International Relations Flashcards
When was the Paris Peace conference?
1919
What big treaty was drawn up in the Paris peace conference that begins with V?
Treaty of Versailles, which dealt with how the germans would be treated
Who were the BIG THREE at the PPC
Georges ‘Le Tigre’ Clemenceau (FRANCE) - fought over a dozen duels in his life
Lloyd George (BRITAIN) - His secretary was his mistress
Woodrow Wilson (USA) - Extremely racist but a good peacemaker
What did each of the BIG THREE want?
Wilson wanted Germany to be punished. He hoped to see a democratic state emerged there. He feared that a harsh settlement would leave Germany wanting revenge.
Clemenceau wanted to make sure that Germany was harshly punished for their actions.
Lloyd George one to Germany to recover swiftly from the war, although he had different reasons. He wanted an economically strong Germany to pay Britain compensation for war damage. Germany could also be a valuable training partner for Britain in peacetime.
What was the result of the Treaty of Versailles
War guilt - Germany have to accept the blame for starting the war.
Reparations- jolly had to pay 6.6 billion pounds.
Land- Germany lost 10% of its land and 12.5% of it’s population. The treaty also for a Germany to form a union with Austria. Germany also lost its overseas empire, former German colony is became mandates controlled by the leader.
League of Nations- the League of Nations was set up as an international police force. Germany was not allowed to join
What was the reaction to the treaty of Versailles?
-The German people are very angry.
-The dissarmament were also seen as unfair
-Germany was appalled at losing land and population to neighbouring
countries
-This huge reparations bill caused outrage, and was blamed for the
economic problems that devastated Germany later.
-Not including Germany in the League of Nations was humiliating for
them. It also seemed hypocritical-the league was supposed to
represent all nations, not just some of them.
How was the LON organised?
Permenant Secreteriat
The council (4 permenant members) met 5 times a year
The assembly (The leagues parliament) met once a year
The court of international justice
Commissions
What were the success’s of the league? (20’s)
-The league settle a dispute between Sweden and Finland over the
aaland islands-1921
-The league brough home 1/2 a million prisoners of war
-The league provided aid and help to millions of refugees in Turkey.
-The league supported measures to treat leprosy and malaria
-Bulgaria 1925, troops killed on the border
What were the failures of the league? (30’s)
-The USA didn’t join
-People lost faith
-They had no army
-The LoN didn’t intervene in the 1920s when conflict broke out
elsewhere- the Greek invasion of Anatolia for example- so it set the
tempo of non-intervention which would lead to Hitler’s military gamble
and pay off in the mid 1930s and also Japanese aggression.
-Problems arose with ‘The Kellog Brand Pact’ in the wording of the
treaty. It made war illegal, not conflict or self defense or the like. So in 1931 when the Mukden Incident (train sabotage) occurred, the Japanese responded to their invasion of Manchuria by saying it was self defense.
