Confilicts And Co-operation 1918-1939 Flashcards
What terms did the Treaty of Versailles consist of
Signed in June 1919
-£6600million in debt for Germany
-Germany not allowed armoured vehicles, submarines, or aircraft
-LoN setup
-Germany forced to take blame for the war
How did the Germans react to the Treaty of Versailles
- couldn’t afford reparations and would soon suffer financial crisis
- felt they weren’t solely to blame for the war
- Germany lost pride in their armed forces and saw that other countries were not disarming
How did the Allies feel about the Treaty of Versailles
David Loyd George was happy that Britain received German colonies and viewed it as an opportunity for expansion, worried about the strict repercussions of the treaty
Clemenceau wanted higher reparations but the German resigning from Rhineland ensured that France was under less threat
What problems came from the Treaty of Versailles
German anger would lead to trouble in the future
Self determination would be difficult in countries such as Poland and Czechoslovakia where many nationalities has been thrown together to form an ‘artificial country’
Europe couldn’t recover properly while Germany remained poor
When was the LoN founded and what were its 2 main aims
January 1920
To maintain peace and favour disarmament
To encourage cooperation and solve both economic and social problems
What were some successes in the LoN
- resolved the 1921 dispute between Germany and Poland over upper Silesia, it was divided among the two
- Sweden and Finland dispute over the Aaland islands in 1921, the islands would remain Finnish
- Greece invasion of Bulgaria in 1925, Greece was forced to withdraw
- it helped refugees, financial disasters and combated disease and slavery
Outline the events of the Corfu incident
Mussolini occupied the Greek island of corfu in 1923 following the murder of an Italian diplomat
Mussolini demanded compensation and an apology from Greece
The LoN stated the money should go to them and not Italy
Mussolini got the decision overturned and received both money and the apology he wanted.
LoN looked weak
Outline the French occupation of RUHR
Germany failed to keep up with reparation payments so France invaded and occupied RUHR in 1923
They withdrew in 1925
What was the Dawes Plan
USA lent money to Germany to help with reparations
This diffused tension between Germany and France, as reparations could now be payed back to the allies
What was the young plan
Germany reparations reduced by 75% and 59 years given to pay them
Strengthened the German economy but was unpopular among British people who deemed it unfair for such a reduction
What were the causes of the Great Depression
USA 1920s prosperity, mass production and high wages
American companies trading lots of goods
Billions of dollars on loan to aid European recovery post WW1
Too much supply to little demand and competition from Japan lead to a stock market crash in 1929,
Lives and businesses ruined
What effects did the Great Depression have
12 million unemployed in USA
USA stopped lending money abroad and asked for loans to be repaid
30 million unemployed in industrial colonies along the west
6 million unemployed in Germany who were suffering from export and bank failures
Outline the events of the Manchuria crisis
Japan sent troops into Manchuria in 1931 and the LoN did not intervene
Japan was a valuable trading partner and the league was reluctant to put sanctions on them
Japan left the league in 1933
It showed the leagues weaknesses and showed Hitler the flaws in the league’s structure
Outline the events of the Abyssinia crisis
Mussolini turned Italy into a dictatorship by 1925 and wanted to build a great empire
In October 1935, troops were sent to invade Abyssinia.
League of Nations imposed economic sanctions but delayed oil exports bans in case failure of us support.
By may 1936, Italy conquered all of Abyssinia
Mussolini and Hitler agreed the Rome-Berlin axis in 1936
Outline Hitler’s foreign policy
- treaty of Versailles to be overturned due to unfairness
- rearmament
- German reich to connect all German speakers
- expansion
How did hitler prepare for expansion
Left the LoN in 1933
Reached agreement in June 1935 to allow naval build up
March 1935 - military conscription
How did Hitler put pressure on Czechoslovakia in 1938
He claimed that the Czech government were discriminating against Sudetenland Germans
Demonstrations made that Sudetenland became part of Germany
May 1938, Hitler threatened to go to war
Czech pressured to give concessions to Hitler to avoid war
Outline the events of the Munich agreement
29th september 1938
Agreed Sudetenland given to Germany but that Czech would not be affected
USSR horrified at the agreement and Czech not even invited
Hitler shown to be consistently demanding
Outline the events of march 1939
Hitler took over all of Czechoslovakia and signed pact of steel with Italy promising to support each other if war was declared
Britain promised to support Poland upon invasion
What pact was made between the ussr and Germany
Nazi-soviet pact of 1939 , agreeing not to attack each other as well as a secret plan to take Poland
September 1 1939, Hitler invaded Poland
Britain declare war on Germany on 3rd September 1939
