1. An Uncertain Peace

2. Enforcing the Treaty of Versailles
France attempted to enforce the Versailles settlement vigorously
Proved very difficult
Many in Europe preferred to rely on the new League of Nations for collective security
The League lacked enforcement mechanism as well key membership

3. Countries not in the League
Germany
The Soviet Union
The United States

4. France turned to the less satisfactory alternative of allying with new Eastern European democracies
Formed a Little Entente with Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania

5. Democracy in Eastern Europe
Short lived trend toward democracy after World War I
Women earned the right to vote
Labor unions gained power
Governments enacted social legislation
Some countries experienced democracy for the first time

6. Conservative interests opposed the new democracies
Extreme socialists worked to overthrow them
Land reform, which was a great social change, failed to solve the problem of underdevelopment
New democracies lacked the integrated economies they had experienced as part of former empires

7. The Weimar Republic Began with 2 strikes against it
Faced a myriad of economic and social problems
Many influential Germans opposed the new government as a weak substitute for imperial Germany
Extremist groups attempted to overthrow the government

8. Two parties helped found the republic and draw up its constitution – the Social Democratic Party and the Catholic Center Party
Both wished to avoid communist and rightist takeovers
In 1919, the Spartacists attempted to overthrow the Berlin city government
Captured and executed

9. In 1920, the Freikorps attempted a coup d’etat known as the Kapp Putsch
Intervention by the working class saved the republic

10. Delegates to the Reichstag were chosen by proportional representation
The system made it difficult to establish majority government and easier for extreme views to gain a political voice
In times of imminent danger, the president of the republic could suspend parliamentary rule

11. Most damaging to the Weimar Republic was its association with the Versailles settlement
Germans viewed it as a dictated peace
Myth said that the Germans were on the verge of winning WWI when it was stabbed in the back by those who wished to establish a republic in Germany
Right wing groups used the Weimar as the scapegoat for the country’s problems

12. Reparations, the Ruhr and Hyperinflation
In 1923, the Weimar Republic fell behind on its reparation payments
France invaded the Ruhr Valley to get payment in the form of coal and steel
Weimar leaders encouraged passive resistance by workers in the area

13. The Weimar Republic would pay the workers benefits and wages in paper money
By November 1923, the German mark had plummeted to catastrophic levels
$1 = 4 trillion marks
Middle class pensions, savings, insurance policies and interest income had become worthless

14. Confidence in the Weimar Republic plunged
Adolph Hitler and his Nazi Party attempted to overthrow the Bavarian government in the Beer Hall putsch
The coup failed
Hitler was sentenced to 5 years

15. Great Britain and the US criticized France for invading the Ruhr
The US intervened economically
Extended loans to Germany and rescheduled reparation payments in exchange for French withdrawal from the Ruhr
Short lived economic revival in Germany
Spirit of French and German cooperation

16. The Spirit of Locarno
From 1924 to 1929 produced optimistic hopes of peace and prosperity
Moderate leaders were dedicated to resolving disputes through negotiation and diplomacy
Gustav Streseman and Aristide Briand engineered the Locarno Pact

17. Germany recognized its borders as permanent
Agreed to revise its eastern borders
Germany was allowed into the League of Nations
The Kellogg-Brian Pact was signed in 1928 which 65 nations signed that war was not an instrument of international politics

18. The League of Nations lacked the means to enforce its decisions
Collective security proved informal and not binding on any nation