Conflict and tension 1918 to 1939 flashcards

This topic covers the attempts to build peace after the First World War and why those attempts ultimately failed. Students need to understand the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles, the aims and weaknesses of the League of Nations, and the crises of the 1930s that the League could not resolve. Key themes include the tension between national self-interest and international cooperation, the impact of the Great Depression on political extremism, and how the policy of appeasement pursued by Britain and France allowed Hitler to expand German power. By 1939 the failure of collective security and the collapse of diplomacy had made a second world war unavoidable.

1. Card 1

   What were the 'Big Three' at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919?

   The leaders of Britain (Lloyd George), France (Clemenceau) and the USA (Woodrow Wilson), who dominated the peace negotiations.

2. Card 2

   What were Wilson's Fourteen Points?

   A plan by US President Wilson for a lasting peace, including self-determination for nations and the creation of a League of Nations to settle future disputes.

3. Card 3

   What did the Treaty of Versailles demand of Germany?

   Germany had to accept war guilt (clause 231), pay reparations, lose territory, reduce its armed forces, and accept the creation of the League of Nations.

4. Card 4

   Why did many Germans resent the Treaty of Versailles?

   They felt it was a diktat (dictated peace), blaming them entirely for the war, stripping territory, and leaving the economy crippled by reparations.

5. Card 5

   What was the main aim of the League of Nations?

   To maintain world peace through collective security, meaning member nations would act together to stop any country that broke the peace.

6. Card 6

   Why was the League of Nations weakened from the start?

   The USA never joined because the Senate rejected membership, leaving the League without the world's most powerful economy and military behind it.

7. Card 7

   How did the League respond to Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931?

   The League condemned Japan but imposed no meaningful sanctions. Japan simply left the League, showing the organisation lacked the power to enforce its decisions.

8. Card 8

   What happened during the Abyssinian Crisis of 1935 to 1936?

   Italy invaded Abyssinia. The League imposed sanctions but excluded oil, and Britain and France secretly offered Italy territory in the Hoare-Laval Pact, humiliating the League.

9. Card 9

   What is appeasement and why did Britain and France adopt it in the 1930s?

   Appeasement meant making concessions to aggressive powers. Leaders hoped to satisfy Hitler's demands and avoid another devastating war, fearing public opinion and military unreadiness.

10. Card 10

    What was the significance of the Rhineland remilitarisation in 1936?

    Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, breaking the Treaty of Versailles. Britain and France did not act, encouraging Hitler to believe further aggression would go unchallenged.

11. Card 11

    What was the Munich Agreement of 1938?

    Britain and France agreed to let Hitler take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, hoping this would be his final demand. It is seen as the peak of appeasement.

12. Card 12

    Why did the Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939 make war more likely?

    The Nazi-Soviet Pact meant Hitler could invade Poland without fearing a war on two fronts, removing a major obstacle to German aggression in Eastern Europe.

• Many students wrongly claim the League of Nations was a complete failure from the start; it did successfully resolve several minor disputes in the 1920s before collapsing under the pressures of the 1930s.
• Students often confuse appeasement with cowardice, but examiners expect recognition that leaders had genuine reasons, including fear of another war and military unpreparedness, for pursuing it.
• A common error is stating the USA left the League of Nations, when in fact the USA never joined it at all.

Planning your revision? Read how to revise GCSE History, or make cards from your own notes with the notes to flashcards tool.