Interwar+Years+Project

​Hey Team,

We can put all our project stuff here, and then re-arrange the Wiki after so everything fits where it is supposed to. Just use the heading that you are supposed to be working on, and put everything in the order it was in on the rubric. When we are done, just re-arrange it to work for the Wiki.

__** Economic Consquences of the Paris Peace Conference **__

In Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, (colloquially known as the “War Guilt Clause”) Germany was given responsibility for the losses and damages caused by the Great War. Because of this clause, Germany was forced to pay war reparations to the Allied Powers (Article 233). The amount that Germany was to pay was decided by the Inter-Allied Reparations Committee. These reparations amounted to 269 billion gold marks or 32 billion US dollars.

In the “Economic Consequences of the Peace” British economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that placing sole guilt on Germany would create economic turmoil in Europe, followed by hyperinflation and economic bust. At the Paris Peace conference, he was a strong proponent of placing little to no responsibility on Germany to pay war reparations, and creating an American loan and credit plan to rebuild Europe. However, due to the sentiments of the victors at the time, Keynes’ ideas were ignored and Article 231 was left intact, along with the responsibility of German war reparations.

Both Britain and France had suffered heavy losses during the war, and counted on the reparations to be payed by Germany to rebuild their economies. However, Germany itself was in economic turmoil, as it had also incurred heavy damages during the war. At the Paris Peace Conference, it was decided that Germany would lose the Saar Basin and the territory of Alsace and Lorraine. Unfortunately, the Saar held most of Germany’s steel and coal resources, and Alsace-Lorraine was Germany’s source of industrial power. Once these territories were lost, Germany had lost almost all of its industrial capacity.

Without industrial capacity, Germany’s economy was in crisis. They did not have the funds to rebuild their own country, and furthermore, did not have the means to pay back their war reparations. As Britain and France had relied on German funds to rebuild their nations, their economies began to dwindle alongside Germany. By 1923, Germany had defaulted on its debt. In 1924, American economist Charles G. Dawes introduced the Dawes Plan, whose aim was to help Germany begin paying reparations. (Although the Treaty of Versailles was created in 1919, it was not until 1926 that Germany had the capacity to begin paying the reparations required of them.)

According to the Dawes Plan, Germany was to begin paying reparations of 1 billion marks per year, increasing in value every year after that. However, the money would not come from German coffers, but from American loans to Germany. Because of the huge value of the annual reparations the plan required of Germany, it was replaced by the Young Plan in 1929. These two plans allowed Germany to begin paying the war reparations that it owed by borrowing money. As war reparations began to be paid, the European economy improved for a time.

In both the Young Plan and the Dawes Plan, it was stated that some of Germany’s reparations could be paid in material goods, such as coal. When Germany began paying its reparations in coal, an influx of free coal was introduced in foreign markets. For countries such as Britain, this was detrimental to the economy, as Britain relied on coal exports to stimulate its economy. Free coal lowered the price of coal exports, and Britain’s economy was hindered as well.

Due to Germany’s reliance on American loans after WW1, Germany’s economy was inexplicably tied to America’s. After the Wall Street Crash of 1930, America could no longer afford to loan money to Germany. Thus, all German war reparation payments were ceased. Germany could not afford to pay its reparations any time in the near future, and the Allied powers agreed to reduce Germany’s debt by 90%. However, this meant that the European economy had little hope of rebuilding itself or seeing immediate stimulus and the economy faltered until the start of WW2.

__The Ruhr Crisis__

In the beginning of 1923 the German government wanted to postpone reparation payments for another year. Finally after previous years of the Germans delaying their payments the French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré had enough and announced that he would seize numerous German productivity enterprises to retain control and exploit them until Germany fulfilled their reparation. On January 10, 1923 French and Belgian troops entered the Ruhr. The French army worked swiftly to overtake the German factories. The British declined to participate in helping the French.

In the factories that the French took control of in the Ruhr the French ordered them to continue productivity however, this caused a passive resistance movement to start and spread quickly. It became clear that the French would not be able to gain reparation payments by working the German industries. Poincaré announced that he would withdraw from the Ruhr at the same pace as the German government would make their reparation payments.

