Full course notes, written in a clear, easy to follow format. Follows the specification exactly. Includes practice questions for each topic. Germany : The People and the State Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014 The English Reformation c.1520-c.1550 with Castles: Form and Functi...
History Conflict and Co-operation 1918-39 Paper One
The Versailles Peace Settlement and Attempts at Disarmament
1919-20 – Paris Peace Conference
• The leaders (the Big Three) of the winning countries of World War One were involved
o Britain – David Lloyd George
o France – Georges Clemenceau
o USA – Woodrow Wilson
• The Big Three decided what punishment would be given to the loosing countries
o Wilson had 14 Points which embodied his vision for the post-war world; these
included no secret treaties, free access to seas, free trade, all countries
disarmament, colonies to have choices, League of Nations
• All three had different views on how to treat the loosing countries, specifically Germany
o Clemenceau wanted to be harsh on Germany to guarantee it could never pose a
threat to France in future and totally destabilise it
▪ He had witnessed the Franco Prussian War
▪ The French Electorate would never have allowed him to be lenient
o Lloyd George wanted to be lenient to Germany, so it would stay strong in order to
trade with them and that no revolution would be caused
o Wilson wanted lasting international peace by being lenient towards Germany
o Both Lloyd George and Wilson disagreed with Clemenceau over how to treat
Germany
o Lloyd George and Wilson disagreed about all nations having access to seas and self-
determination for colonies as these would threaten the British Empire
1919 – Treaty of Versailles
• The Big Three drew up the Treaty of Versailles which was the main treaty between the three
and Germany
• None of them were completely happy with it however they compromised
o Germany had to take full blame for beginning the war
o Germany was forced to pay £6.6billion in reparations
o Germany lost 10% of its land including Alsace-Lorraine as well as overseas colonies
o Germany had to shrink its army to 100 000 soldiers, 6 battleships, no submarines or
aircrafts and a demilitarised Rhineland
o Germany was not allowed to unite with Austria
o Germany was not allowed to become a member of the newly set-up League of
Nations
• Many Germans did not believe that they had lost the war and therefore they believed they
were being treated very unfairly
• Germany was not represented at the conference which would make the outcome unfair
whatever happened
• The Germans believed that they were not solely to blame for starting the war, so they were
upset that they were blamed
• The disarmament terms were deemed unfair as none of the winning countries had to disarm
• Germans were appalled at loosing land as many natives found themselves under foreign rule
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,History Conflict and Co-operation 1918-39 Paper One
• The reparations forced upon Germany put them in total economic decline
• Germany was humiliated by not being allowed to join the League of Nations
1919-20 – Other Treaties
• Treaty of St Germain with Austria
o Army limited to 30 000 soldiers
o Empire broken, and colonies taken
o Forbidden to unite with Germany
• Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria
o Army limited to 20 000 soldiers
o Paid £10million in reparations
o Land lost to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia
• Treaty of Trianon with Hungry
o Supposed to pay reparations but was to poor
o Land lost to Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia
• Treaty of Sevres with Turkey
o Army severely limited
o Lost much of its empire to Britain and France
o Land lost to Italy and Greece
o Turkey used force to reverse some of the terms of this treaty which was set out in a
new one called the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923
1920s – The League of Nations
• It was an international organisation to preserve world peace and solve disputes without war
o There were 42 founding members
• All members had to sign a covenant which set out its structure, rules and aims
• It’s structure
o Secretariat – staff of permanent office workers who dealt with day-to-day running
o Commissions – tackled general international problems and made important
achievements, including:
▪ Refugee Committee – helped approximately 400 000 displaced people
return to their homes post-war
▪ International Labour Organisation – successfully campaigned for worker’s
rights
▪ Declaration of the Rights of the Child – still in place today
▪ Health Committee – funded research into curing deadly diseases
▪ Financial Committee – came up with economic plans to help countries
recover from the war
o Council – met five times a year plus in emergencies as leaders of the league
o Assembly – parliament of the league which met 1X per year to vote on budgeting
and letting in new members etc
o Court of International Justice – settled disputes between countries
