Peacemaking,League Of Nations And International Peace Flashcards
What was The Armistice?
Agreement signed on 11th November 1918 that ended WW1 and signalled defeat for Germany.
What was the Treaty of Versailles?
Treaty produced at the Paris Peace Conference and outlined all peace terms. Signed June 1919.
What were the aims of The ‘Big Three’ at Versailles?
France (George Clemenceau) - Wanted Germany to suffer harsh punishment and have high reparations as lots of France had been destroyed from fighting.
GB (David Lloyd George) - Didn’t want to punish Germany too harsh as didn’t want another war. Wanted to expand British empire. Wanted to keep trading and help economy strengthen.
USA (Woodrow Wilson) - Self determination and world peace. Hasn’t been very affected by war. 14 points.
Key terms of ToV? (LAMB)
Land - SAAR under control of LON
Lost 10% of land including Alsace Lorraine. Lost over seas colonies. RHINELAND demilitarised. Split in 2 by Polish corridor.
Army- 100,000 men no conscription. No aircraft or tanks. Only 6 battleships .
Money - 6.6 billion in reparations.
Blame- ‘War guilt cause’ Article 231 Germany had to take full responsibility for war.
How did Germany react to ToV?
Hated German Government they were known as ‘November Criminals’ felt they had been ‘stabbed in the back’.
Humiliation, vulnerability and felt it was unfair. Called Treat ‘DIKTAT’
What was the League of Nations?
Agreement created to maintain world peace
What were the four aims of LoN?
Stop war breaking out.
Encourage disarmament.
Improve living and working conditions.
Tackle deadly disease.
Who were the 4 permanent members of the Council in the LoN?
France, Italy, Japan, Great Britain
Why didn’t USA join the LoN?
Refused as wanted to isolate themselves from Europe.
Why couldn’t Germany or Russia join LoN?
No trust in Germany (had lost war)
Suspicious of Russias new communist government.
How did the LoN deal with aggression?
Mitigation: Countries coming together to talk through problems
Moral Condemnation: A good telling of.
Economic sanctions: No trade etc
Strengths of LoN?
Because there was so many members economic sanctions and moral condemnation could be very effective.
It was written in peace treaties so all nations recognised the LoNs.
Weaknesses of LoNs?
Complicated structure - slow to make decisions.
Without USA it lacked influence of a powerful and rich country.
No permanent army hard to enforce anything.
Still hatred from war difficult for international cooperation.
Decisions had to be unanimous - slow to take action.
Work of LoNs in 1920s?
Bulgaria - Invaded by Greece after border disputes. League told Greece to withdraw and they obeyed. Greece was a small country and didn’t want poor relations with powerful nations.
Aaland Islands - Halfway between Finland and Sweden. Owned by Finland but most wanted it to be controlled by Sweden. League decided it would remain Finish and both sides agreed.
However, none of these were a threat to world peace and no powers nations so these successes weren’t very impressive.
Effect of Great Depression on League of Nations?
In 1929, American stock market crashed and USA asked for all its loans back. This became a global problem as Americas economy linked with other economies. Large amount of unemployment.
This meant many people turned to support extreme right wing parties. Eg. Hitler was elected in 1933 and he wanted to defy the LoNs and break the ToV.
Countries were also less likely to help League as they wanted to focus on domestic issues like unemployment.
Depression also a factor in some political disputes like Manchurian crisis.
What was the Manchurian crisis?
Japan invaded China in 1931. In September 1931 Japan blew up own railway and blamed it on China - excuse to invade. 1932 Japanese bombed Shanghai. China appealed to LoN for help. Took over a year to produce Lytton report. Japan ignored and left LoN in March 1933 Japan resigned from LoN.
How was the LoN powerless after Japan left?
Couldn’t impose economic sanctions as USA not part of LoN they could still trade with them. They also couldn’t afford troops to send to Japan because of the depression.
Why was the LoN reluctant to take action on Japan?
How did this affect other leaders with the same ideas?
Strong military.
Far away- public felt it had nothing to do with them.
Chinas politics were disorganised.
By rewarding aggression they sent a message that there would be little opposition to anyway who wanted to expand.
Why did the League of nations fail in Manchuria?
1) The league was weak - they didn’t have own military.
2) America and USSR were not members of the League - USA was main trading partner economic sanctions wouldn’t help. USSR geographically close but now part of LoN.
3) League was slow and inefficient- Lytton report not written till 13 months after incident. Not useful.
4) Depression made nations less cooperative - Didn’t want to send troops as couldn’t afford it.
5) Own members betrayed it and let them down - Japan (leading member) left.
6) League faced aggressive militaristic nations - Japan military was strong and don’t want to go up against them.
Why did Mussolini want to invade Abyssinia?
Promised his people he would re build Roman Empire.
Ideal target as surrounded by other colonies.
Boost Italy’s economy.
Wanted revenge.
When did Mussolini invade Abyssinia?
October 1935
What did/didn’t the league do when Abyssinia asked for help?
Imposed economic sanctions but delayed banning oil in case USA didn’t support them.
Didn’t close the Suez Canal so supplies still got through.
Why did Mussolini have more confidence when invading Abyssinia?
Had seen Japan get away with the invasion of Manchuria.
Why did the league seem ineffective when dealing with the Abyssinian crisis?
Members didn’t want to go to war with Italy as Hitler was becoming more powerful and they wanted to save there resources.
Britain and France made secret agreement (Hoare - laval pact), this cause public outrage and was exactly what the league wanted to avoid as broke rules of working together.
League’s reputation was ruined- didn’t want to go against aggressors.