It took twelve months for the British and with the support of the American’s to convince Poincaré to create a committee to examine the question of German’s capacity to pay back its reparations. Due to the occupation of the Ruhr by the French this lead to a complete stop of all German Reparation payments which also lead to poverty among the striking workers. From the economic problems occurring in the Ruhr that was caused by the French the German government began to print money to pay subsistence wages to the two million workers who had down tools. This lead to hyperinflation which caused the mark to lose value and by August was worth one forth of what it did at the start of April. In the Ruhr towns many problems were arising and both the right and left wing extremist were attempting to make capital through this hard time.

Due to the French occupation in the Ruhr and the near complete failure of the German industry the mark lost its value. The middle class was hit the hardest as the value of their savings vanished overnight and every family in the country experienced affected every family. In November it took a million, million mark papers to equal what was worth one dollar in 1914.


 * __League of Nation Mandates__**

“Wilson’s new world order called for some arrangement other than annexation or colonization for those parts of the world not yet ready to govern themselves.Mandates, a form of trusteeship either directly under the League of Nations or under powers to be mandated by the League, were proposed as a possible solution. The length of a mandate would depend on the progress made by their wards. -Paris 1919 pg 98

The mandates were created to help stabilize and support damaged or developing states after World War 1 while not directing them as a official colony or annexation of a powerful league member. Although countries which took part in the overwatch and development favoured colonial control, the league presided on maintaining a policy of self determination for territories and colonies which were not able to govern themselves completely.

__Where are the mandates in the Covenant?__

Article 22__:__

"To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the League. The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions and other similar circumstances. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience and religion, subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms traffic and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the establishment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of military training of the natives for other than police purposes and the defence of territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other Members of the League. There are territories, such as South-West Africa and certain of the South Pacific Islands, which, owing to the sparseness of their population, or their small size, or their remoteness from the centres of civilisation, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the Mandatory, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory, subject to the safeguards above mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population. In every case of mandate, the Mandatory shall render to the Council an annual report in reference to the territory committed to its charge. The degree of authority, control, or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory shall, if not previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, be explicitly defined in each case by the Council. A permanent Commission shall be constituted to receive and examine the annual reports of the Mandatories and to advise the Council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates."

Source:[]

__What types of Mandates were established?__

The mandates were split up into classes depending on the conditions of each territory before they were established.

__Class A__- Were mandates for areas that were ready to be independent in a short period of time.These territories previously under the Ottoman Empire were all in the Middle East and had administration under the United Kingdom and France:

Administration under the UK: -Palestine -Transjordan -Mesopotamia (Iraq)

Administration under France: -Lebanon -Syria

__Class B-__ Mandates for areas for which the granting of independence was a distant prospect. These areas were all in Africa and had administration under Britain, France, and Belgium.

Administration under Britain and France: -Cameroons and Togoland (divided between Britain and France) -Tanganyika (Britain)

Administration under Belgium: -Ruanda-Urundi

__Class C-__ Mandates for areas were recognized with virtually no prospect for self Government or independence. These areas were in the pacific and southern part of Africa, administered under The British Empire, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa Union and Japan.

Administration under Australia: -New Guinea -Nauru

Administration under New Zealand: -Western Samoa

Administration under Japan: -Several Pacific islands (including modern day Maianas, Marshall Islands, Palau, Micronesia) (I'll look for more info relating to impacts/development)

Effect of US Not Joining League of Nations: • Woodrow Wilson was beat out by republicans who wanted to practice isolationism, they were still uneasy about WWI. • Some such as Senator Henry Cabot, led a group of United States senators (republicans) who feared that the US would end up in another world war should the League try to enforce all of it’s rules and restrictions. • Without the US, the league had little funding, little power and almost half the army it could have had. • Without the most powerful country in the world, the league had little to no authority depending on the situation


