1. IB 20 th Century World History Topics

2.  1. What were the aims of the participants and peacemakers of the Paris Peace Settlement? Wilson and the Fourteen Points?

3.  The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors in World War I to set the peace terms for Germany and other defeated nations, and to deal with the empires of the defeated powers following the Armistice of 1918.  They met, discussed and came up with a series of treaties (Peace of Paris Treaties) in an attempt to maintain a lasting peace throughout the world.  At its center were the leaders of the three "Great Powers": President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Britain, and Georges Clemenceau of France. Russia and Germany were not allowed to attend, but many others came, each with a different agenda.

4. Georges Clemenceau  The chief goal of the French leader, Georges Clemenceau, was Security, to weaken Germany militarily, strategically, and economically.  In particular, Clemenceau sought an American and British guarantee of French security in the event of another German attack.  Clemenceau also expressed skepticism and frustration with Wilson's Fourteen Points.

5.  Liked the harsh things that were in the Treaty:  1. Reparations (would repair the damage to France),  2. The tiny German army, and the demilitarized zone in the Rhineland (would both protect France),  3. France got Alsace-Lorraine, and German colonies.  But he was disappointed with the Treaty:  a. He wanted higher reparations  b. He wanted the Treaty to be harsher  c. He wanted Germany to be split up into smaller countries.

6.  “The start was not a happy one with von Brockdorff- Rantzau who, draped in brutish insolence, came to accuse us of "hating" Germany because we did not offer our necks to her executioners. Since then the policy of Germany has merely been to gather up every chance weapon that could enable her to evade the Treaty. Audacity and guile naturally increased under the encouragement of manifestations like that of Mr. Keynes or of the series of unholy concessions from which Germany has been led to deduce that her signature at Versailles binds her only subject to further discussions. The hour of supreme warning came when the heads of the Allied Governments were told to their faces by a German delegate that, before they could usefully discuss, they "must cure themselves of the sickness of victory."

9.  “Their trouble is that they see the future only through the blood-red mists of a civilization grafted upon the survival of barbarism.”  “Vanquished, our lot under Ludendorff would not have differed from that of Rome under Hannibal. Victorious, we have assumed our responsibility in the most noble effort to achieve a lasting peace by the sole forces of Right. To one and all such a state was well worth a general effort of self-restraint instead of the old rush to divide the spoils between those who had overcome the enemy.”

11.  What are France's main concerns about Germany?  According to Clemenceau –How did the German leaders act in the conference?  Do the French demands seem reasonable or unreasonable?  How would Germany react to reparation clause?

12.  Vittorio Orlando  Vittorio Orlando was sent as the Italian representative with the aim of gaining as much territory as possible.  The loss of 700,000 Italians and a budget deficit of 12,000,000,000 Lire during the war made the Italian government and people feel entitled to territories.  Dissatisfied as territorial aspirations were not met.

13. Trieste tyrol

14.  Article 4  Under the Treaty of Peace, Italy shall obtain the Trentino, Cisalpine Tyrol with its geographical and natural frontier, as well as Trieste, the counties of Gorizia and Gradisca, all Istria as far as the Quarnero and including Volosca and the Istrian islands of Cherso and Lussin, as well as the small islands of Plavnik, Unie, Canidole, Palazzuoli, San Pietro di Nembi, Asinello, Gruica, and the neighbouring islets...  Article 5  Italy shall also be given the province of Dalmatia within its present administrative boundaries...  Article 6  Italy shall receive full sovereignty over Valona, the island of Saseno and surrounding territory...

15.  Article 7  Should Italy obtain the Trentino and Istria in accordance with the provisions of Article 4, together with Dalmatia and the Adriatic islands within the limits specified in Article 5, and the Bay of Valona (Article 6), and if the central portion of Albania is reserved for the establishment of a small autonomous neutralised State, Italy shall not oppose the division of Northern and Southern Albania between Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece...  Article 8  Italy shall receive entire sovereignty over the Dodecanese Islands which she is at present occupying.  Article 9  Generally speaking, France, Great Britain, and Russia recognise that,... in the event of total or partial partition of Turkey in Asia, she ought to obtain a just share of the Mediterranean region adjacent to the province of Adalia...

