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IB 20th Century World History Topics
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1. What were the aims of the participants and
peacemakers of the Paris Peace Settlement?
Wilson and the Fourteen Points?
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The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of
the Allied victors in World War I to set the peace
terms for Germany and other defeated nations, and
to deal with the empires of the defeated powers
following the Armistice of 1918.
They met, discussed and came up with a series
of treaties (Peace of Paris Treaties) in an attempt to
maintain a lasting peace throughout the world.
At its center were the leaders of the three "Great
Powers": President Woodrow Wilson of the United
States, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of
Britain, and Georges Clemenceau of France. Russia
and Germany were not allowed to attend, but many
others came, each with a different agenda.
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The chief goal of the French leader, Georges
Clemenceau, was Security, to weaken
Germany militarily, strategically, and
economically.
In particular, Clemenceau sought an
American and British guarantee of French
security in the event of another German
attack.
Clemenceau also expressed skepticism and
frustration with Wilson's Fourteen Points.
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Liked the harsh things that were in the Treaty:
1. Reparations (would repair the damage to
France),
2. The tiny German army, and the demilitarized
zone in the Rhineland (would both protect France),
3. France got Alsace-Lorraine, and German
colonies.
But he was disappointed with the Treaty:
a . He wanted higher reparations
b. He wanted the Treaty to be harsher
c. He wanted Germany to be split up into smaller
countries.
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“The start was not a happy one with von BrockdorffRantzau who, draped in brutish insolence, came to
accuse us of "hating" Germany because we did not offer
our necks to her executioners. Since then the policy of
Germany has merely been to gather up every chance
weapon that could enable her to evade the
Treaty. Audacity and guile naturally increased under the
encouragement of manifestations like that of Mr. Keynes
or of the series of unholy concessions from which
Germany has been led to deduce that her signature at
Versailles binds her only subject to further
discussions. The hour of supreme warning came when
the heads of the Allied Governments were told to their
faces by a German delegate that, before they could
usefully discuss, they "must cure themselves of the
sickness of victory."
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“Their trouble is that they see the future only
through the blood-red mists of a civilization
grafted upon the survival of barbarism.”
“Vanquished, our lot under Ludendorff would
not have differed from that of Rome under
Hannibal. Victorious, we have assumed our
responsibility in the most noble effort to
achieve a lasting peace by the sole forces of
Right. To one and all such a state was well
worth a general effort of self-restraint instead
of the old rush to divide the spoils between
those who had overcome the enemy.”
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What are France's main concerns about
Germany?
According to Clemenceau –How did the
German leaders act in the conference?
Do the French demands seem reasonable or
unreasonable?
How would Germany react to reparation
clause?
Vittorio Orlando was sent as the
Italian representative with the aim of
gaining as much territory as
possible.
 The loss of 700,000 Italians and a
budget deficit of 12,000,000,000
Lire during the war made the Italian
government and people feel entitled
to territories.
 Dissatisfied as territorial aspirations
were not met.
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Trieste
tyrol
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Article 4
Under the Treaty of Peace, Italy shall obtain the Trentino,
Cisalpine Tyrol with its geographical and natural frontier,
as well as Trieste, the counties of Gorizia and Gradisca,
all Istria as far as the Quarnero and including Volosca
and the Istrian islands of Cherso and Lussin, as well as
the small islands of Plavnik, Unie, Canidole, Palazzuoli,
San Pietro di Nembi, Asinello, Gruica, and the
neighbouring islets...
Article 5
Italy shall also be given the province of Dalmatia within
its present administrative boundaries...
Article 6
Italy shall receive full sovereignty over Valona, the island
of Saseno and surrounding territory...
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Article 7
Should Italy obtain the Trentino and Istria in accordance with
the provisions of Article 4, together with Dalmatia and the
Adriatic islands within the limits specified in Article 5, and the
Bay of Valona (Article 6), and if the central portion of Albania is
reserved for the establishment of a small autonomous
neutralised State, Italy shall not oppose the division of Northern
and Southern Albania between Montenegro, Serbia, and
Greece...
Article 8
Italy shall receive entire sovereignty over the Dodecanese
Islands which she is at present occupying.
Article 9
Generally speaking, France, Great Britain, and Russia recognise
that,... in the event of total or partial partition of Turkey in
Asia, she ought to obtain a just share of the Mediterranean
region adjacent to the province of Adalia...
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Ultimately Italy was granted Trentino, Trieste,
(the German-speaking) South Tyrol, and
Istria.
But Dalmatia was excluded and Fiume too.
didnt get any colonial territories in Africa or
Asia or any claim on Albania.
Nationalists consequently argued that Italy
had been robbed of its rightful gains.
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Goals of England: David Lloyd George
wanted to maintain the British Empire's
unity, holdings and interests, but it entered
the conference with the more specific goals
of:
Ensuring the security of France
Removing the threat of the German Fleet
Settling territorial contentions
Supporting the Wilsonian League of Nations
in that order of priority.
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Many British people wanted to ‘make Germany
pay’, and Lloyd George liked:
1. The fact that Britain got some German
colonies (expanded the British Empire),
2. The small German navy (helped Britain to
continue to 'rule the waves').
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But Lloyd George hated the Treaty:
a. He thought that the Treaty was far too harsh
and would ruin Germany,
b. He thought it would cause another war in 25
years time
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The Treaty includes no provisions for the economic
rehabilitation of Europe - nothing to make the defeated Central
Empires into good neighbours, nothing to stabilise the new
States of Europe, nothing to reclaim Russia... The Council of
Four paid no attention to these issues, being preoccupied with
others - Clemenceau to crush the economic life of his enemy,
Lloyd George to bring home something that would pass muster
for a week, the President to do nothing that was not just and
right....
JM Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919)
Keynes's book had a massive effect on the educated people of
Britain It created the belief that Germany had been badly
treated, and this in turn led to British preparedness to 'appease'
Hitler in the 1930s.
Harold Macmillan, the future Prime Minister, did not agree with
Keynes's argument, but claimed instead that 'the legend of the
unfair peace did infinite harm in both Germany and Britain'
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Had a talk with Barnes [one of the British officials]. In his view the villain of the
Treaty was Wilson, who had proved himself to be anything but a strong man,
and a child in the hands of Clemenceau, who, as Barnes put it, 'could buy him at
one end of the street and sell him at the other'.... Barnes had written several
times to the PM protesting about the terms of the Peace Treaty especially the
Reparation Clauses..
Thomas Jones, Whltehall Diary (2 July 1919)
Jones was Assistant Secretary in the War Cabinet
We are all so disgusted with the peace that we have ceased to discuss it.
Beatrice Webb, a famous Socialist writer and historian (1919)
It is not statesmanship. It is not business. It is not common sense. It is not the
clean Peace by which I always meant, and other people meant, to end war with
the war.
HH Asquith, former Prime Minister, campaigning for
election in 1920
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The terms are in many respects terrible terms to impose
upon a country. Terrible were the deeds which it
requites... Germany not merely provoked, but planned
the most devastating war the earth has ever seen... She
deliberately embarked upon it, not to defend herself
against assailants, but to aggrandise herself at the
expense of her neighbours. I cannot think of a worse
crime.
[The aim of the Treaty is] to compel Germany, in
so far as it is in her power, to restore, to repair and to
redress. Yes, and to take every possible precaution of
every kind that is in our power against the recurrence of
another such crime - to make such an example as will
discourage ambitious peoples from ever attempting to
repeat the infamy.
Lloyd George, speaking in Parliament (3 July 1919).
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1. Open covenants of peace.
2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the
seas.
3. Removal all economic barriers.
4. Reduce armaments.
5. An adjustment of all colonial claims,
based upon popular soveriegnty.
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6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and settle all
questions affecting Russia.
7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated
and restored.
8. All French territory should be freed and the invaded
portions restored.
9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected
along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.
10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, should be accorded the
freest opportunity to autonomous development.
11. Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated;
occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and
secure access to the sea.
12. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire
should be assured a secure sovereignty.
13. An independent Polish state should be erected which
should include the territories inhabited by indisputably
Polish populations.
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6-13. Specific territorial adjustments
