World History- 2022 Edition - Copy

Senior Secondary School Syllabus
2022 Edition 1
2022 Edition 2
HISTORY DEPARTMENT
WORLD HISTORY NOTES

(PAPER TWO - H832)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. WORLD MAPS
2. BASIC WORLD HISTORY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
3. CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I
a. Balance of power in Europe before 1870
b. The unification of Germany
c. The Alliance System
d. Dropping the pilot
e. The Anti German Alliances
f. Military Rivalry
g. Colonial Rivalry/ imperialism
h. Balkan Nationalism
i. War plans
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4. THE INTER-WAR PERIOD

a. The Paris Peace Conference
b. The Big three
c. The Peace Treaties
5. THE LEAGE OF NATIONS
6. GERMANY 1919-1939
a. The Weimar Republic
b. Adolf Hitler
7. THE USSR 1917 – 1992
8. CAUSES OF WWII
9. UNLTED NATIONS ORGANISATION ( UNO)
10. LATIN AMERICA: A CASE OF CUBA
11. PAN- AFRICANISM
12. BILIOGRAPHY
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WORLD MAP
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MAP OF EUROPE AROUND 1900
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BASIC WORLD HISTORY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

TERM DEFINITION
republic a government in which citizens elect the leaders
aristocracy government by the best individuals or by a small privileged class
constitution a plan of government
moderate one who holds moderate views or one who belongs to a moderate group
favoring a moderate course or program
minority A part of a population differing from others in some characteristics and

often subjected to differential treatment
solon a. a wise and skillful lawgiver. b. A member of a legislative body
reparation compensation for war damage
nation a community of people composed of one or more nationalities and

possessing a more or less defined territory and government
patriarch in the early Christian Church, one of five powerful bishops in major cities
theocracy government headed by religious leaders or a leader regarded as a god
federal a supporter in the Civil War; especially a soldier in the federal armies
guerilla a person who engages in irregular warfare as a member of an

independent unit carrying out harassment and sabotage
nationalism pride in one’s own nation’s desire for independence
martial law temporary military rule limiting rights such as free speech
buffer zone a neutral area separating conflicting forces; an area designed to

separate
dynasty a line of rulers who belong to the same family
Democracy form of government in which the citizens hold power
Despot a Byzantine emperor or prince; a bishop or patriarch of the Eastern

Orthodox Church; a ruler with absolute power or authority
Medieval a person of the middle ages
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Agrarian a member of an agrarian party or movement; of or relating to lands or

their tenure
Conservative tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or

institutions; traditional
Regent a person who acts as a temporary ruler
Indemnity payment for damages or losses
Country a political state or nation or it’s territory
Heretic a dissenter from established church dogma; especially a baptized

member of the Roman Catholic Church who disavows a revealed truth
Capitalism an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of

capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision,
and by prices, production, and by the distribution of words that are
determined mainly by competition free market.
Socialism political theory that society as a whole should control the means of
production, such as factories and land
Coup a brilliant, sudden, and usually highly successful stroke or act
Cede to yield or grant typically by treaty
Ideology the system of beliefs and attitudes that guides the actions of a group or
nation
Abdicate to brush off responsibility, to relinquish
Schism the division of the Christian Church in 1054 that separated the Roman
Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church
Empire a group of territories or nations ruled by a single ruler or government
Absolute a ruler has complete control over government

Monarchy
Totalitarianism idea that a dictatorial government should control all aspects of citizen’s
lives
Sovereign one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere
Liberal one who is open minded in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or

established forms or ways OR an advocate or adherent of liberalism
especially in individual rights
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Majority the quality or state of being greater
Stoic a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about

300 B.C holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved
by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law OR one apparently or
professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain
Propaganda news and information intended to influence people’s feelings about a

cause
Imperialism policy of building an empire
Divine Right political theory that a ruler derives his or her power directly from God
and is accountable only to god
Coalition a temporary alliance to differing political factors
Anarchy absence of political authority
Nationalize to bring a private industry under government control
Isolationism a policy of national isolation by abstention from alliances and other

international political and economic relations
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

The M-A-I-N acronym is often used to analyse the the causes of the First World
war – Militarism, Alliance System, Imperialism and Nationalism. One would make
it to sound M-A-I-N-A, to accommodate the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand as the
final cause- this was the immediate cause, or the spark that ignited the war.
However, there are several events that prefaced the war, which one need to look
in to. Some are but not limited to the following:
THE BALANCE OF POWER IN EUROPE around 1870

Name the major powers in Europe around 1870
o France
o Britain
o Russia
o Italy
o Denmark
o Portugal
o Spain
o Prussia
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EUROPE BEFORE 1870

Unification of Germany with Prussian aristocracy as the head - The German Confederation
(German: Deutscher Bund) was an association of 39 German states in Central
Europe, created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of
separate German-speaking countries and to replace the former Holy Roman
Empire. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia.
Britain approved of the confederation because London felt there was need for a
stable, peaceful power in central Europe that could discourage aggressive moves
by France or Russia. Most historians have judged the Confederation as weak and
ineffective, as well as an obstacle to the creation of a German nation-state. It
collapsed because of the rivalry between Prussia and Austria (known as German
dualism), warfare, the 1848 revolution, and the inability of members to
compromise. It was replaced by the North German Confederation in 1866.
In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists failed to establish a unified
German state. Talks between the German states failed in 1848, and the
Confederation briefly dissolved but was re-established in 1850. It decidedly fell
apart only after the Prussian victory in the Seven Weeks’ War of 1866.
The dispute between the two dominant member states of the Confederation,
Austria and Prussia, over which had the inherent right to rule German lands ended
in favour of Prussia after the Seven Weeks’ War of 1866. This led to the creation of
the North German Confederation under Prussian leadership in 1867. A number of
South German states remained independent until they joined the North German
Confederation, which was renamed the German Empire.
The Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, was a conflict between France
and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of
Prussia, lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871. The conflict was caused by
Prussian ambitions to expand German unification and French fears of the shift in
the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded.
Some historians argue that the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately
provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to draw the
independent southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-
Darmstadt—into an alliance with the North German Confederation dominated by
Prussia, while others contend that Bismarck did not plan anything and merely
exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. None, however, dispute the fact
that Bismarck must have recognized the potential for new German alliances, given
the situation as a whole.
France mobilised its army on 15 July 1870, leading the North German
Confederation to respond with its own mobilisation later that day. On 16 July
1870, the French parliament voted to declare war on Prussia, and the declaration
of war was delivered to Prussia three days later. French forces invaded German
territory on 2 August. The German coalition mobilised its troops much more
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effectively than the French and invaded north-eastern France on 4 August. The
German forces were superior in numbers, had better training and leadership and
made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railways and artillery.
A series of swift Prussian and German victories in eastern France, culminating in
the Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan, saw French Emperor Napoleon
III captured and the army of the Second Empire decisively defeated. A Government
of National Defence declared the Third French Republic in Paris on 4 September
and continued the war for another five months; the German forces fought and
defeated new French armies in northern France. The capital of Paris was besieged,
and fell on 28 January 1871, after which a revolutionary uprising called the Paris
Commune seized power in the city and held it for two months, until it was bloodily
suppressed by the regular French army at the end of May 1871.
The Unification of Germany

The German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the
Prussian Kaiser Wilhelm I, finally uniting most of Germany as a nation-
state (Austria was excluded). The Treaty of Frankfurt of 10 May 1871 gave
Germany most of Alsace and some parts of Lorraine, which became the Imperial
territory of Alsace-Lorraine (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen). The German conquest
of France and the unification of Germany upset the European balance of
power that had existed since the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and Bismarck
maintained great authority in international affairs for two decades.
French determination to regain Alsace-Lorraine and fear of another Franco-
German war, along with British apprehension about the balance of power, became
factors in the causes of World War I.
Treaty of Frankfurt of 1871

At the end of the Franco-Prussian War, France represented by Adolphe Thiers, and
Germany by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, signed the treaty of Versailles on 26
February 1871. This was a preliminary treaty used to solidify the initial armistice
of 28 January 1871 between the two states. It was later ratified by the Treaty of
Frankfurt on 10 May of the same year. The 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt made the
decline of France obvious to the rest of the continent, and at the same time
demonstrated the strength of a unified German empire. Treaty of Frankfurt was
also signed by Adolphe Thiers of the French 3rd republic and Otto von Bismarck the
Chancellor of the new Germany.
Provisions/ terms of the treaties
o 5 billion francs to be paid to Germany by France.
o German forces to continue occupation of France until payment is
completed.
o Recognition of Kaiser Wilhelm I as Kaiser of the newly united German
Empire.
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o Cession of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany – 1,694 French villages and

Cities ceded to Germany.
o Residents of Alsace-Lorraine region given until 1st October 1872 to
decide between keeping their French nationality and emigrating to
other areas in France, or, remaining in the region and become German
citizens.
The isolation of France – After the Franco-Prussian war and the Frankfurt Treaty,
Bismarck decided to protect German interest by making sure that France remains
without friends who may assist her to seek revenge for the 1871 defeat. To achieve
this, Bismarck decided to use the ALLIANCE SYSTEM.
THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM
Dreikaiseband/ three Emperors’ league - 1873 – Germany, Austria-Hungary

& Russia. The three Kings agreed to cooperate with each other in order to maintain
peace, and keep the status quo in Europe. None of them would interfere if one was
attacked by any other power.
Dual Alliance - 1879 - Germany & Austria-Hungary. They agreed to Protect
each other in case of an attack from either France or Russia. This Alliance lasted
until the outbreak of WWI. In fact it was the one that gave Germany the authority
to support Austria-Hungary during the Balkan crisis.
Triple Alliance – 1882 – This agreement was between Austria-Hungary, Italy &
Germany. Each member promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any
other great power. The treaty provided that Germany and Austria-Hungary were
to assist Italy if it was attacked by France without provocation. In turn, Italy would
assist Germany if attacked by France. In the event of a war between Austria-
Hungary and Russia, Italy promised to remain neutral. The existence and
membership of the treaty were well known, but its exact provisions were kept
secret until 1919.
Reinsurance treaty – 1887- Germany and Russia. Reinsurance Treaty, (June 18,
1887), was a secret agreement between Germany and Russia after the
Dreikaiserbund, or Three Emperors’ League, collapsed because of competition
between Austria-Hungary and Russia, for spheres of influence in the Balkans.
The treaty provided that each party would remain neutral if the other became
involved in a war with a third great power, and that this would not apply if
Germany attacked France or if Russia attacked Austria-Hungary. Germany also
agreed to support Russia in her claims in the Balkans as well as Russian action to
keep the Black Sea as its own preserve.
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DROPING THE PILOT – The dismissal of Otto Von Bismarck from office
Kaiser Wilhelm I died in 1887, and succeeded by his ailing son, Kaiser Frederick III,
who unfortunately died in 1888. He was succeeded by Kaiser William II. A power
struggle between Otto von Bismarck and the new Kaiser broke out immediately
upon the latter’s ascendance. The events that followed, leading to the forced
retirement or dismissal of Bismarck from office in 1890, which came to be named
"dropping the pilot", led to the setting of a "new course", which signified the end
of an era, and a watershed in modern German & world history.
Many historians looked at Bismarck's dismissal as a tragic mistake, believing that
he would have avoided the foreign policy blunders that plugged the German
Empire into the disaster of World War I.
Kaiser Wilhelm II was militaristic, Confrontational, and ambitious to rule as well as
reign. He wanted to be free of Bismarck's overbearing influence. On the other
hand, the influential Bismarck clung desperately to power. The gap in their ages
and "styles" in leadership, made for an intense contest of wills and clash of
characters, leading to bad blood and unbearable conflicts between the two.
Bismarck resigned at Wilhelm II's insistence in 1890, aged 75 years, and was
succeeded as Chancellor of Germany and Minister-President of Prussia by Leo von
Caprivi. The new chancellor was less powerful and could not stand up to Kaiser
Wilhelm II who now became Germany’s iron ruler. The new Kaiser introduced a
hostile foreign policy, different from Bismarck’s diplomatic approach of isolating
France. Kaiser Wilhelm II was more confrontational in his foreign policy, to an
extent that he alienated himself, and in the process pushed other countries
towards friendship with France, something that Bismarck had tried to avoid
through his Alliance System. Wilhelm II’s policy was Weltpolitik (German:
[ˈvɛltpoliˌtiːk], "world politics"). His aim was to transform Germany into a global
power, like Britain. He wanted Germany to have a place in the Sun, or to be a power
recognised and felt by everyone in the world. This provoked other countries,
especially the British. Britain abandoned her policy of splendid isolation and
started participating in European politics, leading to the emergence of new
alliances against Germany.
The Anti-German Alliances
Franco-Russian Alliance- 1894 - This was an alliance between France and

