IB History Paper 1: Peacemaking, peacekeeping international relations 1918-36

I. Paris Peace Conference

a.Treaty of Versailles signed with Germany (1919)
i.Independent Poland
ii.Plebiscites in Upper Silesia, Schleswig, and West Prussia
iii.Alsace-Lorraine to France
iv.Saarland administered by League of Nations
v.Germany loses colonies and foreign investments
vi.Reparations eventually set at 132 billion gold marks (1921)
vii.Abolition of conscription
viii.Reduction of army to 100,00 and navy to 15,000
ix.Rhineland occupied for 15 years
x.League of Nations established
b.Treaty of St. Germain signed with Austria (1919)
i.Czechoslovakia created
ii.Yugoslavia receives Slovenia, Bosnia and Dalmatia
iii.Italy receives Istria, Trieste and South Tyrol
iv.Poland receives Galicia
v.Austrian anschluss with Germany prohibited
c. Treaty of Neuilly signed with Bulgaria (1919)
i.Bulgaria loses much territory to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia
d.Treaty of Trianon signed with Hungary (1920)
i.Hungary loses 2/3 of territory to Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Romania
e. Treaty of Sevres signed with Turkey (1920)
i.Ottoman Empire disbanded
ii.Greece receives Thrace
iii.Straights to be controlled by the Allies
iv.Establishes mandate system in the Middle East
v.Creates a small Turkey in Anatolia carved into French and Italian spheres of infuence
vi.Sparks the Turkish War of Independence which results in the Treaty of Lausanne (1923)
1.Greeks are expelled from Anatolia
2.Turkey receives Istanbul
II. International Diplomacy in the 1920s
a.Genoa Conference (1922): British proposed a moratorium on German reparations and a European
alliance, including Germany, to rebuild Russia
i.Total failure, as French President Poincare rejected all proposals
ii.Exposed major divide between Britain and France on the issue of easing reparations
b.Treaty of Rapallo (1922): Germany and Russia agreed to mutually disavow reparations and debt claims
i.Secret clauses established a military relationship in which German air force could train and
develop weapons in Russia in exchange for German military technology
ii.Signaled to Britain and France the importance of keeping Germany within a Western sphere of
infuence
c. Washington Naval Conference (1921-22)
i.US feared the rise of Japanese militarism and determined to expand its navy
1.Persuaded Britain not to renew the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1922
2.Four Power Treaty: Britain, France, Japan and US agreed to respect one anothers
possessions in the Pacifc and to refer any dispute to a conference of the 4 powers
ii.US and Britain both looking for ways to reduce armaments expenditure and both alarmed by the
expansion of the Japanese navy
1.Halted the building of ships for 10 years
2.Established a ratio of battleships for the major naval powers
a.5: US
b.5: Britain
c. 3: Japan
d.1.67: France
e. 1.67: Italy
3.Signifcance
a.US and Britain avoided the cost of an expensive naval race
b.Japan denied the right to achieve naval parity
c. France denied the cost of an expensive naval race
d.Italy granted the right to achieve naval parity in the Mediterranean
d.Chanak Incident (1922)
i.British and French troops defending Constantinople from a Turkish ofensive
ii.France unexpectedly withdraws its troops at the last moment, exposing the British and ensuring
defeat
iii.Aroused considerable outrage and distrust between London and Paris
e. Ruhr Occupation (1923)
i.France occupies the Ruhr after another German reparation deadline is not met
ii.French strategy does not succeed and contributes to a German economic meltdown
iii.Britain and US are outraged by Frances unilateral action and force France to accept the Dawes
Plan
f. Dawes Plan (1924)
i.Major and ongoing American loans and investment to Germany
ii.Reparations to be reduced for 5 years
iii.Allied oversight of German railroads and other industries to ensure payment
iv.Viewed as a diplomatic defeat for France
g.Geneva Protocol (1924)
i.France submitted an agreement to the League of Nations calling upon all member states to come
to the aid any of state which was a victim of aggression and which was situation in the same
continent as themselves
1.Britain rejected this on the grounds that they would become the worlds policemen
h.Locarno Agreements (1925)
i.Treaty of Mutual Guarantee: Belgium, Britain, France, Germany and Italy all guarantee
Germanys western border
ii.Britain and Italy commit to defend any victim of aggression
iii.Belgium, France and Germany agree never to take ofensive action against one another; any
incidents to be referred to the League of Nations for arbitration
iv.Germany signs arbitration agreements with Poland and Czechoslovakia declaring that any border
revisions will come through peaceful negotiation
v.Diplomatic Winners and Losers
1.Britain imposes multi-lateral and collective restraints on French action
2.Germany receives implicit concession of right to renegotiate their eastern borders
3.France is forced to accept reliance on collective institutions to uphold its Versailles Treaty
