Europe in the 1920’s and
1930’s
Chapter 24
Paris Peace Conference
► 1919:
Allied leaders gather in Paris to
negotiate a treaty to officially end WWI
► Big Four:




U.S.
Great Britain
France
Italy
Treaty of Versailles
► Treaty
of Versailles: officially ends WWI
 Signed June 28, 1919
► Major
Provisions of the Treaty
 War Guilt Clause: Germany accepts full
responsibility for causing the war
 Reparations: Germany pays for damages of
the war
►$33
Billion
Treaty of Versailles
► Major
Provisions of the Treaty
 German Disarmament
► Germany
not allowed to have an Airforce
► Severe restrictions in the Germany navy
► Army reduced to 100,000
 Germany loses territory
► Loses
ALL colonies
► Loses land for the creation of Poland
► Loses Danzig
► A DMZ (demilitarized zone) was created in the Rhineland as a
buffer between Germany and France
Responses to the Paris Peace
Conference and Treaty
► Some
were upset with the Conference due
to their harsh treatment of Germany
 Woodrow Wilson wanted to be more lenient
 John Meynard Keynes (famous
economist…Keynesian Economics) was a British
delegate. He left the conference in protest of
the treatment of Germany
►“Paris
was a nightmare…”
 Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France: “This isn’t a
peace, it’s a twenty year truce!”
League of Nations
► Woodrow
Wilson (President of the U.S.)
called for the creation of an international
peace-keeping organization (14 Points)
► League of Nations created after WWI
 Weak, ineffective
 The U.S. never joined
Impact on Germany
► Germany
crippled by the Treaty of Versailles
► Collapse of the Monarchy
 November 9, 1918: Kaiser Wilhelm (William) II
abdicates throne
 November 11, 1918: Germany negotiates for an
armistice to end the fighting of WWI
 Plans for a new, democratic government begins
► Collapse
of the German economy
 Massive Inflation, money virtually worthless
Kaiser William II
Friedrich Ebert, 1st President
of Weimar Republic
Paul von Hindenburg
President of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
► Weimar
Republic: Germany’s government
created after WWI
 Democratic government
 Constitution modeled after that of the U.S.
 President given excess power
►Article
48: gives President power to suspend
constitution in times of crisis, dissolve parliament
(Reichstag) and call for emergency elections
Weimar Republic
► Germany’s
economy in bad shape
 1923: massive inflation
►It
would take over 4 trillion German marks (currency)
to purchase 1 American dollar.
 Slight recovery in mid to late-1920’s
 1929: Stock Market Crash in U.S. leads to Great
Depression….Germany hit hard
►Germany
was relying on the U.S. for loans. U.S.
economic problems carry over to Germany.
►Germany had highest unemployment rate in Europe
Rise of the Nazi Party
► Germany’s
poor economy contributed to the rise of
the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers’
Party)
► Nazi Party Platform: (25 Points)
 Socialism: government control of certain aspects of the
economy for the benefit of the people
 Extreme nationalism
 Racism and Anti-Semitism
 Revenge for the Treaty of Versailles and “Stab in the
Back”
 Expansion of German influence, imperialism
Self-Determination???
► Ethnic
groups (and Wilson) called for selfdetermination for the ethnic groups living in
former empires of Europe
► Austria and Hungary were broken into separate
nations
► Poland was created
► Czechoslovakia was created by combining the
Slovaks and the Czechs
► Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were created by
taking lands from Russia
A New Map
The Mandate System
► Territories
of the former Ottoman Empire
were to be administered by the League of
Nations
 Known as Mandate System
 Former German colonies in the Pacific were also
part of this system