14. A general association of nations (League 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.
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Wilson got:
1. A League of Nations,
2. Self-determination for the peoples of
Eastern Europe,
But he was disappointed with the Treaty:
a. Some of his ‘Fourteen Points’ did not get
into the Treaty,
b. When Wilson went back to America, the
Senate refused to join the League of Nations,
and even refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles
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“Do not think of this treaty of peace as merely a
settlement with Germany. It is that. It is a very
severe settlement with Germany, but there is not
anything in it that she did not earn. Indeed, she
earned more than she can ever be able to pay for,
and the punishment exacted of her is not a
punishment greater than she can bear, and it is
absolutely necessary in order that no other nation
may ever plot such a thing against humanity and
civilization. But the treaty is so much more than
that. It is not merely a settlement with Germany; it
is a readjustment of those great injustices which
underlie the whole structure of European and Asiatic
society.”
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“Great Britain had lent millions of pounds to the Allies during the war
and had herself been borrowing heavily from America.... Mr Churchill
went to the United States to discuss the war debt, pointing out the
economic chaos throughout the world which the payment of these
enormous sums of money would cause; but the United States of
America was adamant. 'They borrowed the money, didn't they?' was
President Coolidge's comment.
Great Britain had suggested an all-round cancellation of war debts, but
after learning of the United States insistence of payment she declared
to the Allies that 'she would collect no more from her debtors, ally or
former enemy, than the United States collected from her'. At the end
of the war, Britain owed the United States some $4000 million. 'The
enforcement of the Baldwin-Coolidge debt settlement', wrote Mr
Churchill in 1948, is a recognisable factor in the economic collapse
which was soon to overwhelm the world'.
Mary Cathcart Borer, Britain - Twentieth Century (1966)
Because America insisted that Britain repaying her war-debts to
America, Britain was forced to insist on the huge reparations payments
from Germany.
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2. What were the terms of the Paris Peace
Treaties 1919-20: Versailles, St. Germain,
Trianon, Neuilly, Sèvres/Lausanne 1923?
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The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace
treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state
of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It
was signed on 28 June 1919. Although the
armistice signed on 11 November 1918 ended the
actual fighting, it took six months of negotiations
at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the
peace treaty.
Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the
most important and controversial required
Germany to accept sole responsibility for causing
the war (later known as the War Guilt clauses), to
disarm, make substantial territorial concessions
and pay reparations to the Entente powers. The
total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132
billion marks ($31.5 billion, £6,600 million) in
1921.
Article 227 charges former German
Emperor, Wilhelm II with supreme
offence against international
morality. He is to be tried as a war
criminal.
 The Rhineland will become a
demilitarized administered by
Great Britain and France jointly.
 German armed forces will number
no more than 100,000 troops, and
conscription will be abolished.
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German naval forces will be limited to 15,000
men, 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 6 destroyers
and 12 torpedo boats. No submarines are to
be included.
The manufacture, import, and export of
weapons and poison gas is prohibited.
Armed aircraft, tanks and armored cars are
prohibited.
Blockades on ships are prohibited.
Restrictions on the manufacture of machine
guns and rifles.
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The Treaty of Saint Germain, was signed on 10
September 1919 by the victorious Allies and by the
new Republic of Austria. It was not ratified by the
United States.
The treaty declared that the Austro-Hungarian
Empire was to be dissolved. The new Republic of
Austria, consisting of most of the Germanspeaking Alpine part of the former Austrian
Empire, recognized the independence of Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the State of Slovenes,
Croatians and Serbs. The treaty included war
reparations of large sums of money, directed
towards the allies, to pay for the costs of the war.
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The Treaty of Trianon was the peace treaty
concluded in 1920 at the end of World War I
by the Allies and Hungary, seen as a
successor of Austria-Hungary. The treaty
established the borders of Hungary. Hungary
lost over 72% of the territory it had previously
controlled, which left 64% of the inhabitants,
including 3.3 out of 10.7 million (31%) ethnic
Hungarians, living outside Hungary.
In addition, the newly established nation
of Hungary had to pay war reparations to its
neighbors.
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The Treaty of Neuilly, dealing with Bulgaria for
its role as one of the Central powers in World War I,
was signed on Nov. 27, 1919 at Neuilly, France.
The treaty required Bulgaria to cede Western
Thrace to Greece, thereby cutting off its direct
outlet to the Aegean Sea. The treaty also forced
Bulgaria to return Southern Doubria, which had
been captured during the war.
Bulgaria was also required to reduce its army to
20,000 men, pay reparations exceeding $400
million, and recognize the existence of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
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The Treaty of Sèvres (10 August 1920) was
the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire
and Allied at the end of World War I. The
treaty nullified the territorial gains of the
empire during the war.
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3. What were the geopolitical and economic
impact of the treaties on Europe; the
establishment and impact of the mandate
system?
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There was immediate condemnation of the Versailles Treaty
by the German populace. The German state was not
expecting to lose the war. When the dust settled and the
harsh reality of defeat was made clear, the German people
were dumbfounded. It was a military defeat, but also a
psychological defeat for the German state. "…the German
people were expecting victory and not defeat. It was the
acknowledgement of defeat, as much as the treaty terms
themselves, which they found so hard to accept" (Henig, 27).
The terms which caused the most resentment in Germany
were the loss of territory, the war guilt placed solely on
Germany, the deliberate effacement of the German military
and the demands of reparations
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Treaty of Versailles: Clemenceau had failed
to achieve all of the demands of the French
people, and he was voted out of office in the
elections of January 1920. French Field Marshal
Ferdinand Foch, declared, "This is not Peace. It
is an Armistice for twenty years."
After Wilson's successor Warren Harding
continued American opposition to the League
of Nations, Congress passed the Knox-Porter
Resolution bringing a formal end to hostilities
between the United States and the Central
Powers.
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Western Europe remained quite similar to
what is had been in 1914, only a few
territorial changes where made
Central and Eastern Europe where changed to
a great extent. Before the First World War
these regions where made up of large
multinational empires. (Germany, Russia,
Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman Turks)
Some of the states that
where created
Austria, Poland,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Lithuania,
Latvia and
Yugoslavia
1914
1920
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Self-determination was taken into account in
most cases however it was sometimes
difficult as different nationalities, racial
groups and linguistic groups where scattered
across many different areas.
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Self-determination abled common ethnic
back rounds and languages to decide the
nature of the state however in some cases
this was ignored such as South Tyrol,
Sudetenland and the Polish Corridor. A major
problem at the time was to create states
which where capable of working successfully
in terms of communication, economics and
security.
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Poland and Czechoslovakia claimed Teschem.
Problems over Vilna between Lithuania and
Poland.
Not easy to create new countries and fix
frontiers.
Ethnic groups were spread out , not
concentrated.
Some regions were claimed by more
countries.
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Germans of all political shades denounced the treaty—
particularly the provision that blamed Germany for starting the
war—as an insult to the nation's honor. They referred to the
treaty as "the Diktat" since its terms were presented to
Germany on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Germany's first
democratically elected Chancellor, Phillip Schneidmann refused
to sign the treaty and resigned.
The German economy was so weak that only a small
percentage of reparations was paid in hard currency.
Nonetheless, even the payment of this small percentage of the
original reparations (132 billion Gold Reich marks) still placed
a significant burden on the German economy.
The economic strain eventually reached the point where
Germany stopped paying the reparations agreed in the Treaty
of Versailles. As a result French and Belgian forces invaded and
occupied the Ruhr, a heavily industrialized part of Germany
along the French-German border.
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Treaty of St. Germain: The vast reduction of
population, territory and resources of the new
Austria relative to the old empire wreaked
havoc on the economy of the new nation.
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Although the treaty addressed some nationality
issues, it also sparked new ones at the same time.
After the new borders had been established, a
majority of the 3.3 million Hungarians who lived in
now-foreign lands were situated just outside the
new border lines and were not given the option of
