Paper 1- Interwar Years 1919-1939 Flashcards

1
Q

What were the three main concerns to think about when France, Britain and the USA had to write a peace treaty to end the first world war?

A

1) That millions of people were dead and injured- countries have spent too much on war- cities devastated
2) That many people wanted Germany to take all of the blame- so Germany weren’t allowed to take part in meetings
3) To ensure war wouldn’t happen again because the system of alliances failed

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2
Q

Who were the big three?

A

France- Clemenceau
Britain- Lloyd George
USA- Woodrow Wilson

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3
Q

What were each of the big three’s ideas towards the terms of the new treaty?

A

A compromise was reached
France- wanted Germany to suffer as they suffered the worst
Britain- wanted Germany to suffer but not as bad as France
USA- Stayed impartials

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4
Q

What 14 points did Wilson suggest for the Versailles treaty?

A

1) No secret treaties
2) Freedom of movement on the sea for all
3) Disarmament
4) Colonies stay in on their own futures
5) Russia to be freed of German troops
6) Belgium to be independant
7) Alsace Lorraine to go to France
8) new frontier between Austria&Italy
9) self determination for eastern Europeans&Turks
10) Serbia to have access to the sea&Poland
11) League of nations to settle disputes

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5
Q

When was the Versailles treaty signed?

A

June 1919

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6
Q

What new countries were made after the first world war?

A

Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Bessarobia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia

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7
Q

What were the results of the Versailles treaty to the Germans?

A
  • Germany lost lots of land
  • Germany’s armed forces were reduced to 100,000 men
  • No aircraft, vehicles or submarines only 6 warships
  • Forces to pay £6600 million in reparations
  • Germany had lost it’s empire
  • League of nations run it’s empire (mandates)
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8
Q

What was Britain, France and the USA’s reactions to the treaty?

A
  • Some thought it was fair- as the war caused so much death and damages
  • Some believed Germany should be made weaker so they couldn’t go to war again
  • People in mostly wanted revenge in France and Britain, politicians listened to stay in power
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9
Q

In what ways did people think the treaty was too harsh?

A
  • Germans left weak and resentful which could lead to anger- possibly another war
  • The treaty wasn’t helping rebuild european trade and wealth
  • Germany couldn’t afford reparations so new countries were poor
  • Peace makers faced problems and pressure from people at home
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10
Q

Why did Germany hate the Treaty of Versailles?

A
  • They couldnt afford the Reparations
  • Could not rebuild lost industrial areas
  • Lost pride without armed forces
  • Saw other countries not disarming
  • Didnt accept defeat or guilt
  • Suffered an economic crisis
  • Lost colonies
  • Often lived under foreign rule in new countries
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11
Q

After the Versailles treaty, what problems did this cause for the future?

A
  • Europe couldnt recover properly whilst Germany remained poor
  • Self determinations was difficult in countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia
  • Germany was angry which would cause problems in the future
  • Without Germany the league of nations found it hard to keep the peace
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12
Q

What were the three other treaties that caused trouble?

Dates?

A

St.Germain-1919
Trianon- 1920
Sèrves- 1920

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13
Q

What were the main points of the St.Germain treaty?

A
Dealt with Austria
Separated Hungary and Austria
Stopped Austria from joining Germany 
Took land away e.g Bosnia
Made Austria limit itms army
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14
Q

What did the Trianon treaty deal with?

A

Hungary
-Took land away, e.g Croatia
Made Hungary reduce it’s army
Created new countries

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15
Q

What did the Sèvres treaty deal with?

A

Turkey
- Lost land, Turkey became part of the new mandates
Lost control of the black sea

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16
Q

What results did the St.Germain, Trianon and Sèvres treaties cause?

A

All defeated countries lost land
Were all punished following the pattern of the Versailles treaty
Lost valuable industrial land
Countries created or increased- many different nationalities
and languages

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17
Q

What was the league of nations?

A

A group of countries that met up once a year to vote for assembly in the council
To help encourage cooperation, improve living and working conditions, disarmament, stop aggression
Worked to improve social conditions e.g slavery, health

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18
Q

What were the early successes of the League of nations?

A

The League resolved serveral difficult situations over territorial claims without fighting
Solved a dispute between Germany and Poland over upper Silesia in 1921, Sweden and Finland over the Aaland Islands in 1921 and when Greece invaded Bulgaria in 1925
- Helped refugees after the war
- Worked to combat serious diseases
-Fought against slavery

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19
Q

Why didnt the USA join the League of nations?

A
  • The people of America didnt like the Versailles treaty
  • They belived it would be too expensive
  • Thought that people should all be free under democracy
  • Wilsons political enemies wanted to make him unpopular and get rid of him
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20
Q

Why wasnt the League of nations strong enough?

A
  • Britain and France were not strong enough after the war to do the job properly
  • Military sanctions were not good enough without the USA
  • Powerful countries like Russia and Germany were not allowed to join
  • The league had no army of it’s own
  • It was difficult to make decisions- everyone had to agree before decisions were made
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21
Q

What two conflicts caused the League of nations problems in 1923?

