Chapter 16 - The State of International Relations by 1923

• When was the Russian Civil War?

  November 1917 - October 1922
• What happened in February 1919?

  Beginning of Polish-Soviet War
• What happened on 18th March 1921?

  Treaty of Riga concluded the Polish-Soviet War
• When was the Washington Disarmament Conference?

  12th November 1921 - 6th February 1922
• What happened on 16th April 1922?

  Treaty of Rapallo signed by the USSR and Germany
• What happened in January 1923?

  French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr begins
• What happened in August 1923?

  Beginning of the Corfu incident
• What was the position of the USA in world affairs in the early 1920s?

  • Despite its formal rejection of the TOV and the LON, the true extent of their "isolationism" has been questioned
  • Warren Harding (Republican) had been elected with a majority of 7mil votes with a promise of a "return to normalcy", removing wartime restrictions and increasing gov controls
  • Harding said in his inaugural speech "we do not mean to be entangled"
  • However, Harding and his Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, realised that American interests would not be best served by total economic and diplomatic isolationism
  • They were concerned about controlling the nature and extent of the USA's involvement in world affairs though
• What did Hughes and Herbert Hoover (Secretary of Commerce) hope to encourage and how was this perceived?

  • They hoped to encourage the development of European countries
  • This was a popular idea with US businessmen who saw opportunities for investment abroad -
  • It also increased the ability of debtor nations to repay the total $3bil lent by the USA in WW1
• What did America do after the Paris Peace Conference and how did European countries respond?

  • America called in its loans to its former allies
  • Debtor nations Britain, France and Belgium protested as their economic recovery from wartime was slow and Germany was yet to begin paying reparations
• How did America respond to debtor nations' protests?

  • Their attitude was unsympathetic
  • The American gov therefore introduced protective tariffs in 1921 and 1922
• How did Harding use protective tariffs to help US farmers?

  • Farmers were suffering from the effects of peacetime
  • During the war, they had new markets in Europe and invested in new equipment to increase their production
  • Now Europe could produce more of its own food again, US farmers had too much food and not enough customers, and so prices plummeted
  • Harding passed the Emergency Tariff to solve this issue
• What did the Emergency Tariff do?

  Increased duties on food imports
• What was the Emergency Tariff followed by and what did this do?

  • It was followed by a more general tariff
  • This cancelled out the lower price of European imports (which were manufactured by lower paid workers) to the USA
• What did other nations do in response to the USA's protective tariffs?

  • Introduced retaliatory tariffs
  • This restricted world trade as more consumers bought domestic products
• How did the USA still involve itself in international negotiations despite not being in the LON?

  • Though they were committed to a large degree of economic isolation, they operated outside of the LON to pursue their own foreign policy objectives
  • This fitted with the doctrine of isolationism as it allowed the US to negotiate with other powers to America's international interests, but without committing it to the "entanglements" Republicans were so keen to avoid
• What international negotiation did America involve itself in in particular?

  Worldwide disarmament
• Why was America keen to be involved in worldwide disarmament?

  • It was the fourth of Wilson's 14 points
  • However, under the TOV, only Germany was to be disarmed, and in the subsequent central and Eastern European treaties, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey also had military restrictions placed upon them
  • Public opinion in many countries was strongly in favour of disarmament
  • The unresolved tension between the USA and Japan over their spheres of influence in the pacific was of growing concern
• Who called the Washington Naval Conference?

  Harding
• Why did Harding call the Washington Naval Conference?

  • There were growing concerns about the increasing size of the Japanese navy
  • The Anglo-Japanese Agreement 1902 was due to expire in 1922, which would remove a safeguard against an imbalance in naval strength in the Pacific
• What happened after the Washington Naval Conference was called?

  The leaders of several nations met in Washington DC to conclude on a series of agreements in 1921 and 1922
• When was the Four-Power Pact signed?

  13th December 1921
• Which countries was the Four-Power Pact signed between?

  - USA- Britain- Japan- France
• What were the terms of the 1921 Four-Power Pact?

  • All nations signing the pact would consult each other in the event of a dispute over the Pacific
  • Each power would respect others' rights and interests over the Pacific Islands
• When was the Five-Power Limitation Treaty signed?

  6th February 1922
• Which countries was the Five-Power Limitation Treaty signed between?

  - USA- Britain- Japan- France- Italy
• What were the terms of the 1922 Five-Power Limitation Treaty?

  • Set a ratio for the number of large warships allowed to each signatory: for every 5 possessed by the USA and Britain, Japan could have three and France and Italy could have 1.67
  • All other military ships were to be scrapped: America. Britain and Japan disposed of 66 ships between them
  • The five powers agreed to abandon the building of more large warships for 10 years
  • This treaty remained in force until 1936 when Japan sought more favourable terms
• When was the Nine-Power Pact signed?

  6th February 1922
• Which countries was the Nine-Power Pact signed between?

  - USA - Britain- Japan- France- Italy- The Netherlands- Portugal- Belgium- China
• What were the terms of the 1922 Nine-Power Pact?

  • The use of submarines was regulated
  • The deployment of poison gas in warfare was banned
  • China's independence and borders were reasserted
• What were liberal leaders pleased to see?

  The overthrow of the autocratic Tsarist regime in Russia in favour of a provisional gov promising a Western style democracy
• What meant that the promise of a Western style democracy in Russia was neglected?

  The Bolshevik seizure of power in November 1917
• How did the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power threaten the survival of capitalist governments?

  • A communist state, especially one as large as Russia, which openly committed itself to instigating communist uprisings across the world, was a direct capitalist threat
  • Communism appealed to many in the lower classes in advanced capitalist countries like the USA and Britain, and therefore those of middle and upper class feared a revolution which would strip them of their wealth and privilege and possibly threaten their lives
  • Other countries being communist would also threaten trade as communism advocated self-sufficiency, making trading with other nations unnecessary
• Why was Russia not invited to discuss any of the post-war settlements?

  Most countries refused to formally recognise the Bolshevik gov led by Lenin
• How had attitudes to Russia (now the USSR) changed by 1922?

  • A series of events meant that they were accepted into the international community, though not to the LON
  • However, most Western leaders continued to express their deep disapproval of the regime
• What happened in the Russian Civil war almost as soon as the Bolsheviks had set up their gov?

  Counter-revolutionary forces, called the Whites, began their attack against the communist Red Army
• Describe the nature of the Russian Civil War 1917-1922

  • It was extremely bitter and exceptionally violent
  • It wasn't until 1922 that counter-revolutionaries were defeated in Siberia and the Bolsheviks could claim complete control of the country
• How did Western powers involve themselves in the Russian Civil War?

  • They were attempting to strangle Bolshevism in its cradle by intervening on the side of the Whites
  • This would sour relations between Russia and the West for decades
  • British, American, French, Japanese, Czech and Polish forces launched a series of attacks 1918-21, often separate and uncoordinated
  • This proved fruitless as the Red Army exploited its home advantages
• What helped to cement the Bolsheviks' reputation as tyrants in the West?

  • The "Red Terror" - brutal treatment of suspected enemies of the revolution
  • It has been argued, however, that similar atrocities were committed by the Whites
• What was the outcome of the Russian Civil War 1917-22?

  • The Bolsheviks won
  • The communists never forgave the Western govs for their involvement in the Civil War