Russia. France, feeling isolated and opposed by Germany, Austria-Hungary and
Italy, sought an alliance with the newly single Russia. Russia also felt lonely
because she didn’t trust Germany and Austria-Hungary, and needed a partner. The
two agreed to assist each other in case either of them was attacked by any of the
members of the Triple Alliance. They Seemed like odd bed-fellows since France was
politically radical (republic) and Russia very reactionary (monarchy). Nonetheless,
in foreign policy they had mutual concerns. They both had rivals in the members of
the Triple Alliance. Also France agreed to assist Russia with loans to finance the
construction of her railway line.
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Anglo-Japanese Alliance- 1902 - This was Britain's alliance with Japan.

Slowly and cautiously, Britain was ending her policy of splendid isolation, which
had seemed bothersome especially with the coming to power of Kaiser William II.
Britain began to be concerned about her position in the naval race. Germany was
challenging British dominance of the seas, as well as her colonial power. With
Germany as a rival, and Russia also as a threat to her position in the Middle East
(Persia) and Far (China) East, Britain saw Japan as a would be good ally. Japan, who
was colonising in Korea and China, was also in competition with Russian
expansionism and needed a partner. This made the two (Britain and Japan) have
common interests and formed a military alliance to assist one another in times of
need.
Entente Cordiale – 1904 - Britain and France agreed to forget their past
conflicts and accumulated bad feelings of the last 25 years, and work together,
because they now had a common enemy in Germany. France recognized British
occupation of Egypt, and Britain recognized French penetration of Morocco. They
agreed to support each other against third parties. The French also tried to
reconcile her new friend with Russia.
Anglo-Russian Entente - 1907 - Britain and Russia settled their colonial
disputes in Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet. The new alliance delineated spheres of
influence in Persia, stipulated that neither country would interfere in Tibet's
internal affairs and recognized Britain's influence over Afghanistan.
Triple Entente- 1907 – This was an alliance between France, Britain and Russia.
It was built upon the Franco-Russian Alliance, the Entente Cordiale, and the Anglo-
Russian Entente. Realising that they had multiple alliances across each other, the
three nations decided to combine them and form one big alliance. It was formed
to counter the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The
members of the triple entente agreed to assist each other in case one of them was
attacked by any member of the triple alliance or any country assisted by members
of the triple alliance.
The emergence of the Triple Entente in 1907 led to the division of Europe in to two
major rival Alliances; THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE and THE TRIPLE ENTENTE. The two
Alliances grew suspicious of one another, and developed serious mistrust between
their members, which ended up drifting Europe to the outbreak of WWI in 1914.
Future conflicts between powers would be approached and settled along alliance
lines. Members of a particular alliance would support their ally against the other. The
Competition between the two led to more challenges in Europe, for Example Military
Rivalry/militarism, colonial rivalry, war plans and the assassination of Franz
Ferdinand, which led to the outbreak of WWI in 1914.
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MILITARY RIVALRY/MILITARISM
Militarism describes the competition between European nations over acquisition
of arms and ammunition in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It seriously contributed
to the causes of the World War I due to the Arms and Naval race between the major
powers in Europe. The main events of Militarism were the building of large armies
in the whole of Europe and the naval rivalry between Germany and Britain. While
the British and Germans competed in building up their navies, the other major
powers in mainland Europe were building up their armies and stockpiling arms and
ammunition.
ARMS RACE
An arms race is a competition in which two or more enemy nations try to outdo
each other to produce the largest possible arsenal of weapons. There are
essentially four main elements to this definition;
o the desire and need from all sides to involve in the competition. If one is
going to do this, the other would probably follow.
o An accelerated process involving a focused effort from a nation to
increase its armed forces. Many resources especially financial are
dedicated to the process.
o Competition from all sides - When an enemy stockpiles weapons, the
other also does. It wouldn't make sense to stockpile weapons if no one
else does.
o Quantity is essential - A nation will always want to have more than
competitors do.
Arms race became a serious cause for WWI because countries ended up having big
armies, and stockpiling arms and ammunition, which made them more aggressive
to one another. Conscription was introduced in Europe. Young man and women
were made to join the army after completing high school. Everyone had to go
through 2 years military training before enrolling for tertiary education. This made
most citizens trained soldiers and ready to assist in war when called upon to do so.
By 1900, most European countries had big armies, and this made war more likely
as each nation was ready and itching for war.
NAVAL RIVALRY
A Navy is the part of an army that works in the seas or oceans to protect the
country and its property. Britain had always had the largest navy in Europe and the
world, because she had a very large overseas empire stretching across all the
continents. This made her to be named MISTRESS OF THE SEAS. Kaiser William II
wanted Germany to achieve her place in the sun, and in order to achieve this, he
needed a large naval force. William wanted a navy which could rival that of Britain.
His intention was to be equal to Britain or be more powerful than Britain.
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The leading figure in the German Navy in the 1890s was Admiral Alfred von
Tirpitz. He believed that by building the Navy Germany would scare the British and
be seen as a power in Europe. His first act was to pass laws which would stimulate
the ship building programme. The First Navy Law was passed in 1898 - THE
ADMIRAL TIRPITZ NAVAL LAWS of 1898. It decreed that seven (7) battleships would
be built, bringing the total naval size to nineteen (19). In 1900, the Second Naval
Law was passed – ADMIRAL TIRPITZ NAVAL LAW OF 1900, which doubled the size
of the navy to 38 battleships. This was a direct challenge to the British Empire.
The new naval laws by Germany created huge friction between Germany and
Britain. Britain could not allow herself to be outdone by the new GERMANY, and
the two got involved in a huge naval competition between 1906 and 1914. This
was regarded as one of the causes of World War I. Because it triggered some
reaction from the other nations in Europe. In response to the German challenge, in
1906, Britain launched a new type of ship, called the Dreadnought – a ship that
made all others redundant or obsolete. The new dreadnought was so powerful
that it could launch longer distances, could shoot in all directions, and could
navigate the waters faster than any other. (HMS Dreadnought: 17,900 tons; 526
feet in length; ten 12 inch guns, eighteen 4 inch guns, five torpedo tubes; maximum
belt armour 11 inches; top speed 21.6 knots.). This shows that this ship was more
powerful than any other battleship made before it and it made the others useless.
Germany reacted by inventing her own type of dreadnought, and this led to
competition of who would have more dreadnoughts than the other. Lots of
resources were spent in this competition, and it made the two countries to
stockpile the dreadnoughts in preparation for war. Other countries like Austria-
Hungary, Italy, France and Russia also joined the competition, though at a smaller
scale. The main rival in the competition remained the Germans and British.
IMPERIALISM/COLONIAL RIVALRY
Towards the end of the 19th Century, European powers found themselves competing
over colonies in Africa and all over the world. This was due to industrialisation in
Europe and the need for more raw materials and Markets. Around the 1880s, the
competition became so strong and dangerous that it nearly led some of the European
countries to war with each other, as they as they had common interest and clashed
over the same territories. To avoid more clashes and possible war, Otto Von Bismarck
called a meeting of all European powers with interests in Africa, in Berlin in 1885, to
resolve their conflicts and share Africa among themselves - THE BERLIN CONFERENCE
OF 1885.
Even though the conference attempted to address the challenges of the scramble for
Africa, some clashes and conflicts remained and continued to bring rivalry between
Some European powers. This competition for the acquisition of colonies continued to
set European powers against each other and contributed to the outbreak of WWI. It
was termed imperialism or colonial rivalry as a cause of WWI. The following are some
of the colonial clashes that set European powers against each other:
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First Moroccan Crisis 1905/6

Also known as the Tangiers Crisis this was an international crisis between March
1905 and May 1906 over the status of Morocco. France had always had the
interest to colonize Morocco, and in 1905, they made their they made their
intentions public to other European powers. Germany challenged France's growing
influence and control over Morocco, which aggravated or angered the French and
the British. On March 31, 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II visited at Morocco and declared
that he had come to support the sovereignty or independence of Morocco — a
statement which amounted to a provocative challenge to French influence in
Morocco.
A Conference was called in Algeciras to settle the dispute, lasting from January 16
to April 7, 1906. Of the 13 nations present, the German representatives found that
their only supporter was Austria-Hungary, and the rest supported France. A
German attempt at compromise was rejected by all except Austria-Hungary.
France had firm support from Britain, Russia, Italy, Spain, and the United States.
The Germans decided to accept a face-saving compromise agreement that was
signed on March 31, 1906. The crisis worsened German relations with
both France and Britain and helped enhance the new Entente Cordiale.
The First Moroccan Crisis demonstrated that the Entente Cordiale was strong, as
Britain had defended France in the crisis. Although the Algeciras Conference
temporarily solved the First Moroccan Crisis, it only worsened the tensions
between the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente that ultimately led to the First
World War. Kaiser Wilhelm II felt very humiliated and angry and was determined
not to back down again, which led to the German involvement in the Second
Moroccan Crisis.
Second Moroccan Crisis 1911