self-determination and were unhappy.
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A League of Nations mandate refers to certain
territories transferred from the control of one
country to another following World War I. Which
included a minority rights clause and an
International Court. The mandate system was
established under Article 22 of the League of
Nations.
All the territories subject to League of Nations
mandates were previously controlled by states
defeated in World War I, principally Germany and
the Ottoman Empire.
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The mandates were divided into three distinct
groups based upon the level of development
each population had achieved at that time.
Class A mandates
The first group or Class A mandates were
areas formerly controlled by the Ottoman
Empire that were deemed to have reached a
stage of development where their existence
as independent nations can be provisionally
recognized subject to a lead country until
they are able to stand alone.
http://www.mythsandfacts.com/conflict/mandate_for_palestin
e/mandate_for_palestine.htm
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Class B mandates
The second group or Class B mandates
were all former German territories in the SubSaharan regions of West and Central Africa,
which were deemed to require a greater level
of control by the mandatory power: "...the
Mandatory must be responsible for the
administration of the territory under
conditions which will guarantee freedom of
conscience and religion." The mandatory
power was forbidden to construct military or
naval bases within the mandates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:League_of_Nations_mandate
_Middle_East_and_Africa.png
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Class C mandates
A final group, the Class C mandates,
including South-West Africa and the South
Pacific Islands, were considered to be "best
administered under the laws of the Mandatory
as integral portions of its territory“.
They essentially became colonies of the
Mandates.
The Class C mandates were former German
possessions.
Mandates in the Pacific. 1. South Pacific Mandate, 2. Territory of New
Guinea, 3. Nauru and 4. Western Samoa
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4. What were the mechanisms used for the
enforcement of the provisions of the treaties:
US isolationism—the retreat from the Anglo–
American Guarantee; disarmament—
Washington, London, Geneva conferences.
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In the wake of the First World War, the
isolationist tendencies of US foreign policy were in
full force. First, the United States Congress rejected
president Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations.
Although the United States was unwilling to
commit to the League of Nations, they were willing
to engage in foreign affairs on their own terms. In
August 1928, fifteen nations signed the KelloggBriand Pact, brainchild of American Secretary of
State Frank Kellogg and French Foreign Minister
Aristide Briand. This pact that was said to have
outlawed war and showed the United States
commitment to international peace.
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The French still regarded the Germans as a major
threat to their security after WWI. They wanted Germany
divided into separate states, or, failing that, they wanted
extensive precautions against future German aggression.
The French were promised an Anglo-American guarantee
of French borders.
Without consulting their militaries, Lloyd George and
Wilson offered the Treaty to the French as a means to
head off the separation of the Rhineland from Germany.
The Treaty of Guarantee achieved widespread bipartisan
support in the United States Senate and in the British
Parliament. When the Versailles Treaty failed to achieve
ratification in the Senate, however, the Treaty of
Guarantee sank with it. This led Lloyd George to renege
on his commitment, too.
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The Washington Naval Conference also called
the Washington Arms Conference, was a military
conference called by President Harding and held in
Washington D.C. from Nov. 12 1921 to Feb. 6,
1922. Conducted outside the auspices of the
League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations
having interests in the pacific ocean and east Asia.
The Washington Naval Treaty led to an effective
end to building new battleship fleets and those few
ships that were built were limited in size and
armament. Numbers of existing capital ships were
scrapped. Some ships under construction were
turned into aircraft carriers instead.
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Warren G. Harding invited delegates to
Washington for a Conference on Naval
Disarmament starting in June 1921. Germany
eliminated as a first-rate naval Power (
scuttling of its interned fleet at Scapa Flow),
Britain and the U.S. were by far the dominant
navies, with Japan making great exertions to
catch up. France and Italy were minor players
by comparison. Russia was embroiled in civil
war, its fleet largely ignored and left in ill
repair; like Germany she was no longer a
great naval Power
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For the first time, Britain dropped her 2:1
doctrine .
Agreements Reached
GB, USA, France & Japan agreed to respect each
other’s Pacific possessions & guarantee China’s
independence.
Japan would restore Kias-Chow & Shantung to
China. Japan to withdraw from Siberia, in Russia.
There would be a ten year stoppage in the
building of capital ships (more than 10,000 tons
with guns larger than 8"). A ratio of USA:5, GB:5,
Japan:3, France:1.75 and Italy:1.75 was to be
maintained in the building of capital ships
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Lessened possibility of naval war in the Far East
where Japan & USSR had ideas about expanding
into China.
The alliance of First World War victors was
reaffirmed, despite USA’s isolation policy.
Though better international relations resulted,
the USSR was not invited to the talks, despite her
extensive Far Eastern interests. (USSR was, as yet,
not recognized.)
Treaty of Rapallo (April 1922) – Signed, 2 months
after the Washington Treaty, by Germany and
Soviet Russia. They said they would not attack
each other and trade links were opened. Both
powers were no longer isolated.
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The London Naval Treaty was an agreement
between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy
and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930,
which regulated submarine warfare and limited
naval shipbuilding.
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The Geneva Naval Conference was a
conference held to discuss naval arms limitation,
held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927.
Badly needed restraints were applied to the
naval arms race by the treaties stemming from
the Washington Conference (1921-22), but those
agreements were largely confined to limitations
on battleships and aircraft carriers.
Talks dragged on for nearly six weeks during
which tensions rose among the former Allies. In
early August, the delegates adjourned without
reaching any agreement.
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Using the sources and your own knowledge,
explain why the Geneva Disarmament
conference (1932-34) failed to achieve its
aims.
Failed
Not a total failure
To some extent
Not at all
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5. Explain the role of the League of Nations:
effects of the absence of major powers; the
principle of collective security and early
attempts at peacekeeping (1920-5).
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The League of Nations was an inter-governmental
organization founded as a result of the Treaty of
Versailles in 1919–1920. The League's goals included
upholding the new found rights of man, rights of
women, rights of soldiers, disarmament, preventing
war through collective security, settling disputes
between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and
improving global quality of life.
The diplomatic philosophy behind the League
represented a fundamental shift in thought from the
preceding hundred years. The League lacked its own
armed force and so depended on the Great Powers to
enforce its resolutions, keep to economic sanctions
which the League ordered, or provide an army, when
needed, for the League to use.
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(To improve living conditions for men and women
world-wide)
The ILO was so successful that the USA joined it. In
1945 it transferred to the UNO.
The Health Commission stopped disease epidemics
(e.g. measles)
The Leprosy Commission helped eliminate leprosy.
The Transit and Communication Commission
standardised passports and visas, and radio codes
were also made common. (Mayday was
internationalised.)
The Mandates Commission, under Lord Lugard,
helped colonies to reach independence.
Doctor Nansen helped resettle homeless and
stateless people from the Refugee Commission.
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The aftermath of World War I left many issues
to be settled between nations, including the exact
position of national boundaries and which country
particular regions would join. Most of these
questions were handled by the victorious Allied in
bodies such as the Allied Supreme Council.
The Allies tended to refer only particularly
difficult matters to the League. This meant that,
during the first three years of the 1920s, the
League played little part in resolving the turmoil
that resulted from the war.
The questions the League considered in its early
years included those designated by the Paris Peace
treaties.
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The frontiers of Albania had not been set during the Paris
Peace Conference in 1919 and had not yet been determined by
September 1921. This created an unstable situation with Greek
troops repeatedly crossing into Albanian territory on military
operations.
The League sent a commission of representatives to the
region and in November 1921, the League decided that the
frontiers of Albania should be the same as they had been in
1913 with three minor changes that favored Yugoslavia.
Yugoslav forces withdrew a few weeks later, albeit under
protest.
The borders of Albania again become the cause of
international conflict when Italian General Tellini and four of
his assistants were ambushed and killed on 24 August 1923
while marking out the newly decided border between Greece
and Albania.
Mussolini was incensed, and demanded that a commission
be set up to investigate the incident and that the Greek
government should pay Italy fifty million lira reparations. The


