chapter 1: PPC and LON

Question 1

what was the aim of PPC [1]

Answer 1

to reach a settlement that would legally and officially end WW1

Question 2

what was woodrow wilson’s aim and beliefs [4]

Answer 2

• an idealist and wanted to build a better and more peaceful world after WW1
• that US would restore the world to civilisation, and that nations should cooperate to achieve world peace
• germany should be punished but was not in favour of destroying them completely
• his main aim for germany was to strengthen their democracy so that their people wouldn’t let their leaders start another war

Question 3

what was david lloyd george’s aim and priorities [5]

Answer 3

• achieve the best possible outcome for britain
• priorities:
  
  1. protect britain – not keen on wilson’s plan of freedom of the seas
  2. rebuild economic prosperity – tricky as germany was britain’s 2nd largest trading market
  3. maintain british empire – concerned about self-determination as britain would have to lose its colonies
• wanted germany to recover economically as a buffer against the rise of communism in europe –> more concerned about russia emerging as a strong power if bolsheviks won the war

Question 4

damage suffered by france during ww1 [2]

Answer 4

• large areas of northern france invaded
• 1.7 million deaths with many wounded or missing
• among B3, france had suffered the most deaths: having 4%, britain with 2%, US with 0.1%

Question 5

concerns of france about germany

Answer 5

• germany had a younger and larger population (65mil) compared to france (40mil), meaning that they could use their people to fight against france in any future war
• there was no fighting in germany territories so their industrial regions were not damaged. this would allow germany to recover faster economically

Question 6

clemenceau aims for germany [3]

Answer 6

• split up germany into a collection of smaller states
  (knew wilson and lloyd would not agree. nevertheless, he had to show awareness of the public’s opinion and protect france)
• hence, he demanded a treaty that would weaken germany as much as possible

Question 7

terms of TOV and what they were about [5]

Answer 7

• war guilt clause –> germany had to accept total blame for the starting of ww1
• reparations –> had to pay 6.6 billion pounds to the Allies for war damage
• disarmament –> allowed 6 battleships, no conscription (all soldiers had to be volunteers), army limited to 100,000 men, no aircraft & submarines & armoured vehicles, rhineland (border between france and germany) demilitarised so no german forces allowed
• territories –> give up territories to neighbouring countries, lost 10% of its land, lost 12.5% of its population, forbidden to form alliances with austria (anschluss)
• LON –> set up as an international body to solve disputes between countries but germany was not allowed to join

Question 8

german’s reactions to TOV [5]

Answer 8

• war guilt clause: felt unfair as other countries were also involved in the war but only germany was blamed
• reparations: germany, like many countries, had suffered a lot of damage after ww1 and the reparations just made it harder for germany to recover
• disarmament: an army of 100,000 men was very small for a country as big as germany. the army was also a huge pride to germans so they felt it was unfair as the allies did not have to be disarmed to this extent although they had also fought in the war
• territories: major blow to german pride of being a colonial power pre-war and having to lose so many territories was embarrassing to them. many germans would have to live under other governments in poland and czechoslovakia, including danzig which would be cut off from germany to give poland access to the seas
• LON: being left out of LON was a further insult

Question 9

short term impact of TOV in germany [2]

Answer 9

• many felt stabbed in the back by jews, communists and weak politicians when TOV was signed
• hate and resentment towards new democratic government grew quickly and the government immediately became unpopular

Question 10

medium term impact of TOV in germany [2]

Answer 10

• faced a political and economical crisis
• in 1922, germany fell behind on reparation payment, leading to the french and bulgarian army invading Ruhr in 1923 and took whatever was owed to them. this was legal under TOV, which was humiliating and violent, killing about 130 people
• the economy was also affected by hyperinflation as the govt started printing more money to pay the reparations, making the value of money go down and prices up. eg; a loaf of bread cost $250 in jan 1923 to $1.5mil in sept 1923, causing many to lose their savings overnight and blaming the govt for this, causing political instability

Question 11

what was the key aim of LON [1]

Answer 11

to resolve international disputes without going to war

Question 12

wilson’s vision for LON [4]

Answer 12

• a world govt and police force
• all world powers would join LON, bind themselves to covenant and disarm
• if involved in a dispute with another country, they would take it to the LON and accept its decisions
• members would promise to protect each other if attacked

Question 13

wilson: what if someone went against LON [2]

Answer 13

• other members would impose economic sanctions
• as a last resort, the LON could take military action

Question 14

what were the concerns of LON

Answer 14

• Ability to achieve disarmament:
  ~ members of LON expected to disarm. but they were scared that they would not be able to protect their territories, leading to reluctance to disarm
• Ability to stop aggressor countries:
  ~ were reluctant to stop trade as they were concerned about the impact of economic sanctions on their economies.
  ~ LON also did not have an army of their own so it would be hard to take military action
• Membership of LON:
  ~ US didnt join LON + USSR could not join as it was communist -> 2 major powers were not in LON
  ~ without US, economic sanctions were difficult to enforce as they could continue supplying goods to aggressor countries. so aggressor countries wouldnt be badly affected as they would just continue trade with US.
  ~US had one of the most powerful militaries, making it difficult to take military action on aggressor countries

Question 15

major events (place it happened and year) for LON in 1920s [4]

Answer 15

• vilna 1920
• upper silesia 1921
• greek bulgarian border 1925
• corfu 1923