1939.
• The Nazis used Jews and Gypsies and slave labourers in workcamps.
3. Destroy Communism
• In June 1941, he attacked Russia.
Road to War: Steps to War
1. Saar
The ToV had put the Saar under League control for 15 years; in 1935 a plebiscite was held to decide what the
Saarlanders wanted to do. The Nazis beat up their opponents. In the plebiscite, 90.3% voted to return to
Germany.
It was a massive boost to Hitler and encouraged him to try rearming.
Fact:
• 17,000 Nazi Saarlanders (who had joined the SA in Germany to) threatened to invade. This was stopped
Dec 1935 when Britain offered to send soldiers to keep the peace.
2. Rearmament
Hitler built up the army and Luftwaffe; in 1935 he held a huge rally to show off. Thsi broke the treaty of
Versailles, but Britain and France did nothing - instead, in 1935, Britain made a naval agreement with Hitler.
Hitler was encouraged to try to take back the Rhineland.
Fact:
• By 1939, Germany had 95 warships, 8250 airplanes and an army of almost 1 million.
3. Rhineland
In Mar 1936, Hitler ordered his army into the Rhineland.
It had orders to retreat if the French opposed it, but they did not - even though Hitler had broken the Treaty of
Versailles.
Hitler's popularity soared, and he was encouraged to try Anschluss with Austria.
4. Austria
In 1938 - encouraged by Hitler - Austrian Nazis rioted, calling for Anschluss. Br & Fr refused to help Austria, so
the Austrian Chancellor suggested a plebsicite to see what the people wanted. Fearing that he would lose,
Hitler invaded. A plebiscite was held with the German Army there, and the Austrians voted for Anschluss.
Although this openly broke the Treaty of Versailles, nobody did anything
Facts:
• the Austrian Chancellor was called Schuschnigg.
• Hilter threw 20,000 Austrians in prison
• In the plebscite, 99.75% voted for Anschluss.
Road to War: Appeasement
You should not get asked directly about:
● why Chamberlain appeased Hitler,
but check it out anyway.
What was appeasement?
Appeasement was believing that Hitler's claims were REASONABLE, and that if we gave in to him he would
stop when he got it.
Appeasement involved treating Hitler as 'a man who can be trusted'.
Facts
FIVE examples of appeasement are:
1935: Britain and France ignored Hitler's open rearmament rally
1935: Britain made the naval agreement with Germany
1936: Britain and France ignored the reoccupation of the Rhineland
April 1938: Chamberlain did nothing about Anschluss
Sept 1938: Chamberlain GAVE Hitler the Sudetenland at Munich.
Road to War: Results/importance of Appeasement
1. Britain gained time to build up her armed forces - but so did Hitler.
2. Hitler decided that Britain and France were afraid of him and would not stop him whatever he did in this way appeasement ENCOURAGED Hitler to start WWII.
3. Russia decided that Britain and France would never stand up to Hitler, and made the Nazi-Soviet
Pact.
4. It also improved the war morale of the British people, who knew they had done everything possible
to avoid war.
Road to War: Sudetenland and Munich
Overview
In 1938, the Sudeten Nazi Party demanded union with Germany. Hitler threatened to support them by invading
Czechoslovakia.
Chamberlain met Hitler three times:
1. at the first, he agreed to a plebiscite
2. at the second, Hitler made more demands, which Chamberlain refused
3. at the third at Munich, France and Britain GAVE Hitler the Sudetenland.
Chamberlain told the cheering crowds; ‘I believe it is peace for our time’.
Facts
• the leader of the Sudeten Nazis was Konrad Henlein
• The three meetings were at Berchtesgaden (15 Sept), Bad Godesberg (22 Sept) and Munich (29 Sept).
Road to War: Sudetenland/Munich - results/importance
1. Czechoslovakia was weakened (only a matter of time before Hitler took the rest - 15 Mar 1939).
2. Hitler decided that Britain and France were afraid of him and would not stop him whatever he did.
3. Russia decided that Britain and France would never stand up to Hitler, and made the Nazi-Soviet
Pact.
4. Britain gained a year to prepare for war (but so did Hitler)
Road to War: The Slide to War, 1938-9
Overview
Two things pushed Chamberlain into war after Munich.
Firstly, he came under increasing pressure from Winston Churchill to stop appeasing Hitler.