Also known as the Agadir Crisis, this was a brief international crisis in April 1911
sparked by yet again French intentions to colonize Morocco. Germany reacted by
sending a gunboat ‘THE PANTHER’ to Agadir, a Port in Morocco. This led to conflict
between the two nations. The British cabinet, was alarmed at Germany's
aggressiveness towards France. They felt the Germans were out to try have
influence and control over the Mediterranean, and that would have negative
effects on British trade in North Africa and the Middle East. The British Secretary
for Finance David Lloyd George made a dramatic speech that denounced the
German move as an intolerable humiliation. There was talk of war, and Germany
was forced to withdraw her gunboat and backed down. France was allowed to
colonize Morocco. Though this conflict was resolved, relations between Germany
and Britain remained sour. And this increased the tensions in Europe which were
a recipe for WWI.
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BALKAN NATIONALISM/ THE EASTERN QUESTION
The Balkans are a group of countries located in South Eastern Europe. Some of the
countries were; Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo. The region was populated by the Slav people,
who were related to the Russians. For many centuries, the region was colonised by
Turkey or The Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman empire became weak, and was
regarded as The Sickman of Europe, the some of the states broke away and attained
their independence. This led to Nationalist spirit among the peoples of the region.
Most of the Balkan states were governed by unstable governments, and were
characterised by uprisings. This made the whole of Europe worried because the
Balkan states were of great strategic position to some of them. Their proximity to the
Adriatic sea, Aegean Sea and Black Sea, made them a gateway to Asia and Africa, as
they connected to the Mediterranean Sea. European powers started to compete for
the control of Balkans. This was known as the Eastern Question.
In diplomatic history, the "Eastern Question" refers to the strategic competition and
political considerations of the European Great Powers on the future of the Balkans, as
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a result of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The weakening of the empire's military
strength in the second half of the eighteenth century threatened to undermine
the balance of power in Europe, hence the major powers competed over who was to
control the Balkans. Russian and Austria- Hungary became the main players in this
conflict.
Russia stood to benefit from the decline of the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, because that
would make her have control of some Balkan States. On the other hand, Austria-
Hungary and Britain deemed the preservation of the Ottoman Empire to protect their
best interests. This precipitated or encouraged the conflicts between Russia and
Austria-Hungary. It is this conflict that led to the spark of World War I.
Serbia emerged as the most powerful state in the Balkans and pushed for the agenda
of Pan-Slavism. This was the intention to unite all Slavs and form the state of
Yugoslavia. Austria-Hungary was totally opposed to this, as it would disrupt her
ethnic balance. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was made up of people of different
ethnicities, some of them being Slavs. This meant that, if the state of Yugoslavia was
to be allowed, some people were to break away from Austria-Hungary threatening
the existence of the Empire. The Russians supported the idea of pan-Slavism on 2
reasons: one being their interest in the Balkans and its geographical location, the
other being their ethnic relations to the Slavs. This is what set the Russians and
Austro-Hungarians against each other, leading to the polarisation of the two Major
Alliances.
To avert the formation of Yugoslavia, Austria-Hungary decided to try by all means to

stop Serbia from becoming powerful. She carried out actions that tried to lessen the
power of Serbia. On the other hand, Serbia fought by all means to grow her power and
assert herself in the Balkans. All these activities came to be known as the Balkan crisis
and moved Europe towards WWI. The following are some of the activities that
describe the Balkan Crisis: 5E
Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1908, also known as

the Bosnian Crisis, it erupted in October 1908 when Austria-
Hungary announced her annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina territories, which
were formerly part of the Ottoman Empire/ Turkey. Austria-Hungary took control
of this territories in her attempt to prevent Serbia from forming the state of
Yugoslavia. This action by Austria-Hungary sparked protests from the Great
Powers, and Austria-Hungary's Balkan neighbours, Serbia and Montenegro. In
April 1909 Russia called a Conference to address the issue, but Austria-Hungary
with the support of Germany refused to attend, and continued with the
annexation. The crisis permanently damaged relations between Austria-Hungary
and the neighbouring states of Italy, Serbia, and Russia, and in the long term
contributed in laying the grounds for World War I. Although the crisis ended with
victory by Austria-Hungary, Russia became determined not to back down again in
the future, and hastened her military build-up. She promised Serbia not to
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disappoint her next time. The Crisis worsened the Austro–Serbian relations, which
continued to be strained to the point of declaring war on each other in 1914.
The First Balkan War- 1912 – It Lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 when
members of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms
of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro) declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
These Balkan states were assisted by Russia to form the Balkan League and their
combined armies attacked Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success. They
shared the spoils of war among themselves. And from the London treaty of 1913,
Serbia had the largest share and came out powerful. This made Austria-Hungary
very unhappy, and she encouraged Bulgaria, who was not happy with her share,
to turn against the other members of the Balkan League leading to the 2nd Balkan
War.
The Second Balkan War- 1913 - Dissatisfied with her share of the spoils of
the First Balkan War, Bulgaria attacked her former allies, Serbia and Greece, in
June 1913. The Ottoman Empire also joined the war on the side of Serbia and
Greece. Bulgaria was defeated and ceded portions of her First Balkan War gains to
Serbia, Greece and Romania, and also lost Edirne to Turkey. From this war yet
again, Serbia came out more powerful and more determined to attain her dream
of forming the state of Yugoslavia. Austria-Hungary became more concerned with
the growth of the power of Serbia, and also became more determined to stop it.
She started looking for opportunities to destroy Serbia. This availed itself in 1914.
The Sarajevo incident - 1914 – the spark that ignited the bonfire - This
incident refers to the events surrounding the assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Archduchess Sophie
during a state visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, on 28th June 1914, by Serbian
students, among them Gavrilo Princip. It is traditionally regarded as the immediate
catalyst for the First World War.
Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the murder. She believed the assassination
was orchestrated from Serbia, since the young men couldn’t have pulled such a
surprise without the assistance of big people in positions of power.
o Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia after assurance of
unlimited support from Germany. Austria-Hungary was determined to
pursue a hard-line policy towards Serbia. Their plan, developed in
coordination with the German foreign office, with the blessings of
Kaiser William II, was to force a military conflict that would end quickly
and decisively with Austrian victory over Serbia, before the rest of
Europe had time to react. The ultimatum or the demands to Serbia were
composed in such a way that it would become very impossible for Serbia
to accept them.
o According to the terms of the ultimatum delivered on July 23 rd, the
Serbian government would have to:
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i. Accept an Austro-Hungarian inquiry into the assassination,

notwithstanding Serbia’s claim that she was already conducting her
own internal investigation.
ii. Suppress all anti-Austrian propaganda groups operating inside
Serbia.
iii. Take steps to remove and eliminate terrorist organizations within
her borders — one such organization, the Black Hand, was believed to
have aided and sponsored Gavrilo Princip, and his cohorts, by
providing then with weapons and safe passage from Serbia to
Sarajevo.
iv. Eliminate without delay from school books and public documents all
"propaganda against Austria-Hungary".
v. Remove from the Serbian military and civil administration all officers
and functionaries whose names the Austro-Hungarian Government
will provide.
vi. Accept in Serbia "representatives of the Austro-Hungarian
Government" for the "suppression of subversive movements".
vii. Suppress all publications which "incite hatred and contempt of the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy" and are "directed against its territorial
integrity".
viii. Bring to trial all people and associates for the Archduke's
assassination and allow "Austro-Hungarian delegates" (law
enforcement officers) to take part in every step.
ix. Arrest Major Vojislav Tankosić and civil servant Milan Ciganović who
were named as participants in the assassination plot.
x. Answer to the ultimatum within 48 hours.
o The 48-hours timeline was meant to make it difficult for Serbia to fulfil the
demand. That would give Austria-Hungary an excuse to strike on Serbia,
something that they have been waiting for.
o Serbia reported the matter to her friend Russia, who immediately started
mobilisation of her armed forces towards the Austro-Hungarian and German
borders. This was to fulfil the 1908 promise that “next time I will not disappoint
you.
o Germany was alarmed and asked Russia to back off or face war with her.
o By 1914, the battle lines in Europe had been drawn, much that: if Germany
stood with Austria-Hungary against Serbia (and by extension, Russia) then
Russia’s allies, France and Britain, would be likely to step into the conflict as
well.
The British cabinet, after receiving the news of the Austrian note to Serbia, held a
meeting in London and their feeling was that that it seemed absolutely impossible for
any State in the world to accept it, or that not even the acceptance, could satisfy the
aggressor. The whole of Europe got into a war alert.
Meanwhile, on the afternoon of July 25th, convinced that Austria-Hungary was

preparing for a fight, Serbia ordered her army to mobilize. Serbian Prime minister
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delivered the answer to the ultimatum to the Austrian embassy, just before the 6 p.m.
deadline.
Serbia’s response effectively accepted all terms of the ultimatum but one: Serbia
would not accept Austria-Hungary’s participation in any internal inquiry, stating that
this would be a violation of the Constitution and of the law of criminal procedure. This
response was unacceptable to the Austrian government, and three days later, on July
28th, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, beginning the First World War.
Therefore, the Sarajevo incident became the spark that lit the bonfire.
The assassination’s historical importance is generally attributed to it having
precipitated the July Crisis. Nevertheless, even assessed in isolation from its
disastrous implications, the Sarajevo incident stands as a warning on the
consequences of social unrest and political alienation. The incident easily sparked the
war, because the situation in Europe was ready for war.
THE WAR PLANS

With war inevitable, the major powers stated to come up with plans on how they
would fight and win the war.
Schlieffen Plan (German)

The Schlieffen-Plan, was the German war plan, by Field Marshal Alfred von
Schlieffen who was the commander of the German forces in 1905. The plan was about
how Germany could avoid a 2 front war with France and Russia. Germany found
herself surrounded by enemies, with Russia in the East and France in the west. So,
Schlieffen who was Chief of the General Staff of the German Army from 1891 to
1906, was asked by Kaiser Wilhelm II to come up with a plan on how Germany could
win a war against the 2. In 1905 and 1906, Schlieffen devised an army deployment
plan for a war-winning offensive against France, and later Russia.
Features of the Schlieffen Plan

▪ Germany to invade France through Belgium.
▪ The Plan was to be based on speed and surprise.
▪ Expected less resistance from Belgium.
▪ Paris to be surrounded within 39 days
▪ France to fall within 42 days.
▪ Russia was expected to mobilise slowly.
▪ Britain was expected not to join an European war.
▪ After the defeat of France, the Germans would turn to Russia and defeat her.
Factors that led to the failure of the Schlieffen plan

❖ The Russians mobilized faster than expected. This forced Germany to fight
a 2 front war, by dividing her army in to 2. This strained their resources and made
things not to be as smooth as expected.
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❖ Belgium put up stiff resistance against the German forces. This slowed down
the mobility of the German forces, and also provided an opportunity for the British
to join the war, as they declaimed to protect the neutrality of Belgium as per the
London Treaty of 1839.
❖ The French railway system was very effective and assisted in French
mobilization of the army. The French people also were very helpful to their army
as they assisted it to transport soldiers to the war front.
❖ The British Expeditionary Force (BEF)- the invasion of Belgium by
Germany forced the British to join the war under the pretext that they are
protecting the neutrality of Belgium as stipulated in the London Treaty of
1839, where the European countries had agreed to protect Belgium as a neutral
state. The BEF was a very powerful force and when it joined the war it slowed down
German mobility which gave France time to rearrange the mobilization of her
forces. This led to the failure of the Schlieffen plan as Germany was unable to win
the war within the 42 days anticipated by the plan.
❖ Fatigue of the German soldiers - Because of the unexpected stiff resistance
of the Belgian forces, and the unexpected joining of the British Expeditionary
Forces (BEF), the German forces were forced to fight longer than prepared. This led
to general fatigue and loss of morale.
The French Plan/ Plan XVII (17)

Plan XVII was the name of a "scheme of mobilization and concentration" that was
designed by Field Marshal Joseph Joffre, Commander in Chief of French Army, and
adopted by the French from 1912–1914, to be put into effect by the French Army in
the event of war between France and Germany. At precisely the same time the
Schlieffen Plan was put into action, its opposite, the French’s Plan XVII, was enacted.
Features of Plan XVII

The French plan had the following features:
▪ Called for an all-out attack into Germany to regain the lost territories of Alsace-
Lorraine,
▪ Avenging the humiliating defeat of 1871,
▪ Redeeming French honour.
Why Plan XVII FAILED