A

The Corfu Incident

The French occupation of the war

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22
Q

How did the Corfu Incident cause problems for the League of nations?

A

Italian leader Mussolini occupied the Corfu islands in 1923
He demanded finacial compensation from Greece
The League demanded they have the money
The decision was overturned and recieved the money
Made the league look shit (weak)

23
Q

How did the French occupation of the Rhur cause problems for the League of nations in 1923?

A

Germany failed to keep up with reparation payments
In retaliation France decided to occupy the idistrial region the Rhur
The league of nations didnt intervene
Dawes plan helped resolve it
France withdrew in 1925
Made the League look shite again

24
Q

What were the devastating effects of the wall street crash

in 1929 for the Usa?

A

They needed to ask for all the money they loaned back meaning countries went into hyperinflation, people were ruined, thousands of banks collapsed, lots of people were unemployed(12million people in Usa)

25
Q

How did the depression due to the wall street crash affect other industrial countries?

A

Banks failed/ industries failed/trade stopped/ millions of people unemployed in Britain/ places like Germany that depended on loans were badly affected which cause hyperinflation/ 6million germans unemployed

26
Q

How did the depression make the leagues work more difficult?

A

Caused widespread poverty/ meaning more people likely to support extreme rightwing leaders/ in 1933 the nazis were elected in Germany and wanted to defy the Versailles treaty/ France and Britain less willing to help the league as they wanted to concentrate on domestic problems/ was a factor of the Manchurian crisis

27
Q

Why did the US see Japan as a threat?

A

They had been at war with Russia in 1904/ Japanese industries were better than European industries/ Usa was worried about competition/ Usa tried to reduce Japans power by reducing it’s navy/ the depression wreaked Japanese industries so Japan called for military expansion to strengthen the country

28
Q

What was the Manchurian crisis?

A

Japan had a large army
It controlled Korea and territory of south Manchurian railway, In sept 1931 they used the excuse of a disturbance to try and overun Manchuria. They pretended to give Manchuria independance by putting weak leader Puyi on the throne to control him, the League of nations sent Lytton to assess the situation. His report proved nothing so the League did fuck all again

29
Q

Why was the Manchurian crisis bad for the league of nations?

A

It was the first major challenge of the league of nations and the whole world saw it fail to confront Japanese aggression
Japan were offended by Lytton’s report and withdrew from the league in 1933
This lead on to even more invasions of China by Japan and the league still did fuck all so it was weakened

30
Q

How long did world war one last for and how many years?

A

1914-1918

31
Q

How was Italy ruled by Mussolini’s fascists?

A

Italy was under control of Mussolini and his Fascist party
Was prime minister in 1922 after threatening to take power by marching in Rome, he changed voting rules, he then turned italy into a dictatorship, opposistion was banned, he used a harsh secret police against his opponents

32
Q

Why did Mussolini invade Abyssinia?

A

Ayssinia invaded in 1896 and Italy wanted revenge, it was well positioned to add to her lands in africa, he saw Japan get away with invading Manchuria despite the League of nations threats, he wanted Italy to be a great empire again

33
Q

What happened during the Abyssinian invasion by Italy?

A

In 1935 Mussolini sent troops with heavy artillery, the Abyssinian leader appealed directly to the League of nations again, the League of nations imposed ecomonic sanctions, Britain and France didnt close the Suez canal so Italian ships got through. In may 1936 Italy conquered all of Abyssinia

34
Q

After the Italian invasion of Abyssinia how did this effect the League of nations?

A

Made them appear completely ineffective

Caused Italy to side with Germany in 1936 and signed The Pact of Steel in 1939

35
Q

Why didnt the League of Nations achieve it’s original aims?

A

The League aimed to prevent aggression and encourage cooperation between conflicting countries, and work towards disarmament to prevent major war breaking out again. In the end it failed of all of these other than combating social issues

36
Q

What are the arguments for the League of Nations?

A
  • Early successes in preserving peace between minor powers
  • Helped rebuild Europe and aid refugees of the war
  • Improved health and labour conditions around the world
  • Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928
  • Provided the groundwork for the USA
37
Q

What are the arguements against the league of nations?

A

-Rise of dictators, Manchurian crisis 1931, failed to force countries to disarm, Germany and Japan leave 1933, Abyssinian crisis 1935, Rome-Berlin Axis 1936, German aggression, Italy leaves 1937, USSR expelled from league 1939, powerless to prevent WW2

38
Q

What were the problems and fears that aided the rise of dictators?

A

The Locarno Treaty(settled western borders at conflict in Germany, required strong leaders to protect them)
Depression- caused widespread unemployment and poverty so people welcomed extreme governments
Democracy- was blamed for the bad conditions(seemed unable to prevent disaster)
Communism- Seemed a threat to all of Europe after the Russian revolution of 1917(they required the strong leaders people looked for)
Isolationism- continued USA stayed out of world affairs Britain France not strong enough to oppose large numbers of foreign dictators
France- still suspicious of Germany and was building strong defences
Disarmament failed- most countries refused to disarm to the same level as Germany in 1932. Germany saw this as unfair

39
Q

In which countries had dictatorships popped up in Europe?

