Conflict And Tension Flashcards
When was the Paris Peace Conference
January 1919
What did Clemenceau want at the Peace Conference?
To cripple Germany and ensure they could not attack again
Why did Clemenceau want to cripple Germany
Most of the fighting had taken place in France; The Germans had destroyed mines, railways, factories, bridges, and farmland. The French had suffered the most deaths and the country wanted revenge!
What did Lloyd George want at the Peace Conference and how did this compare to the British public?
The British public wanted revenge as many British youths died.
However, David Lloyd George was cautious; he wanted to trade with Germany and kept the British Empire by taking German colonies and reducing her navy. He was worried that treating Germany too harshly could lead to the Germans wanting revenge.
What did Woodrow Wilson want from the Peace Conference?
No fighting had taken place in America and they had made money selling weapons to the allies so there was no desire for revenge.
Woodrow Wilson was an idealist; he wanted a world free from war (by setting up a League of Nations), the right to self-determination (countries to rule themselves) and freedom of the seas (called the 14 points)
What is the acronym for the terms of the Treaty
Land
Army
Money
Blame
How was Germany’s territory affected
13% of land lost
Alsace Lorraine lost
Saar was given to France
Mandates lost
What was the result of the territory being lost?
It felt like German land and people were being stolen. Some Germans now live in other countries like France or Poland.
Created huge money problems – a big portion of industry and agriculture was taken from an already bankrupt country
How was Germany’s army affected
Reduced to 1,000 men
No airforce
Limited navy (6 battleships no submarines)
Demilitarised Rhineland
What was the result of the army being lost?
Humiliation and loss of morale for the Germans, who were once strong.
Army soldiers lost their jobs and had to join the Freikorps
What were the effects of Germany’s reparations?
£6.6B which led to an economic crisis as the Weimar were sure they could not pay it
What 3 other conditions were in the treaty
The War Guilt Clause
Germany could not join the LoN
Anschluss was banned
How did the British feel about the ToV
They saw Lloyd George as a hero as he got colonies for England and restricted Germany’s navy
How did the French feel about the ToV
They all thought it should’ve been harsher and voted Clemenceau out of parliament as a result.
Clemenceau had had to compromise and allow Germany a small army. He also wanted the Saar coalfield permanently given to France and the reparation sum was too small!
How did America feel about the ToV
They joined the war in 1917, took no damage, and made a profit so there was no need for revenge. They favored isolationism.
Wilson was happy the League of Nations was created and Eastern European countries had self-determination. However, the American Senate refused to ratify (agree) to the treaty as it did not use Wilson’s 14 points so America did not join the LoN
How did the Germans feel about the ToV
They initially assumed the treaty would guarantee world peace (14 points) as the Kaiser was blamed for starting the war and with him gone, no punishment was necessary
The German people were shocked by the severity of the Treaty. Germany had not been allowed to negotiate and therefore it was a Diktat. The German Government wanted to reject the Treaty but felt they had no choice but to sign it. The people immediately hated them and became known as the November Criminals.
What are the aims of the LoN
Stop war from breaking out
Encouraging disarmament
Improve working conditions
Tackle diseases
What did the LoN set up to establish international laws
Permanent Court of International Justice
In what three ways did the League plan to deal with aggression
Mitigation (getting countries together to discuss problems)
Moral condemnation (reprimanding nationsand their leaders for their unacceptable behaviours and unjust involvement in world affairs )
Economic sanctions (members of the League would cease trading with warring countries
What 5 sections did the League consist of
Assembly
Council
Secretariat (paperwork)
Court of International Justice
Committees
How many countries were in the assembly and how often did they meet
All member states who met once a year
How did they vote in the assembly
Every country had an equal vote buy decisions had to be unanimous
What 4 countries were in the council
The council consisting of Britain, France, Italy and Japan met more frequently
What power did the council have
The council could veto and stop a ruling with its vote
Name some examples of Committees of the League
Health
Slavery
Disarmament
What did the Slavery and Health Committee do?
Slavery freed 80,000 slaves from Sierra Leone and the Health Committee prevented malaria
What was the role of the Permanent Court of International Justice
They settled international disputes but they were weak as they could only advise
What is the Locarno Treaty of 1925
France and Germany agreed to work together peacefully and Germany agreed to the borders of the ToV
What was the significance of the Locarno Treaty
The League was not involved as Germany suggested the Treaty and they were not a part of the League.