▪ Plan XVII tended to underestimate German reserves that could be deployed in the
defence of these territories.
▪ Played into the expectations of the Schlieffen Plan - The French behaved the same
way the Germans anticipated. They concentrated their forces along the border
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with Germany, around Alsace-Lorraine. This gave the Germans chance to

implement the Schlieffen plan as they had anticipated.
▪ An attack of the south would ensure what the German planners hoped for: that
their sweeping movement would capture even more French troops. In practice,
however, both plans broke down in disaster.
▪ Plan XVII, which was launched on August 14, 1914, broke against German defences
in Lorraine and suffered enormous losses.
▪ The fate of the Schlieffen Plan proceeded a little more positively at first and
seemed to be succeeding, but then it broke down in what afterward was called the
“Miracle of the Marne” by French patriots.
▪ The failure of both plans to achieve what they had intended led to the trenches
warfare and the prolonged war. World war I lasted from 1914 to 1918, when
Germany and her allies, THE CENTRAL POWERS were defeated by the ALLIED
POWERS.
THE INTER-WAR PERIOD
The Paris Peace Conference

The Paris Peace Conference was the formal meeting in 1919 of the victorious Allied
powers after the end of World War I, to set the peace terms for the defeated Central
Powers. Dominated by the leaders of Britain, France, the United States and Italy, it
resulted in five controversial treaties that rearranged the map of Europe and parts of
Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands and imposed financial penalties. Germany and the
other losing nations had no voice which gave rise to political resentments that lasted
for decades.
The conference involved diplomats from 32 countries and nationalities, and its major
decisions were the creation of the League of Nations and the five peace treaties with
the defeated states; the awarding of German and Ottoman overseas possessions as
"mandates," chiefly to Britain and France, the imposition of reparations upon
Germany, and the drawing of new national boundaries, sometimes with plebiscites, to
reflect ethnic boundaries more closely.
The Aims of ‘the Big Three’

The three most important men at the Versailles Conference - ‘the Big Three’ - were:
❖ Georges Clemenceau, the Prime Minister of France.
❖ Woodrow Wilson, the President of America
❖ David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of Britain
All three men wanted to stop a war ever happening again, but they did not agree
about how to do this. They wanted different things from the peace, and they did not
get on well.
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Georges Clemenceau
❖ He was the Prime Minister of France.
❖ Advocated for Harsh punishment for Germany.
❖ Wanted revenge, and to punish the Germans for what they had done.
❖ Wanted Germany to pay Reparations for the damage caused to France -
❖ Division of Germany into separate states - He also wanted
to weaken Germany, so France would never be invaded again.
❖ Weakening of the German army through disarmament.
Woodrow Wilson
❖ He was President of America.
❖ Fair punishment for Germany - He was a History professor.
❖ Wanted to make the world safe. He wanted to end war by making a fair
peace.
❖ In 1918, Wilson had published ‘Fourteen Points’ saying what he wanted.
❖ He said that he wanted disarmament, and a League of Nations (an
international organisation where countries could talk out their problems,
without war).
❖ He also promised self-determination for the peoples of Eastern Europe.
“We entered this war because violations of right had occurred which touched us to
the quick and made the life of our own people impossible unless they were corrected
and the world secure once for all against their recurrence. What we demand in this
war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit and
safe to live in; and particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving nation
which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be
assured of justice and fair dealing by the other peoples of the world as against force
and selfish aggression.”
Woodrow Wilson, speaking to Congress on 8 January 1918, introducing his 'Fourteen
Points'
Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points

1. Open diplomacy without secret treaties
2. Economic free trade on the seas during war and peace
3. Equal trade conditions
4. Decrease armaments among all nations
5. Adjust colonial claims
6. Evacuation of all Central Powers from Russia and allow it to define its own independence
7. Belgium to be evacuated and restored
8. Return of Alsace-Lorraine region and all French territories
9. Readjust Italian borders

10. Austria-Hungary to be provided an opportunity for self-determination
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11. Redraw the borders of the Balkan region creating Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro
12. Creation of a Turkish state with guaranteed free trade in the Dardanelles
13. Creation of an independent Polish state
14. Creation of the League of Nations
David Lloyd George

❖ He was Prime Minister of Great Britain.
❖ He said he would ‘make Germany pay’ – because he knew that was what the
British people wanted to hear.
❖ He wanted ‘justice’, but he did not want revenge. He wanted a moderate
punishment. He said that the peace must not be harsh – that would just cause
another war in a few years time. He tried to get a ‘halfway point’ – a
compromise between Wilson and Clemenceau.
❖ He ALSO wanted to expand the British Empire, maintain British control of the
seas, and increase Britain's trade and A Strong Germany would make a good
trading partner in Europe.
❖ With the rise of communism in Eastern Europe, David Lloyd George felt that a
not so weak Germany would provide a great buffer zone against the spread
of Communism.
The Peace Treaties

The Versailles Treaty - Germany
Germany lost World War I. In the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the victorious powers (the
United States, Great Britain, France, and other allied states) imposed punitive
territorial, military, and economic provisions on defeated Germany. The terms of the
Treaty of Versailles were announced in June 1919. The German politicians were not
consulted about the terms of the Treaty. They were shown the draft terms in May
1919. They complained bitterly, but the Allies did not take any notice of their
complaints. Germany had very little choice but to sign the Treaty.
The main terms of the treaty can be summed up in to the word BRAT :
Blame - Germany was forced to accept the blame for starting the war under article
231 of the treaty, known as the War Guilt Clause.
Reparations - This was the name given to the money Germany had to pay for the
damage suffered by Britain and France during the war. In 1922 the amount to be paid
was set at £6.6 billion.
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Armed Forces - Germany’s army and navy were significantly reduced in size and its
air force abolished. This meant that a maximum of 100,000 troops were allowed in the
army and conscription (compulsory service) and tanks were banned. Germany’s navy
was reduced to 15,000 personnel, allowed only 6 battleships and no submarines.
Territory - Germany lost land on all sides of its borders as well as its overseas
colonies (other countries under Germany’s control). In Europe:
And they can be divided in to the following categories:
❖ None territorial terms

▪ Article 231/ The War Guilt Clause – Germany had to accept all the blames for
starting the war.
▪ Reparations – having made Germany to accept the War-Guilt Clause or
blame for the war, it then had to pay the Allies for the damage for the war.
It was calculated at £6.600 Million, for a period of 49 years.
▪ Disarmament of the German army;
✓ German Army to cut down to 100,000 men
✓ No conscription
✓ German navy to be reduced to 36 ships, of which only 6 should
battleships.
✓ Germany not allowed to have any tanks, submarines or
aircrafts.
✓ Germany Forbidden Anschluss with Austria – not allowed to
have any relationship with Austria.
❖ Territorial terms
The main territorial terms of the Versailles Treaty were:
1) The surrender of all German colonies as League of Nations mandates

territories.
▪ German South West Africa (Namibia) to South Africa.
▪ German East Africa (Tanganyika, Burundi and Rwanda) to Britain.
▪ The Cameroons (Togo and Cameroon) to France.
▪ The German Pacific Islands to Japan.
2) The return of Alsace-Lorraine to France - In the west, Germany returned
Alsace-Lorraine to France. It had been seized by Germany more than 40
years earlier after the Franco-Prussian War – 1870-1871.
3) Cession of Eupen-Malmedy to Belgium,
4) Memel to Lithuania,
5) The Hultschin district to Czechoslovakia.
6) the industrial Saar region was placed under the administration of the
League of Nations for 15 years;
7) Denmark received Northern Schleswig.
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8) The Rhineland was demilitarized; that is, no German military forces or

fortifications were permitted there.
9) In the east, Poland received parts of West Prussia and Silesia from Germany.
10) Czechoslovakia received the Hultschin district from Germany;
11) The largely German city of Danzig became a free city under the protection
of the League of Nations;
12) East Prussia was ultimately placed under Lithuanian control.
❖ Outside Europe, Germany lost all its colonies. In total, Germany forfeited 13
percent of its European territory (more than 27,000 square miles) and one-tenth
of its population (between 6.5 and 7 million people).
❖ League of Nations - The League of Nations was set up as an international 'police

force'. The League was based on a Covenant (or agreement) for nations of the
world to maintain peace and collective security. The Covenant and the constitution
of the League of Nations were part of the terms of the Treaty. Germany was not
invited to join the League until it had shown that it could be a peace-loving
country.
The other treaty

▪ Treaty of St. Germain- Austria - 1919
i. Two countries were created out of Austria-Hungary; being Austria
and Hungary.
ii. Some land was taken to create two new states of Czechoslovakia and
Yugoslavia.
iii. Austria handed over land to Italy.
iv. Austria had to reduce her army, and was forbidden to be friends with
Germany
Austria became a small and second-rate state. She had severe

problems re-adjusting to the new boundaries, because much of her
former industrial areas were now in different countries.
▪ Treaty of Trianon – Hungary - 1920

i. Hungary also lost territory to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
ii. Hungary lost territory to Rumania.
iii. Hungary had to disarm, and lost land, people, as well as industrial raw
materials.
▪ Treaty of Neuilly – Bulgaria – 1919
i. Bulgaria lost land to Greece, Rumania and Yugoslavia. As a result, she
had no access to the Mediterranean sea.
ii. Bulgaria also had to disarm.
▪ Treaty of Sevres – Turkey -1920
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i. Turkey lost what was left of her Empire in Europe

1. Britain took over Palestine, Iraq and Jordan as mandates.
2. France took over Syria and Lebanon as mandates.
3. Greece took over Smyrna (Izmir)
REACTIONS TO THE TREATIES

British Reactions
When the Treaty terms were announced in June 1919, there was a mixed reaction
among the British people. Some Britain thought the terms were fair and should
probably have been more severe. British newspapers suggested that Germany would
no longer threaten world peace. Any complaints by the Germans were dismissed as
trickery and childish. However, there were others who felt that, the treaty was unfair.
When Prime Minister David Lloyd George returned from Paris in June 1919, he
received a hero's welcome. The king of England came out to meet him at the railway
station, which was completely unheard of in British history.
French Reactions
Reactions in France were mixed. There were celebrations that the war was definitely
over. People approved of the reparations that Germany had to pay. They also liked the
fact that Germany's borders with France (the Rhineland) would be demilitarised. This
meant Germany could not station any troops in this area. They appreciated that the
coalmines of the Saar would bring prosperity to France instead of Germany. They also
believed that the League of Nations would be a powerful force for peace. It would
protect France if Germany recovered and tried to act aggressively again.
However, there was a strong sense that Germany still threatened France. Many
French people looked at the terrible cost of the war and believed that France had
suffered far more than Germany. They felt Germany should have been divided in to
smaller states to avoid any future threats. They felt the punishment was not harsh
enough.
American Reactions
In the USA reactions to the Treaty were generally negative. Many Americans felt that
the Treaty was unfair on Germany. More importantly, they felt that Britain and France
were making themselves rich at Germany's expense and that the USA should not be
helping them to do this. This was not really the case, but many Americans believed it.
This was partly because American politics were deeply divided at the time. President
Wilson led the Democratic Party. However, his rivals in the Republican Party
dominated the US Congress. They used the Treaty as an opportunity to criticise and
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decampaign him. Wilson has to take some of the blame for this as he made little effort
to consult the Republicans about the Treaty. Americans were also uneasy about
Wilson's scheme for a League of Nations. They were concerned that belonging to the
League would drag the USA into international disputes that were not their concern. In
the end, the Congress rejected the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
Germany reactions
Reactions of the Germany to the treaty were very negative. There were protests in
the German Reichstag (Parliament) and out on the streets. The Germans were
outraged because Germany lost:
▪ 10% of her land,

▪ All her overseas colonies,
▪ 12.5% of her population,
▪ 16% of her coal
▪ 48% of her iron industry.
▪ There were also the humiliating terms, which forced Germany to accept blame
for the war, the limit on their armed forces and payment reparations.
▪ Germany’s allies also felt the same way. They were aggrieved.
What do historians think of the Treaty?

