IB European History

1. Peacemaking, peacekeeping – international relations 1918-36Interwar years: conflict and cooperation 1919-39 IB European History

2. Peacemaking… Aims of Wilson’s 14 Points Terms of the Paris Peace Treaties The geopolitical and economic impact of the treaties Enforcement of the provisions of the treaties The League of Nations The Ruhr Crisis (1923) and the “Locarno Spring” (1925) Depression and threats to international peace and collective security

3. Interwar years… Germany 1919-33: political, constitutional, economic, financial, and social problems Italy 1919-33: political, constitutional, economic, financial, and social problems Impact of the Great Depression Spanish Civil War Hitler’s domestic and foreign policy (1933-39) Search for collective security: appeasement in the interwar years

4. Action Plan Aims of Wilson’s 14 Points Terms of the Paris Peace Treaties The geopolitical and economic impact of the treaties Enforcement of the provisions of the treaties The League of Nations Germany 1919-33: political, constitutional, economic, financial, and social problems The Ruhr Crisis (1923) and the “Locarno Spring” (1925) Italy 1919-33: political, constitutional, economic, financial, and social problems Depression and threats to international peace and collective security Impact of the Great Depression Spanish Civil War Hitler’s domestic and foreign policy (1933-39) Search for collective security: appeasement in the interwar years

5. The League of Nations The goal was to create an organization that would prevent war and resolve conflict by discussing issues in a peaceful manner Woodrow Wilson had talked about the League of Nations in his Fourteen Points (Point 14) The formation of the League was one of Wilson's most important goals Many people supported the idea as they believed it could keep peace between nations The League Covenant was written into the Versailles Treaty and so all those who signed the treaty would become members of the League

7. The Covenant The Covenant was made up of 26 articles The most important one was Article X which stated that "all members undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and political independence of all members of the League"  This was the idea of collective security. If one nation was under threat, the others would have to defend it even if it was of no interest to themselves and regardless of the outcome

8. So? This meant that money and military staff would have to be sacrificed if ever one nation was under threat.  The main goal of the League was to prevent further conflict but it also dealt with humanitarian and economic problems There was the mandate commissions, the refugee department, the slavery commission, the drugs department as well as an International Court of Justice and an International Labor Organization

9. A few issues… absence of major powers USA never joined, USSR and Germany excluded USSR and Germany did not support the Versailles Treaty nor the League as they had been excluded from these and Germany was blamed for starting the war. This created tension instead of a reconciliation that Wilson had proposed.

12. Germany & USSR The USSR was weak after the war but once it regained it strength it would potentially become a major threat due to its exclusion from the League and wanting to recover the territory it had lost  Since Germany and the USSR were excluded from the League, once they regained strength and sought to recover their lost territory, it excluded the possibility to discuss the terms of the settlement and negotiate a compromise, instead it would lead to an inevitable conflict. As soon as the USSR and Germany regained their strength, the new small states in Europe would be under threat

13. Treaty of Rapallo (1922) The exclusion of both of these countries also lead to the Treaty of Rapallo which represented a major threat for the League as these two where both major powers that now where co-operating economically and militarily. It also undermined the terms of the Treaty of Versailles as Germany could increase its armament and train military staff in the USSR without the League knowing. Since Germany was not producing arms in the USSR, the effectiveness of the disarmament process that the League had worked on was greatly reduced  Because the League excluded the defeated nations it angered the USSR and Germany and both of these saw the League as an enemy which undermined the goal of peace keeping

14. US isolationism The most important loss for the League was the USA The USA was the only country which had emerged stronger after the end of the war All other countries where in debt while the USA was wealthy The USA had the greatest power to intervene in case of tension between countries which could lead to possible conflicts Affected the purpose and power of the League Collective security depended on collective action The status of the league was greatly diminished When the USA refused to be part of the League and provide guaranteed military support to France, Britain also withdrew from the military guarantee

17. See ya… The USA and Britain went back into isolationism France and Britain had very different mind sets about the treaty and Germany, Britain wanted Germany to rebuild its economy for the purpose of trade and France wanted to make it as hard as possible for Germany to recover economically as it was worried about a German attack in the future. This created conflict within the League. More important countries dropped out of the League between 1919 and 1939, this included Italy and Japan This weakened the League even further

18. Collective Security The idea of collective security was a new one In the past alliances had been made between countries with similar interests The major problems of collective security where that it obliged nations to give up their freedom of action and also nations might be forced to go to war against other nations with whom they might have a good relationship with, profit from their trade or then nations which could be much stronger than themselves and cause a lot of damage The absence of three major powers, USA, Germany and USSR meant that collective security had little chance of succeeding Also France and Britain who where both part of the League where growing further apart due to disagreement on how to deal with Germany. In an event of an attack there was the possibility that they would disagree on how to react

19. Early Attempts at Peacekeeping 1920-1925 The League had a mandate to resolve conflicts between nations so that peace could be maintained The League intervened in many conflicts, some in which it did so successfully, others in which it failed to resolve conflict The successful interventions include the Greco-Bulgarian War of 1925 and Upper Silesia  The failed interventions include Vilna, the Russo-Polish War, the Seizure Fiume and the Ruhr invasion

20. Ruhr Crisis 1923 France was afraid for its security after the Anglo-American Guarantee was denied and disagreed with Britain about how to deal with Germany. Britain wanted Germany to be able to rebuild its economy so that it could benefit from the trade.