Secondly, in March 1939, Hitler invaded and took over the rest of Czechoslovakia - proving that Hitler was a liar,
and would only be stopped by a war.
Hitler started to make noises about Danzig. Chamberlain promised to defend Poland, but in August 1939 Hitler
made a Pact with Russia to attack and split Poland between them.
On 1 September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, and two days later Chamberlain declared war. The Second
World War had started.
Facts
1. 8 Nov 1938: Kristallnacht showed the Nazis were evil racists
2. 28 Feb 1939: MPs shouted ‘Heil Chamberlain’
3. Remember that during all this time Britain was preparing for war
Road to War: Nazi-Soviet Pact
Overview
Chamberlain promised to defend Poland. He knew that the best way to protect Poland was an alliance with
Russia, but he did not like Communism. He dragged his feet. he sent a minor diplomat on a slow boat negotiations went nowhere.
Meanwhile, Stalin did not trust Britain - he though Chamberlain would appease Hitler.
Stalin approached Hitler, who offered to pay Russia's price (half of Poland).
In August 1939, the Nazi-Soviet was signed - Stalin and Hitler agreed in public not to attack each other, but
promised in a secret protocol to invade and split Poland between them.
Facts
1. Aug 1939: the British sent a minor official called Reginald Ranfurly Plunckett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.
2. 19 Aug: a Nazi-Soviet trade treaty was signed.
3. 23 Aug: when the Nazi-Soviet Pact was concluded, Hitler pounded on the wall with his fists and shouted, "I
have the world in my pocket!"
Road to War: Nazi-Soviet Pact - results/importance
1. Freed up Hitler to invade Poland - he knew that Britain couldn't do anything to defend Poland (he
invaded 9 days later).
2. Ended Britain's hopes of an alliance with Russia to stop Hitler - people in Britain realised that
nothing would stop Hitler now but war.
3. Improved morale of British people for war - showed Hitler as an opportunist and a trickster, who
could never be trusted.
4. Anger at Russia was to become a cause of the Cold War.
Road to War: Poland
Overview
After he had taken Czechoslovakia, Hitler set his sights on Poland.
He demanded Danzig and right of way through the Polish corridor.
Nazis in Danzig rioted, and Hitler threatened to invade.
Hitler was not afraid of Britain, but he did fear war with Russia.
Hitler made the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Russia, which left him free to attack Poland.
Facts
1. In March 1939 Chamberlain had guaranteed Poland against German attack.
2. Aug 1939: Nazi-Soviet Pact
3. 1 Sep 1939: Hitler attacked Poland. Chamberlain declared war two days later.
Cold War: The Ideological Conflict
Overview
What you need here is to be able to remember the table from the Causes of the Cold War diagram:
America
Ideology
Aims
History
Capitalist
Democracy
Human Rights
Recovery
Protect democracy
1939
Russia
Communist
Dictatorship
No personal freedoms
Reparations
Buffer states
1918
1944
Facts
1. Capitalism stands for business and profit. Communism stands for sharing the wealth - no one was
unemployed in Communist Russia.
2. Democracy is where people vote for their government - the USA had two main parties (Democrats and
Republicans), Britain had three (Conservative, Labour, Liberal).
3. Although Russia SAID it was a democracy, and had elections, it only allowed one party - Communist Party
Cold War: Results/significance
1. Modern historians believe that the ideological clash CAUSED THE COLD WAR.
2. The two sides COMPETED in things like the arms race, the space race, the Olympics, the propaganda
war etc.
3. FEAR of the other side led to the McCarthy 'witch-hunts' in the USA/ Russians arrested 'dissidents'.
4. The Russian's desire for a buffer led them to use 'SALAMI TACTICS', and this led to the Truman
Doctrine and Marshall Plan.
5. Britain and America's desire to help West Germany's recovery led to the BERLIN BLOCKADE.
Cold War: Yalta and Potsdam
Overview
At Yalta, the Big Three (Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill) had still not defeated Hitler, so they had to stick together.
They agreed to divide Germany/ to set up 'democracies' in eastern Europe and to have reparations ... but they
did not work out any of the details.
At Potsdam, Hitler had been defeated, so the Big Three (now Stalin, Truman and Atlee) did not NEED to stay
friends any more. Also Truman had replaced Roosevelt, and he hated Communism.
