Origins of World War Two
1919-1941
What attempts were made to establish a
permanent peace after World War One?
The 14 Points
The 14 Points
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Regarded as very ideological – it had no
‘teeth’
Disarmament was not generally followed
up it took the League until 1932 to meet
to discuss general disarmament
France wanted security before
disarmament
Failure to agree gave Hitler an excuse to
withdraw Germany from the League
The 14 Points contd.
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The delegates at the Paris Peace Talks
considered President Wilson’s 14 Point
Plan for Peace
These points included setting up the
League of Nations and addressing some
of the causes of WWl such as secret
diplomacy, arms and freedom of the seas
The Treaty of
Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles
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The Treaty of Versailles had over 400 articles
Article 42-demilitarisation of the Rhineland
Article 45-cession of the Saar coalfields to France
Article 49-Governance of the Saarland to be given
to the League of Nations and a plebiscite to be
held after 15 years
Article 80-Anschluss with Austria forbidden
Article 82-over 3 million Germans to be left inside
Czechoslovakia’s borders
Article 102-Danzig to be a Free City under the
League and a Polish corridor to separate East and
West Prussia
The Treaty of Versailles
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Article 119- All Germany’s overseas lands
confiscated
Articles 170-198-Germany to be disarmed – no
submarines, no military instructions, no air force,
no importation of war materials, army limited to
100,000
Article 231-Germany to accept responsibility for
causing WWl and War Guilt
Article 232- Germany to pay reparations of ₤6.6
billion
Article 428-Allied army of occupation to be
stationed in the Rhineland for 15 years
The Treaty of Versailles
The Allies felt more secure
 Germany was enraged and sought revenge
 Hitler often cited the unfairness of the
Treaty in his speeches
 German President Streseman often spoke
out against the Treaty in the 1920s
 Germans particularly resented the ‘war
guilt’ clause
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The Treaty up to 1930
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Only Germany and its allies were disarmed by the
Treaty
Germany fell behind in its reparation payments in
1923
France occupied the Ruhr until Germany began to
repay the reparations. German workers went on
strike as a protest and the German economy
collapsed under hyper-inflation
The US loaned money to Germany to help with
repayments
The Other
Treaties
Treaty of St Germaine – Austria
September 1919
No Anschluss with Germany
 Sudetenland went to Czechoslovakia
 Hungary to be independent
 Austrian Empire to be reduced
 Bosnia-Herzegovina given to Yugoslavia
 Army limited to 30,000
 To pay reparations
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Treaty of Neuilly -Bulgaria
November 1919
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Lost land to Yugoslavia
Lost Western Thrace to Greece which
meant that Bulgaria lost the coastline that
lead more directly into the Mediterranean
Treaty of Trianon-Hungary
June 1920
Hungary lost some border districts to Czechoslovakia
Transylvania was given to Rumania which doubled Rumania’s size
Treaty of Sevres- Turkey
August 1920
Gave up most of its empire
 Retained only a small part of its European
land
 Egypt became independent
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The League of
Nations
The League of Nations 1920
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A League could be used to deal with
problems that may arise out of the treaties
The League had a Covenant which
established procedures for dealing with
future problems
The League’s Covenant:
Article 10 - territory and independence of all League
members was to be respected
 Article 11 - any threats of war were to be drawn to
the League’s attention
 Article 12 – any disputes were to be dealt with by
the League who would make recommendations
 Article 16 – sanctions could be imposed on member
nations who did not comply with the League’s
recommendations and the League was to inform
countries what sort of armed forces they would have
to supply to the League
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Germany and the The League of
Nations 1920
Germany lost its former colonies to the
care of the League
 Germany lost 13.5% of its territory
 Germany lost 7 million people
 Germany lost its merchant marine
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Some British officials such as Harold
Nicholson, felt that the final treaty was
unjust
Lenin regarded it as unfair
The League up to 1930
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Initially the League had some successes: Aaland
Islands dispute between Sweden and Finland,
the division of Upper Silesia between Germany
and Poland and a border dispute between
Bulgaria and Greece.
A major problem was the US refusal to ratify its
own membership
Germany was initially refused membership as a
punishment
Germany was invited to join the League in 1926
after the Locarno Treaties were signed
Communist Russia was not invited to join
How people and countries
reacted to attempts to restore
and maintain peace up to 1930
USA
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The USA continued with its isolationist
foreign policy
Era of Reconciliation
Generally goodwill prevailed in the 1920s
 1925 the Treaty of Locarno – Germany agreed with
Belgium and France accept its borders and never
attack each other again
 1926 Germany joined the League of Nations
 1928 the Kellogg-Briand Pact to never have war again
– signed by 64 countries including Germany and
Russia
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Treaty of Locarno
Aristide Briand
Frank Kellogg
Organisation de la Paix
France still felt insecure in spite of the Treaty
of Versailles
 During the 1920s France signed a series of
agreements with countries that surrounded
Germany:
1920 Belgium
1921 Poland
1924 Czechoslovakia
1926 Rumania
1927 Yugoslavia
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Treaty of Rapallo 1921
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Germany and Russia felt left out after the Paris Peace Talks
They signed the Treaty of Rapallo with each other
It was a treaty of friendship and co-operation
It allowed Germany to build military equipment on Russian
soil in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles
1922 The Washington Treaties
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Britain met with Japan and the USA to discuss
naval policy and the tensions in the Far East
The establishment of an inter-nation ratio for
the construction of warships and an agreement
to consult over disputes in the Pacific region
The Dawes Plan 1924
The Dawes Plan was an attempt following World War One
for the Allies to collect war reparations debt from Germany.
When after five years the plan proved to be unsuccessful,
the Young Plan was adopted in 1929 to replace it
The Maginot Line
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In 1927 the French built the Maginot Line
which was a series of fortresses along the
Franco-German border
1929 The Young Plan
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This further reduced Germany’s
reparations from ₤6.6 billion to ₤2 billion
Wall Street Crash
The Wall Street Crash triggered a world wide Depression.
This was felt most critically in Germany
Governments around the world began to intervene in their
economies thus encouraging Social Welfare