• Its rules were
o No countries could go to war
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,History Conflict and Co-operation 1918-39 Paper One
o All countries must strive to have good relations with others
o Governments must act according to the international law
o Nations must maintain justice and respect for all treaty obligations
• Its aims were
o Promote international cooperation
o Achieve international peace and security
o Discourage aggression
o Encourage disarmament
o Boost international trade and business
o Improve living and working conditions
o Enforce terms of treaties
• The League began with 42 member-nations in 1919 but by 1939 there were over 50
• The strongest influences were Britain and France who were in it from 1919-45, along with
Italy, Japan, Germany and the USSR
• USA were not in the League as despite it being the president’s idea, congress voted against it
• Each of the Big Three had different visions for the League:
o Wilson – a world parliament with regular meetings
o Clemenceau – a strong body with its own army
o Lloyd George – a simple group to meet in emergencies
1921-30 – Problems Dealt with by the League
• 1921 – Aaland Islands dispute was successful for the League
o Finland and Sweden both claimed ownership of the Aaland Islands
o Both sides threatened to go to war
o The League ruled that Finland owned the islands and Sweden accepted it
• 1921 – Upper Silesian settlement was successful for the League
o Germany and Poland both claimed ownership of Upper Silesia
o The League oversaw a peaceful plebiscite and divided the region between the
countries
• 1923 – Corfu crisis was a failure for the League
o Mussolini of Italy blamed Greece for the death of a top army general – Tellini – and
demanded compensation
o The Greeks refused to pay resulting in Mussolini invading the Greek island of Corfu
o This was a violation of the covenant of the League, so Greece appealed for help
o The League condemned Mussolini’s actions however, they also recommended that
Greece pay Italy the compensation
o Italy refused to accept this, so appealed to The Conference of Ambassadors
o The Greeks were told to apologise and pay compensation directly to Italy
• 1920-29 – Vilna: Polish-Lithuanian dispute was a failure for the League
o Poland took control of the Lithuanian capital, Vilna
o Lithuania appealed to the League and the League protested to Poland
o The Poles did not pull out
• 1925 – Bulgaria was a success for the League
o Some Greek soldiers were killed on the border with Bulgaria
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, History Conflict and Co-operation 1918-39 Paper One
o Greek troops invaded Bulgaria who appealed to the League for help
o The League ruled that both should stand down and the Greeks must withdraw
o Britain and France backed the ruling resulting in the Greeks obeying
• In some of these cases internationalism triumphed whilst in others, nationalism did
• When Britain and France worked together to back the League, they were successful
1920s – Disarmament
• It was the League’s role to ensure that all countries followed through with the disarmament
process as stated in the treaties
• It largely failed in this aim
• At the Washington Conference in 1921, the USA, Japan, Britain and France agreed to limit
the size of their navies however, this was as far as it got
• This was particularly damaging to the League’s reputation in Germany as it had disarmed
• International agreements occurred during the 1920s
o 1922 – Rapallo Treaty – the USSR and Germany re-established diplomatic relations
o 1924 – Dawes Plan – the USA loaned money to Germany to help stabilise it and pay
reparations
o 1925 – Locarno Treaties – Germany finally accepted its western borders to be as set
out in the Treaty of Versailles
o 1928 – Kellog-Briand Pact – 65 nations agreed that they would not use force to
settle disputes
o 1929 – Young Plan – reduced the amount of German reparations
• These agreements were not carried out by the League but by the countries themselves
• However, some say these international agreements were achievements of the League as it
developed an ‘internationalist mind-set’
Outline the views of President Wilson about peace-making in 1919. [5]
Outline the views of Lloyd George about peace making in 1919. [5]
Describe the main concerns of Lloyd George and Clemenceau at the Paris Peace Conference in
1919. [5]
Outline the setting up of the League of Nations in 1919-20. [5]
Outline the punishment of Germany’s allies in the treaties at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.
[5]
Outline the attempts by the League of Nations to maintain international peace in the 1920s. [5]
Explain why the League was un/successful at solving some disputes between nations in the 1920s.
[5]
Explain why there were disagreements between the Big Three at the peace talks in Paris in 1919.
[10]
Explain why there were protests against the Treaty of Versailles when it was issued in 1919. [10]
4
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