So they fell out when they tried to sort out the details of what to do.
Facts
Yalta (Feb 1945)
Potsdam (July 1945)
Protocols (Agreements)
to divide Germany into four ‘zones’, run by Britain,
to set up the four ‘zones of occupation’ in Germany.
France, the USA and the USSR
to set up a Polish made up of both Communists Stalin had arrested large numbers of non-Communist
and non-Communists Polish leaders
Russia was allowed to take reparations from the
to set up a commission to look into reparations Soviet Zone, and also 10% of the industrial
equipment of the western zones.
Cold War: Results of Yalta
1.
2.
3.
4.
Many historians believe that Yalta was when the Cold War began.
Germany remained divided until 1990.
Tension was growing at the conference, especially between Churchill and Stalin.
Yalta gave Stalin control over eastern Europe - President George Bush described this as 'one of the
greatest wrongs in history'.
Cold War: Results of Potsdam
1. Potsdam just repeated the decisions of Yalta
2. The tensions of Yalta came out into open disagreement - it can be said that the Cold War actually broke
out Potsdam.
3. Truman and Churchill HATED the reparations agreement.
4. The British were FURIOUS about Poland - this led Churchill soon after to give his 'Iron Curtain' speech at
Fulton.
5. Stalin was FURIOUS that Truman did not tell him about the atomic bomb.
Cold War: Salami Tactics
Overview
Stalin wanted a 'buffer' to protect Russia, so - when he conquered eastern Europe in 1945 - he kept the red
Army there to make sure pro-Stalin governments took control.
The Communists in those countries took power 'like slicing salami' - taking over little-by-little, using tactics like
getting control of the radio and the army, arresting or killing their opponents, or setting up a secret police.
By 1948, East Germany was the Russian 'zone' of Germany, and the following countries of Europe were
Communist: (BYPARCH) - Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Poland, Albania, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
Facts
1. The Communist leader who took over Hungary was Rakosi. He set up the brutal secret police in Hungary
called the AVO.
2. The Communists took power in Czechoslovakia in 1948 when the leading anti-Communist Jan Masaryk
'threw himself' out of his bathroom window.
3.• Stalin helped the Communists take power in Poland in 1945 by inviting 16 non-Communist leaders to
Moscow and imprisoning them.
Cold War: Results of Soviet expansion
1. In the 1960s, historians blamed Soviet expansion for causing the Cold War.
2. The peoples of eastern Europe fell under the control of hard-line Stalinist government = lack of freedom.
3. Soviet expansion led to the Fulton speech and the Truman Doctrine.
Cold War: Fulton Speech
Overview
Churchill was very anti-Communist, and was unhappy about the power Yalta and Potsdam have given to
Russia. Truman was very anti-Communist, and FURIOUS about Potsdam.
Truman invited Churchill to give a speech in Fulton, USA. In the speech, Churchill said that an 'iron curtain'
had split Europe, and behind it the Communists had set up 'totalitarian control [and] police governments'.
Stalin was furious.
Facts
1. After Yalta, Churchill had written to Roosevelt that ‘The Soviet Union has become a danger to the free
world.’
2. In 1946, George Kennan (the US Ambassador in Moscow) sent Truman a 'Long Telegram', saying that
Russia was growing and must be stopped.
3. The exact date of the Fulton speech was 5 Mar 1946,
Cold War: Results of Fulton
1. Fulton speech let people know that Churchill and Truman were alarmed at Soviet power in eastern
Europe.
2. Fulton got people ready to expect and support the Truman Doctrine.
3. Stalin said that Churchill had 'declared war' on the USSR.
4. 5 Mar 1946 can be said to be the date on which the Cold War broke out.
Cold War: Truman Doctrine
Overview
British soldiers were defending Greece from the Communists, but in Feb 1947 the British told Truman they
could not afford to keep them there any more.
Truman was scared that Russia was growing stronger. He told Congress that Communism was growing, and
that it was America's duty to stop it expanding any further (this was called 'containment').
Truman paid for the soldiers to defend Greece. He also sent General George Marshall to Europe to see what
else needed to be done to stop Communism.