Much criticism has been made of the Treaty because it was too harsh on Germany. On
the other hand, historians have pointed out that Germany could have been treated a
lot more harshly for several reasons:
▪ Germany only accepted the Fourteen Points when it was clear they were
losing the war.
▪ In the harsh Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Germans took away 34% of
Russia's population and 50% of its industry and made them pay 300
million gold roubles in reparations.
▪ Clemenceau wanted the Treaty to be much harsher, with Germany
broken up into smaller states, but Wilson stopped this happening.
▪ The reparations payments cost Germany only 2% of its annual
production.
▪ Germany's main economic problem was not reparations but war debt,
which it had planned to pay by winning the war and making other
countries pay reparations.
▪ In 1924, Germany received huge loans from the USA to help its economy
recover.
▪ The years 1924-29 were fairly prosperous for Germany. For example,
Germany produced twice as much steel as Britain in 1925.
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Some historians believe that the peacemakers did the best job they could, given the
difficult circumstances they were in. Other historians believe the Treaty was a
disastrous half measure. It damaged Germany enough to cause resentment. However,
it left Germany strong enough to seek revenge.
THE LEAGE OF NATIONS

The League of Nations (abbreviated as LN in English, "Société des Nations"
abbreviated as SDN in French) was an inter-governmental organisation founded on
10th January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference, that ended the First
World War. It was the first international organisation whose principal mission was to
maintain world peace.
Its primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included;
preventing wars through collective security

disarmament or encouraging countries to disarm
Settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
Other issues that the League had to deal with included;
Labour conditions,
just treatment of native inhabitants,
Prevention of human and drug trafficking,
Control over arms trade, global health, prisoners of war,
Protection of minorities in Europe.
Origins of the League

At the start of the 20th century, two power blocs emerged from alliances between
the European Great Powers. Countries had realised that, the absence of an
international body was the major cause of WWI. There was no place for countries to
resolve their differences. Which resulted in countries to use violence, hence the
outbreak of WWI.
By the time the fighting ended in November 1918, the war had had a profound impact,
affecting the social, political and economic systems of Europe, and inflicting
psychological and physical damage. Anti-war sentiment rose across the world. To
prevent future war there was need for a policeman of the world. At the Paris Peace
Conference in 1919, Woodrow Wilson put forward a draft proposal, calling for the
formation of THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. After lengthy negotiations between the
delegates, a draft was finally produced as the basis for the Covenant. On 25th January
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1919 the final draft was approved. The League was established by Part I of the Treaty
of Versailles. On 28th June 1919, 44 states signed the Covenant.
Despite Wilson's efforts to establish and promote the League, the United States did
not join. Opposition in the Senate, ensured that the United States would not ratify the
agreement. The League held its first council meeting in Paris on 16 January 1920. The
headquarters of the League were in Geneva, Switzerland, where the first General
Assembly was held on 15th November 1920.
Main or Major Organs of the League

THE ASSEMBLY consisted of representatives of all members of the League. It met in
Geneva from 1920. It convened once a year in September. The special functions of the
Assembly included the admission of new members, the periodical election of non-
permanent members to the Council, the election of Judges of the Permanent Court,
and control of the budget. In practice, the Assembly was the body directing the
League activities.
THE COUNCIL acted as the executive body directing the Assembly's business. It began
with four permanent members who were: Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan) and
four non-permanent members who were elected by the Assembly for a three-year
term. The first non-permanent members were Belgium, Brazil, Greece and Spain.
The composition of the Council was changed a number of times. The number of non-
permanent members was first increased to six on 22 nd September 1922, and then to
nine on 8th September 1926. Germany joined the League in 1926, and became the fifth
permanent member of the Council. Later, after Germany, Italy and Japan left the
League, the number of non-permanent members was increased from nine to eleven,
and the Soviet Union was made a permanent member giving the Council a total of
fifteen members. The Council met, on average, five times a year and in extraordinary
sessions when required. It addressed social and political issues in between the
Assemblies.
THE SECRETARIAT These were employees of the League under the direction of the
GENERAL SECRETARY. They were responsible for preparing the agenda for the Council
and the Assembly and publishing reports of the meetings and other routine matters.
It effectively acted as the League's civil service. In 1931, the staff numbered 707.
THE PERMANENT COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE, it was made up of judges elected

by the Council and the Assembly from members of the League. The Court was to hear
and decide any international dispute which the parties concerned submitted to it. It
could also give an advisory opinion on any dispute or question referred to it by the
Council or the Assembly. The Court was open to all the nations of the world under
certain conditions.
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Minor Organs Of The League

The League oversaw, THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (ILO) and several
other agencies and commissions created to deal with pressing international
problems. These included the Disarmament Commission, the Health Organisation, the
Mandates Commission, the International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation
(precursor to UNESCO), the Permanent Central Opium Board, the Commission for
Refugees, and the Slavery Commission. Several of these institutions were transferred
to the United Nations after the Second World War: the International Labour
Organization, the Permanent Court of International Justice (as the International Court
of Justice), and the Health Organisation (restructured as the World Health
Organisation).
The International Labour Organization was created in 1919 on the basis of Part XIII of the
Treaty of Versailles. The ILO, although having the same members as the League and
being subject to the budget control of the Assembly, was an autonomous
organisation with its own Governing Body, its own General Conference and its own
Secretariat. Its constitution differed from that of the League: representation had
been accorded not only to governments but also to representatives of employers' and
workers' organisations. Albert Thomas was its first director.
The ILO successfully restricted the addition of lead to paint, and convinced several
countries to adopt an eight-hour work day and forty-eight-hour working week. It also
campaigned to end child labour, increase the rights of women in the workplace, and
make ship owners liable for accidents involving seamen. After the demise of the
League, the ILO became an agency of the United Nations in 1946.
THE HEALTH COMMISSION had three bodies: the Health Bureau, containing permanent
officials of the League; the General Advisory Council or Conference, an executive
section consisting of medical experts; and the Health Committee. The Committee's
purpose was to conduct inquiries, oversee the operation of the League's health work,
and prepare work to be presented to the Council. This body focused on ending leprosy,
malaria, and yellow fever, the latter two by starting an international campaign to
exterminate mosquitoes. The Health Organization also worked successfully with the
government of the Soviet Union to prevent typhus epidemics, including organizing a
large education campaign.
The League of Nations had devoted serious attention to the question of international
intellectual co-operation since its creation. The First Assembly in December 1920
recommended that the Council take action aiming at the international organization of
intellectual work, which it did by adopting a report presented by the Fifth Committee
of the Second Assembly and inviting a Committee on Intellectual Cooperation to meet in
Geneva in August 1922. The French philosopher Henri Bergson became the first
chairman of the committee. The work of the committee included: inquiry into the
conditions of intellectual life, assistance to countries where intellectual life was
endangered, creation of national committees for intellectual co-operation, co-
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operation with international intellectual organizations, protection of intellectual

property, inter-university co-operation, co-ordination of bibliographical work and
international interchange of publications, and international co-operation in
archaeological research.
The League established the Permanent Central Opium Board to supervise the
statistical control system introduced by the second International Opium Convention
that mediated the production, manufacture, trade, and retailing of opium and its by-
products. The board also established a system of import certificates and export
authorisations for the legal international trade in narcotics.
THE SLAVERY COMMISSION sought to eradicate slavery and slave trading across the
world, and fought forced prostitution. Its main success was through pressing the
governments who administered mandated countries to end slavery in those
countries. The League secured a commitment from Ethiopia to end slavery as a
condition of membership in 1926, and worked with Liberia to abolish forced labour
and inter-tribal slavery. It also succeeded in reducing the death rate of workers
constructing the Tanganyika railway from 55 to 4 percent. Records were kept to
control slavery, prostitution, and the trafficking of women and children. Partly as a
result of pressure brought by the League of Nations, Afghanistan abolished slavery in
1923, Iraq in 1924, Nepal in 1926, Transjordan and Persia in 1929, Bahrain in 1937,
and Ethiopia in 1942.
THE REFUGEES COMMISSION was established on 27 June 1921 to look after the
interests of refugees, including overseeing their repatriation and, when necessary,
resettlement. At the end of the First World War, there were two to three million ex-
prisoners of war from various nations dispersed throughout Russia; within two years
of the commission's foundation, it had helped 425,000 of them return home. It
established camps in Turkey in 1922 to aid the country with an ongoing refugee crisis,
helping to prevent disease and hunger. It also established the Nansen passport as a
means of identification for stateless people.
THE COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY OF THE LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN sought to inquire into
the status of women all over the world. It was formed in 1937, and later became part
of the United Nations as the Commission on the Status of Women.
THE MANDATES COMMISSION - At the end of the First World War, the Allied powers were
confronted with the question of the disposal of the former German colonies in Africa
and the Pacific, and the several non-Turkish provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The
Peace Conference adopted the principle that these territories should be administered
by different governments on behalf of the League – a system of national
responsibility subject to international supervision. This plan, defined as the mandate
system, was adopted by the "Council of Ten" (the heads of government and foreign
ministers of the main Allied powers: Britain, France, the United States, Italy, and
Japan) on 30 January 1919 and transmitted to the League of Nations.
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Membership of the League

Of the League's 42 founding members, 23 (24 counting Free France) remained
members until it was dissolved in 1946. In the founding year, six other states joined,
only two of which remained members throughout the League's existence. An
additional 15 countries joined later. The largest number of member states was 58,
between 28 September 1934 (when Ecuador joined) and 23 February 1935 (when
Paraguay withdrew).
The Soviet Union became a member on 18 September 1934, and was expelled on 14
December 1939 for aggression against Finland. In expelling the Soviet Union, the
League broke its own rule: only 7 of 15 members of the Council voted for expulsion
(Great Britain, France, Belgium, Bolivia, Egypt, South Africa, and the Dominican
Republic), short of the majority required by the Covenant. Three of these members
had been made Council members the day before the vote (South Africa, Bolivia, and
Egypt). This was one of the League's final acts before it practically ceased functioning
due to the Second World War.
On 26 May 1937, Egypt became the last state to join the League. The first member to
withdraw permanently from the League was Costa Rica on 22 January 1925; having
joined on 16 December 1920, this also makes it the member to have most quickly
withdrawn. Brazil was the first founding member to withdraw (14 June 1926), and
Haiti the last (April 1942). Iraq, which joined in 1932, was the first member that had
previously been a League of Nations mandate.
THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF THE LEAGUE

