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International Relations 1919-1963

The Peace settlements of 1919

Europe had been drawn up into two armed camps by the beginning of the seconddecade of the C.20th. Each great power in Europe sought to gain pre-eminence andthis caused great tensions and ealousy. Throughout the period 1900-191! there were aseries of crises which could ha"e spar#ed a maor war$ but it was only when theassassination of %rchdu#e &ran'-&erdinand of %ustria-(ungary by a )erb nationalist in)arae"o in 191! occurred that a maor war bro#e out. The countries of the twoarmed camps pledged to support each other and Europe was plunged into a war.

The two armed camps were*

The Triple Alliance - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

The Triple Entente - rance, Russia and Great !ritain"

+any other countries were in"ol"ed$ including ,apan and the )% after 191/. TheEmpires of the reat Powers were also in"ol"ed in the conflict which caused the warto widen into a orld ar.

The suffering of the participants in the reat ar was so appalling$ that when the warcame to an end in 3o"ember 1914$ many hoped ne"er to repeat such an e5perienceagain$ and a mood of pacifism grew in the 1920s.

&rance had suffered particularly badly in the war$ so when the diplomats met at theParis Peace Conference in 1919$ their representati"es$ led by Prime +inister Georges#lemenceau$ pledged to ma#e ermany pay.

6ritain$ led by Prime +inister $a%id &loyd-George$ was more sympathetic toermany. 7loyd-eorge realised that if ermany was harshly punished this wouldcause great resentment amongst the ermans and could cause tensions in the future.(e also belie"ed that a strong ermany would be a good trading partner for 6ritain$and that a healthy erman economy would pre"ent the rise of e5tremist parties eitherCommunists or &ascists. 8n the other hand 7loyd-eorge had to listen to 6ritish

public opinion which was calling for ermany to be s:uee'ed until the pips s:uea#;

The other great "ictorious power was the )%. 7ed by President 'oodro( 'ilson$the %mericans had no great desire to punish the ermans.

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- lose all of its colonies- lose most of its army$ na"y and all its airforce- lose huge territories in Europe- pay reparationsof =>.> billion.

The ermans hated the Treaty of ?ersailles and throughout the 1920s and 19@0s herpoliticians tried to re"erse the terms of the treaty.

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DussiaFs losses were the greatest. Dussia had surrendered to ermany in 191/ and lost hugeterritories by the Treaty o* !rest-&ito%s. 191/.

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The 7eague of 3ations

The concept of a 7eague of 3ations to deal with international problems

was the brainchild of 'oodro( 'ilson.

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% second fatal wea#ness was the fact that the 7eague of 3ations did not ha"e an army.

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)ocial problems

The 7eague blac#listed four large erman$ Iutch$ &rench and )wiss companies$ whichwere in"ol"ed in the illegal drug trade.

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security would call for the leadership of 6ritain and &rance$ but this was "irtuallyimpossible as both countries were in the grip of depression and were immersed in the

problems of maintaining their own empires. 6ritain and &rance$ acting for the 7eagueof 3ations$ were not strong enough to force ,apan out of China$ and neither countrywanted to ris# their colonies in the &ar East. This was appeasement$ 6ritain and

&rance had undermined the 7eague of 3ations in return for short term peaceG ,apangot away with adding +anchuria later called 2anchu.uo to its empire.

The 7eague appeared to ta#e some action o"er the +anchurian

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Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia

The crisis o"er %byssinia came to a head in the %utumn of 19@A. +ussolini demandede5tensi"e territories in %byssinia. Emperor (aile )elassie of %byssinia appealed to the7eague of 3ations for help. Through the 7eague of 3ations 6ritain ga"e theimpression that it would stand up to any

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Mussolini and Hitler: the Rome-Berlin Axis Agreement of 19!

(itlerFs foreign policy aims

(itler aimed to ma#e ermany into a great power again and this he hoped to achie"eby*

N destroying the hated ?ersailles settlement$N building up the army$N reco"ering lost territory such as the )aar and the Polish Corridor$ andN bringing all ermans within the Deich.

This last aim would in"ol"e the anne5ation of %ustria and the ac:uisition of territoryfrom C'echoslo"a#ia and Poland$ both of which had large erman minorities as aresult of ?ersailles.

There is some disagreement about what$ if anything$ (itler intended beyond theseaims. +ost historians belie"e that the anne5ation of %ustria and parts of

C'echoslo"a#ia and Poland was only a beginning$ to be followed by the sei'ure of therest of C'echoslo"a#ia and Poland and by the con:uest and permanent occupation ofDussia as far east as the ral +ountains. This would gi"e him what the ermans calledlebensraumli"ing space which would pro"ide food for the erman people and anarea$ in which the e5cess erman population could settle and colonise. %n additionalad"antage was that communism would be destroyed. (owe"er$ not all historians agreeabout these further aimsG %.,.P. Taylor$ for e5ample$ claims that (itler ne"er intendeda maor war and at most was prepared for only a limited war against Poland.

hate"er the truth about his long-term intentions$ (itler began his foreign policy witha series of brilliant successes one of the main reasons for his popularity in ermany.

6y the end of 19@4 almost e"ery one of (itlerFs aims had been achie"ed$ without warand with the appro"al of 6ritain. 8nly the ermans of Poland remained to be brought

9

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within the Deich. nfortunately$ it was when he failed to achie"e this by peacefulmeans that (itler too# his fateful decision to in"ade Poland.