Facts
1. The date of Truman's speech was 12 Mar 1947.
2. Truman asked for $400 million for military intervention in Greece and Turkey
3. Truman's speech ended the 'Monroe Doctrine', which had said that America should keep out of Europe's
affairs - so his ideas became known as the 'Truman Doctrine'
Cold War: Results of Truman Doctrine
1. America changed her policy - overturned the 'Monroe Doctrine' of isolation - and adopted instead the
'Truman Doctrine' .
2. Congress allocated $400 million for military intervention in Greece and Turkey - the Communists were
quickly defeated in both countries.
3. Truman's decision to intervene to stop Communism led to the Marshall Plan, the Korean War and NATO.
Cold War: Marshall Plan
Overview
Truman sent General George Marshall to Europe to see what was needed to stop the spread of Communism.
Marshall came back believing that Europe was so poor that ALL EUROPE in danger of turning Communist.
Marshall gave a speech saying America needed to give vast sums of money to get the European economy
going.
At first, Congress did not want to send so much, but in March 1948 Czechoslovakia turned Communist, so
Congress voted the funding.
Facts
1. In all, America paid out $12bn of Marshall Aid. The money was spent on roads and railways, factories,
tractors, fishing nets, food aid etc..
2. It was Britain who organised the countries of Europe to hold a meeting on 12 July 1947, and to ask for aid.
3. The proper name for 'Marshall Aid was European Recovery Program (ERP).
Cold War: Results of the Marshall Plan
1. This money worked - it stopped further countries from turning Communist.
2. Stalin forbade Iron Curtain countries to seek Marshall Aid, and set up Cominform as a counter-influence.
3. Co-operating over the Marshall Plan led eventually to the 'European Economic Community' (the EU).
Cold War: Germany after WWII
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
At Potsdam (July 1945) Germany had been divided into four zones.
Berlin (in the Russian zone) was also divided into four zones.
BOTH sides had huge military forces stationed in Germany.
Stalin wanted to ruin Germany:
Britain and the USA wanted to create the new country of West Germany as a trading partner - they
joined their two zones together into Bizonia.
Cold War: Berlin Blockade and Airlift
Overview
Britain and the USA wanted to make the new country of West Germany a strong trading partner, so they joined
their two zones together into Bizonia.
They also gave it new money. Next day Stalin stopped all road and rail traffic into Berlin.
Some Americans wanted to go to war but instead, Truman decided to supply Berlin by air. Stalin did not dare
to shoot down the supply planes. The situation was bad at first, but got better as time went on.
After almost a year it became clear that the Blockade was not going to work and Stalin called it off.
Facts
1. The Americana called the airlift ('Operation Vittles').
2. A plane landed in Berlin airport every 3 minutes.
3. One American pilot dropped chocolate and sweets on little parachutes.
Cold War: Results of Berlin Blockade
1. Cold War got worse - America got ready to drop atomic bombs
2. Germany split into East and West Germany.
3. NATO v Warsaw Pact:
• America set up NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) against Russia.
• Russia set up the Warsaw Pact (an alliance of Communist states)
4. Arms Race - after Berlin, America and Russia began to build up their armies and weapons.
Cold War: Korea after WWII
1. After the war, the Americans and Russians divided Korea into Communist North Korea and capitalist
South Korea.
2. The ruler in North Korea was the hard-line communist Kim Il Sung.
3. The President of South Korea was Syngman Rhee.
4. North and South Korea hated each other.
Cold War: The Korean War
Overview
Kim Il Sung got the support of Stalin and Mao Zedong (the leader of China) to invade South Korea. In 1950, he
attacked, easily defeated the South Korean army, and almost conquered all South Korea.
The Americans persuaded the United Nations to support South Korea. They drove back the North Koreans,
and almost conquered North Korea.
The Chinese entered the war and drove the Americans back. The two sides stopped at the border where the
war began - and stayed there for the next 3 years!
In 1953, Eisenhower became American president. He threatened to use the atomic bomb, and the Chinese
agree to end the fighting.
Facts
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•
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In 1950, Syngman Rhee boasted that he was going to attack North Korea. It gave Kim Il Sung the excuse
to invade South Korea.
The UN troops were led by Gen. MacArthur. He led an amphibious assault at Inchon with 300,000 UN
troops.
NKPA - the North Korean People's Army
ROKs - the Republic of Korea's (South Korea's) army
The Chinese soldiers were called 'People's Volunteers'.
Cold War: Results of the Korean War
1.
2.
3.
4.