 * TREATY ENFORCEMENT**

Certain treaties failed to reach their respective aims mainly due to the //lack// of enforcement of their provisions. First, the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 intended to prevent an arms race between the naval powers at the time. This disarmament would, then, lead to peace in that aggression at sea would be made less likely to occur due to the lack of arms available for use. Terms included the limits of ships (in terms of tonnage and gun capability), the ceasing of building programmes and the rules for disposing and transfer of arms. No signatory could build arms, which exceeded the limits as dictated by the treaty, for non-signatories. Existing ships that violated the terms of the treaty could not be disposed of via the giving of ‘gifts’ to other nations. The treaty also covered limitations on the building and possession of aircraft carriers. All in agreement with the terms, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy signed the treaty and went about adhering to the terms. However, the treaty resulted in Italy’s disregard for the treaty and Japan opting out of the London Treaty for naval arms reduction that followed in 1930 which was drawn up for the purpose of adjusting the terms of the Washington Treaty. The lack of enforcement contributed to the failure of the Second, the French ensured that the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles were enforced. As Germany was forced to accept guilt for the war, they were obligated to pay reparations for the rebuilding of destroyed countries during the Great War. However, when Germany was unable to pay due to their own economic problems, they appealed for a delay of the reparation payments. The French, on the other hand, decided to take matters into their hands and move into the Ruhr area of the Weimar Republic. This was done in order to make sure that the Germans adhered to the terms of the Treaty. Third, the Locarno treaties were pacts agreed upon by participating nations not to resort to war in the event of conflict between them. With the beginning of the Second World War, the failure of the treaties was realized because part of the agreement is of non-aggression between Germany, The United Kingdom, Italy, France and Belgium. Moreover, Germany agreed to seek arbitration should they clash against Poland and Czechoslovakia. Instead, Germany eventually entered both nations with aggressive means. The treaties were ultimately unsuccessful due to the //lack// of enforcement due to appeasement and the absence of forces to guarantee the obedience of all signatories.

__**U.S. ISOLATIONISM**__

__*GEOPOLITICAL IMPACTS OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES__

- almost all Germans detested the fact that their country signed the Treaty of Versailles as $6,600 billion was to be paid in war reparations. - Money in Germany was almost useless and the citizens were becoming extremely poor because of the high taxes. - Germany was being divided into colonies among France and Great Britain. - the Rhineland was to be demilitarized by Germany. -to be continued....
 * Disarmament is the act of reducing limiting or abolishing weapons. it focuses on the abolishment of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons

The Geneva conference They protect people who do not want to take part in the fighting"**
 * "The Geneva Conference and their Additional Protocols are international treaties that contain the most important rules limiting the barbarity of war.

The first : protects wounded and sick soldiers on land during war medical units and medical units and transport**
 * This provides protection for the wounded and sick, but also for medical and religious personnel,

The second : protects wounded sick and shipwrecked military personnel at the sea during war it protects hospital ships and has identity cards for medical and religious personnel**
 * this convention replaced the Hague convention of 1907 for the adaptation to maritime warfare, if has 63 articles all applicable to war at sea

The third : applies to prisoners of war and places of captivity. labour of prisoners of war, financial resources and releive after the event.**
 * this convention replaced the prisoners of war convention of 1929 it contains 143 articles. specifiying in conditions of captivity

The fourth: applies to protection of civilians, even in occupied territory regulation as to humanitarian relief for population in occupied territory and general protection of population.**
 * came about as a consequences of the abcence of a convention for the protection of civilians in wartime, provides strict

[|**http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/genevaconventions**]

__//**Geneva convention 1864**//__

the 1864 geneva convention layed the foundations for the current humanitarian law it is characterized by: it was built on the basis that " Every government must, within the limits of its domestic policy, take such action as it shall deem best, either to facilitate the organization of Volunteer Sanitary Commissions, or to merely tolerate them.

In 1864 international conference of 13 nations took place in Geneva to discuss the possibility of making warfare more "humane". At the end of the conference on 22nd August, 1864, the representatives signed the agreement known as the Geneva convention. The agreement provided for the neutrality of ambulance and military hospitals, the non-belligerent status of persons who aid the wounded, and sick soldiers of any nationality, the return of prisoners to their country if they are incapable of serving, and the adoption of a white flag with a red cross for use on hospitals, ambulances, and evacuation centres whose neutrality would be recognized by this symbol.