19@@ (itler promises to get bac# all that was lost by the Treaty of

?ersailles. (e promises to ma#e ermany powerful and to gainlebensraumli"ing space for the %ryan master-race.

19@! (itler introduces conscription for the army. (e orders the build up ofsubmarines$ tan#s and an airforce. This rearmament was strictlyforbidden by the Treaty of ?ersailles.

(itler bac#s a 3a'i coup in %ustria$ but it fails when +ussolinimobili'es

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19@> with the aim of ma#ing ermany sel-sufficient. +ore raw materials$ such as coal$oil$ iron and other metals were produced and synthetic raw materials$ such as rubber$fuel and te5tiles were de"eloped. The &our ear Plan was e5pensi"e and had not madeermany self-sufficient by 19@9$ o"er a third of raw materials were still ha"ing to beimported.

hen it was ob"ious that ermany could not achie"e self-sufficiency$ the 3a'isdecided to ta#e o"er or dominate countries with the raw materials and food it needede.g. 3orway B iron ore$ C'echoslo"a#ia B metals$ #raine B wheat$ Domania B oil.This was the policy of lebensraumli"ing space.

This economic KneedF to attac# other countries matched up con"eniently with long held3a'i beliefs about erman superiority. (itler promised to loo# for lebensrauminEastern Europe in +ein ampf. (e ustified erman aggression by claiming racialsupremacy o"er the )la"s sla"es and ,ews. 6y ta#ing control of Eastern Europeancountries (itler was e5panding erman power and prestige$ gaining access to cheap or

free raw materials$ gaining territory for the ermans and gaining an opportunity toe5terminate )la"s and ,ews. (itlerFs 19!1 attac# on the ))D was also a product ofthe long term 3a'i hatred of communism.

Dearmament 19@!-19@9

%fter the appalling casualties of the &irst orld ar a "iew de"eloped that the mosteffecti"e way to a"oid war in the future would be to reduce weapons through amonitored system of world disarmament. 6ut no country was willing to gi"e up itsarms if other countries were not going to follow suit.

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Encouraged by +ussoliniFs fall out with 6ritain and &rance$ (itler too# the ris# ofsending troops into the demilitarised 'one of the Dhineland in +arch 19@>. Though thetroops had orders to withdraw at the first sign of &rench opposition$ no resistance wasoffered beyond the usual protests. This was a "ital step in rebuilding erman power.

)trong fortifications and forces here would stop &rance coming to the help of her EastEuropean allies.

hy did 6ritain and &rance not inter"eneH

&rance and 6ritain did nothing to pre"ent the remilitarisation of the Dhineland. The&rench were ner"ous of going to war without 6ritainFs bac#ing. +any 6ritish

politicians felt that (itler should be allowed to go Linto his own bac# gardenM. The6ritish public did not yet see (itler as a threat$ rather he seemed a strong potential allyagainst 6olshe"i# Dussia.

The )panish Ci"il ar 19@>-19@9

The )panish Ci"il ar was a conflict between Dight-wingO&ascist army rebels$ lead byeneral &ranco$ against the 7eft wing Depublican go"ernment$ bac#ed by armedwor#ers militias. hat transformed the conflict was the EuropeanOinternationaldimension* &ranco loo#ed to &ascist erman and $000erman troops. )o the Depublican side in )pain was forced to appeal to )o"iet Dussia.

)talin agreed$ sending to )pain hundreds of military ad"isers and e:uipment. The+oscow-based international Communist organisation the Communist

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Comintern put out an appeal to all countries to "olunteer to fight on theDepublican side in

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?ienna$ ra' and 7in'$ which #hancellor chuschnigg8sgo"ernment could notcontrol. Dealising that this could be the prelude to a erman in"asion$ )chuschniggannounced a plebiscite about whether or not %ustria should remain independent. (itlerdecided to act before this too# place$ in case the "ote went against unionG ermantroops mo"ed in and %ustria became part of the ThirdReich.

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established a huge networ# of military defences on the erman border #nown as the2aginot &ine.

6etween 191/-19!0 &ranceFs democracy produced !! go"ernments under 20 differentPrime +inisters. This rapid change of go"ernments left &rance wea# and di"ided.

There were deep di"isions between left and right wing parties. This decline depri"ed6ritain of the one strong ally who could ha"e helped to stand up to ermany. &renchwea#ness was one of the main reasons why 6ritain and &rance did not stand up toermany in the mid 19@0s.

)udetenland and the +unich %greement 19@4

%fter theAnschluss(itler turned his attention to C'echoslo"a#ia and the three million)udeten ermans. The region was now bordered by ermany on @ sides.

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(itler encouraged and supported the )udeten ermansF claim for self-determination.

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The 3a'i-)o"iet Pact was a disaster for 6ritain. They had now lost a potential ally.The ))D was the only country that could ha"e helped 6ritain stop a erman in"asionof Poland.

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Poland$ Dussia in"aded from the East. &aced with two enemies and a lac# of modernweapons$ Poland was torn apart.

Test yoursel*

+a#e sure you ha"e completed your re"ision. ou should then be able to answer thefollowing :uestions without too much trouble*

hich 6ritish Prime +inister is most closely associated with appeasementH

3ame three countries that were appeased by 6ritain in the 19@0s.

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hich agreement between ermany and Dussia pre"ented Dussia from

declaring war on ermany in 19@9H

hat is the erman word for the eastward e5pansion of ermanys frontiers in

the 19@0s and !0s which aimed to pro"ide new lands for the erman peopleH

hy was 6ritain reluctant to formalise a defensi"e alliance with Dussia in the

19@0sH