Perhaps 10 million people died, including perhaps half a million Chinese soldiers.
Korea stayed split and still is.
Korea made the Americans go in the 1960s into the Vietnam War.
Many Americans had wanted to use the atomic bomb in Korea, and the world came close to nuclear
war.
Cold War: Khrushchev's policies
Overview
When Khrushchev came to power, the West hoped he was a jolly man who would end the Cold War, BUT in
fact he INCREASED tension.
He talked about 'peaceful co-existence', BUT what he really meant was 'all-out competition' (e.g. the Arms Race
and the Space Race).
He talked about 'destalinisation', BUT he had no intention of letting the Iron Curtain countries go free.
So 1955-1963 was the time of greatest danger in the Cold War.
Facts
• he met Western leaders at summit meetings (e.g. Paris 1960).
BUT
• he sent in troops when countries tried to leave Russian control (e.g. Hungary, 1956)
• he built up allies (e.g. Cuba) by giving economic aid in return for support.
Cold War: Results of Khrushchev's policies
a
b
c
When Khrushchev came to power, the West hoped that 'destalinisation' would give Iron Curtain countries
freedom, and that 'peaceful co-existence' meant Russia would stop trying to take over more countries.
In fact, Khrushchev INCREASED tension, and 1955-1963 was the time of greatest danger in the Cold War
(e.g. Hungary, U2, Berlin Wall and Cuba).
America got tougher on Russia:
• Senator McCarthy led a 'witchhunt' for Communists in America
• America entered the Space Race and the Arms Race with Russia
• American U2 planes spied on Russia
• In 1961 the Americans elected a new president (Kennedy), who promised to get tougher on Communism.
Cold War: The Arms Race
Overview
Both sides raced to build up as many weapons as possible. The idea was that this would be a 'deterrent' to the
other side, to stop them daring to attack. America had more nuclear weapons, Russia had more conventional
forces.
By the 1960s, both sides had enough ICBMs (inter-continental ballistic missiles), trained on the other, to destroy
every living thing on earth many times over ('overkill').
Facts
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•
•
America had had the atomic bomb since 1945.
The Russians built an atomic bomb in 1949, but as soon as they did, America formed NATO (a military
alliance against Russia).
Khrushchev formed the Warsaw Pact in 1955, but as soon as he did, America got NATO to send half a
million soldiers to West Germany.
Cold War: The Space Race
Overview
Both sides said that they were exploring space to benefit humankind - but really, they were just trying to prove
that they were more 'advanced' than the other.
Although the Americans were the first to put a man on the moon (1969), it was the Russians who led the space
race at first.
Facts
•
•
In 1957, Russia launched the first satellite (called Sputnik); next year America set up NASA (National
Aeronautics and Space Administration).
In 1961, immediately after the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first man to orbit the earth,
Kennedy launched a space programme to put a man on the moon by 1969.
Cold War: The Hungarian Revolution
Overview
The Hungarians hated Russian control, and in 1956 they rebelled. They knocked over a huge statue of Stalin
and asked the Russian army to leave.
The new government brought in democracy and freedom of speech.
But then the Hungarians said they were going to leave the Warsaw Pact, so the Russians sent in 1000 tanks
and destroyed the revolution.
Facts
• It was Khrushchev's policy of 'destalinisation' which encouraged the Hungarians to attack Rakosi's (Stalinist)
government in Hungary.
• A big cause of the revolution was Catholicism (the new government allowed freedom of religion and let
Cardinal Mindzenty out of prison).
• The leader of the new government was Imre Nagy.
Cold War: Results of the Hungarian Revolution
In Hungary
• There was terrible repression - 4,000 Hungarians (including Nagy) were executed.
• Many Hungarians fled to the West.
Elsewhere:
• Russia stayed in total control behind the Iron Curtain BUT
• Communism looked totally evil to people in the west, and
• Western leaders became more determined to stop communism.
Cold War: The U2 Crisis, 1960
Overview
By 1960, Cold War tension was at an all-time high, and Russia and America arranged a Summit meeting in
Paris to try and sort things out.
Two weeks BEFORE the Summit, the Russians shot down an American U2 spy-plane.
At first the Americans tried to deny it, but then the Russians produced the pilot and the plane, and showed the
Americans to be liars.
When the Paris summit met, Khrushchev demanded an apology and an end to spy-flights - and he walked out
when the Americans refused.