Mussolini sent a warship to shell the Greek
island of Corfu and Italian forces occupied
Corfu on 31 August 1923. Greece appealed to
the League to deal with the situation.
Greece was forced to pay fifty million lira
to Italy even though those who committed the
crime were never discovered. Mussolini was
able to leave Corfu in triumph.
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
After the First World War, Poland laid claim to Upper
Silesia, which had been part of Prussia. The Treaty of
Versailles had recommended a plebiscite in Upper
Silesia to determine whether the territory should be part
of Germany or Poland.
Complaints about the attitude of the German
authorities led to rioting and eventually to the first two
Silesian Uprisings (1919 and 1920).
In November 1921 a conference was held in Geneva
to negotiate a convention between Germany and Poland.
A final settlement was reached, in which most of the
area was given to Germany but with the Polish section
containing the majority of the region's mineral
resources and much of its industry.
When this agreement became public in May 1922,
bitter resentment was expressed in Germany, but the
treaty was still ratified by both countries.
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
The origins of the League as an organization
created by the Allied Powers as part of the peace
settlement to end the First World War led to it being
viewed as a "League of Victors". It also tied the
League to the Treaty of Versailles, so that when the
Treaty became discredited and unpopular, this
reflected on the League of Nations.
The League's supposed neutrality tended to
manifest itself as indecision. It required a unanimous
vote of its nine, later fifteen, member Council to
enact a resolution; hence, conclusive and effective
action was difficult, if not impossible. It was also
slow in coming to its decisions as certain decisions
required the unanimous consent of the entire



