History Final Exam: big pack Flashcards
What were the outcomes of the first world war?
-US joined the war late, lost a few soldiers, were far away from the battlefield-only losses were from German navy attacking ships
-Britain suffered during the war, over a million people had been killed during the war and country was in a huge debt
-France had the highest death toll, both civilian and military and therefore bore a huge brunt of the warm, in particular on infrastructure
-Germany, despite losing the war, had not suffered as much as others, the main problem during the war was blockade
Aims and motives of the Big Three at Versailles
-Lloyd George, British PM
-Clemenceau, French PM
-Woodrow Wilson, US President
What were Clemenceau’s aims?
-Demanded revenge against Germany
-Wanted G army dismantled
-Massive reparations to punish G economy and used to rebuild France/pay off its debts
-Wanted the Rhinlenad to be an independent state-key border state
-Regain Alsace Lorraine, share of G colonies and possibly break up G altogether
What were Lloyd George’s aims?
- wanted g to pay but not excessively, so that is was powerful enough to keep Brit + G trading system
-agreed with dividing colonies but not breaking up G
-wanted reasonable reparations to pay off war damage, but not cripple G and risk revolution
-reduce army but not destroy, and reduce threat of G navy
What were Wilson’s aims?
-Naturally idealistic leader, wanting to keep new world order based on his 14 points
-Main aim is creation of the League of Nations to mantain peace
-All countries should disarm and dismantle armies, not just Germany
-Believed in self-determination of all nations of Europe via plebiscite
-G should pay reparations but again, not crippling amount
What were the actual terms of the Treaty?
-Land-> lost 13% of land their land, rhineland demilitarised
-Army->lost 100,000 soldiers, 6 battleships, no airforce, conscription banned
-Money-> $6.6 billion in reparations
-Blame-> germany took full blame for the war
What was the Treaty Of Neuilly?
1919: Bulgaria
Land-> forced to cede occupied eastern Serbian land of Yugoslavia
Army-> reduced to 20,000 men
Money-> $100 million for reparations (didn’t pay all)
Blame-> took almost none of the blame
What was the Treaty of St Germain?
September 1919: Austria (helped ending the war)
Land-> lost 2/3 of land
Army-> restricted 30,000 men, forbidden to ever reunite with germany
Money-> forced to pay for all reparations of war damage
What was the Treaty of Trianon?
1920: Hungary
Land-> lost 2/3 of their land
Army-> restricted to 35,000 men
Money-> pay few reparations
Blame-> didn’t take any of the blame
What was the Treaty of Sevres?
August 1920: Ottoman Empire/Turkey
Land-> lost 83% of land 70% of population
Army-> limited to 50,000 troops, navy strictly limited, no air force
Money-> reparations were never set because of an unstable empire, economy controlled by the allies
Blame-> didn’t take any of the blame
What was the German opinion of the Treaty?
-Felt that the treaty was too harsh and objected it
-double punishments to pay reparations and lose vital resources
-argued that the treaty was a diktat, as they were excluded from negotiations and had no choice but to accpet
-felt that the War Guilt Clause was an unfair justification for harshness of the treaty as war was not all their fault
What was the Political impact of the treaty?
-caused political instability
-treaty caused violence fistly because it created so much resentment among public, especially nationalists and made gov unpopular
-in weakening G’s armed forces, the Treaty made it more difficult to deal with political violvence as well
What was the Ruhr Crisis?
First major crisis caused by Treaty in 1923 after failure by germans to pay second instalment of reparations
-french/belgian soldiers went into Ruhr to take payment in form of raw materials and goods
-german gov. ordered workers to go on strike so no goods were produced
-french army harshly responded, killing 100 workers
-production in the Ruhr shut down as a result
What was the Economic Crisis?
-German gov. paid workers during strike by printing off money however this created hyperinflation
-value of money became virtually worthless which was disaster for many G, pensioners, middle class families with savings etc
-with exception of big industrialists who used situation to pay off debts, had a terrible impact and left bitter memory even after economy recovered
Was the treaty fair on Germany? (Other events)
-G was the most aggressive country during WW1, it was only fair that their army, navy and air force be targeted
-Alsace-Lorraine went back to F after G annexed it in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian Wars
-In March 1918, G forced an extremely harsh treaty on Russia when it wanted to leave the war
-G had given Austria a “Blank Cheque” to start off war as well as commencing the Schlieffen Plan, therefore deserved War Guilt
Was the treaty too harsh on Germany? (reasons against)
-The assassination of Archduke FF was the spark that started the war and this had nothing to do with G
-Many G citizens felt that they were being punished for the mistakes of the G gov. in August 1914 as it was the gov. that declared war not the people
-Some of the Big Three had personal interests at heart. Britain only wanted a reduced Navy so that G could not compete with them
-By restricting the army to only 100,000 the treaty left G defenceless and vulnerable meant keeping order was difficult
What were the aims of the league?
-discouraging aggression from any nation and promote disarmament
-encourage nations to co-operate in areas like buisness trade
-improve living conditions of people accross the world
-Article 10 of League Covenant, essentially called the collective security
What was the league membership?
-Was open to all countries, prividing they signed the Covenant of the League
1. G not allowed to join due to WWI and had to rpove they were peace loving nation, were allowed to join in 1926
-USSR prevented from joining for being communist and didn’t want to join either, allowed in 1934
-USA did not join due to opposition back home, congress voted against them joining and they NEVER join