The League of Nations aimed to stop wars, improve people’s lives and create jobs,
encourage disarmament and enforce the Treaty of Versailles. Judged against these
aims, the League was quite successful in the 1920s. However, it failed to uphold law
and order in the 1930s when majors in Europe started to challenge it.
It stopped border disputes turning into wars. In Silesia in 1921 it held a plebiscite and
suggested a partition, which stopped a war between Germany and Poland. It
arbitrated between Sweden and Finland over the Aaland Islands in 1921 – its
investigation showed that the islands belonged to Finland. When the League rejected
Turkey’s claim to Mosul, a part of Iraq (a British mandate), Turkey agreed. Finally, when
Greece invaded Bulgaria in 1925, the League ordered Greece to withdraw, which it did.
The highest point of the League’s work was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, an Act of
the League’s Assembly, supported by 65 nations, which outlawed war.
The League also improved people’s lives. It took 400,000 Prisoners of War
home. It set up refugee camps after the 1922 war between Turkey and Greece. The
Health Committee worked against leprosy and malaria. The League closed down four
Swiss companies which were selling drugs, and attacked slave owners in Burma and
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Sierra Leone, setting free 200,000 slaves. Finally, its economics experts helped
Austria (1922) and Hungary (1923).
These successes, however, are balanced by some failures.
The League sometimes failed to enforce the Treaty of Versailles. In 1920, the
Poles captured Vilna (the capital of Lithuania) and refused to withdraw when the
League ordered it to; the League could do nothing. And when, in 1923, Lithuania
seized Memel, a German port under League control, the League told Lithuania to
leave, but the Conference of Ambassadors gave Memel to Lithuania.
The League could not stop wars when powerful nations were involved. Turkey
drove the Greeks out of Smyrna in 1922 – all the League could do was agree. France
invaded the Ruhr in 1923 when the Germans did not pay reparations; the League was
not even consulted. Again, in 1923, after an Italian general named Tellini was
murdered in Greece, Italy occupied Corfu. Greece asked the League for help, which
ordered Mussolini to leave – but the Conference of Ambassadors overruled the
League and forced Greece to pay compensation to Italy. Other treaties such as the
Washington Treaty (1921) and the Locarno Pact (1925) are a sign that nations did not
think the League could stop wars.
There were other failures. The ILO failed to persuade members countries to
adopt a 48-hour week. A disarmament conference in 1923 failed because Britain
objected. It took until 1931 to arrange another conference, which was wrecked when
Germany demanded equal armaments with Britain and France.
So, the League of Nations was successful in small ways in the 1920s, stopping
small wars and improving lives. But it could not defend the Treaty of Versailles, it
failed to get disarmament, and it could not persuade powerful countries to stop
fighting.
SUCCESSES
RESOLVING TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

The aftermath of the First World War left many issues to be settled, including the
exact position of national boundaries and which country particular regions would join.
Most of these questions were handled by the victorious Allied powers in bodies such
as the Allied Supreme Council. The Allies tended to refer only particularly difficult
matters to the League. This meant that, during the early interwar period, the League
played little part in resolving the turmoil resulting from the war. The questions the
League considered in its early years included those designated by the Paris Peace
treaties.
As the League developed, its role expanded, and by the middle of the 1920s it had
become the centre of international activity. This change can be seen in the
relationship between the League and non-members. The United States and Russia, for
example, increasingly worked with the League. During the second half of the 1920s,
France, Britain and Germany were all using the League of Nations as the focus of their
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diplomatic activity, and each of their foreign secretaries attended League meetings
at Geneva during this period. They also used the League's machinery to try to improve
relations and settle their differences.
SWEDEN AND FINLAND OVER ÅLAND ISLANDS
Åland is a collection of around 6,500 islands in the Baltic Sea, midway between
Sweden and Finland. The islands are almost exclusively Swedish-speaking, but in
1809, Sweden had lost both Finland and the Åland Islands to Imperial Russia. In
December 1917, during the turmoil of the Russian October Revolution, Finland
declared its independence, but most of the Ålanders wished to rejoin Sweden.
However, the Finnish government considered the islands to be a part of their new
nation, as the Russians had included Åland in the Grand Duchy of Finland, formed in
1809. By 1920, the dispute had escalated to the point that there was danger of war.
The British government referred the problem to the League's Council, but Finland
would not let the League intervene, as they considered it an internal matter. The
League created a small panel to decide if it should investigate the matter and, with an
affirmative response, a neutral commission was created. In June 1921, the League
announced its decision: the islands were to remain a part of Finland, but with
guaranteed protection of the islanders, including demilitarization. It also ruled that
the Swedish culture should be respected. With Sweden's reluctant agreement, this
became the first European international agreement concluded directly through the
League.
POLAND AND GERMANY OVER UPPER SILESIA
The Allied powers referred the problem of Upper Silesia to the League after they had
been unable to resolve the territorial dispute. After the First World War, Poland laid
claim to Upper Silesia, which had been part of Prussia. The Treaty of Versailles had
recommended a plebiscite in Upper Silesia to determine whether the territory should
become part of Germany or Poland. Complaints about the attitude of the German
authorities led to rioting and eventually to the first two Silesian Uprisings (1919 and
1920). A plebiscite took place on 20 March 1921, with 59.6 percent (around 500,000)
of the votes cast in favour of joining Germany, but Poland claimed the conditions
surrounding it had been unfair. This result led to the Third Silesian Uprising in 1921.
On 12 August 1921, the League was asked to settle the matter; the Council created a
commission with representatives from Belgium, Brazil, China and Spain to study the
situation. The committee recommended that Upper Silesia be divided between Poland
and Germany according to the preferences shown in the plebiscite and that the two
sides should decide the details of the interaction between the two areas – for
example, whether goods should pass freely over the border due to the economic and
industrial interdependency of the two areas. In November 1921, a conference was
held in Geneva to negotiate a convention between Germany and Poland. A final
settlement was reached, after five meetings, in which most of the area was given to
Germany, but with the Polish section containing the majority of the region's mineral
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resources and much of its industry. When this agreement became public in May 1922,
bitter resentment was expressed in Germany, but the treaty was still ratified by both
countries. The settlement produced peace in the area until the beginning of the
Second World War.
THE CORFU INCIDENT
The borders of Albania again became the cause of international conflict when Italian
General Enrico Tellini and four of his assistants were ambushed and killed on 24
August 1923 while marking out the newly decided border between Greece and
Albania. Italian leader Benito Mussolini was incensed, and demanded that a
commission investigate the incident within five days. Whatever the results of the
investigation, Mussolini insisted that the Greek government pay Italy fifty million lire
in reparations. The Greeks said they would not pay unless it was proved that the crime
was committed by Greeks.
Mussolini sent a warship to shell the Greek island of Corfu, and Italian forces occupied
the island on 31 August 1923. This contravened the League's covenant, so Greece
appealed to the League to deal with the situation. The Allies, however, agreed (at
Mussolini's insistence) that the Conference of Ambassadors should be responsible for
resolving the dispute because it was the conference that had appointed General
Tellini. The League Council examined the dispute, but then passed on their findings to
the Conference of Ambassadors to make the final decision. The conference accepted
most of the League's recommendations, forcing Greece to pay fifty million lire to Italy,
even though those who committed the crime were never discovered. Italian forces
then withdrew from Corfu.
POLAND AND LITHUANIA OVER VILNIUS
After the First World War, Poland and Lithuania both regained their independence but
soon became immersed in territorial disputes. During the Polish–Soviet War,
Lithuania signed the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union that laid out
Lithuania's frontiers. This agreement gave Lithuanians control of the city of Vilnius
(Lithuanian: Vilnius, Polish: Wilno), the old Lithuanian capital, but a city with a majority
Polish population. This heightened tension between Lithuania and Poland and led to
fears that they would resume the Polish–Lithuanian War, and on 7 October 1920, the
League negotiated the Suwałki Agreement establishing a cease-fire and a
demarcation line between the two nations. On 9 October 1920, General Lucjan
Żeligowski, commanding a Polish military force in contravention of the Suwałki
Agreement, took the city and established the Republic of Central Lithuania.
After a request for assistance from Lithuania, the League Council called for Poland's
withdrawal from the area. The Polish government indicated they would comply, but
instead reinforced the city with more Polish troops. This prompted the League to
decide that the future of Vilnius should be determined by its residents in a plebiscite
and that the Polish forces should withdraw and be replaced by an international force
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organised by the League. However, the plan was met with resistance in Poland,
Lithuania, and the Soviet Union, which opposed any international force in Lithuania.
In March 1921, the League abandoned plans for the plebiscite. After unsuccessful
proposals by Paul Hymans to create a federation between Poland and Lithuania,
Vilnius and the surrounding area was formally annexed by Poland in March 1922.
After Lithuania took over the Klaipėda Region, the Allied Conference set the frontier
between Lithuania and Poland, leaving Vilnius within Poland, on 14 March 1923.
Lithuanian authorities refused to accept the decision, and officially remained in a
state of war with Poland until 1927. It was not until the 1938 Polish ultimatum that
Lithuania restored diplomatic relations with Poland and thus de facto accepted the
borders.
GREECE AND BULGARIA
After an incident involving sentries on the Greek-Bulgarian border in October 1925,

fighting began between the two countries. Three days after the initial incident, Greek
troops invaded Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government ordered its troops to make only
token resistance, and evacuated between ten thousand and fifteen thousand people
from the border region, trusting the League to settle the dispute. The League
condemned the Greek invasion, and called for both Greek withdrawal and
compensation to Bulgaria.
THE FAILURES OF THE LEAGUE

THE JAPANESE INVASION OF MANCHURIA
The Mukden Incident, also known as the "Manchurian Incident" or the "Far Eastern
Crisis", was one of the League's major setbacks and acted as the catalyst for Japan's
withdrawal from the organisation. Under the terms of an agreed lease, the Japanese
government had the right to station its troops in the area around the South
Manchurian Railway, a major trade route between the two countries, in the Chinese
region of Manchuria. In September 1931, a section of the railway was slightly
damaged by the Japanese Kwantung Army as a pretext for an invasion of Manchuria.
The Japanese army claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the railway and in
apparent retaliation (acting contrary to the civilian government's orders) occupied the
entire region of Manchuria. They renamed the area Manchukuo, and on 9 March 1932
set up a puppet government, with Pu Yi, the former emperor of China, as its executive
head. This new entity was recognized only by the governments of Italy and Nazi
Germany; the rest of the world still considered Manchuria legally part of China. In
1932, Japanese air and sea forces bombarded the Chinese city of Shanghai, sparking
the January 28 Incident.
The League of Nations agreed to a request for help from the Chinese government, but
the long voyage by ship delayed League officials. When they arrived, they were
confronted with Chinese assertions that the Japanese had invaded unlawfully, while
the Japanese claimed they were acting to keep peace in the area. Despite Japan's high
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standing in the League, the subsequent LYTTON REPORT declared Japan to be the
aggressor and demanded Manchuria be returned to the Chinese. Before the report
could be voted on by the Assembly, Japan announced its intention to push further
into China. The report passed 42–1 in the Assembly in 1933 (only Japan voting
against), but instead of removing its troops from China, Japan withdrew from the
League.
According to the Covenant, the League should have responded by enacting economic
sanctions or declaring war; it did neither. The threat of economic sanctions would
have been almost useless because the United States, a non–League member, could
continue trade with Japan. The League could have assembled an army, but major
powers like Britain and France were too preoccupied with their own affairs, such as
keeping control of their extensive colonies, especially after the turmoil of the First
World War. Japan was therefore left in control of Manchuria until the Soviet Union's
Red Army took over the area and returned it to China at the end of the Second World
War.
ITALIAN INVASION OF ABYSSINIA
In October 1935, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sent 400,000 troops to invade
Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Marshal Pietro Badoglio led the campaign from November 1935,
ordering bombing, the use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas, and the
poisoning of water supplies, against targets which included undefended villages and
medical facilities. The modern Italian Army defeated the poorly armed Abyssinians
and captured Addis Ababa in May 1936, forcing Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie to
flee.
The League of Nations condemned Italy's aggression and imposed economic