Representation at the League was often a problem.
Though it was intended to encompass all nations, many
never joined, or their time as part of the League was
short. Most notably missing was America who was
supposed to help ensure world peace and security but
also in financing the League.
Some have suggested that, had the United States
been a member of the League, it would have also
provided backup to France and Britain, possibly making
France feel more secure and so encouraging France and
Britain to co-operate more regarding Germany and so
made the rise to power of the Nazi party less likely.
Some also acknowledge that if America had been a
member of the League, its reluctance to engage in war
with European states and to enact economic sanctions
may have hampered the ability of the League to deal
with international incidents.

THE BRIDGE REPRESENT THE COLLABORATION OF THE
COUNTRIES WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.
THE BRIDGE ALSO REPRESENT THE STRONG TIES, ON HOW THE
COUNTRIES ARE FROM TOGETHER AS ONE TO SHOW
COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION. THE MISSING BRICK IN THE
BRIDGE IS USA. USA CONTRIBUTED ALOT OF IDEAS TO THE
LEAGUE OF NATIONS BUT STRANGELY, THEY DID NOT CHOOSE
TO JOIN THE LEAGUE, WITHOUT THEM JOINING THE LEAGUE, THE
OVERALL STRENGTH IN THE LEAGUE DROPPED AS USA WAS A
VERY BIG COUNTRY WITH A STRONG ECONOMY AND MILITARY
FORCE. NO THIS DOES IS NOT THE MAIN REASON WHY THE
LEAGUE OF NATIONS FAILED. IT FAILED ALSO PARTLY DUE TO
FACTORS LIKE DISARMAMENT - COUNTRIES DID NOT WANT TO
DISARM THEMSELVES IN FEAR OF BEING ATTACKED. THE LEAGUE
WAS ALSO UNABLE TO SOLVE SOME CONFLICTS AND THEREFORE,
IT FAILED TO UPHOLD IT'S MAIN PURPOSE - SOLVING CONFLICTS
AND DISPUTES PEACEFULLY

