OCR History Unit A 971 Pupil Revision Guide

OCR History Unit A 971 Pupil Revision Guide Aspects of International Relations Section 3: Why had International Peace Collapsed by 1939? Mind maps Practice Revision cards Work Memory Games Effort • What were the consequences of the failures of the League in the 1930 s? • Was the policy of appeasement justified? Songs and actions Name: were the long-term consequences of the peace treaties of 1919– 1923? • How far was Hitler’s foreign policy to blame for the outbreak of war in 1939? Key word lists Practice exam questions • What Success Achievement • How important was the Nazi-Soviet Pact? • Why did Britain and France declare war on Germany in September 1939? 1

Long-term consequences of the Treaty of Versailles. Was the Treaty of Versailles fair? Germany forced to sign War Guilt Clause. (Article 231) Germany disarmed Some critics said this Treaty was so harsh that it made a second war with Germany inevitable. Others say it would have been impossible for any Treaty to have successfully solved all the problems in Europe. Some historians think that what the allies did to punish Germany could be justified. 100, 000 army , no air force, no tanks, no subs, navy to be handed over to British Was the Treaty really that harsh on Germany? Angry reaction- at first refused to sign Ger mans felt deep resentment about this- unresolved issue - Germany did not start the war but had been blamed At first shock and angerwhy just them? All nations had stockpiled weapons Felt vulnerable couldn't defend themselves Politicians aimed to re-arm Germany – Hitler did this in secret in 1933 and then openly from 1935 Shocked by high amount Germany told to pay 6. 6 billion reparations French invade Ruhr 1923 to take what they were owed- German economy went into freefall German territory taken and given to other countries including colonies abroad. Rhineland demilitarised and no anschluss with Austria Germans felt isolated, vulnerable and angry at loss of people and territory. Why did the allies do what they did to Germany? Germans felt huge resentment against the allies especially France and Britaincontinued mistrust and suspicion Hitler and supporters determined to reunite German speaking peoples. Make Germany great again. Did the Treaty do any good at all? 2

The Consequences of the Failure of the League in the 1930 s This cartoon was produced by David Low in 1929 after the League had failed to get the countries of the world to disarm. Hitler watched the failures of the League to deal with Manchuria and Abyssinia. This gave him confidence for his own foreign policy aims. Neville Chamberlain the British PM began to follow the policy of appeasement towards Hitler as he now lacked faith that the League of Nations would be able to stop Hitler. Now that the League had failed to stand up to Japan, Italy and Germany al the nations of Europe began to re-arm more quickly even though they had promised to disarm when they joined the League. The Second World War could have been prevented if the dictators had been stopped by the collective actions of the League of Nations members early enough. This in turn could have prevented 25 million deaths worldwide. Negative Consequences Positive Consequences After the war the world had learned from the weaknesses of the League and when the United Nations was created it required that member nations contribute to a UN army The UN membership crucially included the USA. Key failures of the League in the 1930 s • Japan invaded Manchuria in China 1931 then left the League. • Hitler re-armed Germany and ignored key terms Treaty of Versailles then left the League 1935 • Italy invaded Abyssinia and then left the League 1936 3

Hitler’s Steps to War- Remember the 6 Rs Re-arms Germany Re-occupies the Rhineland Re-unites with Austria Really wants Sudetenland Rest of Czechoslovakia Rolls into Poland 1933 in secret then openly from 1935 and leaves the League. March 1936 - if only Britain and France had done something back then! Hindsight is a wonderful thing. March 1938 - on the surface Austria looks happy about it- Nazi propaganda working well. September 1938 - Munich Conference with Mussolini (Italy) Daladier (France) and Chamberlain (Britain) appeasement to Hitler- give him Sudetenland! March 1939 - Czechoslovakia overrun quickly- egg on face for Neville Chamberlain appeasement not worked Hitler cant be trusted. September 1939 - who will stop him? surely not Britain and definitely not Russia as have just signed Nazi Soviet Pact 4

Typical exam question- Why did war break out in 1939? (8 marks) This is a WHY question Reason 1 - Hitler's foreign policy is important Level 1 - general comment – e. g. Hitler’s foreign policy led to war (12 marks) Rearms, Rhineland, Anschluss Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Poland alliances with Italy, Japan and then Russia!!! Level 2– explains some background or details of Hitler’s foreign policy. (3 -4 marks) Reason 2 - Weakness and failure of Lof N Manchuria, Abyssinia, rearmament and Rhineland. Reason -3 - Policy of appeasement Britain’s actions or lack of them - Munich Conference 1938 Reason 4 - Isolation of USA Not member L of N, would have been a powerful ally to Europe against Hitler. Reason 5 - Alliances with Hitler Anti-Comintern Pact- Japan and Italy Rome-Berlin Axis-1936 Italy Nazi-Soviet Pact over Poland 1939 Level 3 - Explains one reason in full- (5 -6 marks) Level 4 -Explains more than one reason (7 -8 marks) Remember If you just blame Hitler you can only get up to level 3 because you have only explained one reason. You need to explain at least one other reason to hit a level 4. The failure of the League is a pretty good one to choose because you have lots of examples to give! 5

