Conflict and tension

• GCSE History Conflict and Tension, 1918-1939
• Paper 1, Section B
• Exam details: 1 hr 45 minutes for Paper 1, Spend 50 minutes on Section B, Questions: 4 mark "source analysis", 12 mark "usefulness of sources", 8 mark "write an account", 20 mark (including 4 marks for SPaG) "how far do you agree"
• 1917 - USA joined, provided Britain & France with equipment & fresh troops
• 1917 - Russia left (revolution)
• 1918 - Germany suffering starvation (due to blockades), mutinies & influenza outbreak
• 1918 - Germany surrendered 11th Nov (signed Armistice), Kaiser abdicates
• Jan 1919-Paris Peace Conference, 32 countries sent delegates, Defeated countries & Russia (Communist) not invited
• Major decisions taken by "Big Three"
• Woodrow Wilson-USA


  Idealist, priority= world peace, G to be punished but not too harshly or will seek revenge, 'Fourteen Points' (self-determination; freedom of seas, L of N), Lenient because USA hadn't suffered much in WW1! Only lost 100,000 men
• Georges Clemenceau-Fr


  Make Germany Pay/REVENGE! French public demanded this, Had seen Germany invade France twice in his life, Get Alsace Lorraine back, France was severely damaged in WW1 (1.4 million men killed, lost 60% young men, industry and 4,000 sq. mile farmland damaged)
• David Lloyd George- GB


  Compromise between the two, Like Wilson, don't punish G too harshly, lost 1 million men from across their empire = British public anger, won an election campaign in Dec 1918 promising to 'squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak' and to "hang the Kaiser"! Probably only said it to win election!
• Clemenceau's Aims at the Paris Peace Conference


  • Security for France – prevent another attack on its frontiers
  • Keep Germany weak, make it difficult to recover
  • Disarm them
  • Gain back Alsace and Lorraine
  • Reparations – Germany to pay France for the cost of the damage France had suffered in the war
• Lloyd George's Aims at the Paris Peace Conference


  • Maintain supremacy of navy
  • Prevent settlement being too harsh – Germany may turn to communism and they needed the German economy to recover as Britain depended on their trade for money
• Wilson's Aims at the Paris Peace Conference

  • New standards into public life – trustful and open relations between countries
  • European borders reorganised according to self-determination
  • Faith in the creation of a peace keeping organisation – the League of Nations
• Wilson's 14 Point Programme

  • End of secret treaties
  • Freedom of the seas
  • Reductions in armies and weapons
  • Future of colonies to be decided fairly
  • German troops to leave Russia
  • Belgium to be restored to independence
  • Alsace and Lorraine back to France
  • People of Austria-Hungary to be given independence
  • Serbia to be restored
  • An independent Poland to be set up with a port – Danzig
  • Formation of an association of nations to guarantee peace – League of Nations
• The Treaty of Versailles, June 1919
• The Treaty of Versailles can be remembered as TRAWL:

  • Territory – East (Polish Corridor), West (Alsace&Lorraine, Eupen&Malmady, Saar), Empire (mandates to GB/France)
  • Reparations - £6.6 billion, set 1921
  • Army – 100,000 men, no conscription, no tanks/subs/aircraft, navy: 6 battleships, 15,000 men. Rhineland demilitarised.
  • War Guilt – Clause 231. Total blame for war = have to pay reparations
  • League of Nations – created 1919. One of Wilson's 14 points. Germany/Russia not allowed to join at start.
• Military Restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles

  • Army limited to 100,000
  • No conscription allowed
  • No tanks, subs or aircraft
  • Navy: 6 battleships, only 15,000 men
  • Rhineland demilitarised
• Territorial changes in the Treaty of Versailles

  • West Europe: Alsace-Lorraine back to Fr, Anschluss forbidden (unite with A-H), Saar coalfields under protection of League – after 15 yrs plebiscite would be held, Eupen & Melmedy given to Belgium, North Schleswig given to Denmark
  • East Europe: Poland became an independent country, Polish Corridor given to Poland (separating Germany from East Prussia) so they had access to the Port of Danzig
  • Germany lost 10% of its land & 12.5% of its population!
• War Guilt (article 231) - Germany forced to accept responsibility for the war – accepting blame for war meant you had to accept paying costs of war

  
• Reparations - £6.6 billion, set in 1921, To be paid over 42 years
• League of Nations - Set up to keep international peace. Germany banned! Russia not allowed. One of Wilson's 14 points
• Germany made peace with Russia in 1917 at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Russia had been forced to give large amount of land and money to Germany.
• This gave the Allies some idea of how Germany would treat the defeated nations if it had been victorious
• Allied Reaction to the ToV