Facts
• The name of the American pilot was Gary Powers.
• The Russians shot down the U2 plane by accident when a Russian gun trying to shoot it down blew up a
Russian plane trying to shoot it down.
• At first the Americans claimed it was a weather plane, but they were shown to be liars when the Russians put
Gary Powers on trial as a spy.
Cold War: Results of the U2 Crisis
• The Paris summit was ruined - Cold War tension increased
• America was caught lying and looked bad - it was a propaganda victory for Russia.
• In 1961 the Americans elected a new president (Kennedy), who promised to get tougher on Communism.
Cold War: The Berlin Wall, 1961
Overview
Berlin was an embarrassment for the Russians because millions of people were leaving East Germany and
fleeing to the West - the Russians couldn't pretend that Communism was better than capitalism while that was
happening.
In 1961, the Russians demanded that the Americans get out of West Berlin.
When they refused, the Russians built a concrete wall, fortified with barbed wire and guns, which split Berlin in
two.
America protested but couldn't do anything.
Facts
• By 1961, 2000 people a day were fleeing to the West through West Berlin.
• Khrushchev told the Americans to leave West Berlin at the Vienna Summit (June).
• The Russians built the wall overnight on 13 August 1961.
Cold War: Results of the Berlin Wall
• Cold War tension grew - both sides began testing nuclear bombs.
• The Wall became a symbol of the division between East and West.
• MANY East Germans died trying to escape through the Wall - so it ALSO came to symbolise how awful the
iron Curtain countries were.
• In 1963, President Kennedy went to West Berlin and made a speech next to the Wall. He said the Wall
showed that communism must be defeated. (On the other side of the Wall, East Berliners listened and
cheered him).
Cold War: Cuba Background
1. By 1960, the arms race was at an all time high. Both sides were testing nuclear weapons, and the Americans had
recently put ICBMs in Turkey
2 There were especial problems in Cuba. The Communist Fidel Castro took power in Cuba. He became Russia's ally which terrified the Americans, because Cuba is only 90 miles from Florida.
So America helped his opponents invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, but it failed. So Castro asked Russia for weapons...
Cold War: The Bay of Pigs, 1961
Overview
The Communist Fidel Castro took power in Cuba. He became Russia's ally - which terrified the Americans, because Cuba
is only 90 miles from Florida.
So the CIA ... gathered - funded - armed - trained ... a force of Cuban exiles, so that they could invade Cuba and take back
control. The CIA took the exiles to Cuba; they landed them at the Bay of Pigs.
They were easily defeated - it was a great humiliation for America. But it also made Castro ask Russia to give him weapons
to defend himself against future attacks, which led to the Cuban Missiles crisis.
Facts
•
•
•
The Bay of Pigs invasion lasted 4 days in April 1961.
1,500 Cuban exiles invaded Cuba; 1,173 were taken prisoner.
In 1962, America paid a ransom of $53 million dollars-worth of food and medicines to get them back.
Cold War: The Cuban Missiles Crisis, 1962
Overview
The Communist Fidel Castro took power in Cuba. After the Bay of Pigs invasion he asked Russia to give him
weapons to defend himself.
Soon after, an American U2 plane took photographs which showed that the Russians were building nuclear
missile sites on Cuba - this terrified the Americans, because the missiles would be able to reach any city in
America in minutes. Kennedy ordered his navy to blockade Cuba. Khrushchev threatened to go to war.
Everybody thought the world was going to come to an end.
But the Russian ships taking missiles to Cuba turned back, and then Kennedy and Khrushchev did a deal:
• Khrushchev promised to dismantle the missile sites.
• Kennedy promised he would never invade Cuba (and also he secretly promised to dismantle some American
missile sites in Turkey).
Facts
• 22 Oct: Kennedy went on TV to tell the American people about the missile sites and promised he would not
'shrink from the risk' of world war..
• 26 Oct:
At 6pm,Khrushchev sent a telegram offering to dismantle the sites if Kennedy would promise not
to invade Cuba.
• 27 Oct:
A U2 plane was shot down over Cuba. It looked as though war was about to happen. But
Kennedy ignored it.
Cold War: Results of Cuba
1
2
3
4
America left Cuba alone.
Kennedy was treated like a hero.
Khrushchev fell from power.