16.  Ultimately Italy was granted Trentino, Trieste, (the German-speaking) South Tyrol, and Istria.  But Dalmatia was excluded and Fiume too. didnt get any colonial territories in Africa or Asia or any claim on Albania.  Nationalists consequently argued that Italy had been robbed of its rightful gains.

17.  Goals of England: David Lloyd George wanted to maintain the British Empire's unity, holdings and interests, but it entered the conference with the more specific goals of:  Ensuring the security of France  Removing the threat of the German Fleet  Settling territorial contentions  Supporting the Wilsonian League of Nations in that order of priority.

18.  Many British people wanted to ‘make Germany pay’, and Lloyd George liked:  1. The fact that Britain got some German colonies (expanded the British Empire),  2. The small German navy (helped Britain to continue to 'rule the waves').   But Lloyd George hated the Treaty:  a. He thought that the Treaty was far too harsh and would ruin Germany,  b. He thought it would cause another war in 25 years time

19.  The Treaty includes no provisions for the economic rehabilitation of Europe - nothing to make the defeated Central Empires into good neighbours, nothing to stabilise the new States of Europe, nothing to reclaim Russia... The Council of Four paid no attention to these issues, being preoccupied with others - Clemenceau to crush the economic life of his enemy, Lloyd George to bring home something that would pass muster for a week, the President to do nothing that was not just and right.... JM Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919)  Keynes's book had a massive effect on the educated people of Britain It created the belief that Germany had been badly treated, and this in turn led to British preparedness to 'appease' Hitler in the 1930s.  Harold Macmillan, the future Prime Minister, did not agree with Keynes's argument, but claimed instead that 'the legend of the unfair peace did infinite harm in both Germany and Britain'

20.  Had a talk with Barnes [one of the British officials]. In his view the villain of the Treaty was Wilson, who had proved himself to be anything but a strong man, and a child in the hands of Clemenceau, who, as Barnes put it, 'could buy him at one end of the street and sell him at the other'.... Barnes had written several times to the PM protesting about the terms of the Peace Treaty especially the Reparation Clauses.. Thomas Jones, Whltehall Diary (2 July 1919) Jones was Assistant Secretary in the War Cabinet  We are all so disgusted with the peace that we have ceased to discuss it. Beatrice Webb, a famous Socialist writer and historian (1919) It is not statesmanship. It is not business. It is not common sense. It is not the clean Peace by which I always meant, and other people meant, to end war with the war. HH Asquith, former Prime Minister, campaigning for election in 1920

21.  The terms are in many respects terrible terms to impose upon a country. Terrible were the deeds which it requites... Germany not merely provoked, but planned the most devastating war the earth has ever seen... She deliberately embarked upon it, not to defend herself against assailants, but to aggrandise herself at the expense of her neighbours. I cannot think of a worse crime.  [The aim of the Treaty is] to compel Germany, in so far as it is in her power, to restore, to repair and to redress. Yes, and to take every possible precaution of every kind that is in our power against the recurrence of another such crime - to make such an example as will discourage ambitious peoples from ever attempting to repeat the infamy.  Lloyd George, speaking in Parliament (3 July 1919).

22.  1. Open covenants of peace.  2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas.  3. Removal all economic barriers.  4. Reduce armaments.  5. An adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon popular soveriegnty.

23.  6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and settle all questions affecting Russia.  7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored.  8. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored.  9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.  10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.  11. Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea.  12. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty.  13. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations.

24.  6-13. Specific territorial adjustments  14. A general association of nations (League of Nations) must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

25.  Wilson got:  1. A League of Nations,  2. Self-determination for the peoples of Eastern Europe,  But he was disappointed with the Treaty:  a. Some of his ‘Fourteen Points’ did not get into the Treaty,  b. When Wilson went back to America, the Senate refused to join the League of Nations, and even refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles

26.  “Do not think of this treaty of peace as merely a settlement with Germany. It is that. It is a very severe settlement with Germany, but there is not anything in it that she did not earn. Indeed, she earned more than she can ever be able to pay for, and the punishment exacted of her is not a punishment greater than she can bear, and it is absolutely necessary in order that no other nation may ever plot such a thing against humanity and civilization. But the treaty is so much more than that. It is not merely a settlement with Germany; it is a readjustment of those great injustices which underlie the whole structure of European and Asiatic society.”