The campaign then began to persuade the different countries to ratify the Convention. It was approved by Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Switzerland in 1864. They were followed by Britain (1865), Prussia (1865), Greece (1865), Turkey (1865), Austria (1866), Portugal (1866), Russia (1867), Persia (1874), Serbia (1876), Chile (1879), Argentina (1879) and Peru (1880).

the main goals reached by the Geneva convetion were writen on the basis of making war "Humane" and they achived:
 * Standing written rules of universal scope to protect the victims of conflicts
 * Standing written rules of universal scope to protect the victims of conflicts


 * mulitlateral nature open to all states the obligation to extend care with out discriminationg to wounded sick and military personell


 * respect for marking of medical personel transports and equipment using an emblem( red cross on back)


 * __Locarno Spring (__**not //Lacarno//)

Following the crisis and major economic impacts of the Ruhr Crisis (1923) and the Dawes Plan (1924) on Germany and Western Europe, Gustav Stresemann, the Chancellor of Germany, sought out the revive Germany from the implications imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty had caused Germany to pay reparations to the allied nations such as France that caused a major crippling of the German economy. There was also the demilitarization of the Rhineland which caused a rise in Germany’s anxieties in protecting its western and eastern frontiers. Their fears where proven true when France invaded Ruhr in order to take over the coal mines to continue the payments of the reparations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. With the economic crisis that followed the Ruhr crisis and the dependency on the USA through the Dawes plans Stresemann, in order to regain German power in a global setting had to seek a security pact with the allied nations and to improve relations with the allied nations. Stresemann’s goals in this security pact was to revise its eastern frontier (the boarders with Poland and Czechoslovakia), improve its relations with Great Britain and France, and the withdrawal of the Allied Control Commission and Allied Occupation in the Rhineland (reverse the effects of the treaty of Versailles). Stresemann was willing to negotiate the western frontier with France and create a clear, secured boarder, but was unwilling to make any commitment in securing and maintaining the Eastern frontier. France on the other hand was not willing in signing any treaty with Germany unless Germany would become of member of the League of Nations. France had severe suspicions that Germany would attempt to invade again which caused great animosity between the two nations when trying to create a security pact. What was decided upon was a security pact that was signed between Belgium, France and Germany, with Great Britain and Italy as guarantors of the Pact. It was held in Locarno, Switzerland in 1925, which thus became known as the Locarno Spring. Terms · Belgium, France and Germany accept each others boarders especially of the boarders of the Rhineland · Great Britain and Italy would become guarantors of the western boarders, and would intervene if Belgium, France or Germany acted in aggression against any other states. · The Western Frontier would be taken under the protection of the League of Nations, in the case of any breaches of the western boarders · Germany would become a member of the League of Nations Results · Non aggression forms between Germany, France and Belgium boarders · Germany is given sovereign acknowledgment to the imposition of the Treaty of Versailles · Arbitration conventions and treaties are held between France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Belgium but Germany continues to refuse to recognise the Eastern Frontier and neither Great Britain or Italy want to be guarantors for those boarder · Germany continues on after Locarno Spring removing the influence of the Treaty of Versailles, such as the remilitarization of the Rhineland and increase arms production After the events at Locarno Germany went into the removal of the penalties of the treaty of Versailles without the interruption from any other states, this is because France pulled out its forces for enforcing the treaty and Germany is allowed to be given power on the international stage by becoming a member of the League of Nations. Overall the effects of the Locarno Spring were to improve relations between states, but in fact increased tensions between the countries. France’s suspicions of Germany increased and they soon began to remake alliances with Poland and Czechoslovakia so that France would have support in what they assumed to be Germany’s inevitable invasion. Locarno was simply an idealized attempt at collective security that undermined the League of Nations and promoted the dismantling of the treaty of Versailles.

Sources: Henry Kissinger, __Democracy__, (Simon&Schuster Paperbacks: New Yo ork), pg. 273 [] ||