Conflict & Tension [1918 - 1939] Flashcards
(87 cards)
1
Q
What is the armistice?
A
an agreement to stop fighting.
2
Q
Who signed the armistice?
A
France, Britain and Germany
3
Q
Why did Germany agree to the armistice?
A
Germany was short of manpower and supplies, soldiers were refusing to follow orders and thousands of Germans protested against the war.
4
Q
What were some of the terms of the armistice?
A
- leave the Rhineland
- Germany would be blamed for the war and pay for reparations
- Germany was to surrender all its machines that were used for war [cannons, machine guns, submarines etc…]
5
Q
Who were the ‘Big Three’?
A
the most powerful allies; Britain, France and the USA.
6
Q
What did Clemenceau [Prime minister of France] want after WW1?
A
- He wanted to take revenge on Germany; as France experienced the most deaths, damage to Factories etc…
- He wanted Germany to pay to rebuild France
- He also wanted to make sure that Germany was too weak to attack France
7
Q
What did Lloyd George [Prime minister of Britain] want after WW1?
A
- He didn’t want to punish Germany severely, they may start another war
- He wanted Germany to be strong enough to trade with Britain.
- Reduce German Navy to protects Britain’s naval supremacy
8
Q
What did Woodrow Wilson [President of USA] want after WW1?
A
- He also didn’t want to punish Germany to severely - as it would risk starting another World War
- He was an idealist and proposed the ‘Fourteen points’ - ways to make the world better.
9
Q
What were some of the agreements of the Treaty of Versailles?
A
- War guilt Clause; Germany had to take blame for starting the war
- Germanies army reduced to 100’000 men
- Reparations; Germany had to pay £6.6 billion
- Germany lost more than 10% of its territory
- Anschluss was forbidden
- Demilitarisation of the Rhineland
10
Q
What does Diktat mean?
A
dictated peace.
11
Q
Why did Germans describe the Treaty of Versailles as Diktat?
A
They felt that the Treaty was a punishment - and if they refused to sign, The big three threatened to resume war
12
Q
What happened to Germany’s military?
A
It was severely restricted;
–> Number of army soldiers were capped
–> No air force
–> Compulsory military service was banned
–> German Navy was heavily reduced
13
Q
What was the Anschluss?
A
The union between Germany and Austria [it was forbidden]
14
Q
How did the British react to Versailles?
A
- Most people were satisfied, however, many still thought it should’ve been a lot tougher; since nearly every family had lost a loved one and civilians suffered. Some political campaigns were based on promises to punish Germany
- The treaty was generally popular - The press declared that Germany would never threaten Britain again
15
Q
What was Lloyd George [British Prime Minister] reaction to the Versailles?
A
- Although he was praised, he thought it was too harsh and would later on cause another war
- The reparations were too severe and would damage Germanys ability to trade.
16
Q
How did the French react to the Versailles?
A
- They thought that their suffering was not being compensated; and Clemenceau was voted out next election
- They felt that Germans were being let off too lightly
- Only some elements were popular; the war guilt clause, demilitarisation of the Rhineland, etc…
17
Q
What was Clemenceau [French Prime minister] reaction to the Versailles?
A
- He wanted Germanys military to be utterly crushed
- Felt the reparations costs were to little [£6.6 Billion]
18
Q
How did USA react to the Versailles?
A
- It was unfair on Germany and had led Britain and France to become too powerful
- Many believed that the USA should’ve not been involved in foreign affairs in the first place [isolationist]
19
Q
What was Wilson [President of USA] reaction to the Versailles?
A
- He was scared the harsh treaty would lead to another war; that they would be pulled into
- His Fourteen Points had been ignored
20
Q
What occurred to Germany during this time?
A
- They became unstable
- Suffered from Hyperinflation
- The felt humiliated; due to the war guilt, loss of German territory etc…
21
Q
What was the Treaty of Sevre [1920]?
A
Turkey was an ally to Germany during the war and so they were also punished:
- Lost control of its finances
- Capped number of men in the Army
- Lost its European land to Greece, except Istanbul.
22
Q
What did this cause the Turkish people to do?
A
They were so angry that they overthrew their government and threatened to go to war with the allies over the treaty.
23
Q
How did Britain respond to this?
A
Britain didn’t want to go to war so they agreed to a new Treaty, The Treaty of Lausanne (1923); where they lifted a lot of the restriction and land was given back.
