1.1 The Treaty of Versailles and nationalism and internationalism in the 1920s Flashcards
When did Woodrow Wilson become president?
1912
When was Woodrow Wilson re-elected?
1916
When was the Paris Peace Conference?
1919-20
What happened at the Paris Peace Conference?
- Five treaties were drawn up, the main one was the Treaty of Versailles and the other treaties agreed how Germany’s allies would be treated
What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
- War guilt, Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war
- Reparations, Germany was forced to pay reparations to the Allies for war damage
- Land, Germany’s European borders were changed so it lost land to neighbouring countries (Germany lost 10 per cent of its land and 12.5 per cent of its population)
- Armed forces, Germany’s army was limited to 100,000 men and conscription was banned, the Rhineland was demilitarised
Who were the big three after the First World War?
- Woodrow Wilson (president of the USA)
- George Clemenceau (prime minister of France)
- David Lloyd George (prime minister of Britain)
How did Germans react to the Treaty of Versailles?
- The Germans felt that the war guilt clause was unfair in blaming only Germany, they said that all countries should share the blame
- The disarmament terms were also seen as unfair because none of the victorious countries reduced their own armed forces
- Germans were appalled at losing land and population to neighbouring countries, they claimed that this was inconsistent with President Wilson’s demand for self-determination for people of Europe
- The huge reparations bill caused outrage, reparations were blamed for the economic problems that devastated Germany later in the 1920s
What was Wilson’s vision for the League of Nations?
- He wanted the LON to be like a world parliament, where representatives of all nations met regularly to solve problems
- All major countries would disarm
- League members would also promise to protect one another if attacked, collective security
- They also could not go to war, and if any member went to war illegally, other members would impose economic sanctions
Explain some of the League’s commissions’ achievements in the 1920s
- The Refugee Committee helped an estimated 400,000 people who had been displaced by the war or made prisoners of war return to their homes
- The International Labour Organisation successfully campaigned for worker’s rights, especially for women and children, in all countries
- The Health Committee funded research into deadly diseases, developing vaccines
- The League was also responsible for freeing the 200,000 slaves in British-owned Sierra Leone
when was the corfu crisis?
1923
when was the Bulgarian crisis?
1925
when was the Aaland islands dispute?
1921
when was the Upper Silesian dispute?
1921
when were the League of Nations formed?
1919
who were the starting members of the League of Nations?
France, Britain, Japan and Italy
when was the rapallo treaty?
1922
when was the Dawes plan?
1924
when was the Locarno treaties?
1925
when was the Kellogg-briand pact?
1928
when was the young plan?
1929
what was the rapallo treaty?
the USSR and Germany re-established diplomatic relations
what was the Dawes plan?
- USA lent the money to Germany that it needed to honour its reparations
- these loans propped up the German economy and restored prosperity to the country in the mid 1920s
what were the Locarno treaties?
- Germany accepted its western borders as set out in the Treaty of Versailles
- And as a result France agreed that they would be in a state of peace with Germany.
- Paved the way for Germany to join the League of Nations
what was the Kellogg-Briand pact?
an agreement between 65 nations not to use force to settle disputes
what did the young plan do?
reduced the total amount of German reparations
what happened in Bulgaria in 1925?
- In October 1925, greek soldiers were killed on the border with Bulgaria
- As a result, greek troops invaded and Bulgaria appealed to the League for help
- The League demanded that both sides should stand down and told Greek troops to withdraw from Bulgaria, to which Greece obeyed
what happened in corfu in 1923?
outline the events of the aaland islands dispute
- in 1921, Finland and Sweden both claimed the Aaland Islands and both sides were threatening to go to war
- The League concluded that both islands should belong to Finland, to which Sweden agreed
outline the events of the upper Silesian dispute
- in 1921, a dispute broke out between Germany and Poland over Upper Silesia
- the League oversaw a plebiscite and divided the region between Germany and Poland
- both countries accepted the decision