It showed improving international relations between Germany and other countries under Gustav Streseman, paving the way to Germany joining the League in 1926
What was the Kellog Briand Pact of 1928
Signed by 65 countries, including Germany, who agreed that war would not be used to solve disputes.
The League was not involved (USA signed)
What and when was the Washington Arms Conference
1921-22 it was a meeting where major countries like GB, USA, Japan and France agreed on the maximum size of their
navies
L of N was not the one pushing for disarmament and countries like GB and France attended independently of the L of N
Was the LoN very useful in terms of international relations
The L of N was set up to encourage cooperation between countries to stop war. Therefore, you would expect the L of N to be involved in all major international discussions, conferences, and agreements. However – this did not always happen – the L of N was left out of some major
international agreements.
What were the successes of the League between countries?
Aaland Island Dispute 1921
Greek/Bulgaria Crisis 1925
What were the failures of the League between countries
Vilna (1920)
Upper Silesia (21-25)
Corfu (1923)
What happened in the Vilna dispute 1920
After ww1 countries in the Astro-Hungarian empire gained independence so new countries like Poland and Lithuania were created.
Vilna was to be the capital of Lithuania however a majority living there wanted to be Polish so a Polish army took control and Lithuania asked the League for help.
The League told Poland to remove its army but they refused.
France saw Poland as a potential ally against Germany and refused to help and Britain would not send troops without the support of other countries so Poland took Vilna
What happened in the Upper Silesia dispute of 1921-25?
US was on the border of Germany and Poland and has citizens of each country living there. Both wanted to claim the area as it was important to iron and steel production
In 1921 a plebiscite was organised and the British and French sent troops to make sure voting was fair.
Germany won 60% of the votes, but the Poles claimed that those who voted for Germany didn’t live there anymore.
The league split US into regions based on where votes were condensed so Germany received the rural areas and Poland got the Industrial areas. Both countries agreed with the outcome.
The final settlement was considered unfair by Poles as they had more people and less land. Germans also complained that they had lost 3/4 of their coal mines (a valuable source of income).
This resulted in worsened relations between Germany and Poland
What happened in the Aaland Island Dispute?
Sweden and Finland claimed the Aaland Islands and threatened war on each other.
The League investigated both of their claims. They decided the islands should go to Finland, however they could not build any forts to use as a base to attack Sweden.
What happened in the Bulgaria dispute
Greek soldiers were killed on the Bulgarian border so the Greeks attacked and Bulgaria appealed to the League for help.
The League condemned the Greeks and ordered them to withdraw their troops and pay compensation.
Greece believed that the League was being hypocritical as Mussolini got away with similar actions in Corfu 1923.
The problem was that Greece was a small country who were unwilling to risk poor relations with powerful members of the League like Britian and France
What happened in the Corfu Crisis
An Italian and his team were murdered in Greece while surveying an area to decide the borders between Greece and Albania.
When Mussolini hears of this he was furious and blamed the Greek government. He demanded that the murderers be executed and that compensation be payed, however, the Greeks did not know who did it.
Mussolini invaded and occupied Corfu and killed 15 people. Greece appealed to the League who condemned Mussolini but agreed that GREECE should pay the compensation.
Italy still wasn’t satisfied so they complained to the Conference of Ambassadors (a group of powerful countries including Britain france and Japan) and persuaded them to undermine the League
Greece was forced to apologise and pay compensation directly to Italy. Mussolini did not withdraw his troops
When was the wall street crash
1929
How did the Great Depression affect the League of Nations
Hitler and Mussolini were not afraid to use violence to get what they wanted and they weren’t scared of moral condemnation
The League did not have an army to fight aggressive dictators so it relied on the League elites who were reluctant due to the costs
The only sanction the League could give are economic which didn’t work as countries could trade with the USA and countries were not willing to stop trade as it would be detrimental to their own country’s economy
When was the Manchuria crisis
1931
What was the cause of the Manchuria crisis
Manchuria was an area rich in natural resources such as coal and iron ore
Japan was becoming a crowded nation and Manchuria offered 200,000 Square kilos of space.
What happened in the Manchuria crisis
There was an explosion on the South Manchurian Railway and the Japanese claimed it was attacked by Chinese. Chinese denied and said that their soldiers had been asleep at the time
The Japanese army used this as an excuse to attack Manchuria and won. The Japanese were happy with the victory