24
Q
What were the consequences of this wider settlement?
A
The revolt of the Treaty of Sevres, and Britain’s reaction to it; displayed that nobody wanted to use force to impose a Treaty.
- Hitler and Mussolini knew they could break international agreements and nobody would do anything
25
What were the main problems faced by the new states created?
- The new states were often created from a mix of ethnic groups, leading to tension
- The new states shared borders with countries that had previously owned their land, which made them vulnerable to being taken back by them.
26
Explain why some may argue that the treaty was fair.
- The peace talks came at the end of a war, a time that caused huge amounts of death and devastation - and expecting Germany to pay for their damages wasn't unfair.
- It is normal for the losing side to be treated harshly
- Germany had already agreed to several terms of the treaty [at the armistice] so it was nothing majorly different.
- Germany was able to rebuild it military and economy within 20 years to prepare for another war - and still managed to pay some of the reparation costs... The problem wasn't the treaty, but that it wasn't enforced.
27
Explain why some may argue that the treaty is unfair
- Germany were made to take all the blame
- Germany were made to believe that the Treaty of Versailles would be based on Wilsons '14 points'.
- Germany were not allowed to negotiate, and the treaty just became a Diktat
- At the time many people [including Wilson and George] believed it was too harsh and cause another war
- The Treaty of Serves was so harsh it caused a whole revolt
28
What was the League of Nations?
- An international organisation made up of 42 countries that was committed to promoting international peace
29
What were the main aims of the League of Nations?
- Tackle disease [Setting up World Health Organisation]
- Improve working conditions [Setting up International Labour Organisation]
- Prevent war [Protecting and respecting territorial right]
- Resolve disputes [Setting up a court of international justice] etc...
30
Who didn't join the League of Nations and why?
- Germany; as they had lost the war
- Russia; Britain and France were suspicious of their Communist government
- USA; the US senate refused to allow USA to join, fearing it would lead to America being pulled into another war in Europe.
31
How did the League deal with disputes?
- The countries discussed the problem
- Moral Condemnation; the country in the wrong would be warned to behave
- Sanction; Members would stop trading with the country, in hope that the economic impacts would give way
- Military intervention; the league did not have an army, but it would attempt to borrow armed forces from another League member
32
What was the International Labour Organisation [ILO]?
An agency set up by the League of Nations with the aim of improving Labour rights etc.
33
What were some of the Successes of the International Labour Organisation.
- Got 77 countries to adopt a minimum wage
- Reduced the death rate among workers building a railway in Africa from 50% to 4%
- Helped Greece set up sickness benefit
34
What were some of the Failures of the International Labour Organisation.
- Failed to ban child labour
- Failed to limit the working day to 8 hours
35
What was the Commission for Refugees?
An agency set up by the League of Nations with the aim of assisting refugees in settlements etc...
36
What were some of the successes of the Commission of Refugees.
- Freed 427,000 out of 500,000 prisoners of war, and returned them home
- Resettled 1.5 million refugees from Russia
- Resettled 600'000 Greek refugees from Turkey
37
What were some of the failure of the Commission of Refugees
- As it had to be a unanimous vote to make decision, Germany made a decision against appointing a commissioner for refugees fleeing Germany
38
What was the Locarno Treaty [1925]?
* Diplomacy outside the League *
Originally an agreement between Germany and France, to improve relations. Which was later signed by 7 countries;
39
How did the Locarno improve the chance of peace?
The promise of mutual support made both countries feel more secure. Some of the terms were:
- Not going to war with each other
- The Rhineland was made a neutral region [no troops could be there]
- Agreeing to submit all future disputes to international authority
* This treaty was seen as so important that Stresemann and Briand won the Nobel Peace Prize for it *
40
What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact [1928] ?
*Diplomacy outside the League *
A peace pact between USA and France, Banning war between them. Later signed by 62 countries as an agreement not to use war to resolve disputes or conflict
41
How did these outside Diplomacy impact the League of Nations?
- It made the League look irrelevant
- Showed that the League lacked important countries; USA, Germany etc...
- The league began to be seen as a 'talking shop' where problems were discussed, but not where solutions were found.
42
What was the Wall St Crash?
The huge financial crisis that took place in Americas economy
43
How did this impact the world ?
Rise in Nationalism
- as a lot of nations were reliant on Americas loans, so politicians were promising self sufficient economy
- Providing peoples needs and guaranteeing jobs
[For example; Hitler and Mussolini]
44
What was the background of the Manchurian crisis?
