A full in depth notes summary of AQA GCSE Conflict and Tension. These notes managed to get me a grade 8 on my AQA History GCSE in 2022. All notes have been made using class notes, teacher notes and AQA History guides. All notes that i have made are Dyslexia friendly, are colourful and easy to read!
Conflict and Tension Revision
Aims of the Peace keepers
- In January 1919, 32 countries met in the Palace of Versailles to decide the
terms of the final terms of the treaty. This was known as the Paris Peace
Conference.
- The Big 3 lead the discussions (David Lloyd George; Britain, Georges
Clemenceau; France and Woodrow Wilson; USA)
- There was a lot of pressure on these leaders because they had to make a
deal that would keep everyone happy.
Georges Clemenceau- Prime Minister of France
- Wanted Germany to pay reparations for France to rebuild areas as they
were badly affected by war.
- Wanted revenge on all the lives lost
- Aimed to weakened Germany so they could never attack again
- Wanted to push the German border back to the Rhineland, so the French
would feel safer
David Lloyd George- Prime Minister of Britain
- Wanted a cautious approach, as the British public wanted Germany to be
punished but Lloyd George was scared that it would make Germany angry
and want revenge
- Wanted to keep Germany strong, so they could trade together and to act
as a buffer to communism
- Aimed to gain German colonies to add to the British Empire
- Wanted navel supremacy by reducing Germanys navy
Woodrow Wilson- President of USA
- Wanted a fair peace so Germany wouldn’t seek revenge
- Proposed the 14 points, which included him finding the League of Nations,
self-determination and freedom of the seas. However, the American public
didn’t want the USA to get involved in European affairs again.
Terms of the treaty
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28 1919. The final treaty was a
DIKTAT (fair) and Germany wasn’t allowed to negotiate the terms. The
Germans were devastated by the final terms and the Big 3 wasn’t really
satisfied either. The terms that Germany had to agree to was:
- Article 231: the war guilt clause
- Article 232: reparations, the amount was set at 6.6 million £ in 1921.
- The German Navy was restricted to 15,000 men and only 1500 officers.
- Anschluss (Germany uniting with Austria) was forbidden
- German navy was only allowed 6 battleships
- The LON was formed and Germany wasn’t allowed to join
- Germany wasn’t allowed tanks, submarines or an air force
- The German army was only allowed 100,000 men
- Germany was split into 2 by the Polish Corridor
, - Conscription (compulsory military service) was not allowed
- The Sarr was given to the LON to control for 15 years
- The Rhineland was Demilitarised (no army was allowed in that area)
- Germanies colonies were given to the LON as Mandates (a former colony
that was assigned to the LON to be governed, until it was ready to be
looked after itself)
Did the big 3 achieve their aims??
Each of the Big 3 had different aims and all achieved some of their aims, but
were they happy overall?
Georges Clemenceau achieved aims-
- France gained Alsace-Lorraine
- Germany had no army present in the Rhineland
Georges Clemenceau aims unachieved-
- The reparations weren’t as high as France wanted it to be
- Germany was allowed to have an army, even a small one
- The Rhineland not being completely taken away from Germany
David Lloyd George achieved aims-
- Britain achieved naval supremacy over Germany
- The British Empire gained more colonies
David Lloyd George aims unachieved-
- The reparations were harsh, meaning Britain would lose trade with
Germany
- The threat of possible future war as the Germans were unhappy
Woodrow Wilson achieved aims-
- The creation of the League of Nations
Woodrow Wilson aims unarchived-
- The 14 points were ignored in the treaty terms
- The harshness of the treaty terms
Why couldn’t the big 3 get everything they wanted??
- Europe was falling apart after the war, so the big 3 were under preacher to
reach an agreement quick.
- Wilson wanted the USA to join the LON but the US Senate followed a
policy of isolationism and refused this
- Wilson and Lloyd George now disagreed over the og terms of the
armistice that Germany signed in November 1918
- During the war, countries had been promised rewards for joining on the
side of the Allies, for example Italy was promised land, but the big 3 had to
keep these promises, even if †hey weren’t in everyone’s best interest.
- Big 3 had different and contrasting aims
How did the Allies react to the treaty of Versailles?
Britain-
, - Propaganda during the war taught brits to despise Germans and lots of
British soldiers were killed in the war
- British people thought the treaty was fair and that it could have been
harsher
- Lloyd George was seen as a hero and newspapers in Britain wouldn’t be
threatened by Germany again
France-
- Many people in France were angry and believed that the treaty was not
harsh enough and that Germany should suffer as much as France had
during the war
- People felt Clemenceau had not done enough to get revenge for France
and he was voted out in the next election.
- There were a few terms that the people of France liked, such as gaining
control of the Saar and its coalfields for 15 years.
USA-
- The USA had only joined the war in 1917 and no fighting took place on US
soil, so Americans didn't want revenge or compensation in the same way that
the British and French did.
- Many people felt that the treaty was too harsh, including Wilson
- The US wanted to follow a policy of isolationism
- The US Senate refused to approve the treaty or to allow the USA to join the
League of Nations
Why did German people hate the treaty so much?
- The war guilt clause, meaning that Germany accepted all responsibility for
starting the war, was particularly hated.
- They had been told they were winning the war, so felt they had been stabbed
in the back and betrayed by the government. People called those who had
signed the armistice the November criminals
- People were starving because Britain had blockaded the German ports during
the war, so little food had been imported into Germany. They were desperate
and needed help, they didn't see how they could cope with the punishments
they were facing.
- The Kaiser had been forced to abdicate before the treaty was signed, so there
was uncertainty about how the country would be run. People also felt that the
person who was responsible for the war (Kaiser) had been punished, so there
was no need for more.
- The German people felt vulnerable, they were hated by their old memories
and without a large army to defend them, they could easily be attacked.
- 13% of land was lost to other countries, so 6million German people found that
they were no longer living in Germany.
- The German people felt that the treaty was focused on them and that they
were not allowed to negotiate the terms. It was called DIKTAT which means
forced peace
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