rights
4.Poland and Czechoslovakia are refused the border guarantees they sought
5.Spirit of Locarno
i. Germany joins the League of Nations as a permanent member of the League Council (1926)
j. Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
i.France proposes and US accepts an international pact declaring war an illegitimate means of
resolving international disputes
ii.Pact lacks any enforcement mechanisms and accepts a wide variety of exceptions
k.Young Plan (1929)
i.Total reparations reduced by 70%
ii.Period of payment would be extended over much longer period to reduce annual burden
iii.Allied oversight of Germany industry would be dismantled
iv.Enormously unpopular in Germany where the public expected full cancellation of reparations
III. League of Nations
a.Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Geneva
b.Organs
i.Secretariat: permanent staf of the LON which acted as the civil service
ii.Assembly: includes all member states where each has one vote
1.Possesses a variety of powers include admission and approval of budgets
iii.Council: acted as executive body and eventually had 13 seats
1.Permanent members: Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Germany (1926)
2.Could take action against member states such as economic sanctions and military action
iv.Permanent Court of International Justice: resolved disputes between states voluntarily submitted
to it and issued advisory opinions when requested by the LON
c. Functions
i.Promoted worker rights through the International Labor Organization
ii.Initiated and coordinated eforts to fght preventable diseases through the Health Organization
iii.Assisted refugees and displaced persons, especially in eastern Europe and Anatolia through the
Commission on Refugees
iv.Administered mandates in the Middle East and former German colonies in Africa and the South
Pacifc
v.Governed the Saarland and Danzig
vi.Administered plebiscites in former German territories
d.Achievements
i.Permanent Mandate Commission investigated conditions, practices and events in the mandates
and held Britain and France accountable for their administration
ii.International Labor Organization (ILO) published reports on economic and worker conditions
that helped countries coordinate and improve economic and labor policies
iii.Health Organization helped create common policies to fght disease and to promote hospital
construction and health education
iv.Successfully negotiated a resolution of Finland and Swedens dispute over the Aaland Islands
v.Resolved disputes between France and Britain over the plebiscites in Upper Silesia and Memel
vi.Resolved a dispute between Britain and Turkey over control of Kurdish Mosul in 1924
vii.Negotiated an armistice and resolved a dispute between Greece and Bulgaria in 1925
e. Failures
i.Failed to protect Persia when invaded by the Soviet Union in 1920
ii.Failed to protect Armenia when invaded by the Soviet Union and Turkey in 1920
iii.Failed to enforce an armistice between Poland and Lithuania in 1920-22
iv.Failed to block French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923
v.Major powers preferred to resolve major disputes on an ad hoc basis among Foreign Ministers
vi.Britain, France and other powers were unwilling to use or threaten military force to enforce
decisions of the League
vii.Major League members blocked League action when it would contradict their own vested
interests
viii.Denied permission to resolve the Italian-Greek dispute in the Corfu incident of 1923
ix.Failed to recruit the United States into its membership and chose not to invite the Soviet Union
until 1931
x.Failed to efectively encourage general European disarmament because of French and British
opposition
xi.Manchurian Crisis (1931)
xii.Abyssinia Crisis (1935-36)
xiii.German occupation of the Rhineland (1936)
Successes & Failures of the League of Nations
Year Incident Description Result Why?
1920 Persia Crisis Soviets invaded Persia Failure Council chose not to arbitrate since
negotiations were already underway.
1920 Armenia Crisis Soviets and Turks invaded Armenia Failure Council chose not to come to the aid of
Armenia.
1920
-22
Poland-Lithuania
War
Poland conquered Vilna province,
rejected a plebiscite proposal, and
annexed the province.
Failure Poland rejected the Councils plebiscite
proposal. Conference of Ambassadors
undermined the Leagues authority by
recognizing Polish sovereignty over Vilna.
1921 Aaland Islands
Dispute
Sweden and Finland contested
control of the Aaland Islands
Success League decided to let Finland keep the
islands but guarantee the rights of Swedes.
1921 Albania Crisis Yugoslavia and Greece were
occupying Albanian territory
because the borders were still
unclear.
Mixed League threatened Yugoslavia with
sanctions and then supervised their
withdrawal from Albania. However, the
Conference of Ambassadors drew the
boundaries and made Italy protector of
Albania.
1921 Upper Silesia
Dispute
France/Poland disagreed with
Britain/German over who should
get Upper Silesia.