A

Portugal(Salazar), Spain(Franco), Germany(Hitler), Hungary, USSR (Stalin), Japan dominated governments, Greece(Metaxas)

40
Q

Why was the atmosphere in Europe tense?

A

League of Nations attempts at diasarmament failed
Democracy collapsed in most of Europe
Japan and Italy invaded other countries territory
Germany were still bitter after the treaty
France distrusted Germany
Britain didnt want to be dragged into a war

41
Q

How did German discontent help Hitler rise to power?

A

Widespread poverty&unemployment meant people wanted strong leadership
Hitler wanted rearmament
He wanted all German speaking people reunited
He wanted to expand Germany wanted to expand

42
Q

How did Hitler prepare for German expansion?

A

He withdrew Germany from the League of nations disarmament conference in 1933
Agreed on a 10 year friendship pact with Poland(affected Polands alliance with France)
In 1935 he brought military conscription into germany (breaking Versailles treaty)
Reached a naval agreement with Britain allowed them to build up 35% naval strength&45% submarine strength

43
Q

Where was Hitlers first territorial success? Explain

A

The Saar
It was the industrialised region in Germany bordering France
It was in control of the LON since 1920
The territories status was to be decided by popular vote in 1935
In jan 1935 plebiscite 90% of voters chose reunion with Germany for it. It was returned in march

44
Q

What did Hitler do to the Rhineland in March 1936?

A

The LON was busy with Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia, so Hitler saw his chance. Russia and France recently made a treaty against German attacks, Hitler claimed this threatened Germany and that her should be allowed to put up troops on Germany’s boarders.
France was in the middle of an election campaign so their armies didnt involve. Nobody was willing to go to war with Germany so Britain refused to take action. He broke the Versailles treated but nobody stopped him

45
Q

How and when did Hitler turn his attention to Austria?

A

He believed Austria and Germany belonged together
Hitler encourage Austrian Nazis to stage protests and demonstrations
He then demanded, in 1938, that Austrian Nazi Inquart be made Ministor of the Interior, instead Chancellor Schusschnigg of Austria called a plebicite on whether Austria should remain independant
Hitler wasnt sure he’d get the result he wanted so he threatened to invade if Schuschnigg didnt resign, he couldnt risk it so he and his cabinet resigned. Hitler was then invited into Vienna to proclaim Greater German Reich. They were reunited

46
Q

How did Hitler put pressure on Czechoslovakia in 1938?

A

The Studetenland was a part of Czechoslovakia that had about 3 million germans.
France& Britain agreed to support the Czechs if they were invaded
Hitler promised he wouldn’t invade
Hitler claimed the Czechs were discrimminating their Germans
Hitler organised demonstrations in the Studetenland
In 1938 Hitler threatened to go to war, the Czechs were ready to fight but Britain and the French put pressure on The Czechs to give consessions to Hitler to avoid war

47
Q

How did Chamberlain Negotiate with Hitler?

A

He flew twice to Germany to negotiate with Hitler
Hitler changed his demands and wanted to ‘rescue’ the Sudeten Germans
Chamberlain called this unreasonable
Hitler then invited Chamberlain, Daladier(French leader) and Mussolini to a conference in Munich
After discussions they produced a Munich Agreement, this gave Sudetenland to Germany but garunteed Czechoslovakia would stay put
Chamberlain believed Hitler would keep his promise

48
Q

What was the Munich agreement mainly about?

A

It was all about appeasement- giving aggressive countries like Germany and Italy what they wanted in order to avoid major war

49
Q

Why wasn’t everybody happy with the Munich Agreement?

A

Chzechoslovakia and the USSR werent invited to the conference so they wernt consulted on their own future
The USSR had were horrified at the agreement

50
Q

Why did people agree with the Munich Agreement?

A

They felt the Versailles treaty was unfair to Germany- so Hitler should be allowed to rebuild
Many politicians feared communism more than Hitler
They wanted Germany as a buffer between Britain and the USSR
Britains economy and armed forces were weak, some say Chamberlain gave into Hitler in order to buy time

51
Q

How and when did Hitler take over the rest of Czechoslovakia?

A

Czechoslovakia began to descend into anarchy, Slovakia wanted independance
Hitler persuaded the Czech president to allow German troops in to restore order.
Hitler signed the ‘Pact of Steel’ in 1939 with Italy, promising to support eachother if war was declared
Britain and France did nothing- the appeasement policy failed
Hitler broke his promises
Once the Nazis overtook Czechoslovakia Britain had abandoned the appeasement and made an agreement with Poland

52
Q

Why and how did the USSR make a pact with Hitler?

A

After Munich Stalin decided to negotiate with Hitler to protect the USSR
The Nazi-Soviet pact was signed in 1939
They agreed not to attack eachother
They also agreed to secretly carve up another country-Poland
They agreed that if Germany did invade them then the USSR would get some of the land too

53
Q

What event caused Britain to declare war on Germany?

A

When Hitler decided to invade Poland- they ordered him to leave but he ignored them- so they declared war in 1939