Origins of World War Two 1919-1941 What attempts were made to establish a permanent peace after World War One?

The 14 Points

The 14 Points Regarded as very ideological – it had no ‘teeth’ Disarmament was not generally followed up it took the League until 1932 to meet to discuss general disarmament France wanted security before disarmament Failure to agree gave Hitler an excuse to withdraw Germany from the League

The 14 Points contd. The delegates at the Paris Peace Talks considered President Wilson’s 14 Point Plan for Peace These points included setting up the League of Nations and addressing some of the causes of WWl such as secret diplomacy, arms and freedom of the seas

The Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles had over 400 articles Article 42-demilitarisation of the Rhineland Article 45-cession of the Saar coalfields to France Article 49-Governance of the Saarland to be given to the League of Nations and a plebiscite to be held after 15 years Article 80-Anschluss with Austria forbidden Article 82-over 3 million Germans to be left inside Czechoslovakia’s borders Article 102-Danzig to be a Free City under the League and a Polish corridor to separate East and West Prussia

The Treaty of Versailles Article 119- All Germany’s overseas lands confiscated Articles 170-198-Germany to be disarmed – no submarines, no military instructions, no air force, no importation of war materials, army limited to 100,000 Article 231-Germany to accept responsibility for causing WWl and War Guilt Article 232- Germany to pay reparations of ₤6.6 billion Article 428-Allied army of occupation to be stationed in the Rhineland for 15 years

The Treaty of Versailles The Allies felt more secure Germany was enraged and sought revenge Hitler often cited the unfairness of the Treaty in his speeches German President Streseman often spoke out against the Treaty in the 1920s Germans particularly resented the ‘war guilt’ clause

The Treaty up to 1930 Only Germany and its allies were disarmed by the Treaty Germany fell behind in its reparation payments in 1923 France occupied the Ruhr until Germany began to repay the reparations. German workers went on strike as a protest and the German economy collapsed under hyper-inflation The US loaned money to Germany to help with repayments

The Other Treaties

Treaty of St Germaine – Austria September 1919 No Anschluss with Germany Sudetenland went to Czechoslovakia Hungary to be independent Austrian Empire to be reduced Bosnia-Herzegovina given to Yugoslavia Army limited to 30,000 To pay reparations

Treaty of Neuilly -Bulgaria November 1919 Lost land to Yugoslavia Lost Western Thrace to Greece which meant that Bulgaria lost the coastline that lead more directly into the Mediterranean

Treaty of Trianon-Hungary June 1920 Hungary lost some border districts to Czechoslovakia Transylvania was given to Rumania which doubled Rumania’s size

Treaty of Sevres- Turkey August 1920 Gave up most of its empire Retained only a small part of its European land Egypt became independent

The League of Nations

The League of Nations 1920 A League could be used to deal with problems that may arise out of the treaties The League had a Covenant which established procedures for dealing with future problems

The League’s Covenant: Article 10 - territory and independence of all League members was to be respected Article 11 - any threats of war were to be drawn to the League’s attention Article 12 – any disputes were to be dealt with by the League who would make recommendations Article 16 – sanctions could be imposed on member nations who did not comply with the League’s recommendations and the League was to inform countries what sort of armed forces they would have to supply to the League

Germany and the The League of Nations 1920 Germany lost its former colonies to the care of the League Germany lost 13.5% of its territory Germany lost 7 million people Germany lost its merchant marine

Some British officials such as Harold Nicholson, felt that the final treaty was unjust Lenin regarded it as unfair

The League up to 1930 Initially the League had some successes: Aaland Islands dispute between Sweden and Finland, the division of Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland and a border dispute between Bulgaria and Greece. A major problem was the US refusal to ratify its own membership Germany was initially refused membership as a punishment Germany was invited to join the League in 1926 after the Locarno Treaties were signed Communist Russia was not invited to join

How people and countries reacted to attempts to restore and maintain peace up to 1930

USA The USA continued with its isolationist foreign policy

Era of Reconciliation Generally goodwill prevailed in the 1920s 1925 the Treaty of Locarno – Germany agreed with Belgium and France accept its borders and never attack each other again 1926 Germany joined the League of Nations 1928 the Kellogg-Briand Pact to never have war again – signed by 64 countries including Germany and Russia Treaty of Locarno Aristide Briand Frank Kellogg

Organisation de la Paix France still felt insecure in spite of the Treaty of Versailles During the 1920s France signed a series of agreements with countries that surrounded Germany: 1920 Belgium 1921 Poland 1924 Czechoslovakia 1926 Rumania 1927 Yugoslavia

Treaty of Rapallo 1921 Germany and Russia felt left out after the Paris Peace Talks They signed the Treaty of Rapallo with each other It was a treaty of friendship and co-operation It allowed Germany to build military equipment on Russian soil in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles

1922 The Washington Treaties Britain met with Japan and the USA to discuss naval policy and the tensions in the Far East The establishment of an inter-nation ratio for the construction of warships and an agreement to consult over disputes in the Pacific region

The Dawes Plan 1924 The Dawes Plan was an attempt following World War One for the Allies to collect war reparations debt from Germany. When after five years the plan proved to be unsuccessful, the Young Plan was adopted in 1929 to replace it

The Maginot Line In 1927 the French built the Maginot Line which was a series of fortresses along the Franco-German border

1929 The Young Plan This further reduced Germany’s reparations from ₤6.6 billion to ₤2 billion

Wall Street Crash The Wall Street Crash triggered a world wide Depression. This was felt most critically in Germany Governments around the world began to intervene in their economies thus encouraging Social Welfare