History Final Exam: big pack Flashcards

1
Q

What were the outcomes of the first world war?

A

-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

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2
Q

Aims and motives of the Big Three at Versailles

A

-Lloyd George, British PM
-Clemenceau, French PM
-Woodrow Wilson, US President

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3
Q

What were Clemenceau’s aims?

A

-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

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4
Q

What were Lloyd George’s aims?

A
  • 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
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5
Q

What were Wilson’s aims?

A

-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

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6
Q

What were the actual terms of the Treaty?

A

-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

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7
Q

What was the Treaty Of Neuilly?

A

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

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8
Q

What was the Treaty of St Germain?

A

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

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9
Q

What was the Treaty of Trianon?

A

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

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10
Q

What was the Treaty of Sevres?

A

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

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11
Q

What was the German opinion of the Treaty?

A

-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

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12
Q

What was the Political impact of the treaty?

A

-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

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13
Q

What was the Ruhr Crisis?

A

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

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14
Q

What was the Economic Crisis?

A

-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

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15
Q

Was the treaty fair on Germany? (Other events)

A

-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

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16
Q

Was the treaty too harsh on Germany? (reasons against)

A

-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

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17
Q

What were the aims of the league?

A

-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

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18
Q

What was the league membership?

A

-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

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19
Q

What was the Structure of the league?

A

The Council: met three times a year, there were 4 permament members (Britain, France, Italy and Japan, G became 5th in 1926), they took most important decisions, however every decision could be vetoed by another permament member
-The Assembly: had representatives of all members and they met once a year however decisions had to be unanimous
-The Permament Court of Justice: Was set up to settle disputes between countries, but both sides had to agree to take a dispute to the Court; so many issues never reached it and could not enforce rulings

20
Q

What were some league successes in the 1920s?

A

-Greece invaded Bulgaria, which did not fight back, but appeales to the League. The League ordered Greece to withdraw, which it did
-The League settled a dispute between Germany and Poland-it had a plebiscite and suggested a partition; Germany and Poland agreed

21
Q

What were some league successes in the 1920s? (living conditions)

A

-took charge of returning refugees and prisoners of war to their own countries, about 400,000 were returned safely due to creation of Nansen Passport
-The ILO brought together employees, its aim was to improve living conditions, and it tried to persuade member countries to adopt its suggestions
-The slavery commission worked to abolish slavery around the world particularly in East Africa + helped workers who were treated as slaves but weren’t actually
-The WHO tried to prevent epidemic diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria through mosquito examination campaigns

22
Q

What was the Ruhr occupation? league failure

A

-F responded to G refusal to continue reparations payments by invading Ruhr in 1923 and took control of production
-League took no effective action against F in response
-Supported idea of the League being a victors club from the war who could simply do as they pleased

23
Q

What was Corfu? league failure

A

-Represents biggest failure
-Mussolini orders occupation of Greek island in 1923 after murder of Italian general on borde. Ordered the invasion after Greece refused to pay compensation and could not locate culprits
-League condemned the invasion but matter instead went to Conference of Ambassadors
-They ordered Greece to pay the excessive compensation in exchange for I withdrawing troops- Italian bullying tactics had paid off and undermined the reputation of the League
-Role of I itself, as permanent member, was a problem, showed that wrong countries had too much influence

24
Q

How did the Great Depression affect the League?

A

-It destroyed the relative prosperity of the 1920s. In g it wiped out the recovery that had taken place since 1924
-this created massive unemployment and poverty, which in turn led to desperation and despair
-this led increased support for extremist parties, who used violence and adopted aggressive policies
-in J, I and G, militarism became more influential
-Major powers in the League, like Br + F no longer saw it as a priority

25
Q

What was the Machurian Incident?

A

-the population began to grow rapidly and Japan needed more land and raw materials
-Manchuria had vast resources of coal and iron that J lacked
-The price of rice fell and exports of silk were affected by the Depression
-In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, which was a province of China, claiming that they were acting in self-defence
-It claimed that a railway had been blown up at Mukden on 18th September. This was their public reason for invading

26
Q

Why did the LofN fail with Manchuria?

A

-The lack of an army meant that countries had to be persuaded to declare war on Japan
-Manchuria was remote and military action would be very difficult
-The League discussed economic sanctions but it was powerless without USAm main trading partner-League failed to even agree on arms sanctions on Japan

27
Q

What was the Invasion of Abyssinia?

A

-On October 3 1935, the Italian armed forces invaded the African state of Abassynia (Ethiopia)
-At first, the Italians faced considerable opposition,as the Abyssinians avoided a pitched battle and retreated slowly
-In early 1936, however, the Italians began to use poison gas, along with their air power, this led to the collapse of the Abyssinian forces
-In May 1936 the capital Addis Adaba was occupied and the Emperor Haile Selassie fled to Britain

28
Q

What was the reaction of the League to Abyssinia?

A

-Sanctions were applied to Italy, including an arms embargo, banning Italian imports and all financial dealing, but oil was not included
-Mussolini later admitted that that was the one thing that would have forced him to withdraw
-In June 1936 Haile Selassie adressed the Assembly of the LofN

29
Q

Why did the League fail again with Abyssinia?

A

-League was undermined in 1935 when Brit and F tried to arrange a compromise solution to the crisis, the Hoare-Laval Pact. This would have allowed M to retain control of Abyssinia
-Both Brit and F were alarmed at events in G and wanted to keep M on their side against H
-The 3 nations had already formed the Stresa Front in 1934, Brit and F did not want M to resign from the LofN

30
Q

Abyssinia VS Manchuria:

A

-Both countries were invaded by major powers who were Permament Members of the Council
-In the case of Abyssinia, Brit and F tried to do a deal with Mussolini in the Hoare-Level pacy; when this became public, the moral authority of the League dissapeared
-Brit and F attempted to keep Mussolini ‘onside’ by preventing oil being added to the economic sanctions
-Brit also refused to close the Suez Canal; that would have paralyzed Mussolini

31
Q

What were Hitler’s foreign policy aims?