- When Japan invaded a region of China, as they wanted more natural recourses and wanted to be strong again.
45
How did Japan begin their invasion of Manchuria?
The needed an excuse to invade so they themselves setup an explosion on a Japanese-owned Manchurian Railway. They blamed it on the Chinese and sent an army to invade Manchuria.
46
China Appealed to the League of Nations, How did the League react?
- They sent a commission to investigate, and they arrived a year later saying Japan was wrong.
- They issued 'Moral Condemnation' but Japan ignored and left the League
- Forward down the line, Japan began a full-scale invasion of China.
47
What does the Manchurian Crisis say about the League of Nations?
- They have failed to tackle the problem
- They were slow, weak and indecisive
48
What was the Abyssinian Crisis?
When Italy's Mussolini Invaded Abyssinia after a clash with Abyssinians and Italian soldiers on one of Italy's colonies [Italian Somaliland]
49
Why did Mussolini want to invade Abyssinia?
- Add to Italy's Empire
- Restore National Pride; a previous invasion of Abyssinia had failed
- Good fertile land and Natural recourses
50
How did the League of Nations respond to the Abyssinian Crisis?
- They banned weapons trading with Italy, but the sanction did not include trading Natural recourses etc... Which were vital for Mussolini's war efforts.
51
What was the Hoare-Laval Pact?
A secret settlement created by France and Britain to offer Italy half of Abyssinia. This was leaked to the press.
52
What did the Hoare-Laval Pact show about the League of Nations?
- Small nations would be unprotected and Powerful nations it could not stop them.
53
What is lebensraum?
Living room
54
What is Volksdeutche ?
German Speaking
55
What was Appeasement?
Neville Chamberlains idea of giving Germany [run by Dictator Hitler] a bit of what it wanted to avoid a war
56
What occurred at the League of Nations Disarmament Conference [1933]?
- Hitler said Germany would disarm if every other country did too, but if they didn't, he wanted an army the same size as France. France refused to agree. So Hitler stormed out and left the League of Nations.
57
What was the Dollfuss Affair [1934]?
Hitler always wanted Germany and Austria to be united. But Austrian Chancellor, Dollfuss, banned the Nazi party from. Austria. Hitler ordered Austrian Nazis to cause chaos, and Dollfuss was later murdered.
However, the Nazi plot failed because the Austrian army supported the government and Mussolini moved troops on the Austrian border to stop the Anschluss
58
What is the Saar?
An important industrial area on the French-German border.
59
What was the Saar Plebiscite?
The people of Saar voted to decide whether they should belong to France or Germany. 90% voted to re-join Germany, this also backed Hitler's belief in Volksdeutche.
60
What was the Freedom to rearm Rally?
A rally which Hitler displayed the weapons and troops he had been building in secret. Along with the announcement of Military Service [for all able-bodied men aged 18-25]
61
What was the Stresa Front?
An agreement between Britain, France and Italy to;
- Prevent Anschluss
- Enforce terms of Treaty of Versailles
- And agree to Locarno [no war etc...]
62
What was the Anglo-German Naval Agreement?
An agreement between Britain and Germany, that allowed Hitler to build the German Navy to 35% of the size of the British one.
- Britain had signed this without consulting France or Italy
- This was Britain attempt to protect Naval Supremacy
63
What was the Rhineland?
A region that was demilitarised by the Treaty of Versailles
64
How did Hitler remilitarise the Rhineland?
He commanded 22,000 troops to enter the Rhineland. Many people welcomed them with flowers.
65
How did Britain react to the remilitarisation of the Rhineland?
- They felt sympathy for Germany and said Hitler had the right to secure his own borders.
- They also didn't have enough money to get involved [Great Depression]
66
How did France react to the remilitarisation of the Rhineland?
-> They did nothing - mainly because they were in the middle of an election.
67
What were some of the consequences that came from the remilitarisation of the Rhineland?
- Hitler grew more confident that he could break the Treaty of Versailles
- Hitler could pursue Lebensraum
- Mussolini saw that Hitler was a force to be reckoned with and signed the Rome-Berlin axis
68
What was the Rome-Berlin axis?
An alliance between Italy and Germany... Later on, it was formalized as the Pact of Steel [including Japan as an ally; all of these countries were dictatorship, and anti-communism]
69
What was the Anschluss ?