27.  “Great Britain had lent millions of pounds to the Allies during the war and had herself been borrowing heavily from America.... Mr Churchill went to the United States to discuss the war debt, pointing out the economic chaos throughout the world which the payment of these enormous sums of money would cause; but the United States of America was adamant. 'They borrowed the money, didn't they?' was President Coolidge's comment.  Great Britain had suggested an all-round cancellation of war debts, but after learning of the United States insistence of payment she declared to the Allies that 'she would collect no more from her debtors, ally or former enemy, than the United States collected from her'. At the end of the war, Britain owed the United States some $4000 million. 'The enforcement of the Baldwin-Coolidge debt settlement', wrote Mr Churchill in 1948, is a recognisable factor in the economic collapse which was soon to overwhelm the world'. Mary Cathcart Borer, Britain - Twentieth Century (1966)  Because America insisted that Britain repaying her war-debts to America, Britain was forced to insist on the huge reparations payments from Germany.

29.  2. What were the terms of the Paris Peace Treaties 1919‑20: Versailles, St. Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, Sèvres/Lausanne 1923?

30.  The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919. Although the armistice signed on 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty.  Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial required Germany to accept sole responsibility for causing the war (later known as the War Guilt clauses), to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions and pay reparations to the Entente powers. The total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion marks ($31.5 billion, £6,600 million) in 1921.

32.  Article 227 charges former German Emperor, Wilhelm II with supreme offence against international morality. He is to be tried as a war criminal.  The Rhineland will become a demilitarized administered by Great Britain and France jointly.  German armed forces will number no more than 100,000 troops, and conscription will be abolished.

33.  German naval forces will be limited to 15,000 men, 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 6 destroyers and 12 torpedo boats. No submarines are to be included.  The manufacture, import, and export of weapons and poison gas is prohibited.  Armed aircraft, tanks and armored cars are prohibited.  Blockades on ships are prohibited.  Restrictions on the manufacture of machine guns and rifles.

35.  The Treaty of Saint Germain, was signed on 10 September 1919 by the victorious Allies and by the new Republic of Austria. It was not ratified by the United States.  The treaty declared that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was to be dissolved. The new Republic of Austria, consisting of most of the German- speaking Alpine part of the former Austrian Empire, recognized the independence of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the State of Slovenes, Croatians and Serbs. The treaty included war reparations of large sums of money, directed towards the allies, to pay for the costs of the war.

36.  The Treaty of Trianon was the peace treaty concluded in 1920 at the end of World War I by the Allies and Hungary, seen as a successor of Austria-Hungary. The treaty established the borders of Hungary. Hungary lost over 72% of the territory it had previously controlled, which left 64% of the inhabitants, including 3.3 out of 10.7 million (31%) ethnic Hungarians, living outside Hungary.  In addition, the newly established nation of Hungary had to pay war reparations to its neighbors.

37.  The Treaty of Neuilly, dealing with Bulgaria for its role as one of the Central powers in World War I, was signed on Nov. 27, 1919 at Neuilly, France.  The treaty required Bulgaria to cede Western Thrace to Greece, thereby cutting off its direct outlet to the Aegean Sea. The treaty also forced Bulgaria to return Southern Doubria, which had been captured during the war.  Bulgaria was also required to reduce its army to 20,000 men, pay reparations exceeding $400 million, and recognize the existence of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

38.  The Treaty of Sèvres (10 August 1920) was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allied at the end of World War I. The treaty nullified the territorial gains of the empire during the war.

39.  3. What were the geopolitical and economic impact of the treaties on Europe; the establishment and impact of the mandate system?

40.  There was immediate condemnation of the Versailles Treaty by the German populace. The German state was not expecting to lose the war. When the dust settled and the harsh reality of defeat was made clear, the German people were dumbfounded. It was a military defeat, but also a psychological defeat for the German state. "…the German people were expecting victory and not defeat. It was the acknowledgement of defeat, as much as the treaty terms themselves, which they found so hard to accept" (Henig, 27). The terms which caused the most resentment in Germany were the loss of territory, the war guilt placed solely on Germany, the deliberate effacement of the German military and the demands of reparations

42.  Treaty of Versailles: Clemenceau had failed to achieve all of the demands of the French people, and he was voted out of office in the elections of January 1920. French Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch, declared, "This is not Peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years."  After Wilson's successor Warren Harding continued American opposition to the League of Nations, Congress passed the Knox-Porter Resolution bringing a formal end to hostilities between the United States and the Central Powers.