A

Abolish the Treaty: Hitler thought that the treaty was unjust and those who signed it were the ‘November criminals’, he promised to reverse it if he became leader
Expand German territory: He wanted to regain all lost territory and reunite german speaking people, ‘lebensraum’ (living space)
Defeat Communism: Hitler was rabildy anti-communist and believed they were activels plotting to take over G, he sought to stamp out communist nations, especially the USSR

32
Q

The Saar Plebiscite

A

-1935
-The TofV had put the Saar under the control of LofN for 15 years, in 1935 the inhabitants voted to return to G
-H was worried about the vote as he had many political enemies, however Goebbels launch a huge propaganda campaign, in the end 90% of people vote to return to G
-It validated Nazi Regime and future claims to try and unite other German speaker

33
Q

Conscription and Rearment

A

-1935-40
-H began to slowly rearm at first, using the excuse of other countries failure to disarm
-Signed the Anglo-German naval treaty 1935 which allowed German navy to be up to 35% of British
-1936, he reintroduced conscription to the army, violation of Treaty
-Britain were sympathetic towards these aims as they felt Treaty was too harsh and a strong G was a good buffer against communism

34
Q

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

A

-1936
G were not allowed to put any troops into it
-March 1936, H ordered his troops to openly re-enter the Rhineland, breaking TofV
- His generals were order to retreat if French showed any hint of making a military stand against him
-This did not occur, over 32,000 soliders crossed into the Rhineland unopposed

35
Q

Why did the British and French not oppose Hitler?

A

-B believed that Germany was only going into their own “backyard” even though H was acting in a reasonable and understandable manner
-F was going through an election and leader were not willing to take responsibility for pludging F into war, they would not risk acting without British support

36
Q

Spanish Civil War

A

1936-39
-War broke in Spain between the fascist army and republican/communist government
-H and Mussolini both became involved despite agreeing not to intervene
-G sent aircrafts and pilots to help support Franco’s forces
-Bombing of Guernica
-Due to G and I help, Franco was able to win the war in 1939

37
Q

Anschluss

A

-1938
-This fulfilled two main aims; overturning the Treat + uniting G speaking people
-1934, H makes inital attempt but M prevents him. H tries to use murder of the chancellor as an excuse to invade (M masses troops to the border to stop him)
-G and I become allies, 1937-> M informs the Austrian Chancellor Schussmigg he will no longer defend them

38
Q

Why did the allies allow Anschluss to happen?

A

-H had armed his armed forces, B + F were had not re-aermed sufficiently for war
-B viewed Anchluss as a fair demand (tofv)
-M is no longer helping austria -> B + F could not rely in this intervention in 1938 H + M had a strong friendship

39
Q

Sudetenland Crisis

A

-1938
-A few pieces of land in the north west of Czechoslovakia
-Leader of Sudeten Nazis began demanding unification
-H threats the Czechs with war if they didn’t agree to their demands
-The B + F had an angreement to defend Czech
-War was inevitable

40
Q

The Munich Agreement

A

-1938
-Chamberlain flew to meet H in 15th Sept., he claimed he only wanted part of the Sudetenland
-19th, B + F put their plan to the Czhecks, H increases his demands
-He says its to reunite german speakers, chamberlain refuses, navy is mobilised (feels betrayed) and war is imminent
-final meeting 29th, in Munich. B + G + F all meet to decide that Czech would lose the S, USSR + Czcheks are not consulted

41
Q

The Invasion of Czechoslovakia

A

-1939
-‘Lebensraum’
-Have naturals resources (H would want them for war)
-A free Czech. would make it impossible for G to fight in the West
-March 1939, took over it
-The Czechs offered no resistance, nor did B + F
-H had proved himself untrustworthy
-Appeasment was over, if H went invaded Poland, B + F would declare war, H doesn’t believe them

42
Q

Nazi - Soviet Pact

A

-1939
-Stalin agreed to a 10 year-non aggresson pact, despite being arch-enemies (he neede to feel secure about making a move)
-They agreed to divide Poland between eachother
-Both B + F tried to negotiate a deal w/ S, Stalin signs pact with Nazi foreign minister Ribbentrop

43
Q

What were some reasons for signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

A

-Stalin had no trust in B + F
-B + F guarantee to Poland was seen as support for enemy
-Nazis sent top offcial, Ribbentrop to negotiation, B sent minor official on a slow boat
-Allows Stalin to re-arm and help prepare for war in the long term

44
Q

Invasion of Poland (War Begins)

A

Sept. 1939
-Poland was quickly defeated
-B + F order H to withdraw, he refuses
-H found himself fighting the ‘wrong war’

45
Q

‘Appeasement was Justified’

A

-Hitler was standing up to Communism - a more serious threat
-B is not ready for war
-H had fair and reasonable demands (TofV was unfair and should be reversed)
-Refusal to repeat horrors of the Great War

46
Q

‘Appeasement was NOT justified’

A

-H was encouraged by it, gambled increasingly over the years
-H was untrustworthy- clear evidence that he was a liar (Mein Kampf)
-Allowed G to grow in stregth, G army was weak before B allowed rearmament
-Drove USSR into H arms, convinced Stalin that they could not trust the allies