Paris Peace Conference: The Big Three
Paris Peace Conference: The Big Three
Paris Peace Conference: The Big Three
Treaty of Versailles
Terms
1. No troops in Rhineland
2. Germany to give land to other countries
3. Put Saar under control of LON for 15 years
4. No union with Austria
Affected areas
1. Colonies
Germany’s land given to other countries.
2. Military
Only 100K men allowed
Only SIX battleships
No tanks
No submarines
No air force
3. Financial
Clause 231 (War Guilt)
Made Germany solely responsible for starting World War 1
Germany to pay reparations for compensation for war damage
Impact
Allied doubts
War guilt had humiliated Germans, thus they feared Germany wanted revenge
Feared Germany would want to take back their land which was given away
German anger
Germans resented:
Loss of territory
Loss of resources
Foreign occupation of Rhineland and Saar
Having to pay reparations
Austrians and Germans could not unite
Only Germany to reduce weapons and armed forces
League of Nations
Origins
1. Impact of World War 1
Nations appalled by horror and devastation of World War 1
Interest in LON grew
Argue for LON to be set up
2. Role of Pres Wilson
Proposed LON
Insisted that LON be part of peacemaking process
Membership
Open to all except Germany and Russia
USA opted not to join
Peacekeeping
Any quarrel to be resolved through talks before force
Help member under attack by
1. Imposing sanctions
2. Join forces to take military actions against aggressor
Powers of LON
1. The pressure of world public opinion
2. Reducing the armaments of all countries to a minimum level
3. Use of trade sanctions
4. The use of force
Structure of LON
1. Council
Consisted of 4-5 permanent members, and 4-11 non-permanent members
Must have unanimous decisions
Dealt with problems when assembly not in session
Could organize sanctions against offending state
2. Assembly
LON’s debating chamber
Met once a year
Each member state had one vote
Must have unanimous decisions
Admitted new nations and controlled budget
Elected non-permanent member of council
Establishing peace after World War 1
League of Nations
Successes:
1. Silesia
2. Aaland islands
3. Mosul In 1924, Turks demanded for Mosul, a part of Iraq. LON intervened and Turk back
down, Mosul remained part of Iraq
4. Bulgaria In 1925, Greece invaded Bulgaria, Bulgaria did not retaliate, went to LON
instead, LON then convinced Greece to back down.
5. Others 400K POW repatriated, refugees were helped in 1922, and contagious diseases
reduced, reduction of cheap labour, opium.
Failures:
1. Vilna
2. Ruhr In 1923, France took Ruhr form Germany, due to reparations issue, LON did nothing.
3. Memel
4. Corfu In 1923, Italy took Corfu, as one of their generals was killed in Greece. Greece
approached LON for help, but LON instead, forced Greece to pay compensation to Italy.
Disarmament
1. Washington Naval Conference (1921-22) Limited the number of capital ships and aircraft
carriers a country could have.
2. Locarno Treaty (1925) Permanent demilitarisation of Rhineland
Young Plan
- By Owen Young
- Reduced reparations to US$2.6 billion (one third of the original)
- Extension repayment period to 59 years
The rise and rise of Joseph Stalin
Lenin and Stalin
Title contenders
1. Trotsky
An intellectual
Great speaker, better than Stalin
Arrogant and aloof
Did not engage in politicking
Orchestrated the October Revolution
Led the Red Army to victory in the Civil War
2. Stalin
From working class/ peasant background
Inspired by Lenin
Worked his way up the ranks of Bolshevik Party
Not involved in the 1917 revolutions
Held low profile, but useful positions in the party (General Secretary of Party)
Flew under the radar, but was master of manipulation
3. Bukharin
Intellectually inquisitive
Well-liked
Could argue his case convincingly
Lacked the political cunning of Stalin
4. Zinoviev
Opposed Lenin’s idea of centralized party control
Good speaker
Not intellectual
Disliked by many colleagues
Vain, incompetent, cowardly
5. Kamenev
Opposed Lenin’s idea of centralized party control with Zinoviev
Smarter and more well-liked than Zinoviev
Not leadership material
Industrialisation
1. First five year plan
Emphasis on heavy industries – coal, iron, oil, steel, electricity, timber
Output increased tremendously
New, larger factories were built – Could handle more production
2. Weakness
Consumer goods like clothing and food were neglected
Worker not sufficiently trained to handle the demand of industrialisation
Workers constantly change jobs, causing interruptions and instability
4. Weakness
Some but still insufficient growth in consumer industries
Oil production did not meet its targets
6. Weakness
Steel and oil production failed to meet targets
Consumer industries neglected again
Many factories ran short of materials
Summary