43.  Western Europe remained quite similar to what is had been in 1914, only a few territorial changes where made  Central and Eastern Europe where changed to a great extent. Before the First World War these regions where made up of large multinational empires. (Germany, Russia, Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman Turks)

44. Some of the states that where created Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Yugoslavia

45. 19141920

46.  Self-determination was taken into account in most cases however it was sometimes difficult as different nationalities, racial groups and linguistic groups where scattered across many different areas.

48.  Self-determination abled common ethnic back rounds and languages to decide the nature of the state however in some cases this was ignored such as South Tyrol, Sudetenland and the Polish Corridor. A major problem at the time was to create states which where capable of working successfully in terms of communication, economics and security.

49.  Poland and Czechoslovakia claimed Teschem.  Problems over Vilna between Lithuania and Poland.  Not easy to create new countries and fix frontiers.  Ethnic groups were spread out, not concentrated.  Some regions were claimed by more countries.

51.  Germans of all political shades denounced the treaty— particularly the provision that blamed Germany for starting the war—as an insult to the nation's honor. They referred to the treaty as "the Diktat" since its terms were presented to Germany on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Germany's first democratically elected Chancellor, Phillip Schneidmann refused to sign the treaty and resigned.  The German economy was so weak that only a small percentage of reparations was paid in hard currency. Nonetheless, even the payment of this small percentage of the original reparations (132 billion Gold Reich marks) still placed a significant burden on the German economy.  The economic strain eventually reached the point where Germany stopped paying the reparations agreed in the Treaty of Versailles. As a result French and Belgian forces invaded and occupied the Ruhr, a heavily industrialized part of Germany along the French-German border.

52.  Treaty of St. Germain: The vast reduction of population, territory and resources of the new Austria relative to the old empire wreaked havoc on the economy of the new nation.

53.  Although the treaty addressed some nationality issues, it also sparked new ones at the same time.  After the new borders had been established, a majority of the 3.3 million Hungarians who lived in now-foreign lands were situated just outside the new border lines and were not given the option of self-determination and were unhappy.

55.  A League of Nations mandate refers to certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I. Which included a minority rights clause and an International Court. The mandate system was established under Article 22 of the League of Nations.  All the territories subject to League of Nations mandates were previously controlled by states defeated in World War I, principally Germany and the Ottoman Empire.

56.  The mandates were divided into three distinct groups based upon the level of development each population had achieved at that time.  Class A mandates  The first group or Class A mandates were areas formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire that were deemed to have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to a lead country until they are able to stand alone.

57. http://www.mythsandfacts.com/conflict/mandate_for_palestin e/mandate_for_palestine.htm

58.  Class B mandates  The second group or Class B mandates were all former German territories in the Sub- Saharan regions of West and Central Africa, which were deemed to require a greater level of control by the mandatory power: "...the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience and religion." The mandatory power was forbidden to construct military or naval bases within the mandates.

59. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:League_of_Nations_mandate _Middle_East_and_Africa.png

60.  Class C mandates  A final group, the Class C mandates, including South-West Africa and the South Pacific Islands, were considered to be "best administered under the laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory“.  They essentially became colonies of the Mandates.  The Class C mandates were former German possessions.

61. Mandates in the Pacific. 1. South Pacific Mandate, 2. Territory of New Guinea, 3. Nauru and 4. Western SamoaSouth Pacific MandateTerritory of New GuineaNauru

62.  4. What were the mechanisms used for the enforcement of the provisions of the treaties: US isolationism—the retreat from the Anglo– American Guarantee; disarmament— Washington, London, Geneva conferences.

63.  In the wake of the First World War, the isolationist tendencies of US foreign policy were in full force. First, the United States Congress rejected president Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations.  Although the United States was unwilling to commit to the League of Nations, they were willing to engage in foreign affairs on their own terms. In August 1928, fifteen nations signed the Kellogg- Briand Pact, brainchild of American Secretary of State Frank Kellogg and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand. This pact that was said to have outlawed war and showed the United States commitment to international peace.

