PEACE & WAR IN EUROPE1919 - 1945

To examine the end of the First World War.

VICTORS – ALLIED FORCES LOSERS – CENTRAL POWERS

BRITAIN GERMANY

SOVIET UNION AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

UNITED STATES

ITALY

THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE

• President Wilson of the USA wanted Germany to be treated fairly and suggested a League of Nations to keep peace.

• David Lloyd George, prime minister of Britain, wanted to impose harsh terms on Germany.

• President Clemenceau of France wanted revenge for France; he wanted to keep Germany weak.

THIS WAS HELD TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH

GERMANY AND HOW TO PREVENT WAR BREAKING

OUT AGAIN.

Treaty of Versailles• The Treaty of Versailles was made with Germany.– The Rhineland was demilitarised (no German soldiers could

be there).– Germany lost the Polish Corridor to Poland.– Union with Austria (Anschluss) was forbidden.– The German army was reduced to 100,000 soldiers.– Germany had to accept the War Guilt Clause (admit it

caused the war).– Germany had to pay reparation (compensation) of £6.6

billion to the victorious allies.• Germany had to sign the Treaty, but Germans were

very angry with the terms.

League of Nations

ASSEMBLY

THE COMMITTEES

HEALTH SLAVERY REFUGEE LABOUR

COUNCIL

FOLLOWING THE WAR, THE

LEAGUE OF NATIONS WAS

SET UP. THIS WAS HOW IT WAS ORGANISED:

League of Nations• The League was proposed by

Woodrow Wilson and it aimed to prevent further war. However, it failed because:– The League had no army; it only

used sanctions or boycotts to force countries to follow its decisions.

– The Council and Assembly had to be unanimous.

– The most powerful countries (such as the USA) were not members.

DEMOCRACY & DICTATORSHIP

A democracy is a form of government in which

the people, either directly or indirectly,

take part in governing. The word democracy

originates from Greek, and means rule of the

people.

A dictatorship is a country,

government, or the form of government

in which absolute power is exercised by a single person.

RUSSIA• T___ N_______ II was ruler of Russia until the revolution in

1917. Led by L_____, Russians overthrew him because they were unhappy about the d_____ and p______ following World War I. L_____ was the leader of the c________ party. C_________ believed that all industry should be owned by the people who worked in them. This idea was popular with the public but did not work well as members of the c________ party were put in charge of industries and a s_____ p_____ threatened anyone who disagreed. After L_____’s death, S_____ took over. He took away farms and forged state owned farms called c__________. The secret police killed about __ million farmers. Millions of people worked in l_____ c____ as slaves and made Russia a p_______ country.

RUSSIA• Both Lenin and Stalin were

communist dictators. They had total control over Russia, as they were the only choice in elections.

• They both used propaganda to promote their image and the image of Communist Russia.

ITALY & MUSSOLINI• Mussolini founded the Fascist

Party, also known as the Blackshirts after World War 1. See Person in History handout for more details.

WHY DID HITLER RISE TO POWER?1. The weakness of the Weimar Republic – This was the government

in place after World War 1 and it was blamed for the harsh terms of Versailles.

2. The Great Depression – After the Wall Street Crash in 1929, German unemployment rose to 6 million.

3. Hitler’s Nazi Party – Became the largest party in Germany through democratic elections before becoming fascist.

4. Hitler’s policies – He had popular policies on Versailles and unemployment which were against the Weimar Republic.

5. Propaganda – He was a great public speaker and created a powerful public image.

6. The SA (Brownshirts) and the SS (Blackshirts) used violence to attack opposition parties.

7. Hitler became Chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1933.

DICTATORSHIP• Hitler called an election and the SA and SS attacked

opposition parties. Hitler increased his seats.• Hitler banned the Communist Party.• Hitler passed the enabling law, which allowed him to rule by

decree.• Hitler banned trade unions and used the Gestapo to put

down opposition.• Hitler used the SS to kill the leader of the SA, Rohm, and

others who threatened his power in the Night of the Long Knives – a series of political murders.

• When Hindenburg died, Hitler made himself president as well as chancellor of Germany. Der Fϋhrer (the Leader).

PROPAGANDA• Goebbels became the

minister for Propaganda. He controlled the press, radio, newspapers and cinema. He controlled the news they sent out.– Hitler was glorified in a cult

of personality.– The Nuremberg Rallies and

torchlight parades were held.

– Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens.

THE NAZI ECONOMY• Hitler improved the German economy:– Reduced unemployment from 6 million to no

unemployment by 1939.– Autobahns (motorways)– Building of military vehicles. Conscription to the army.

THE NAZIS AND THE JEWS• Hitler hated the Jews (anti-Semitism).– The Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of German

citizenship, banned their marriage to non-Jews and forced them to wear the Star of David.

– In the Night of the Broken Glass (Kristallnacht), Jewish shops and synagogues were attacked and 90 Jews were killed.

– Many Jews emigrated, including Albert Einstein.

THE NAZIS AND THE JEWS• During World War II, Hitler undertook the mass

murder of Jews. This was called the Final solution by the Nazis; it is now called the Holocaust.– Jews were rounded up in ghettoes and concentration

camps, such as Auschwitz.– Himmler’s SS organised their execution, beginning with

the gassing of women, children and older men.– Others were used as slave labour until they died.– Some were buried in mass graves and others were burnt

in ovens.– About 6 million Jews were killed.

THE NAZIS AND THE JEWS

• When Hitler became dictator of Germany, he passed laws against Jewish people.1. Write down three of those laws.2. If you were a Jew at that time, which of the laws would

you dislike most? Explain your choice.3. Draw a star of David. What did Nazis do with it? Where

might you see the Star today?4. What was a ghetto? When were Jewish people herded

into ghettos?

MOVE TO WAR: 1933 – 39• HITLER’S AIMS IN FOREGIN POLICY:– Make Germany greater and full of German-speaking people.– To gain Lebensraum (living space) in Eastern Europe for raw

materials and food.– To destroy the Treaty of Versailles.

• FOREIGN POLICY IN ACTION:– The Saar (coal producing area given to France after WW1)

voted to return to Germany.– Rearmament of military with conscription and building war

vehicles.– Sending troops into the Rhineland.– Hitler improved relations with Mussolini.

HITLER & MUSSOLINI• ROME-BERLIN AXIS –

Allowed Hitler to takeover Austria in the Anschluss.

• PACT OF STEEL – Commitment to help each other in war.

MOVE TO WAR: 1933 – 39• Britain and France followed

a policy of appeasement where they gave into Hitler’s demands in order to prevent a war. They thought Germany had been treated badly in the Versailles Treaty and wanted to prevent a repetition of WW1.

Do you think appeasement

was a good idea? Explain your

answer.

MOVE TO WAR: 1933 – 39• Hitler demanded the Sudetenland – a German speaking area

– from Czechoslovakia. They refused but were forced to hand it over following the Munich Conference in order to prevent war.

• Hitler signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Stalin, which included a 10 year non-aggression pact and an agreement to divide Poland.

• Hitler demanded the Polish Corridor, which separated most of Germany from East Prussia. Poland refused. Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939.

• Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany and World War II had begun.

GERMAN VICTORIES: 1939 – 451. What was the phoney

war?2. Why did Hitler attack

Denmark and Norway?3. What happened at

Dunkirk?4. What was Operation

Sealion?5. What was the Blitz?6. What was Operation

Barbarossa?

What were the different types of warfare used by the Nazis and the British? Which do you think was the most effective? Explain your answer.

GERMAN VICTORIES: 1939 – 45• America joined the war when Japan attacked Pearl

Harbour in December 1941.• THE WAR AT SEA: Britain and America won the war

at sea (Battle of the Atlantic) because of increased shipbuilding and they cracked the German codes.

• THE WAR IN THE AIR: Both Britain and Germany bombed each other resulting in huge civilian casualties.

THE ALLIES ADVANCE: 1942 – 1945

• The allies advanced through Italy, killing Mussolini.• The Soviet Union advanced from the East.• On the 6th June 1944 (D Day – Operation Overlord),

the Allies planned a landing on the coast of Normandy.

• They advanced to Paris and ultimately Berlin.• Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin as

the Allied armies closed in. Germany surrendered.

• Invasion of Poland1939• Denmark and Norway conquered• Invasion and fall of France• Dunkirk• Battle of Britain – The Blitz

1940• Invasion of Russia – Operation

Barbarossa• Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

1941• Battle of El Alamein• Battle of Stalingrad1942• Battle of Stalingrad1943• D-Day1944• Hitler’s suicide – VE Day• Atomic bombs in Japan – VJ Day1945