Success League held a plebiscite and then divided
the territory in half based on ethnic lines.
1923 Memel Dispute Lithuania objected to the decision to
internationalize the port of Memel.
Success League decided in favor of Lithuania and let
them control the port.
1923 Ruhr Crisis France occupied the Ruhr Valley to
collect reparations from Germany.
Failure France vetoed all discussion of the matter in
the League.
1923 Corfu Incident 3 Italians were killed by Greeks Failure Greece wished to refer the dispute to the
near the border with Albania. Italy
delivered a harsh ultimatum which
Greece rejected. Italy occupied the
island of Corfu.
Council, but Italy refused. Conference of
Ambassadors sided with Italy and forced
Greece to pay large reparations before the
Italians would evacuate.
1924 Mosul Dispute Britain and Turkey couldnt agree
who would control Mosul.
Success League surveyed the local Kurdish
population who preferred British rule.
Mosul was made a mandate of Iraq and
therefore Britain.
1925 Greece-Bulgaria
Confict
Greece and Bulgaria fought a war
over dispute territory in Thrace.
Success Council ordered a ceasefre which both
sides heeded. A commission of inquiry
awarded the disputed territory to Bulgaria.
1931 Manchuria Crisis A skirmish between Japanese and
Chinese troops in Manchuria led to
a full scale invasion and the
creation of the puppet state of
Manchukuo.
Failure The Council ordered Japan to withdraw its
troops but Japan refused. League
dispatched the Lytton Commission to
investigate the confict. Its report
condemned Japans actions but the League
took to action. Japan immediately withdrew
from the League of Nations
1935
-36
Abyssinia Crisis Italy invaded and conquered
Abyssinia in order to establish
colonial control over it. The mild
British and French actions did not
prevent the Italian takeover but did
destroy the Stresa Front and push
Italy to sign the Rome-Berlin Axis.
Failure League condemned the action and
instituted mild economic sanctions. Britain
and France proposed a plan to give Italy 2/3
of Abyssinia if they left the rest alone
(Hoare-Laval Plan) but it was leaked to the
press and condemned by the public. League
chose not to embargo oil or close the Suez
Canal.
1936 Remilitarization
of the Rhineland
Germany moved troops into the
Rhineland in a direct violation of
the Treaty of Versailles.
Failure League took no action since no act of
aggression was committed. France would
respond only with British support, but
Britain considered the Hitler to be walking
into his own back garden.
1936
-39
Spanish Civil
War
A failed coup attempt in Spain by
army leaders degenerated into a
prolonged civil war. Germany and
Italy backed the right-wing
Nationalists and the Soviet Union
backed the left-wing Republicans.
The Nationalists eventually won the
war.
Failure League chose to institute an arms embargo
on the Spain in order to limit the fghting,
but this only harmed the legitimate
government (Republicans). Germany, Italy
and the Soviet Union openly violated the
embargo and sold weapons to Spanish
armies.
IV. International Diplomacy in the 1930s
i.2
nd
London Naval Conference (1930)
1.Modifed the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty in Japans favor
2.Battleship ratio was adjusted from 10:10:6 to 10:10:7 (US:Britain:Japan)
3.France and Italy exempted themselves from the agreement because they sought no adjustment
4.All agreed to a 5 year moratorium on battleship and cruiser production
5.All agree to tighter controls on submarine warfare
ii.Manchurian Crisis (1931)
1.Japan invades and occupies Manchuria (northeastern China) in order to acquire natural
resources
2.League of Nations responds by sending an investigative committee to report on the legality of
the action
3.Dramatically shifted the balance of power in the Pacifc toward Japan
iii.Geneva Disarmament Conference (1932-34)
1.Political context
a.Japan was attacking Manchuria
b.Great Depression was raising isolationism
c. Rising German nationalism frightened her neighbors
2.France proposed creating a League of Nations security force
a.Opposed by Britain and the US
3.Germany proposed that all European countries disarm to a level roughly equivalent to
Germany
a.Strongly opposed by France and Poland
4.No tangible agreements were made
a.Germany left in protest (1933)
iv.German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact (1934)
1.Diplomatically alienated the France-Poland relationship
2.France attempted to enlist Poland and the Soviet Union into the Locarno Agreements, but
Germany and Poland rejected this
3.Franco-Soviet Treaty (1935): France, therefore, established defensive pact with the Soviet Union
v.Stresa Front (1935)
1.Britain, France and Italy met together and publicly condemned Germanys rearmament
2.Publicly re-afrmed their commitment to uphold peace settlements
vi.Anglo-German Naval Convention (1935)
1.Germany was given permission to construct a navy 35% the size of Britains
2.France and Italy felt betrayed by Britain by this clear contradiction of Versailles
vii.Reactions to Hitler and the rise of Germany
1.France