65.  The French still regarded the Germans as a major threat to their security after WWI. They wanted Germany divided into separate states, or, failing that, they wanted extensive precautions against future German aggression. The French were promised an Anglo-American guarantee of French borders.  Without consulting their militaries, Lloyd George and Wilson offered the Treaty to the French as a means to head off the separation of the Rhineland from Germany. The Treaty of Guarantee achieved widespread bipartisan support in the United States Senate and in the British Parliament. When the Versailles Treaty failed to achieve ratification in the Senate, however, the Treaty of Guarantee sank with it. This led Lloyd George to renege on his commitment, too.

66.  The Washington Naval Conference also called the Washington Arms Conference, was a military conference called by President Harding and held in Washington D.C. from Nov. 12 1921 to Feb. 6, 1922. Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations having interests in the pacific ocean and east Asia.  The Washington Naval Treaty led to an effective end to building new battleship fleets and those few ships that were built were limited in size and armament. Numbers of existing capital ships were scrapped. Some ships under construction were turned into aircraft carriers instead.

68.  Warren G. Harding invited delegates to Washington for a Conference on Naval Disarmament starting in June 1921. Germany eliminated as a first-rate naval Power ( scuttling of its interned fleet at Scapa Flow),  Britain and the U.S. were by far the dominant navies, with Japan making great exertions to catch up. France and Italy were minor players by comparison. Russia was embroiled in civil war, its fleet largely ignored and left in ill repair; like Germany she was no longer a great naval Power

69.  For the first time, Britain dropped her 2:1 doctrine.  Agreements Reached  GB, USA, France & Japan agreed to respect each other’s Pacific possessions & guarantee China’s independence.  Japan would restore Kias-Chow & Shantung to China. Japan to withdraw from Siberia, in Russia.  There would be a ten year stoppage in the building of capital ships (more than 10,000 tons with guns larger than 8"). A ratio of USA:5, GB:5, Japan:3, France:1.75 and Italy:1.75 was to be maintained in the building of capital ships

71.  Lessened possibility of naval war in the Far East where Japan & USSR had ideas about expanding into China.  The alliance of First World War victors was reaffirmed, despite USA’s isolation policy.  Though better international relations resulted, the USSR was not invited to the talks, despite her extensive Far Eastern interests. (USSR was, as yet, not recognised.)  Treaty of Rapallo (April 1922) – Signed, 2 months after the Washington Treaty, by Germany and Soviet Russia. They said they would not attack each other and trade links were opened. Both powers were no longed isolated.

72.  The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding.

73.  The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927.  Badly needed restraints were applied to the naval arms race by the treaties stemming from the Washington Conference (1921-22), but those agreements were largely confined to limitations on battleships and aircraft carriers.  Talks dragged on for nearly six weeks during which tensions rose among the former Allies. In early August, the delegates adjourned without reaching any agreement.

74.  5. Explain the role of the League of Nations: effects of the absence of major powers; the principle of collective security and early attempts at peacekeeping (1920‑5).

77.  The League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920. The League's goals included upholding the new found rights of man, rights of women, rights of soldiers, disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and improving global quality of life.  The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift in thought from the preceding hundred years. The League lacked its own armed force and so depended on the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions, keep to economic sanctions which the League ordered, or provide an army, when needed, for the League to use.

78.  (To improve living conditions for men and women world-wide)  The ILO was so successful that the USA joined it. In 1945 it transferred to the UNO.  The Health Commission stopped disease epidemics (e.g. measles)  The Leprosy Commission helped eliminate leprosy.  The Transit and Communication Commission standardised passports and visas, and radio codes were also made common. (Mayday was internationalised.)  The Mandates Commission, under Lord Lugard, helped colonies to reach independence.  Doctor Nansen helped resettle homeless and stateless people from the Refugee Commission.

79.  The aftermath of World War I left many issues to be settled between nations, including the exact position of national boundaries and which country particular regions would join. Most of these questions were handled by the victorious Allied in bodies such as the Allied Supreme Council.  The Allies tended to refer only particularly difficult matters to the League. This meant that, during the first three years of the 1920s, the League played little part in resolving the turmoil that resulted from the war.  The questions the League considered in its early years included those designated by the Paris Peace treaties.