6. What was the Ruhr Crisis (1923); Locarno
and the “Locarno Spring” (1925)?



The Occupation of the Ruhr, by troops from
France and Belgium, was a response to the failure
of the German Weimar Republic to pay reparations
in the aftermath of World War I.
By late 1922, the German defaults on payments
had grown so serious and regular that French and
Belgian delegates were urging the seizure of the
Ruhr as a way of encouraging the Germans to make
more effort to pay, and the British delegate urging
a lowering of the payments.
As a consequence of an enormous German
default on timber deliveries in December 1922, the
Reparations Commission declared Germany in
default, which led to the Franco-Belgian occupation
of the Ruhr in January 1923.
http://www.jatsbulgaria.org/show.php?head=5&id=20&issue_id=2&type=article
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French Prime Minister Poincaré decided to occupy the
Ruhr in 11 January 1923 to extract the reparations
himself.
Poincaré often argued to the British that if the
Germans could get away with defying Versailles in
regards to the reparations, then a precedent would be
created, and inevitably the Germans would proceed to
dismantle the rest of the Versailles treaty.
The invasion took place on January 11, 1923, with the
aim of occupying the centre of German coal, iron and
steel production in the Ruhr area valley, in order to gain
the money that Germany owed. France had the iron ore
and Germany had the coal.
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/germanclub/inflation2.html
http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2009/05/27/blast-from-the-pastor-pictures-ofour-future/
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERlocarno.htm

The Locarno Treaties were regarded as
the keystone of the improved western
European diplomatic climate of 1924-1930,
introducing a hope for international peace,
typically called the "spirit of Locarno". This
spirit was seen in Germany's admission to the
League of Nations, the international
organization established under the Versailles
treaty to promote world peace and cooperation, and in the subsequent withdrawal
(completed in June 1930) of Allied troops
from Germany's western Rhineland.
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

The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements
negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on Oct. 5 – 16, 1925
and formally signed in London on Dec. 1, in which the
Western European Allied powers and the new states of
central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war
territorial settlement, normalizing relations with defeated
Germany (which was, by this time, the Weimar Republic).
Locarno divided borders in Europe into two
categories: western, which were guaranteed by Locarno
treaties, and eastern borders (of Germany), which were
open for revision.
The principal treaty concluded at Locarno was the
"Rhineland Pact" between Germany, France, Belgium,
Britain, and Italy. The first three signatories undertook
not to attack each other, with the latter two acting as
guarantors. In the event of aggression by any of the first
three states against another, all other parties were to
assist the country under attack.
 3 in each group-write plan
(Monday).
 At least 3 primary sources, 1
secondary , 1 tertiary- must
have detailed notes for each
sub-topic (from each member!)
(Tuesday and Wednesday)
 1 page essay that answers the
question “ to what extent” and
refers to the documents- to
answer the question (Thursday).
Hint: which of the 3 became the
biggest threat?
 Bibliography using MLA,
sourcing using MLA as well
(Thursday).
 1 presentation (Friday)