  • Britain: Britons had little sympathy towards Germans because of wartime propaganda. Civilians had suffered food shortages too. Britons were ready to make Germany pay! Lloyd George said "we will have to fight another war in 25 years' time, and at three times the cost!" Lloyd George was concerned that the loss of German land and people to Poland would cause huge problems in the future, especially if those people were determined to be part of Germany once again. Lloyd George also felt that reparations were too harsh as Britain would lose an important trade partner. Lloyd George was pleased that the British Empire gained extra colonies and now covered 1/3 of the globe. Also, the German navy was restricted so that Britain could 'rule the waves' without competition.
  • France: Most of the fighting took place in France and the country was badly affected by the war >>the French were determined to make Germany pay! French people pleased that there was no longer a German threat in the Rhineland and that they would be receiving reparations. They were also given control of the Saar area for 15 years, Germany's rich coalfields helping them financially. However, many were furious at the Treaty and thought it should have been much tougher. Clemenceau was angry that Germany was allowed to retain an army and felt the Rhineland should have been completely taken away from Germany. Felt the Saar should have been given to France permanently. Thought the reparations total of £6,600 million was too small a sum.
  • USA: America only joined the war in 1917 and so many people in the US felt that the Treaty was unfair on Germany. Many thought that Wilson had helped Britain and France become more powerful and rich at Germany's expense. They also favoured isolationism- felt the US should not get involved in affairs in Europe. Had wanted a fair treaty that guaranteed peace in the future, but felt they had got the opposite. In American politics, ToV was used to criticise Wilson, by his rival party, the Republicans. The Treaty was ratified (accept or give consent) by the Senate. Republicans argued that since the Treaty had not been based on the 14 Points it was not in America's best interests and they refused to ratify it. This meant that American could not join the League of Nations. Wilson feared a harsh treaty would result in America being dragged into another war. Apart from the creation of the League of Nations most of Wilson's 14 Points were ignored. In 1924 Wilson died from a stroke, leaving the Republicans to dominate American politics for the next decade, based on politics of isolationism
• Strengths of the Treaty of Versailles

  • Brought peace to Europe
  • Set up international organisation, League of Nations to keep peace
• Weaknesses of the Treaty of Versailles

  • Germany intent on revenge and to overturn treaty – genuine grievances
  • US government did not sign the Treaty of Versailles = whole settlement was less secure. Own creator did not want to sign it!
  • Wilson came up with League of Nations idea, but US never joined = would the organisation created to enforce the treaty even work?
• The League of Nations - Wilson's idea (one of his 14 points), Vision to bring world peace by working together and solving problems, Based in Geneva, Switzerland (neutral country during WW1)
• Covenant - 26 laws that all members agreed to follow


  • Disarmament – avoid future arms races
  • Registration of all treaties to avoid secret alliances
  • Collective security (if one state attacked another, all members would join together and act against the aggressor)
• Membership - 42 founder members. 59 member countries by 1930s, defeated countries not allowed to join at first
• Germany intent on revenge and to overturn treaty – genuine grievances
• US government did not sign the Treaty of Versailles = whole settlement was less secure. Own creator did not want to sign it!
• Wilson came up with League of Nations idea, but US never joined = would the organisation created to enforce the treaty even work?
• Wilson's idea (one of his 14 points)

  Vision to bring world peace by working together and solving problems
• Covenant


  26 laws that all members agreed to follow
• Aims of the League of Nations

  • Disarmament – avoid future arms races
  • Registration of all treaties to avoid secret alliances
  • Collective security (if one state attacked another, all members would join together and act against the aggressor)
• Membership of the League of Nations

  • 42 founder members
  • 59 member countries by 1930s
  • Defeated countries & Russia not allowed to join
  • USA failed to join- Most Americans hated the idea and pursued policy of isolationism (wanted no more involvement in Europe)
  • Seen as a 'League of victors'
• Structure of the League of Nations

  • Assembly- each member country sent a rep. Met once a year at HQ in Geneva. Decisions had to be unanimous! Discussed general topics e.g. revision of treaties, admission of new members.
  • Council- smaller group of 5 permanent members (Britain, France, Italy, Japan and later Germany). 4 non-permanent members elected for a 3yr period. Met several times a yr & in emergencies Aim was to resolve disputes be negotiation if possible. Had the power to veto decisions.
  • Secretariat- international civil service- record keeping, etc. Not always effective.
  • Permanent Court of International Justice- court of 15 judges chosen from LoN countries. Se tup in the Hague in Holland (neutral). Dealt with disputes between countries over international law e.g. terms of treaties. Aimed to settle disputes peacefully. Hand no means of enforcing its decisions, relied on goodwill of member countries to enforce decisions.
  • Agencies to deal with world's major problems e.g. health and disease, slavery, refugees, labour. Hope that if world problems were tackled e.g. slavery then there wouldn't be conflict.
• Powers of the League of Nations

  • Moral sanctions - turn opinion against the guilty country
  • Economic sanctions - league members refuse to trade with guilty country
  • Military force - Member countries' armed forces could unite against the guilty country