80.  The frontiers of Albania had not been set during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and had not yet been determined by September 1921. This created an unstable situation with Greek troops repeatedly crossing into Albanian territory on military operations.  The League sent a commission of representatives to the region and in November 1921, the League decided that the frontiers of Albania should be the same as they had been in 1913 with three minor changes that favored Yugoslavia. Yugoslav forces withdrew a few weeks later, albeit under protest.  The borders of Albania again become the cause of international conflict when Italian General Tellini and four of his assistants were ambushed and killed on 24 August 1923 while marking out the newly decided border between Greece and Albania.  Mussolini was incensed, and demanded that a commission be set up to investigate the incident and that the Greek government should pay Italy fifty million lira reparations. The Greeks said they would not pay unless it was proved that the crime was committed by Greeks.

82.  Mussolini sent a warship to shell the Greek island of Corfu and Italian forces occupied Corfu on 31 August 1923. Greece appealed to the League to deal with the situation.  Greece was forced to pay fifty million lira to Italy even though those who committed the crime were never discovered. Mussolini was able to leave Corfu in triumph.

83.  After the First World War, Poland laid claim to Upper Silesia, which had been part of Prussia. The Treaty of Versailles had recommended a plebiscite in Upper Silesia to determine whether the territory should be part of Germany or Poland.  Complaints about the attitude of the German authorities led to rioting and eventually to the first two Silesian Uprisings (1919 and 1920).  In November 1921 a conference was held in Geneva to negotiate a convention between Germany and Poland. A final settlement was reached, in which most of the area was given to Germany but with the Polish section containing the majority of the region's mineral resources and much of its industry.  When this agreement became public in May 1922, bitter resentment was expressed in Germany, but the treaty was still ratified by both countries.

86.  The origins of the League as an organization created by the Allied Powers as part of the peace settlement to end the First World War led to it being viewed as a "League of Victors". It also tied the League to the Treaty of Versailles, so that when the Treaty became discredited and unpopular, this reflected on the League of Nations.  The League's supposed neutrality tended to manifest itself as indecision. It required a unanimous vote of its nine, later fifteen, member Council to enact a resolution; hence, conclusive and effective action was difficult, if not impossible. It was also slow in coming to its decisions as certain decisions required the unanimous consent of the entire Assembly.

88.  Representation at the League was often a problem. Though it was intended to encompass all nations, many never joined, or their time as part of the League was short. Most notably missing was America who was supposed to help ensure world peace and security but also in financing the League.  Some have suggested that, had the United States been a member of the League, it would have also provided backup to France and Britain, possibly making France feel more secure and so encouraging France and Britain to co-operate more regarding Germany and so made the rise to power of the Nazi party less likely.  Some also acknowledge that if America had been a member of the League, its reluctance to engage in war with European states and to enact economic sanctions may have hampered the ability of the League to deal with international incidents.

90.  THE BRIDGE REPRESENT THE COLLABORATION OF THE COUNTRIES WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. THE BRIDGE ALSO REPRESENT THE STRONG TIES, ON HOW THE COUNTRIES ARE FROM TOGETHER AS ONE TO SHOW COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION. THE MISSING BRICK IN THE BRIDGE IS USA. USA CONTRIBUTED ALOT OF IDEAS TO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS BUT STRANGELY, THEY DID NOT CHOOSE TO JOIN THE LEAGUE, WITHOUT THEM JOINING THE LEAGUE, THE OVERALL STRENGTH IN THE LEAGUE DROPPED AS USA WAS A VERY BIG COUNTRY WITH A STRONG ECONOMY AND MILITARY FORCE. NO THIS DOES IS NOT THE MAIN REASON WHY THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS FAILED. IT FAILED ALSO PARTLY DUE TO FACTORS LIKE DISARMAMENT - COUNTRIES DID NOT WANT TO DISARM THEMSELVES IN FEAR OF BEING ATTACKED. THE LEAGUE WAS ALSO UNABLE TO SOLVE SOME CONFLICTS AND THEREFORE, IT FAILED TO UPHOLD IT'S MAIN PURPOSE - SOLVING CONFLICTS AND DISPUTES PEACEFULLY

91.  6. What was the Ruhr Crisis (1923); Locarno and the “Locarno Spring” (1925)?

92.  The Occupation of the Ruhr, by troops from France and Belgium, was a response to the failure of the German Weimar Republic to pay reparations in the aftermath of World War I.  By late 1922, the German defaults on payments had grown so serious and regular that French and Belgian delegates were urging the seizure of the Ruhr as a way of encouraging the Germans to make more effort to pay, and the British delegate urging a lowering of the payments.  As a consequence of an enormous German default on timber deliveries in December 1922, the Reparations Commission declared Germany in default, which led to the Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in January 1923.