Increased production in heavy industries, while other industries were neglected
Plagued with corruption and inefficiency
Targets set were unrealistic, so as to drive people to achieve the impossible
Started the industrialisation process for the soviet union
Collectivisation
What
Combine small farms to form larger farms called collectives
Could share farming tools and labour
Thought to be more efficient
Why
Stalin felt that with the state’s help, in terms of expertise and equipment, collectives could
produce more foods
With collectives under state control, it would be easier to procure grain
Collectivisation promoted equality, everyone was equal on the farm
Stalin didn’t want to be at the mercy of the peasants anymore
Process
Used force, terror and propaganda
Rich peasants resisted collectivisation process, as they had much to lose
They burnt their own crops and slaughtered their animals to prevent the state from taking them
Stalin declared them the class enemy and ordered them to be sent to concentration camps
Many were never seen or heard of again
Impact
Resistance saw farmers shipped to concentration camps
There was widespread chaos from forced collectivisation
Promised equipment often did not arrive on farms
Enough grain procured to feed cities, at the expense of the countryside
Between 1932 to 1934, there was famine, leaving 7 million dead
By 1934, 70% of households were in collectives, by 1941, almost all in collectives
Peasants had no incentive to work as there were no profits to be gained
Massive migration to cities to work in booming industrial sector
Summary
Although harvests decreased, state procurement increased
This kept cities well-fed and industrisation going strong
Massive human costs, 10 million deported and 10 million dead
Stalin achieved control over the countryside, something Lenin could not do.
Stalin’s dictatorship
1. Secret police
Cheka was reorganized into the NKVD and expanded
NKVD used primarily to terrorise people into obedience
And to hunt down and execute opposition to Stalin
2. Labour camps
Opposition to Stalin often found themselves shipped off to labour camps in rural Russia
They were imprisoned and had to do forced hard labour
Many were tortured or died from harsh conditions in the camp.
3. Opposition to Stalin
Many party officials were horrified at the destruction and death caused by
collectivisation
Some officials were unwilling to carry out Stalin’s order
Workers in cities were also unhappy with the harsh working and living conditions
Many who were unhappy with Stalin, supported Sergei Kirov
4. Sergei Kirov
1st Generation Bolshevik
Replaced Zinoviev as party secretary in Leningrad
Supported Stalin during power struggle
Extremely popular, speaking skill was second to Trotsky
Murdered in 1934
Was a rising political star before assassination
Stalin used this as an excuse to start the great purges
Cult of Personality
1. Why
Wanted to be seen as Lenin’s true heir
Five year plans and purges were disruptive to the society
Wanted to give the people a hero to believe in
2. Phase 1
Goal was to establish himself as Lenin’s rightful heir
Wanted to be seen as a humble and honest man
Wanted to be seen as Lenin’s faithful disciple
3. Phase 2
Cult gains momentum
Stalin receives longer and longer applauses at conferences
Stalin received birthday greeting from non-existent organisations
Portraits of him together with Marx show him as a hero of Socialism
4. Phase 3
Goal was to reassure Russians that they had a great leader to look up to
History book re-written to play up Stalin’s role in Revolution
5. Phase 4
Height of the cult
Victory in World War 2 cements Stalin’s place as war hero
Assumes semi-divine status
Childhood home becomes a shrine
6. Russian’s reaction
Some bitterly hated Stalin
Some grateful to Stalin
Achieved god-like status among many Russians
Reason for Hitler becoming Chancellor in 1933
Internal reasons
Opposition to the Weimar government
1. Left
Communist who wanted to follow the example of Russia
Used violent strategies
2. Right
Nationalists who wanted Germany to return to its glory days
Included rich industrialist and military personnel
3. Spartacist uprising
An anti-militarism and anti-capitalism group
Led by Rosa Luxemburg
Ex-soldiers helped to put down this rebellion
4. Kapp Putsch
Attempt by ex-soldiers to overthrow the government
Led by Wolfgang Kapp
Failed due to general strikes by workers
5. Munich Putsch
Led by Hitler and the Nazi Party
Inspired by Mussolini march on Rome
2. Proportional Representation
Seats in the parliament were awarded based on percentage
Led to small and divided coalition government
External reasons
1. Treaty of Versailles
Many people were unhappy that the government agreed to the unfair treaty, as they
felt that the soldiers were not losing the war.
