I.

Effect of the Treaty of Versailles

A. Blame On Germany
1. The entire blame for the first world war on Germany, Austria and
Hungary. They fined Germany €6,000 million.
a. “In its final form, the treaty placed full blame for the First World
War on Germany, Austria and Hungary, as well as exacted harsh
financial reparations and led to territorial dismemberment.
2. Germany was restricted to a very small army and a few naval ships. No
artillery was allowed and the Rhine-land area was to be disarmed. Land
was taken away and given to other countries.
b. “Germany was only allowed to have a small army and six naval
ships. No tanks, no submarines were allowed. The Rhineland area
was to be de-militarized. Land was taken away from Germany and
given to other countries. Anschluss was forbidden.
B. Reactions of German people
1. German people were disappointed and thought that it was too unfair.
They could no pay the money as they were very poor.
a. “The German people were very unhappy about the treaty and
thought that it was too harsh. Germany could not afford to pay
the money and during the 1920s, the people in Germany were
very poor.”
2. They were so unhappy about the government that they decided to elect a
person who would destroy the Treaty of Versailles.
b. “People were dissatisfied with the government and voted to
power a man who promised to rip up the Treaty of Versailles. His
name was Adolf Hitler.”

II. Hitler’s Actions

A. Rebuilding Germany
1. As soon as he rose to power, he rebuild Germany’s army by creating a
German air force, increasing the size of the army and building warships.
a. “Almost immediately he began secretly building up Germany’s
army and weapons. In 1934, he increased the size of the army,
began building warships and created a German air force.
2. Hitler made 2 alliances. The Rome-Berlin Axis Pact and the Anti-
Committer pact.
 b. “Hitler also made 2 important alliances during 1936. The first was
called the Rome-Berlin Axis pact and allied Hitler’s Germany with
Mussolini’s Italy. The second was called the Anti-Committer Pact
and allied Germany with Japan.
B. Invasion Plans
1. After he stated that he wouldn’t make any more territorial claims, he
didn’t keep his word and demanded Sudetenland to be back in Germany.
a. “Hitler did not keep his word and six months later demanded that
the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia be handed over to
Germany.”
2. By 1939, Hitler’s plan of invading Poland was complete. He found out that
if he invades Poland, Britain would attack him from the west although he
was more worried about an attack by Russia from the east.
b. “By the summer of 1939, Hitler’s plans to invade Poland were
complete. He realized that to invade Poland, might cause Britain
to attack him from the west, but he was more concerned to avoid
a Russian attack from the east. Therefore to avoid a war on 2
fronts, he arranged to Nazi-Soviet Pact.”
III. Failure of Appeasement
A. The Munich Agreement
1. The Munich Agreement was signed by Germany, Britain, France and Italy.
It stated that Sudetenland would be returned to Germany if and only if
Germany would make no more claims of territories.
a. “The Munich Agreement, signed by the leaders of Germany,
Britain, France and Italy, agreed that the Sudetenland would be
returned to Germany and that no further territorial claims would
be made by Germany.”
2. The outcome of the policy was that countries like France and Britain just
protested when Hitler disrupted the treaty. They started a major plan of
rearming their military power and also sent Hitler’s army to the border
region of SAAR.
b. “The result of the appeasement policy was that Britain and France
did nothing more than diplomatically protest when Hitler violated
the peace treaty, started a major rearmament plan, largely
increased military manpower, sent his army to the neutral star
border region.”
B. Breaking of the Munich Agreement
 1. The government of Czechoslovakia was not invited to conference. They
felt deceived by Britain and France and were complaining about the loss
of Sudetenland.
a. “The Czech government was not invited to the conference and
protested about the loss of Sudetenland. They felt that they had
been betrayed by both Britain and France with whom alliances
have been made.
2. Hitler broke the Munich Agreement by invading Czechoslovakia in 1939.
b. “When Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1949,
he broke the terms of the Munich Agreement.

IV. Failure of the League Of Nations

A. Lack of Members in the League
1. Some countries did not join the league; Germany was not allowed to join
because they had started the First World War. Even Russia was not
allowed because it was a communist country.
a. “Not all countries joined the league. As a punishment for having
started World War 1, Germany was not allowed to join and Russia
was also excluded due to a growing fear of communism. Other
countries decided not to join and some joined but the other left.”
2. The army of Japan was told to leave Manchuria instantly but their army
didn’t care and continued its plan of conquering Manchuria.
b. “The Japanese government was told to order the army to leave
Manchuria immediately. However, the army took no notice of the
government and continued its conquest of Manchuria.”
B. Lack of Power and were without an army
1. The League of Nations lacked any control. Their aim was to stop trading
between member countries. This failed because the member countries
still traded with non-member countries.
a. “The league had no power. The main weapon of the League was
to ask member countries to stop trading with one another and
aggressive countries. However, this did not work because
countries could still trade with non-member countries.”
2. The League didn’t have an army and were provided with their equipment
by member countries. Some countries didn’t want to involve in countries
which would provoke them to take action against them.
b. “The League had no army. Soldiers were supplied by member
countries. However, countries were reluctant to get involved and
 risk provoking an aggressive country into taking direct action
against them and failed to provide troops.”

V. Rise of Fascism
A. Benito Mussolini
1. In Italy, Benito Mussolini became the leader of the fascist party. He
stated that he would improve the economic conditions of the country
and take control.
a. “In Italy Benito Mussolini, known as the Il Duce, became the
leader of the Fascist Party, which gained many supporters. He
promised to bring law and order to the country and help solve its
economic problems.”
2. Racism was encouraged completely by fanaticism, violence, and racism
and was taken over by a small amount of people.
b. “Fascism was influenced by fanaticism, violence, racism and
totalitarians.
B. The Aim of Fascism
1. The aim of Fascism was the renewal of ethnic and economic peace of the
country. People were deprived of freedom, rights and democracy.
a. “They aimed for regeneration of ethnic, social, cultural and
economic peace of their country. They denied individual freedom,
rights and democracy.”
2. Fascism and Nazism both wanted power and wanted to fight against
nations.
b. “Both Fascism and Nazism had the same intention to gain power
and to fight against Allied Nations.”