93. http://www.jatsbulgaria.org/show.php?head=5&id=20&issue_id=2&type=article

94.  French Prime Minister Poincaré decided to occupy the Ruhr in 11 January 1923 to extract the reparations himself.  Poincaré often argued to the British that if the Germans could get away with defying Versailles in regards to the reparations, then a precedent would be created, and inevitably the Germans would proceed to dismantle the rest of the Versailles treaty.  Finally, Poincaré argued that once the chains that had bound Germany in Versailles had been destroyed, then it was inevitable that Germany would once more plunge the world back into another world war.  The invasion took place on January 11, 1923, with the aim of occupying the centre of German coal, iron and steel production in the Ruhr area valley, in order to gain the money that Germany owed. France had the iron ore and Germany had the coal.

95. http://www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/germanclub/inflation2.html

96. http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2009/05/27/blast-from-the-pastor-pictures-of- our-future/

98. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERlocarno.htm

99.  The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on Oct. 5 – 16, 1925 and formally signed in London on Dec. 1, in which the Western European Allied powers and the new states of central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, normalizing relations with defeated Germany (which was, by this time, the Weimar Republic).  Locarno divided borders in Europe into two categories: western, which were guaranteed by Locarno treaties, and eastern borders (of Germany), which were open for revision.  The principal treaty concluded at Locarno was the "Rhineland Pact" between Germany, France, Belgium, Britain, and Italy. The first three signatories undertook not to attack each other, with the latter two acting as guarantors. In the event of aggression by any of the first three states against another, all other parties were to assist the country under attack.

100.  The Locarno Treaties were regarded as the keystone of the improved western European diplomatic climate of 1924-1930, introducing a hope for international peace, typically called the "spirit of Locarno". This spirit was seen in Germany's admission to the League of Nations, the international organization established under the Versailles treaty to promote world peace and co- operation, and in the subsequent withdrawal (completed in June 1930) of Allied troops from Germany's western Rhineland.

101.  7. What were the effects of the Great Depression and threats to international peace and collective security: Manchuria (1931‑3) and Abyssinia (1935‑6)?

102.  The majority of countries set up relief programs, and most underwent some sort of political upheaval, pushing them to the left or right. In some states, the desperate citizens turned toward nationalist demagogues—the most infamous being Adolf Hitler-setting the stage for World War II in 1939.  Germany's Weimar Republic was hit hard by the depression, as American loans to help rebuild the German economy now stopped. Unemployment soared, especially in larger cities, and the political system veered toward extremism.  The unemployment rate reached nearly 30% in 1932.

103.  Japan  The Great Depression did not strongly affect Japan. The Japanese economy shrank by 8% during 1929–31.  Soviet Union  Having removed itself from the capitalist world system both by choice and as a result of efforts of the capitalist powers to isolate it, the Great Depression had little effect on the Soviet Union.

104.  United Kingdom  The effects on the industrial areas of Britain were immediate and devastating, as demand for British products collapsed.  By the end of 1930 unemployment had more than doubled from 1 million to 2.5 million (20% of the insured workforce), and exports had fallen in value by 50%.

105.  The Japanese invasion of Manchuria by the Kwantung Army of Japan, beginning on September 19, 1931, immediately followed the Mukden Incident. The Japanese occupation of Manchuria lasted until the end of World War II.  In violation of orders from Tokyo, Kwantung Army commander in chief General Shigeru Honjo ordered that his forces rapidly proceed to expand operations all along the South Manchurian Railway.  The Japanese civilian government was thrown into disarray by this massive act of insubordination, but as reports of one quick victory after another began to pour in, it was powerless to oppose the Army, and its decision was to immediately send three more infantry divisions from Japan, beginning with the 14th Mixed Brigade of the IJA 7th Division.  A.J.P. Taylor wrote that "In the face of its first serious challenge", the League buckled and capitulated.

