World War 2

WW2

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

There were a total of 440 clauses in the final treaty. The first 26 clauses dealt with the establishment of the League of Nations. The remaining 414 clauses spelled out Germany's punishment.

• General Clauses

The establishment of the League of Nations

War Guilt clause - Germany to accept blame for starting the war.

• Financial Clauses

Reparations - Germany was to pay for the damage caused by the war: £6,600 million

• Military Clauses

Army - was to be reduced to 100,000 men and no tanks were allowed

Navy - Germany was only allowed 6 ships and no submarines

Airforce - Germany was not allowed an airforce

Rhineland - The Rhineland area was to be kept free of German military personnel and weapons

• Territorial Clauses

Anschluss - Germany was not allowed to unite with Austria.

Land - Germany lost land to a number of other countries. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France, Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium, North Schleswig was given to Denmark. Land was also taken from Germany and given to Czechoslovakia and Poland. The League of Nations took control of Germany's colonies

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http://www.worldology.com/Europe/world_war_2_lg.htm

1939

1941

1943

1942

AXIS POWERS

1944

1945

ALLIED POWERS

Wilson had devised a 14 point plan that he believed would bring stability to Europe.

Open Diplomacy - There should be no secret treaties between powers

Freedom of Navigation - Seas should be free in both peace and war

Free Trade - The barriers to trade between countries such as custom duties should be removed

Multilateral Disarmament - All countries should reduce their armed forces to the lowest possible levels

Colonies - People in European colonies should have a say in their future

Russia - Russia should be allowed to operate whatever government it wanted and that government should be accepted, supported and welcomed.

Belgium - Belgium should be evacuated and restored to the situation before the war.

France - should have Alsace-Lorraine and any lands taken away during the war restored.

Italy - The Italian border should be readjusted according to nationality

National Self -Determination - The national groups in Europe should, wherever possible, be given their independence.

Romania, Montenegro and Serbia - Should be evacuated and Serbia should have an outlet to the sea

Turkey - The people of Turkey should have a say in their future

Poland - Poland should become an independent state with an outlet to the sea.

League of Nations - An assembly of all nations should be formed to protect world peace in the future.

Failure of Appeasement

Giving in to someone, provided their demands are seen as reasonable

Neville Chamberlain Prime Minister of Britain believed that the Treaty of Versailles had treated Germany badly and that there were a number of issues associated with the Treaty that needed to be put right. He felt that giving in to Hitler's demands would prevent another war. This policy, became known as the policy of Appeasement.

Failure of the League of Nations

1.Not all countries joined the League.

The USA refused to join, Germany was not allowed, Russia was excluded,.. Others decided not to join and some joined but later left.

2.The League had no power.

The main weapon of the League was to ask member countries to stop trading with an aggressive country. However, this did not work because countries could still trade with non-member countries. When the world was hit by depression in the late 1920s countries were reluctant to lose trading partners to other non-member countries.

3.The League had no army.

Soldiers were to be supplied by member countries. However, countries were reluctant

4.Unable to act quickly.

The Council of the League of Nations only met four times a year and decisions had to be agreed by all nations. When countries called for the League to intervene, the League had to set up an emergency meeting, hold discussions and gain the agreement of all members. This process meant that the League could not act quickly to stop an act of aggression.

Hitler's actions

Almost immediately he began secretly building up Germany's army and weapons: increased the size of the army, began building warships and created a German airforce. Compulsory military service was also introduced.

• In 1936 Hitler ordered German troops to enter the Rhineland

Hitler also made two important alliances during 1936.

• 1st: the Rome-Berlin Axis Pact and allied Hitler's Germany with Mussolini's Italy.
• 2nd the Anti-Comintern Pact and allied Germany with Japan.

Hitler's next step was to begin taking back the land that had been taken away from Germany

• In March 1938, German troops marched into Austria: "Anschluss"

• In September 1938 demanded that the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia be handed over to Germany.

• The Munich Agreement (Germany, France, Britain and Italy) stated that Hitler could have the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia provided that he promised not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia.

• In March 1939 invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia

CAUSES

Believing that Poland would be Hitler's next target, both Britain and France promised that they would take military action against Hitler if he invaded Poland, hoping that, faced with the prospect of war against Britain and France, Hitler would stop his aggression.

German troops invaded Poland on 1st September 1939.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/nazibeliefsrev2.shtml

• Member of Parliament in 1921 under the Fascist Party
• King asked him to become Prime Minister
• By 1925 he had converted Italy in a dictatorship
• Other political parties and unions declared illegal

The Treaty of Versailles

• Leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party
• Electoral victory in 1932
• 1933 nominated Chancellor
• Within a few months illegalised all other political parties and created concentration camps to imprison the opposition.
• His ideas were called Nazism

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/usa/walldepressionrev1.shtml

• September 1st, 1939 Germany invaded Poland
• September 3rd, Britain and France declare war on Germany

SPARK

THE WAR