a.Tried to contain Germany in a web of alliances while negotiating with Hitler
b.Sought closer alliances with Italy and the Soviet Union
c. Franco-Soviet Treaty (1935)
d.Stresa Front (1935)
2.Britain
a.Sought to satisfy Hitlers demands by revising certain provisions of Versailles
b.Sought to enmesh Germany in a web of alliances and multi-lateral obligations
c. Determined not to join anti-German pact because this would replicate the mistakes of
pre-WW1
3.Italy
a.Possessed expansionist aims in Mediterranean and North Africa
b.Sought to serve as mediator between Germany and Britain/France
c. Determined to prevent German-Austrian anschluss
d.Gradually shifted in the direction of Britain/France because of Germanys support for
Austrian Nazis
e. Negotiated Rome Protocols (1934) with Austria and Hungary to protect one another
from German aggression
4.Soviet Union
a.Sought to maintain the status quo as it improved its own economy and military
strength
b.Felt vulnerable due to Japanese expansion and domestic disorder
c. Franco-Soviet Pact (1934)
d.Joined League of Nations in 1934
e. Pursued secret talks with both Germany and France, but eventually signed an
agreement with France
5.United States
a.Public opinion sympathized with German desires for treaty revision
b.Viewed Britain and France as aggressive and imperialistic
c. Public rapidly became alarmed by Nazi persecution of Jews and Japanese expansion in
China
d.Neutrality Act (1935) declared US complete neutrality and authorized the President to
ban arms sales to any belligerent
viii.3
rd
London Naval Conference (1935)
1.Japan demanded naval parity with Britain and the US
2.This was rejected and Japan withdrew from the agreemtn
3.Britain, France and the US agreed on a ratio of battleship construction
4.All 5 countries were violating the agreement by 1938
ix.Abyssinia Crisis (1935-36)
1.Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) from Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea
2.Britain and France shrunk from responding with military force
3.Proposed the Hoare-Laval Pact which ofered Italy control of 2/3 of Abyssinia
a.Leaked to press and resulted in profound public outrage
4.League imposed weak sanctions that did not include oil or Suez Canal access
5.Britain/France failed to deter Italy from aggression yet still managed to piss them of
x.Remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936)
1.March 7: German army marched into the Rhineland
a.Took advantage of Europes focus on the Abyssinia Crisis
b.Wished to distract the public from economic problems
2.France refused to take ofensive action without British support
xi.Spanish Civil War (1936-39)
1.July: Nationalist army revolted against the Republic government
2.Nationalists asked for and received signifcant aid from Germany and Italy
3.Republicans asked for aid from Britain, France and the Soviet Union but received it only from
the latter
4.German motives
a.Wanted to district Western powers while Germany rearmed
b.Wanted to attain access to Spanish minerals and Spanish naval bases during a war
5.Italian motives
a.Wanted to show ideological solidarity with Nationalists
b.Wanted to gain an ally with Spain
c. Wanted to strengthen Italian character through war
6.French and British motives
a.British and French right sympathized with the Nationalists while the left sympathized
with the Republics
b.Britain strongly opposed intervention because it viewed Spanish Civil War as a
distraction from the efort to deal with Germany
7.Soviet motives
a.Sought to embarrass the British and French for their non-intervention
b.Sought to foment confict between Britain, France and Germany
c. To show solidarity with Spanish communists
d.To give the Republicans just enough weapons to prolong the war
8.Results of the war
a.Polarized public opinion in Britain and France
b.Cemented the German-Italian alliance
c. Convinced the Soviet Union of the weakness of the West, encouraging them to seek the
Non-Aggression Pact with Germany
d.Diverted international attention from German re-armament
xii.Sino-Japanese War (1937-45)
1.Skirmishes near the Marco Polo bridge lead to a full scale Japanese invasion of eastern China
2.1937-38: Japanese Army steadily conquers much of coastal China committing widespread
atrocities against civilians
3.Western and League reaction is limited to condemnations
a.Pre-occupied with German and Italian aggression and demands
b.Distance and Great Depression makes intervention unrealistic
xiii.Anschluss (March, 1938)
1.Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg demands that Hitler curtail the subversive activities of
Austrian Nazis
2.Hitler instead demands that Schuschnigg appoint Austrian Nazis to high rank in the Austrian
Cabinet and subordinate Austrias foreign policy to Germanys
3.Schuschnigg then announces a plebiscite on the issue of unifcation
4.Hitler threatens invasion Austrian Nazis seize power and invite the German army to restore
order
5.German army enters Austria Hitler declares anschluss (clear violation of Versailles)
6.Why was there not concerted action to stop Germany?