106.  Another important weakness grew from the contradiction between the idea of collective security and international relations between individual states. The collective security system the League used meant that nations were required to act against states they considered friends, and in a way that might endanger their national interests, to support states that they had no affinity with.  This weakness was exposed during the Manchurian & Abyssinia Crisis when Britain and France had to balance attempts to maintain the security they had attempted to create for themselves in Europe, in which Italy's support played a pivotal role, with their obligations to Abyssinia as a member of the League.  On 23 June 1936, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin told the House of Commons that collective security had "failed ultimately because of the reluctance of nearly all the nations in Europe to proceed to what I might call military sanctions... The real reason, or the main reason, was that we discovered in the process of weeks that there was no country except the aggressor country which was ready for war.”

109. http://www.johndclare.net/league_of_nations6b.htm

110. Sept 1931: There was some vandalism on the Manchurian railway; Japan claimed the Chinese had sabotaged the railway. They invaded Manchuria and set up the 'independent' (i.e. Japanese-controlled) state of Manchukuo under the former Emperor of China, Henry P'ui. China appealed to the League.

111. Dec 1931: the League appointed a commission led by Lord Lytton to investigate. He did not go to Manchuria until April 1932 and did not report until October. Oct 1932: Lytton's report stated that Japan was the aggressor and should leave. 24 Feb 1933: The Assembly voted that Japan should leave Manchuria Japan walked out of the meeting.

112. Japan stayed in Manchuria. The League could not agree economic sanctions or an arms sales ban. In 1933 Japan resigned from the League, and invaded/ conquered Jehol (next to Manchuria).

113. A SPECTACULAR failure: 1. The Japanese continued to expand: they kept Manchuria they invaded Jehol in 1933 and China in 1937.

114. A SPECTACULAR failure: 2. The League was discredited/ Manchuria showed: It was slow (the Lytton Report took almost a year) A country could get its own way if it ignored it ‘Collective security' was useless against big countries - especially during the Great Depression. Even the great powers within the League (Japan was on the Council) were happy to ignore it.

115. This cartoon of 1933, by the British cartoonist David Low, is entitled: 'The Doormat'. It shows a Japanese soldier trampling all over the League, whilst League officials bow down before him and the British Foreign Secretary John Simon powders the League's nose using a 'Face-saving kit'.

116. This cartoon of 1933 shows a gun labelled 'Japan' blasting a hole through international agreements such as the Kellogg Pact and the League of Nations Covenant. What is the cartoonist suggesting about Japan?

119.  Why did Italy invade Abyssinia?  What was Britain and France's role in the crisis? (including the Hoare-Laval Pact)  How did the League respond to Italy's invasion?  What was the outcome of the Abyssinian crisis?  What effect did the crisis have on the reputation of the League?

121. The border between Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland was uncertain and disputed - in Dec 1934 there was a small skirmish at Wal-Wal. Mussolini demanded an apology and threatened to invade. There was great anger in Britain; Hoare (the foreign minister) made a strong speech supporting sanctions and collective security.

122. Feb 1935: The League set up a commission, which reported in Sept. It suggested giving part of Abyssinia to Italy. Oct 1935: Mussolini rejected the plan and invaded Abyssinia. He used tanks and flame- throwers and attacked red Cross hospitals. The League banned weapons sales, and put sanctions on rubber and metal (this hurt Abyssinia more than Italy). It did NOT close the Suez Canal or ban oil sales, which would have stopped the Italian invasion.

123. Dec 1935: Hoare-Laval Pact, a secret plan by Britain and France to give Abyssinia to Italy. Britain and France asked that sanctions be lifted - only Abyssinia voted against. March 1936: Hitler marched into the Rhineland; everyone forgot about Abyssinia. May 1936: Mussolini conquered Abyssinia. June 1936: Haile Selassie went to the League to ask it to reconsider its 'terrible precedent' of giving way to force. He was ignored.

124. A SPECTACULAR failure: 1. The Fascists continued to expand: Mussolini kept Abyssinia Hitler began to expand in Europe. Fascists took power in Spain Britain and France abandoned the League as a way of keeping the peace - started to appease Hitler.

125. A SPECTACULAR failure: 2. The League was ‘a useless fraud’ (AJP Taylor): It was slow (the Report took 8 months). A country could get its own way if it ignored it. ‘Collective security' was useless against big countries - especially during the Great Depression. Even the great powers within the League were happy to ignore it (Japan was on the Council). Even Britain and France would betray the League. Nine countries left 1936-1939.