Yes Was the policy of appeasement justified? Be balanced Although it failed it did delay war It is easy to understand why Chamberlain tried so hard to avoid war. It delayed war- was not ready for war in 1938. It was much better prepared for war by September 1939. No It did not stop war. The people wanted peace- a war against simply because they had marched back into the Rhineland or united with would have been very unpopular with the British public. It encouraged Hitler to make more demands believing that he would get away with it. It gave him time to become stronger and more powerful. Some politicians believed that Hitler was a much better alternative than Communism. With no Hitler in power in a Communist revolution might take place- everyone in the West was afraid of Communism. By appeasing Hitler politicians missed a golden opportunity to stop Hitler in 1936 when he marched troops into the. At this point he was still weak and if he had met any resistance would have ordered his troops to withdraw. Hitler was quite a popular politician in the 1930’s people admired how he had transformed and he was trusted by other leaders. Most people by now felt that the Treaty had been too harsh on anyway and that Hitler’s demands like rearmament, and uniting German speaking people were entirely reasonable. Appeasement was a betrayal of the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations and other European countries. The British government were willing to sacrifice others in order to protect Britain. At the Munich Conference 1938 and France agreed with Hitler that he could have the Sudetenland. The Czechs were not even represented at the meeting!!! 6

Key Revision Detail- Munich Conference September 1938 What, no chair for me? (30 th September, 1938) Practice Exam question. 1 a) Study this source. What is the message of this cartoon? Use details of the cartoon and your knowledge to explain your answer. (7 marks) Level 1 - (1 -2 marks)- gives surface features of the cartoon only Level 2 - (3)explains what is going on- event Level 3 - (4) main message of cartoon e. g. Stalin is surprised he hasn’t been invited to the Munich conference Level 4 -main message of cartoon supported by details from cartoon or own knowledge (5 -6 marks) Level 5 - (7) message of the cartoon supported by details from cartoon and own knowledge. . • policy of appeasement in action • Neville Chamberlain British PM flies to meet with Hitler in Munich. • Hitler had been gathering army on Czech border. • Hitler says he wants to unite German speakers in Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia only. • Chamberlain gets promise from Hitler that he will not invade rest of Czechoslovakia. • Chamberlain avoiding or delaying the war • Chamberlain could have formed alliance with Stalin against Hitler but did not trust Stalin or Communism • Russia as superpower in East and neighbour to Czechoslovakia should have been invited to conference. • Neither Russia or Czechoslovakia were present at conference. • To Stalin this proved that the British and French were willing to sacrifice the East • Short dark bald man is Daladier French PM in the cartoon. • Bald puffed up chest man is Mussolini leader of Italy and allied with Hitler. • Stalin knew now war with Germany likely- Munich conference made him even more convinced on Nazi. Soviet Pact later in 1939 to delay war with Germany and as insult to Britain and France. 7

The Nazi-Soviet Pact- August 1939 Typical Exam Question- this is a WHY question Explain why the Nazi-Soviet Pact Made War more likely? (8 marks) Level 1 - general comment e. g. Now Hitler could do what he wanted and Russia would not stop him. (1 -2 marks) Level 2– explains some background or details of the pact. (3 -4 marks) Level 3 - Explains one reason in full- (5 -6 marks) Level 4 -Explains more than one reason (7 -8 marks) This alliance shocked the world. Nazi Germany and Communist Russia had signed a pact of Non. Aggression- they would not fight one another as everyone expected but instead would carve up Poland between them! The alliance did not last long. In 1941 Hitler invaded the USSR. Hitler’s Aims • • • Get half of Poland Avoids war with Russia in the short-term Sticks two fingers up at Britain and France Is convinced Britain will do nothing if Russia is not also fighting Germany still hoping that Britain won’t declare war and that even maybe alliance with Britain still possible Stalin’s Aims • • Get half of Poland Avoids war with Germany in the short-term Sticks two fingers up at Britain and France who had seemed to abandon the east of Europe e. g. over the Sudetenland. A chance to spread Communism into Eastern Europe. 8

David Low cartoon October 1939 Rendezvous- Hitler to Stalin: The scum of the Earth I believe? Stalin to Hitler: The bloody assassin of the workers I presume? The Nazi-Soviet Pact August 1939 could not last long. These 2 men did not trust one another. Both knew they would go to war with one another eventually. They were both stalling for time. Hitler was able to take Poland within 6 weeks. In 1941 he went on to invade Russia. Britain and France declare war on Germany 3 rd Sept 1939. It made Britain and the USA forever suspicious of Stalin Hitler is given the confidence to invade Poland knowing USSR will not counter-attack Britain increased its rearmament programme. Poland is quickly over-run by the Nazis Blitzkrieg style warfare. Thousands of Poles are killed and the British and French don't get there in time to help. 9

Why did Britain and France declare war on Germany in 1939? 1. August 1939 Britain and France had allied with Poland 2. Czechoslovakia had proven that appeasement did not work “There’s been a mistake it was your smaller brother I sent for!” Practice Exam question. 1 a) Study this source. What is the message of this cartoon? Use details of the cartoon and your knowledge to explain your answer. (7 marks) Level 1 - (1 -2 marks)- gives surface features of the cartoon only Level 2 - (3)explains what is going on- event Level 3 - (4) main message of cartoon e. g. Hitler is surprised because he did not think Britain would declare war over Poland. Level 4 -main message of cartoon supported by details from cartoon or own knowledge (5 -6 marks) Level 5 - (7) message of the cartoon supported by details from cartoon and own knowledge. 3. Germany was issued with an ultimatum first to leave Poland they ignored this. 4. Britain was better prepared for war that it had been in 1938 10