Assessment criteria:
◦ Use of Historical Skills
 Structured essay, use
evidence to support
argument, referencing
bibliography, selection of
sources
◦ Synthesis and evaluation
 Different interpretations
 Evaluation of historical
sources
 Evaluate and synthesize
evidence
 Present an analysis of a
summary
 Notes, essay, presentation

Primary Sources
◦ Avalon Project- Yale
University
◦ World History
Sourcebook- Fordham
University
◦ Trove Digitised
Newspapers-
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2688683
◦ Spartacus Educational
◦ National Archives UK-
Heroes and Villains
(Abyssinia)
Remember to be
critical of Sources!!!

Secondary
◦ JSTOR◦ Our Library
◦ BBC History

Tertiary-
◦ History Learning Site
◦ Spartacus Educational
◦ BBC History
Look for OPVL
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
0 There is no analysis. The evidence does not answer the
question. There is no essay.
1–3 There is some attempt at answering the question and
analyzing the evidence presented.
4-6There is analysis of the evidence presented and references
are included. There may be some awareness of the significance of
the evidence to the investigation as to how it answers the
question. Where appropriate, different interpretations are
considered.
7–10There is critical analysis of the evidence presented, accurate
referencing, and an awareness of the significance to the
investigation of the sources. Where appropriate, different
interpretations are analyzed. The evidence answers the question.

To what extend did Abyssinia,
Manchuria and Great depression
threatened the peace?


0 There is no analysis. The evidence does not
answer the question. There is no essay.


1–3 There is some attempt at answering the
question and analyzing the evidence
presented.


4-6There is analysis of the evidence presented
and references are included. There may be
some awareness of the significance of the
evidence to the investigation as to how it
answers the question. Where appropriate,
different interpretations are considered.




7–10There is critical analysis of the evidence
presented, accurate referencing, and an
awareness of the significance to the
investigation of the sources. Where
appropriate, different interpretations are
analyzed. The evidence answers the question.



Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas,
values, personalities, behaviors, and institutions
by identifying likenesses and differences.
Consider multiple perspectives of various
peoples in the past by demonstrating their
differing motives, beliefs, interests, hopes, and
fears.
Analyze cause-and-effect relationships bearing
in mind multiple causation including (a) the
importance of the individual in history; (b) the
influence of ideas, human interests, and beliefs;
and (c) the role of chance, the accidental and the
irrational.
Draw comparisons across eras and regions in
order to define enduring issues as well as largescale or long-term developments that transcend
regional and temporal boundaries.
Distinguish between unsupported expressions of
opinion and informed hypotheses grounded in
historical evidence.
Compare competing historical narratives.
Challenge arguments of historical inevitability by
formulating examples of historical contingency,
of how different choices could have led to
different consequences.
Hold interpretations of history as tentative,
subject to changes as new information is
uncovered, new voices heard, and new
interpretations broached.
Evaluate major debates among historians
concerning alternative interpretations of the
past.
Hypothesize the influence of the past, including
both the limitations and opportunities made
possible by past decisions.



The majority of countries set up relief
programs, and most underwent some sort of
political upheaval, pushing them to the left or
right. In some states, the desperate citizens
turned toward nationalist demagogues—the
most infamous being Adolf Hitler-setting the
stage for World War II in 1939.
Germany's Weimar Republic was hit hard by
the depression, as American loans to help
rebuild the German economy now stopped.
Unemployment soared, especially in larger
cities, and the political system veered toward
extremism.
The unemployment rate reached nearly
30% in 1932.




Japan
The Great Depression did not strongly
affect Japan. The Japanese economy shrank
by 8% during 1929–31.
Soviet Union
Having removed itself from the capitalist
world system both by choice and as a result
of efforts of the capitalist powers to isolate it,
the Great Depression had little effect on the
Soviet Union.



United Kingdom
The effects on the industrial areas of
Britain were immediate and devastating, as
demand for British products collapsed.
By the end of 1930 unemployment had
more than doubled from 1 million to 2.5
million (20% of the insured workforce), and
exports had fallen in value by 50%.




The Japanese invasion of Manchuria by the
Kwantung Army of Japan, beginning on September 19,
1931, immediately followed the Mukden Incident. The
Japanese occupation of Manchuria lasted until the end of
World War II.
In violation of orders from Tokyo, Kwantung Army
commander in chief General Shigeru Honjo ordered that
his forces rapidly proceed to expand operations all
along the South Manchurian Railway.
The Japanese civilian government was thrown into
disarray by this massive act of insubordination, but as
reports of one quick victory after another began to pour
in, it was powerless to oppose the Army, and its
decision was to immediately send three more infantry
divisions from Japan, beginning with the 14th Mixed
Brigade of the IJA 7th Division.
A.J.P. Taylor wrote that "In the face of its first
serious challenge", the League buckled and capitulated.