sanctions in November 1935, but the sanctions were largely ineffective since they did
not ban the sale of oil or close the Suez Canal (controlled by Britain). As Stanley
Baldwin, the British Prime Minister, later observed, this was ultimately because no
one had the military forces on hand to withstand an Italian attack. In October 1935,
the US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, invoked the recently passed Neutrality Acts
and placed an embargo on arms and munitions to both sides, but extended a further
"moral embargo" to the belligerent Italians, including other trade items. On 5 October
and later on 29 February 1936, the United States endeavoured, with limited success,
to limit its exports of oil and other materials to normal peacetime levels. The League
sanctions were lifted on 4 July 1936, but by that point Italy had already gained control
of the urban areas of Abyssinia.
The Hoare–Laval Pact of December 1935 was an attempt by the British Foreign
Secretary Samuel Hoare and the French Prime Minister Pierre Laval to end the conflict
in Abyssinia by proposing to partition the country into an Italian sector and an
Abyssinian sector. Mussolini was prepared to agree to the pact, but news of the deal
leaked out. Both the British and French public vehemently protested against it,
describing it as a sell-out of Abyssinia. Hoare and Laval were forced to resign, and the
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British and French governments dissociated themselves from the two men. In June
1936, although there was no precedent for a head of state addressing the Assembly
of the League of Nations in person, Haile Selassie spoke to the Assembly, appealing
for its help in protecting his country.
The Abyssinian crisis showed how the League could be influenced by the self-interest
of its members; one of the reasons why the sanctions were not very harsh was that
both Britain and France feared the prospect of driving Mussolini and Adolf Hitler into
an alliance.
THE CHACO WAR
The League failed to prevent the 1932 war between Bolivia and Paraguay over the arid
Gran Chaco region. Although the region was sparsely populated, it contained the
Paraguay River, which would have given either landlocked country access to the
Atlantic Ocean and there was also speculation, later proved incorrect, that the Chaco
would be a rich source of petroleum. Border skirmishes throughout the late 1920s
culminated in an all-out war in 1932 when the Bolivian army attacked the
Paraguayans at Fort Carlos Antonio López at Lake Pitiantuta. Paraguay appealed to
the League of Nations, but the League did not take action when the Pan-American
Conference offered to mediate instead. The war was a disaster for both sides, causing
57,000 casualties for Bolivia, whose population was around three million, and 36,000
dead for Paraguay, whose population was approximately one million. It also brought
both countries to the brink of economic disaster. By the time a ceasefire was
negotiated on 12 June 1935, Paraguay had seized control of most of the region, as
was later recognised by the 1938 truce.
FAILURE OF DISARMAMENT
Article 8 of the Covenant gave the League the task of reducing "armaments to the
lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action
of international obligations." A significant amount of the League's time and energy
was devoted to this goal, even though many member governments were uncertain
that such extensive disarmament could be achieved or was even desirable. The Allied
powers were also under obligation by the Treaty of Versailles to attempt to disarm,
and the armament restrictions imposed on the defeated countries had been described
as the first step toward worldwide disarmament. The League Covenant assigned the
League the task of creating a disarmament plan for each state, but the Council
devolved this responsibility to a special commission set up in 1926 to prepare for the
1932–34 World Disarmament Conference. Members of the League held different
views towards the issue. The French were reluctant to reduce their armaments
without a guarantee of military help if they were attacked; Poland and Czechoslovakia
felt vulnerable to attack from the west and wanted the League's response to
aggression against its members to be strengthened before they disarmed. Without
this guarantee, they would not reduce armaments because they felt the risk of attack
from Germany was too great. Fear of attack increased as Germany regained its
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strength after the First World War, especially after Adolf Hitler gained power and
became German Chancellor in 1933. In particular, Germany's attempts to overturn the
Treaty of Versailles and the reconstruction of the German military made France
increasingly unwilling to disarm.
The World Disarmament Conference was convened by the League of Nations in

Geneva in 1932, with representatives from 60 states. A one-year moratorium on the
expansion of armaments, later extended by a few months, was proposed at the start
of the conference. The Disarmament Commission obtained initial agreement from
France, Italy, Japan, and Britain to limit the size of their navies. The Kellogg–Briand
Pact, facilitated by the commission in 1928, failed in its objective of outlawing war.
Ultimately, the Commission failed to halt the military build-up by Germany, Italy and
Japan during the 1930s. The League was mostly silent in the face of major events
leading to the Second World War, such as Hitler's re-militarization of the Rhineland,
occupation of the Sudetenland and Anschluss of Austria, which had been forbidden
by the Treaty of Versailles. In fact, League members themselves re-armed. In 1933,
Japan simply withdrew from the League rather than submit to its judgement, as did
Germany the same year (using the failure of the World Disarmament Conference to
agree to arms parity between France and Germany as a pretext), and Italy in 1937. The
final significant act of the League was to expel the Soviet Union in December 1939
after it invaded Finland.
WEAKNESSES OF THE LEAGUE

1. THE ABSENCE OF BIG POWERS LIKE THE USA AND USSR / THE GAP IN THE BRIDGE
The absence of the USA from the league denied it of a very powerful member
like the USA who could have provided financial and moral support. The USSR
also wasn’t a member until very late, and this made member states to have no
one to fear in the league. They could also trade with the USA and the USSR even
if the league members had sanctioned them. Representation at the League was
often a problem. Though it was intended to encompass all nations, many never
joined, or their period of membership was short. The most conspicuous
absentee was the United States. President Woodrow Wilson had been a driving
force behind the League's formation and strongly influenced the form it took,
but the US Senate voted not to join on 19 November 1919. has suggested that,
had the United States become a member, it would have also provided support
to France and Britain, possibly making France feel more secure, and so
encouraging France and Britain to co-operate more fully regarding Germany,
thus making the rise to power of the Nazi Party less likely. Conversely, Henig
acknowledges that if the US had been a member, its reluctance to engage in
war with European states or to enact economic sanctions might have
hampered the ability of the League to deal with international incidents. The
structure of the US federal government might also have made its membership
problematic, as its representatives at the League could not have made
decisions on behalf of the executive branch without having the prior approval
of the legislative branch.
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The sign reads "This League of Nations Bridge was designed by the President of the
U.S.A." Cartoon from Punch magazine, 10 December 1920, satirising the gap left by
the USA not joining the League.
The onset of the Second World War demonstrated that the League had failed in its
primary purpose, the prevention of another world war. There were a variety of
reasons for this failure, many connected to general weaknesses within the
organisation. Additionally, the power of the League was limited by the United States'
refusal to join.
The origins of the League as an organisation created by the Allied powers as part of
the peace settlement to end the First World War led to it being 9 viewed as a "League
of Victors". The League's neutrality tended to manifest itself as indecision.
2. THE SELFISHNESS OF SOME MEMBER STATES LEADING TO FAILURE TO MAKE

UNANIMOUS DECISIONS - It required a unanimous vote of nine, later fifteen,
Council members to enact a resolution; hence, conclusive and effective action
was difficult, if not impossible.
3. SLOW DECISION MAKING - It was also slow in coming to its decisions, as certain
ones required the unanimous consent of the entire Assembly. This problem
mainly stemmed from the fact that the primary members of the League of
Nations were not willing to accept the possibility of their fate being decided by
other countries, and by enforcing unanimous voting had effectively given
themselves veto power.
4. LACK OF AN ARMY AND COLLECTIVE SECURITY - The League of Nations lacked an
armed force of its own and depended on the Great Powers to enforce its
resolutions, which they were very unwilling to do. Its two most important
members, Britain and France, were reluctant to use sanctions and even more
reluctant to resort to military action on behalf of the League. The league
members also were unwilling to provide the league with their forces, and this
made the league to fail in enforcing its decisions as it didn’t have an army.
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Another important weakness grew from the contradiction between the idea of
collective security that formed the basis of the League and international relations
between individual states. The League's collective security system required nations
to act, if necessary, against states they considered friendly, and in a way that might
endanger their national interests, to support states for which they had no normal
affinity. This weakness was exposed during the Abyssinia Crisis, when Britain and
France had to balance maintaining the security they had attempted to create for
themselves in Europe "to defend against the enemies of internal order", in which
Italy's support played a pivotal role, with their obligations to Abyssinia as a member
of the League.
On 23 June 1936, in the wake of the collapse of League efforts to restrain Italy's war
against Abyssinia, the British Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, told the House of
Commons that collective security had failed ultimately because of the reluctance of
nearly all the nations in Europe to proceed to what I might call military sanctions ...
The real reason, or the main reason, was that we discovered in the process of weeks
that there was no country except the aggressor country which was ready for war ... If
collective action is to be a reality and not merely a thing to be talked about, it means
not only that every country is to be ready for war; but must be ready to go to war at
once. That is a terrible thing, but it is an essential part of collective security.
Ultimately, Britain and France both abandoned the concept of collective security in
favour of appeasement in the face of growing German militarism under Hitler. In this
context, The League of Nations was also the institution where the first international
debate on terrorism took place following the 1934 assassination of King Alexander I
of Yugoslavia in Marseille, showing its conspiratorial features, many of which are
detectable in the discourse of terrorism among states in the following years.
In January 1920, when the League was born, Germany was not permitted to join
because it was seen as having been the aggressor in the First World War. Soviet Russia
was also initially excluded, as Communist regimes were not welcomed. The League
was further weakened when major powers left in the 1930s. Japan began as a
permanent member of the Council, but withdrew in 1933 after the League voiced
opposition to its invasion of Manchuria. Italy also began as a permanent member of
the Council, but withdrew in 1937. The League had accepted Germany, also as a
permanent member of the Council, in 1926, deeming it a "peace-loving country", but
Adolf Hitler pulled Germany out when he came to power in 1933.
Summary
The League of Nations could stop small wars and improved some people’s lives. But it
could not defend the Treaty of Versailles, get disarmament, or stop powerful
countries.
It stopped some wars – e.g. it arbitrated between Sweden and Finland over the Aaland
Islands (1921) and stopped the invasion of Bulgaria by Greece (1925). In 1928, the
League arranged the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which outlawed war. The League also took
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400,000 Prisoners of War home and set up refugee camps. The Health Committee
worked against leprosy. The League closed down four Swiss drugs companies, and
attacked slave owners.
However, there were also failures. The League sometimes failed to enforce the Treaty
of Versailles (e.g., the Poles captured Vilna in 1920, and Lithuania seized Memel in
1923). The League could not stop powerful nations (e.g., in 1923, when France invaded
the Ruhr, and Italy occupied Corfu). Also, the ILO failed to bring in a 48-hour week, and
both disarmament conferences failed – in 1923 (because Britain objected) and in 1931
(because Germany walked out).
GERMANY 1919 -1939
THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC 1918-1929