21. France enters the Ruhr France's goal was to weaken the German economy has much as possible through reparations France also needed these reparations to pay its debts to the USA When Germany missed a delivery of timber as part of her reparations, France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr region Britain was strongly against this

22. France’s goal The goal of France was to collect the missed payment from the Germans by taking the goods from the mines and factories and shipping them to France The German workers did not co-operate with the French, instead they protested by destroying the goods, the mines and the factories Poster: German worker practicing passive resistance

23. Effect of the Ruhr Crisis on the German Economy • The Weimar Government attempted to support its workers. • It printed more paper money, which depreciated its value. • Everyday goods cost billions of marks. • The middle class was hit the hardest. • All of their savings were wiped out. • They became cynical and pessimistic about the future. • This led to susceptibility to extremists like Hitler. • The Allies saw that the German economy and government were close to completely collapsing. • Collapsed Germany meant no reparation payments and a failing European economy. • Anarchy could ensue, which could lead to the embrace of communism.

24. What caused hyperinflation? French occupation of the Ruhr Weimar Republic: Shortages and Reparations: Print more money WW1 German gov print more money to pay for war Strikers spend money quickly Prices rise Strikers need paying Print more money Passive resistance: Worker strike Nothing being produced. As prices rise more money is printed Prices rise and so on… Who do you think gets the blame for the economic disaster?

25. A political cartoon showing the overprinting of marks during the Great Inflation. A chart showing the inflation of the German mark from the end of World War I to 1923.

26. Hitler and the Nazi’s took advantage of the chaos caused by the Ruhr crisis and staged a revolt in Munich. It failed and Hitler was arrested. More to be discussed later… Why did Hitler carry out The Munich Putsch 1923

28. U.S. Involvement in the Ruhr Crisis • The United States was the wealthiest nation in the world during this time. • French and British debts to the U.S. were being paid back through the collection of reparations from Germany. • Charles Dawes developed a plan for economic relief. • The Dawes plan rescheduled Germany’s reparation payments. • The deadlines were longer and the amount decreased. • American capital went into German businesses and government bonds.

29. Dawes Plan • A committee with members from the U.S., Great Britain, France, Belgium and Italy was set up to resolve the crisis. • Its recommendations, known as the Dawes Plan after American financier Charles G. Dawes, were adopted by Germany and the Allies. • German financial reforms included stabilizing the mark. • A new schedule of reparation payments was adopted. • French troops were withdrawn from the Ruhr. • Massive loans were extended to Germany, mostly from the U.S. • The Dawes Plan temporarily rescued the German economy, but when the Great Depression hit and U.S. loans were called in, the German economy crashed.

30. A diagram depicting the exchange of money in the Dawes Plan.

31. Success and Failures The successes of the League usually involved small or medium powered nations which wanted to avoid war and so the League managed to enforce a settlement on these disputes The failures of the League usually involved major powers who where not interested in keeping the peace or did not agree with the League's settlement and would not submit to it

33. Disputes arose within the League itself  In the conflict between Turkey and Greece of 1920-1923 Britain and France took opposite sides France and Britain disagreed on how to deal with Germany which made tension grow between these two members of the League Peacekeeping was made increasingly difficult when the members of the League themselves could not resolve their own conflicts 

34. Locarno Treaty (1925) The appointment of Gustav Stresmann as chancellor of Germany changed everything Stresmanncalled off the resistance in the Ruhr and announced that Germany would agree to the obligations set by the Treaty of Versailles, it would also accept its current borders with France and Belgium

35. Locarno Treaty (1925) The Locarno Treaty was an agreement made between Belgium, France, the UK and Germany in which Germany agreed to accept its western boundaries as it was agreed in the Versailles Treaty Germany accepted its borders with France and Belgium and these borders where guaranteed by the UK and Italy. In addition, Germany would become a member of the League of Nations. This was a step towards Franco-German reconciliation and it meant that Germany could start to grow economically again without being a threat to Western Europe

36. So? This was a step towards Franco-German reconciliation and it meant that Germany could start to grow economically again without being a threat to Western Europe It also meant that France and Britain could reconcile over the differences that drove these two apart (how to deal with Germany) The Eastern borders of Germany had not been fixed however as Britain refused to guarantee the countries to the east of Germany. This lead Germany to believe that it could change its eastern borders with little objection from the Allies. 

38. Results 1935 1937 The Locarno Treaty resulted in a sense of excitement and optimism Tension between the Allies and Germany was finally resolving which meant that a sense of peace was present Germany obtained a permanent seat on the League council The Allied troops from the left bank the Rhine where removed The supervision of Germany's disarmament stopped in 1927 By 1930 Germany was an independent state again