Another important weakness grew from the contradiction
between the idea of collective security and international
relations between individual states. The collective security
system the League used meant that nations were required to
act against states they considered friends, and in a way that
might endanger their national interests, to support states that
they had no affinity with.
This weakness was exposed during the Manchurian &
Abyssinia Crisis when Britain and France had to balance
attempts to maintain the security they had attempted to create
for themselves in Europe, in which Italy's support played a
pivotal role, with their obligations to Abyssinia as a member of
the League.
On 23 June 1936, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
told the House of Commons that collective security had "failed
ultimately because of the reluctance of nearly all the nations in
Europe to proceed to what I might call military sanctions ...
The real reason, or the main reason, was that we discovered in
the process of weeks that there was no country except the
aggressor country which was ready for war.”
http://www.johndclare.net/league_of_nations6b.htm
• Sept 1931: There was some vandalism on the
Manchurian railway; Japan claimed the Chinese
had sabotaged the railway.
• They invaded Manchuria and set up the
'independent' (i.e. Japanese-controlled) state
of
Manchukuo under the former Emperor of
China,
Henry P'ui.
• China appealed to the League.
• Dec 1931: the League appointed a
commission
led by Lord Lytton to investigate.
• He did not go to Manchuria until April 1932
and did not report until October.
• Oct 1932: Lytton's report stated that Japan
was
the aggressor and should leave.
• 24 Feb 1933: The Assembly voted that Japan
should leave Manchuria
• Japan walked out of the meeting.
• Japan stayed in Manchuria.
• The League could not agree economic
sanctions
or an arms sales ban.
• In 1933 Japan resigned from the League, and
invaded/ conquered Jehol (next to Manchuria).
A SPECTACULAR failure:
1. The Japanese continued to expand:
•
•
they kept Manchuria
they invaded Jehol in 1933 and China in 1937.
A SPECTACULAR failure:
2. The League was discredited/ Manchuria
showed:
•
It was slow (the Lytton Report took almost a
year)
•
A country could get its own way if it ignored it
•
‘Collective security' was useless against big
countries - especially during the Great
Depression.
•
Even the great powers within the League
(Japan
was on the Council) were happy to ignore it.
This cartoon of 1933, by the British cartoonist David Low, is entitled:
'The Doormat'. It shows a Japanese soldier trampling all over the
League, whilst League officials bow down before him and the British
Foreign Secretary John Simon powders the League's nose using a
'Face-saving kit'.
This cartoon of 1933 shows a gun labelled 'Japan' blasting a
hole through international agreements such as the Kellogg
Pact and the League of Nations Covenant. What is the
cartoonist suggesting about Japan?





Why did Italy invade Abyssinia?
What was Britain and France's role in the
crisis? (including the Hoare-Laval Pact)
How did the League respond to Italy's
invasion?
What was the outcome of the Abyssinian
crisis?
What effect did the crisis have on the
reputation of the League?
• The border between Abyssinia and Italian
Somaliland was uncertain and disputed - in
Dec
1934 there was a small skirmish at Wal-Wal.
• Mussolini demanded an apology and
threatened
to invade.
• There was great anger in Britain; Hoare (the
foreign minister) made a strong speech
supporting sanctions and collective security.
• Feb 1935: The League set up a commission,
which reported in Sept. It suggested giving part
of Abyssinia to Italy.
• Oct 1935: Mussolini rejected the plan and
invaded Abyssinia. He used tanks and flamethrowers and attacked red Cross hospitals.
• The League banned weapons sales, and put
sanctions on rubber and metal (this hurt
Abyssinia more than Italy).
• It did NOT close the Suez Canal or ban oil sales,
which would have stopped the Italian invasion.
• Dec 1935: Hoare-Laval Pact, a secret plan by
Britain and France to give Abyssinia to Italy.
• Britain and France asked that sanctions be lifted
- only Abyssinia voted against.
• March 1936: Hitler marched into the Rhineland;
everyone forgot about Abyssinia.
• May 1936: Mussolini conquered Abyssinia.
• June 1936: Haile Selassie went to the League to
ask it to reconsider its 'terrible precedent' of
giving way to force. He was ignored.
A SPECTACULAR failure:
1. The Fascists continued to expand:
•
•
Mussolini kept Abyssinia
•
Hitler began to expand in Europe.
•
Fascists took power in Spain
Britain and France abandoned the League as a
way
of keeping the peace - started to appease
Hitler.
A SPECTACULAR failure:
2. The League was ‘a useless fraud’ (AJP Taylor):
•
It was slow (the Report took 8 months).
•
A country could get its own way if it ignored it.
•
‘Collective security' was useless against big
countries - especially during the Great Depression.
•
Even the great powers within the League were
happy to ignore it (Japan was on the Council).
•
Even Britain and France would betray the League.
•
Nine countries left 1936-1939.