A union between Germany and Austria.
70
How did Hitler achieve the Anschluss?
- After the Dollfuss affair, out of fear the Nazis were given important positions in the Austrian government.
- After an incident regarding the Austrian police and Nazis. A meeting was called.
- Hitler intimidated the Austrian Leader and demanded a public vote on the agreement of the Anschluss
- 99% voted in favour of Anschluss [its hard to know whether the presence of Hitler's stormtroopers at polling stations had any effect]
71
What was the Sudetenland?
An area surrounding Czechoslovakia, that contained about 3 million German-speaking people.
72
How did Hitler invade the Sudetenland?
- Hitler claimed ethnic Germans were being persecuted and needed protection
- Neville Chamberlain [British Prime minister] met with Hitler and allowed Hitler to invade [He was desperate to avoid war]
- The German army later marched onto the Sudetenland.
73
What was the Munich Conference?
An agreement between Germany, France and Britain, to Allow Germany to invade the Sudetenland.
74
How did people feel/react to the Munich Conference?
- Britain had fought it had guaranteed peace and no war.
- Czechoslovakia felt betrayed as they were not invited to the conference, and they felt it was the start of a full invasion
- Stalin felt furious since he was not involved [and Britain and France wanted the USSR's support] almost was a betrayal.
75
What was appeasement?
An approach used by Britain to Give Hitler's Germany what they wanted with the hope of not going to war and secure peace.
76
What were some of the reasons for Appeasement?
- Many had felt that the Treaty of Versailles were too harsh and Germanys demands were reasonable
- Many of Hitler's actions were backed up and wanted [for example, the Austrian vote for Anschluss]
- Knowing that Britain had done everything to avoid war gave them the moral high ground
- The USA was not involved so the lack of this strong support made Britain more reluctant for war
- The Great Depression created more important domestic problems they had to deal with.
77
What were the arguments against Appeasement?
- Appeasers were wrong to believe Hitler only wanted to fix the wrong of Versailles, when he publicly stated his views of lebensraum and world domination [Mein Kampf]
- There were instances were Hitler could have been stopped [when he remilitarised the Rhineland as he was lucky they were going through an election]
- The more Hitler was given the more he demanded
- It was morally wrong to abandon the people [of Austria and Czechoslovakia] as people suffered as a result of the Nazis [for example Jews]
78
After Hitler had decided to invade Czechoslovakia with no reason. Why was the invasion important?
- It showed that the policy of appeasement had failed
- Hitler was not to be trusted and he wasn't just trying to reclaim what had been lost at thee Treaty of Versailles
79
What did Hitler gain from it occupation of Czechoslovakia?
- 40'000 machine guns
- 450 tanks etc...
80
What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
- An agreement between Stalin and Hitler, that allowed Hitler to invade Poland and in return give some land to the USSR.
81
Why was this a good thing for Stalin?
- Stalin would claim land in Poland without having to fight for it himself
- it created a 'buffer zone' to protect the USSR if Hitler decided to invade the USSR
- Stalin no longer trusted Britain and France [He was not invited to the Munich Conference]
- He knew Hitler would invade at some point so it gave him time to prepare
82
How did the invasion of Poland lead to the declaration of war?
- March 1939; Chamberlain promised to Poland if Hitler invaded
- 1st September 1939; Hitler attacked a polish port to begin his invasion... Poland immediately asked for English and French support
- 3rd September; Britain and France declared war on Germany
83
How was the Treaty of Versailles the reason for the beginning of the war?
- The treaty was too harsh and it created resentment which would later cause Germany to seek what they had lost
84
How was the Failure of the League of Nations the reason for the beginning of the war?
- The league was weak [no USA and other strong countries from the beginning]
- The league was corrupt; meaning Powerful countries undermined the league when they liked and smaller countries problems' were ignored
85
How was the Great depression the reason for the beginning of the war?
- The great depression was arguably the main factor for the rise of dictatorship as they appealed to people [since they promised all the solution]. And a world with dictators can only lead to war
86
How was the appeasement the reason for the beginning of the war?
- Instead of actually putting a stop to Hitler's invasion they decided to allow him to invade and become stronger and more confident every time.
87
How was Hitler the reason for the beginning of the war?
He was aggressive and believed that the only way he could regain Germanys strength was through violence [overturning Treaty, Defeating Communism, Lebensraum policy etc...]
- Evident through his book Mein Kampf