Cuba was the start of the end of the Cold War. Both sides were more careful in future. They set up a
telephone ‘hotline’ to talk directly in a crisis, and they agreed a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Britain in WWII: The BEF and Dunkirk, 1939-40
Overview
Britain declared war on 3 Sept 1939, but Britain did not go to war. Poland was too far away to help. So there
was no fighting until Hitler attacked France in May 1940 – people called it the ‘Phoney War’.
Two things happened you need to know about:
• Britain DID send a small army – the British Expeditionary Force – to France, but it was too small to be any
good and was easily beaten by Hitler's 'Blitzkrieg' tactics. The British soldiers were cut off at Dunkirk, and
had to be evacuated from France by boat.
At the time, the British newsreels presented the evacuation as a British victory – the story of how our
small boats heroically sailed to France and plucked soldiers from beaches ('the myth of Dunkirk'). But
really it was a HUGE defeat
• At home, the government tried to prepare for war (e.g. evacuation/ gas masks) but everything was a terrible
muddle, and in May 1940 Churchill took over a Prime Minister.
Facts
1. 11 Sept: British Expeditionary Force of four divisions – only 160,000 men – went to France.
2. The evacuation of Dunkirk was called ‘Operation Dynamo’.
3. At Dunkirk, many men were rescued - but the BEF lost all their guns, vehicles, ammunition and petrol and
ONE-SIXTH of our soldiers were killed or taken prisoner.
Britain in WWII: Evacuation
Overview
Before the war even began, the government evacuated the children and pregnant women from London to the
countryside.
Why? Because they thought that – if people saw them dying in bombing raids – public morale would
collapse and people would want to give up fighting the war.
Hosting an evacuee was a terrible task. Equally, however, many evacuees ended up in abusive or dirty
homes. Most of them were terribly homesick. (On the other hand, some evacuees MUCH PREFERRED their
new homes to their real families!)
Most children went back home during the Phoney War. In the end, people's morale kept up better by having
their children there with them.
Facts
1. 1-3 Sep 1939: more than 800,000 children were evacuated.
2. Teachers evacuated with their pupils.
3. Problems with evacuee children included: swearing, peeing on the walls and wetting the bed. Many were
filthy and naughty, and had never eaten food from a table or slept in a bed.
TOP TRICK: remind yourself of the story of Goodnight Mr Tom – you can use its details as 'for example,
some...' facts in your essay.
Britain in WWII: Battle of Britain and the Blitz
Overview
If Hitler was going to invade Britain, his Luftwaffe would have to first destroy Britain's air defences, so the Battle
of Britain began with a battle for control of the skies.
FIRST, Hitler attack the radar stations - his FIRST MISTAKE was that they were not knocked out.
SECOND, he attacked the RAF fighter planes ('dogfights'). After almost a month, the Luftwaffe was winning
- many British pilots had been killed and the rest were exhausted.
BUT THEN, too soon, he made his SECOND MISTAKE and spent a few nights bombing London - giving the
RAF time to recover. When he tried a huge daylight raid on 15 September (Battle of Britain day), the RAF won.
FINALLY, Hitler switched to night bombing ('the Blitz'). This was his THIRD MISTAKE. It wrecked London,
but it did nothing to win the war because it did NOT break the Londoners morale
Facts
Battle of Britain
1. Hitler called his campaign to conquer Britain: 'Operation Sealion'.
2. Churchill said of the young fighter pilots: 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many
to so few'.
3. The RAF lost 1,173 planes and 510 pilots and gunners. The Luftwaffe lost 1,733 planes and 3,368 airmen.
Blitz
1. Many people built a corrugated iron 'Anderson' shelter in their gardens.
2. TWO main kinds of bomb: High Explosives ('HEs') and fire bombs ('incendiaries')
3. During air raids the ARP enforced the 'Blackout', and the Women’s Voluntary Service handed out tea and
blankets.
Britain in WWII: Conscription and Internment
Overview
The government 'called up' men to fight in the armed forces, but it also had to conscript men to work in certain
industries (e.g. mining).
People in 'exempt occupations' (e.g. tax collectors) were not called up, and people were allowed to be
'conscientious objectors' if they offered to work on farms, in hospitals, clearing up after air raids etc.
Towards the end of the war, the government called up women to go to work in essential industries (e.g.
munitions).