a.After Germanys support during the Abyssinia Crisis Italy decided that Austria was
within the German sphere of infuence
b.Britain protested but lacked the military means or the political will to go to war over
the issue
c. France was paralyzed by a domestic political crisis at the time and lacked a Prime
Minister
xiv.Sudeten Crisis (Summer-Fall, 1938)
1.Hitler demands the annexation of the Sudetenland, a German-dominated area on the western
periphery of Czechoslovakia
2.President Benes refuses and attempts to satisfy Sudeten German leaders through negotiation
and compromise
3.PM Chamberlain travels twice to Munich to persuade Hitler to accept annexation of the
Sudetenland along with oversight by an international commission
a.Hitler then raised his demands
4.Italy then calls for a Four Power conference (Munich Conference)
a.Britain, France and Italy agreed to allow Germany to annex the Sudetenland
b.Hitler agreed to international oversight of the process and to guarantee
Czechoslovakias new borders
c. All countries declared a solemn commitment never to go to war again
d.Signifcance
i.Germany demands were might without resorting to force
ii.Hitler concluded that Britain and France were devoted to peace at any cost and
he should press for more
iii.Czechoslovakia was virtually destroyed as a vital state
iv.A crucial ally of the France was greatly weakened
v.Soviet Union concluded that an alliance with the West is worthless
xv.Destruction of Czechoslovakia (March, 1939)
1.President Hacha sent troops to crush a Slovak uprising
2.Slovak leaders asked Germany for help
3.Germany army occupied Bohemia and Moravia and declared a protectorate
4.Signifcance
a.Germany directly violates the Munich Agreement
b.Britain and France now realize the failure of the appeasement policy and abandon it
i.March 30: Britain unilaterally guarantees Polands frontiers
c. Germanys strategic position in the east is greatly improved
d.Frances most capable ally is eliminated
xvi.1939 Diplomacy
1.March 30: Britain and France unilaterally announced a guarantee of Polands borders
a.Why the sudden change of policy?
i.Realization that appeasement policy was useless against Hitler
ii.Improving economic situation in Britain and France
iii.Rumors of an eminent German takeover of Romania
iv.Germanys seizure of Memel from Lithuania on March 23
v.Chamberlain hoped to construct a dense security network of eastern European
states to constrain Germany
2.April 7: Italy occupies Albania and declares a protectorate
a.Britain and France unilaterally guarantee Greece and Romania
b.Britain signs a mutual assistance treaty with Turkey
3.Hitler tries to persuade Poland to a) return Danzig, b) allow road and rail links through the
Polish Corridor, and c) join the Anti-Comintern Pact
a.Poland strongly rejects this demands in light of Czechoslovakias fate
b.Hitler determines to force a war with Poland by keeping her diplomatically isolated
4.April: Britain and France begin negotiations with the Soviet Union to build an alliance against
Germany
a.Soviet Union demanded right to intervene in the internal afairs of their western
neighbors if they were threatened by Germany
b.Britain rejected this out of fear that the Soviet Union would use this as a pretext to
extend its own power
c. Soviet Union suspected that Britain and France would try to put them into a position to
do most of the fghting against Germany
d.Discussions made little progress throughout the spring and summer
5.August: Germany sought negotiations with Hitler
a.August 23: signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
i.Both countries agreed to show benevolent neutrality in the event of a war
ii.Secret protocol established spheres of infuence in Eastern Europe:
1. Soviet Union: Baltic, Bessarabia and eastern Poland
2. Germany; western Poland
iii.Signifcance
1. Neutralized the threat of the Soviet Union for Germany and made an
attack on Poland much less risky
2. Destroyed Britain and Frances best chance for creating a united front
against German aggression
3. Signaled an eminent attack on Poland
6.Countdown to war
a.August 24: Britain renewed its guarantee of Polands borders; Italy announced it could
not fght without enormous resource deliveries from Germany
b.Britain and France were determined not to compromise as they had at the Munich
Conference
c. Germany was determined to defeat Poland and then negotiate
d.August 25: Germany ofered Britain an alliance if Britain would allow Germany
dominance of eastern Europe
e. August 29: Germany demanded that Poland send their president to Berlin to negotiate
i.Poland refused
f. September 1: Germany invades Poland
i.Mussolini urges a Four Power conference
ii.Britain and France issue an ultimatum to withdraw
g.September 3: Britain and France declare war on Germany