The November criminals were the communist, Jews and member of the Weimar
republic
2. Reichstag elections
o Very violent election campaign
o All political parties meeting were disrupted
o Nazis were in charge of the police
o Auxiliary policemen were used, the SA and SS, to target the fiercest rivals, the
communist and Socialists
o People were arrested on the pretext of being communists
o In the end, the Nazis had the highest votes but could not command majority
o Could only have coalitions with like-minded parties
2. Role of propaganda
o Goal is to reshape people’s beliefs along Nazi lines
Measures
o Controlled the mass media
o Censorship of newspaper , 50% of newspapers were shut down
o Literature written by Jewish authors banned
o Other Jewish works, like music, were also banned
o Cinema was controlled
4. Education
Importance
o It was easy to put ideas in the minds of youths
5. Christians in Germany
Hitler’s relation with the church
o Most Christians were Catholics
o Hitler was a first sympathetic to the protestant church as they had voted him into power
o However both churches were seen as a threat, as they both presented a alternative
source of power
o A new state church, that had a Nazi as a bishop, was set up.
6. Other religions
o Other religions were actively suppressed
o The Jehovah Witnesses opposed Hitler’s rule, and they were sent to concentration
camps
o Jewish synagogues were defiled, destroyed or closed
7. The workers
o Employment issues were solved through conscriptions and forced labour
o There were also many jobs at factories as they were working at full capacity, due to
rearmament
o The city was also revitalized by pulling down the slums
8. Ideal Family
o Hitler wanted to create a pure Aryan race
o He said that the role of women was procreation
o Thus non-ethnic German were sterilised
o Rewards were also given to those who had more children
o Divorces were also made easier for childless couples
Road to war in Europe
Causes of World War 2
1. TOV
o Many Germans were unhappy about the terms of the TOV
Rise of dictators
o The government was blamed for the people’s poverty
o 25 countries became dictatorships after 1929
Aggression
o Leaders of Japan, Italy and Germany tried to improve conditions by aggression towards
other countries
o As the aimed to gain land and resources, Increase national pride, and compete with the
empires of France and Britain
Economic rivalry
o Rivalry replaced co-operation
o Countries started to introduce protectionist policies
o They stopped imports to reduce competition for home produced goods
o But this also caused them to lose their ability to export their goods, damaging the
economy
3. Failure of LON
Why
o The French and the British were more interested about themselves
o The USA and other leading countries were not in the LON
o LON’s sanctions were ineffective
o The LON lacked its own armed force
o They had not opposed the unfair TOV
o They also reached decisions too slowly
Hitler’s aggression
1. Hitler’s aims
o Reverse the TOV and restore German pride
o Unite all German-speaking people to form a single, united homeland for all Germans
o Give Germans lebensraum, to provide food for the people and materials for the industry
2. Hitler’s actions
o In 1933, Hitler took Germany out of LON and began to rearm
o In 1934, Hitler tried to take over Austria, but failed due to Mussolini
o In 1935, Hitler held massive rearmament rally in Germany
o In 1936, Hitler reintroduced conscription, sent troops into the Rhineland and made a
anti-Communist pact with Japan and Italy
3. Steps to war
Spanish civil war
o Civil war broke out between the Nationalists and the Republicans
o Gave the military forces of Hitler and Mussolini the experience of a real war
o The LON were helpless
Re-occupation of Rhineland
o Was a calculated risk for Hitler
o It was a breach of the TOV, and the German forces were no match for the French army
o However, France was concerned about domestic problems and Britain did not want to
provoke Hitler, thus his gamble paid off
o This convinced Hitler that the British and the France would not stop him
o It also indicated the start of appeasement
Annexation of Austria
o Although the British and the French complained about Germany’s violation of the TOV,
they did nothing
o Appeasement allowed Hitler’s aggressive methods to triumph
o By 1938, the LON was irrelevant
Sudeten Crisis
o Hitler had designs on Czechoslovakia
o He wanted the Sudetenland, but the Czech president refused to give in to demands
Munich agreement
o Signed on 29th September 1938
o Gave the Sudetenland to Hitler, on the condition that he stop his aggressiveness
o The Munich agreement bought Europe some time
o Czechoslovakia was deserted by its allies and was weaken due to lack of resources
o Hitler decided that Britain and France were unlikely to oppose him
o Hitler also gained popularity at home and wanted to gain lebensraum even more
Policy of appeasement
1. Why
o Hitler was anti-communist
o There was no support from the USA
o Many felt that the TOV was unfair
o Britain and France were more concerned about their own economic problems
o Britain was not ready for war
o Nobody wanted to repeat the horrors of World War 1
o The British empire was not willing to support
Collapse of peace
1. Czechoslovakia (1939)
o Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia
o This showed that Hitler’s promises at the Munich agreement was a lie
o Britain and France started to rearm rapidly
3. Poland (1939)
o Poland was Hitler’s next target
o The French and British government promised to protect the Polish, Greek and Romanian
governments
o They also increased production of arms and equipment