Germans and Italians were interviewed to see if they were a danger to national security. By 1940, most of
them were arrested, but - as the war went on - many were allowed to return to their homes.
Facts
Conscription
1. In Jan 1940: two million men aged 20–27 were called up.
2. 60,000 Conscientious Objectors were sent to prison because they refused to help the war effort in any way
at all.
3 22,000 ‘Bevin boys’ were conscripted to work in the mines.
Internment
1. In 1939 only 600 ‘Category A’ (= dangerous) Germans were interned.
2. When Italy declared war on Britain, Churchill had all Italians in Britain arrested.
Britain in WWII: U-boats, rationing and the role of women
Overview
Hitler knew that Britain depended on raw materials which came from overseas. If he cut this off, he would
win. SO he sent his U-boats - in 'Wolf Packs' - to destroy as much merchant shipping as they could.
This was a great danger; Churchill said that the U-boat menace was the only thing that worried him during
the war.
Britain fought back by developing 'convoys' to protect shipping, and by developing new technology to hunt
down and destroy U-boats. By the end of the war, Britain was winning the Battle of the Atlantic.
One of the results of the U-boats was rationing. People were given coupons to get rationed goods (although
they might also buy them 'under the counter' on the 'Black market'). Many grew food on allotments in the
'Dig for Victory' and a government campaign ('Potato Pete' and 'Dr Carrot') encouraged people to use food
that was home-grown.
'Utility clothing' used as little cloth as possible, and many women went to clothing swapshops.
One of the strange effects of rationing was that the population in general were HEALTHIER during the war,
because rationing shared food more equally.
Most of the burden of war on the home front fell on women (e.g. evacuation upset them, they had more work to
do at home because the men were away fighting, coping with rationing and bombing raids, helping with Civil
Defence and the Women's Voluntary Service).
After 1941, women could also be conscripted into war work - both into the armed services (WRNS/ WAAF/
ATS) or into essential industries. It is interesting that these women were often NOT welcomed into industry by
the men, because they 'diluted' men's wages.
Facts
Battle of the Atlantic
1. British codebreakers at Bletchley Park were able to decode intercepted German messages (especially when
Britain captured an Enigma code machine)
2. The British developed HF/DF (‘huff-duff’), which let them work out U-boats’ positions from their radio
transmissions.
3. The turning point was Convoy ONS–5 (1943). When the Nazi U-boats attacked, they were detected and six
were sunk.
Rationing
1. 30 Jan 1940: national campaign to collect scrap metal, paper, and food waste (for pig-swill)
2. 3 Apr 1940: Lord Woolton appointed Minister of Food
3. Key items put on ration were petrol, butter, sugar, bacon and meat.
The Role of Women
1. In 1939: 25,000 women join the Women’s Land Army.
2. Women conscripted to the women’s armed forces did not fight - they did jobs such as typist so that men
could be sent to fight.
3. At first the government did not conscript women with children to work away from home, but after 1943, this
stopped.
Britain in WWII: D-Day and the defeat of Germany
Overview
D-Day was VERY carefully planned - including building wooden tanks at Dover to fool the Nazis into thinking
that the invasion would be at Calais.
A MASSIVE invasion was launched on 6 June 1944, and made good progress - except at Omaha beach, where
things went wrong for the Americans.
After that, the Allies gradually forced the Nazis back and into Germany, while the Russians attacked from the
east.
Facts
1. The D-Day invasion was called ‘Operation Overlord’ and was led by the American General Ike Eisenhower.
2 . It involved 6,000 ships, 11,000 planes and nearly half a million men .
3. Disaster at Omaha - the Nazis had just moved in their crack 352nd Division and were well dug in on the cliffs
= 3,000 casualties.
Britain in WWII: Censorship and Propaganda
Overview
Propaganda: all the different ways the government 'got its message across' to people (e.g. radio, cinema,
posters, Churchill's speeches, ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ campaign).
Censorship: withholding information which the Ministry of Information thought would damage morale (e.g.
pictures of dead children).
'Black propaganda': information put out to trick the Germans (e.g. a pretend rebel German radio station).
Facts
1. The Ministry of Information was put in charge of censorship and propaganda..
2. Regular government surveys called 'Mass Observation' monitored public opinion and morale.
3. The most famous radio programmes were Listen while you Work and The Kitchen Front.