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twenty years after the __, war occurred. Still, people believed in __(3)__, but didn’t know how to maintain it. The __ failed to work. New treaties were all talk. Europe had few serious economic and social hardships. __occurred in 1922 but was beset by __ and a __in 1929, The __ brought misery to tons of people an begging for food. __increased and __were created, named __after __. Social unrest increased and __ occurred.
- Treaty of Versailles
- peace, economic growth,a dn political democracy
- league of Nations
- Recovery
- financial problems and a depression
- Great Depression
- Homelessness
- shantytowns
- Hoovervilles
- Herbert Hoover
- hunger marches
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An Uncertain Peace: __years of war left Europe with feeling of despair. People disregarded Western values. __ emphasized this in __
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Four
- Oswald Spengler
- The Decline of the West
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The Impact of WWI
- a. suffering and death undermined progress
- b. new propaganda techniques manipulated people to continue senseless slaughter
- c. erection of war memorials and ceremonies to honor dead
- i. battlefields= commemorative sites with memorial parks, cemeteries, etc.
- 1. adopted by all belligerent countries= Unknown Soldier
- ii. businesses, schools, universities and other bodies set up war memorieals
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Social impact
- a. Social impact not known; but people were hurt with family losses
- b. creation of lost generation of war veterans who were used to violence= way of life
- i. after war, some veterans became pacifists, but for many veterans, violence of war became start for use of violence in new political movements
- 1. they were nationalistic and wanted to restore national interests
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I. The Search for Security
- a. peace treaties at end of WWI tried to fulfill nationalistic dreams by redrawing boundaries and creating new states
- i. peace settlement left many nations upset
- 1. conflicts over disputed border regions destroyed mutuality
- 2. Germans saw Peace of Versailles as a dictated peace that needed revision
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Pres Wilson
- a. President Wilson saw that peace treaties had unwise provisions that could cause new conflicts; he hoped League of Nations would succeed
- i. League had some success in guaranteeing protection for the rights of many ethnic and religious minorities that remained in newly formed states, but wasn’t effective in maintaining peace
- 1. failure of US to join and desire to be less involved undermined League
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League's sole weapon
- 1. League’s sole weapon for halting aggression was imposition of economic sanctions such as trade embargoes and severance of financial ties by League members
- a. members failed to prevent League members from engaging in military action: Greece land-grabbed, Italy bombed, etc.
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Failure of League
- 1. Failure of League to scold members for military aggression undermined credibility
- 2. efforts to promote disarmament were also ineffective, despite provisions in League’s covenant and Treaty of Versailles
- a. although League created special commission to handle the task in 1926, it met in 1932; too late since Japan was rearming and Germany would begin to)
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Weakness of Lelague
- i. Weakness of League and failure of US to honor its promise to form a defensive military alliance with France left French feeling bitter and alone
- 1. fear of German aggression led to their rejection of disarmament
- 2. Before WWI, French alliance with Russia threatened Germany with chance of two-front war
- a. But Russia was now hostile and France had to build alliances to compensate (Poland, Little Entente)
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Lacking military support
- a. Lacking military support through League, French sought security by relying on strict reinforcement of Treaty of Versailles
- i. issued reparations, the payments that the Germans were supposed to pay for damage
- ii. April 1921: Allied Reparations Commission settled on sum of $33 billion dollars
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Allied Threats
- 1. Allied threats to occupy the Ruhr valley, Germany’s chief industrial and mining center, led the new German republic to accept the reparations settlement and make its first payment in 1921, but after, couldn’t pay anymore
- a. France outragedà sent troops to occupy area and threatened to collect money through forceupt operation of mines and factories
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Both Germany and France
- a. Both Germany and France suffered from French occupation of the Ruhr
- i. German government adopted policy of passive resistance that was financed by printing more paper moneyà increased inflation and devalued German mark
- ii. Economic disaster led to political upheavals as Communists staged uprisings and Adolph Hitler’s band of Nazis tried to get power in Munich
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French
- i. French weren’t any better as gains didn’t offset costs
- ii. pressure from US and Britian forced French to agree to new conference of experts to reassess the reparations problem
- 1. after conference, France and Germany wanted conciliatory approach
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