The Defeat of Germany in 1918 led to the Kaiser’s abdication, a republic and a new
constitution. The new Germany faced huge problems, some caused by its punishment
in the Treaty of Versailles. From 1918 to 1929, the Weimar government tried to
restore Germany in to a progressive and democratic republic.
The origins of the Republic, 1918–19
By autumn 1918 it was clear that Germany would lose World War One. From
November onwards a series of events occurred which became known as the German
Revolution. After the abdication of Kaizer William II, a group of politicians met in the
town of Weimar as Berlin was deemed too unsafe. The new government inherited the
country at war, with all its problems, and had to make decisions. On 11 November
1918 World War One ended when an armistice was agreed with the Allies (Britain,
France and the USA) and Germany surrendered.
In January 1919 Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD became the first democratically
chosen President. He and his party (which had won a majority of seats in election)
started to draw up a new constitution for Germany, which was eventually approved
and signed in August 1919. This government eventually became known as the ‘ Weimar
Republic’.
The Weimar constitution
The Weimar Republic was set up as a representative democracy which tried to give
genuine power to all German adults. However, it had major flaws that contributed to
its downfall in 1933-34. The Republic was meant to be a representative democracy
that looked after the interests of all Germans. But there was a problem – many
Germans did not like the idea of democracy.
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The early challenges to the Weimar Republic, 1919–23
The Weimar Republic was created at a time of confusion and chaos after Germany had
lost World War One. People were starving, the Kaiser had fled and the new Republic
got off to a troubled start for two reasons:
• Many Germans hated the government for signing the armistice in November 1918 - they called
them the November criminals. The defeat in the war came as a huge surprise
to the German people, and many ordinary German soldiers, which led to a
theory that the brave German army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by the
politicians.
• In early 1919 the victorious Allies met to discuss how to punish Germany and
on 28 June 1919 the new German government was forced to sign a peace
settlement called the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty punished Germany
militarily, territorially and financially. Many Germans felt their country had
received a very harsh deal in the treaty and resented the government for
agreeing to its conditions. However, German government had been given an
ultimatum – sign within five days or risk invasion.
Problems of the Weimar Republic

1. Unemployment
2. Shortage of food
3. Reparations
4. Inflation
5. The hyperinflation crisis, 1923
The Weimar government's main crisis occurred in 1923 after the Germans missed
a reparations payment late in 1922. This set off a chain of events that included
occupation, hyperinflation and rebellions.
French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr
❖ In November 1922 Germany defaulted on its reparations payment as

scheduled. The first reparations payment had taken all she could afford to pay.
The French believed Germany could make the repayment but were choosing
not to, however the German government argued they could not afford to pay.
❖ In response, France and Belgium sent troops into Germany’s main industrial
area, the Ruhr Valley. Their aim was to confiscate industrial goods as
reparations payments as they didn’t believe Germany was unable to pay the
second instalment. They occupied coal mines, railways, steel works and
factories – all things that were important to Germany’s economy.
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❖ The German government ordered workers to follow a policy of ‘passive

resistance’ – refusing to work or co-operate with the foreign troops and in
return the government continued to pay their wages.
❖ The French responded firmly – in the Krupp steel works, workers refusing to
take orders were shot at. Other people were expelled from the Ruhr region
altogether. Overall, 132 were killed and approximately 150,000 expelled from
the area.
❖ The immediate consequences of the occupation were not good for the Weimar
government – they decided to print more money to pay the workers in the
region, contributing to hyperinflation. A general strike (when all the workers in
the country stopped work) was called, and political instability was rife.
❖ Germany was already suffering from high levels of inflation due to the effects
of the war and the increasing government debt. ‘Passive resistance’ meant that
whilst the workers were on strike fewer industrial goods were being produced,
which weakened the economy still further. Prices ran out of control, for
example a loaf of bread, which cost 250 marks in January 1923, had risen to
200,000 million marks in November 1923.
❖ Borrowers, such as businessmen, landowners and those with mortgages, found
they were able to pay back their loans easily with worthless money. People on
wages were relatively safe, because they renegotiated their wages every day.
However, even their wages eventually failed to keep up with prices.
❖ Farmers coped well, since their products remained in demand and they
received more money for them as prices spiralled.
❖ People on fixed incomes, like students, pensioners or the sick, found their
incomes did not keep up with prices.
❖ People with savings and those who had lent money, for example to the
government, were the most badly hit as their money became worthless.
Rebellions
Unsurprisingly, the hardships created during 1923 by hyperinflation led to many

uprisings as groups struggled to take power from the government. The Weimar
Republic's unpopularity meant it faced violent uprisings from both sides of
the political spectrum during 1919 and 1920.
The threat from the Left: The Spartacist Uprising
▪ The group called spartacists organized an uprising from 5th – 12th January
1919. 50,000 members of the Communist Party, rebelled in Berlin, led by Rosa
Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. They wanted to overthrow the Weimar
government and take over.
▪ The government enlisted the help of was saved by ex-soldiers, known as the
Freikorps, who defeated the Spartacist rebels.
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▪ Others groups of communist workers' councils seized power all over Germany,
and a Communist People's Government took power in the district of Bavaria.
▪ The leaders of the spartacists Liebknecht and Luxemburg were killed by the
Freikorps after being arrested on the 15th January 1919.
▪ By May 1919 the Freikorps had crushed all communist uprisings.
The threat from the Right:
The Kapp Putsch -1920
▪ In crushing the communists the Freikorps had saved the government, but the
terms of the Treaty of Versailles meant that Germany’s army had to be
significantly reduced and the Freikorps had to be disbanded.
▪ During 13th – 17th March 1920, as a reaction to what they termed betrayal by
the Weimar government, Dr Wolfgang Kapp led a Freikorps takeover in Berlin.
▪ The army refused to attack and stop the Freikorps. Kapp was only defeated
when the workers of Berlin went on strike and refused to cooperate with him.
Everything came to a standstill, there was no water running, no transport, no
electricity, and no social amenities.
The Munich Putsch - 1923
During the hyperinflation crisis of 1923, Adolf Hitler saw an opportunity to take over
power in Munich through a revolution. Hitler and his supporters went into Munich on
what they thought would be an easy march to take power. However, the police and
army had a tip off and reinforcements were called in. There was a short fight in which
the police killed 16 members of the SA. Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later.
After trial, Hitler was sentenced to 5 years in prison but served only 9 months. During
his time in Prison, he wrote a book entitled: 'Mein Kampf' – a propaganda book setting
out Hitler’s Nazi Party beliefs. Millions of Germans read it, and Hitler's ideas became
very well-known. The fact that the judge had been so lenient with the sentence and
that Hitler had served so little time suggests that some people in authority had
sympathy with Hitler and what he had tried to do. Hitler realised that he would never
come to power by revolution and he would have to use democratic means, so he
reorganised the Nazi Party to enable it to take part in elections.
The recovery of the Republic, 1924–29
Weimar government under Gustav Stresemann
In 1923, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse socially and
economically. But surprisingly, this crisis was followed by a period of relative stability
2022 Edition 48
and success. The period 1924-1929 was a time when the Weimar economy recovered
and cultural life in Germany flourished.
This dramatic turnabout happened in large part because of the role played by Gustav
Stresemann who became Chancellor in August 1923 during the hyperinflation crisis.
This was a time when prices in Germany went up quicker than people could spend their
money and the German currency lost its value. Stresemann was Chancellor for only
three months but continued to serve as Foreign Minister, rebuilding and restoring
Germany’s international status until his death in October 1929, ironically just weeks
before the Wall Street Crash that would end Weimar’s period of greater prosperity
and stability.
The end of hyperinflation
Stresemann’s single greatest achievement as Chancellor was to end hyperinflation. He did this in just
three months by:
❖ Calling off the ‘passive resistance’ of German workers in the Ruhr. This helped
Germany’s economy because goods were back in production and the
Government could stop printing money to pay striking workers.
❖ Promising to begin reparations payments again. This persuaded France and
Belgium to end the occupation of the Ruhr by 1925.
❖ Introducing a new currency called the Rentenmark. This stabilised prices as
only a limited number were printed meaning money rose in value. This helped
to restore confidence in the German economy both internally and
internationally.
❖ Reducing the amount of money the government spent (700,000 government
employees lost their jobs) so that its budget deficit reduced.
Renegotiating reparations
The payment of reparations, which had caused the hyperinflation crisis in the first
place, had to resume, but Stresemann’s decisive actions in the autumn of 1923 gained
Germany the sympathy of the Allies. They agreed to renegotiate payments and this
led to two new repayment plans in the next 5 years:
The Dawes Plan The Young Plan
Proposed April 1924, agreed Proposed August 1929, agreed

Date
September 1924 January 1930
Amount of
Stayed the same overall (50 billion Reduced the total amount by 20
reparations
Marks) but Germany only had to per cent. Germany was to pay 2
to be paid
pay 1 billion Marks per year for billion Marks per year, two thirds
2022 Edition 49
The Dawes Plan The Young Plan
the first 5 years and 2.5 billion per of which could be postponed each
year after that. year if necessary.
Amount of
time over
59 years, with payments to end in
which they Indefinite
1988
would be
paid
US banks would continue to loan

Loans made
Germany was loaned 800 million Germany money, coordinated by J
available to
Marks from the USA P Morgan, one of the world’s
Germany
leading bankers.
The years 1924 to 1929 have been referred to as Weimar’s ‘Golden Years’, but
historians disagree as to just how much the German economy recovered from the
effects of World War One and hyperinflation.
Signs of recovery Signs of continued weakness
By 1928 industrial production levels

But… agricultural production did not
were higher than those of 1913
recover to its pre-war levels
(before World War One)
Between 1925 and 1929 exports But… it spent more on imports than it
(sending goods or services abroad) earned from exports, so Germany was
rose by 40 per cent losing money every year
Hourly wages rose every year from But… unemployment did not fall below
1924 to 1929 and by 10 per cent in 1.3 million and in 1929 increased to 1.9
1928 alone million
IG Farben, a German chemical

But… German industry became
manufacturing company, became the
dependent upon loans from the USA
largest industrial company in Europe
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Signs of recovery Signs of continued weakness
But…The government ended up

Generous pension, health and
spending more than it received in taxes
unemployment insurance schemes
and so continued to run deficits from
were introduced from 1927
1925 onwards
International relations
After losing World War One, being forced to take the blame for the conflict and the
subsequent issues surrounding payment of reparations, Germany was an
international outcast. Yet, Germans were still incredibly bitter about their treatment
in the Treaty of Versailles, where they also lost territory on all sides. However, as
Foreign Minister, Stresemann oversaw a dramatic improvement in Germany’s
relationship with the rest of Europe between 1925 and 1928. This is best illustrated
by three events:
❖ Locarno Treaties 1925 - In October 1925 Germany, France and Belgium agreed to
respect their post-Versailles borders, whilst Germany agreed with Poland and
Czechoslovakia to settle any border disputes peacefully. Germany had
previously complained bitterly about their loss of territory.
❖ League of Nations 1926 - When the League of Nations was set up as part of the
Versailles agreement Germany was initially excluded. By signing the Locarno
Treaties Germany showed that it was accepting the Versailles settlement and
so a year later was accepted as a permanent member of the Council of League,
making it one of the most powerful countries in the League. From within the
League of Nations Stressemann negotiated to reverse the terms of the Treaty
of Versailles, by negotiating deals with the Allies.
❖ Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928 - Germany was one of 62 countries that signed up to this
agreement, which committed its signatories to settling disputes between them
peacefully.
These developments meant that Germany was accepted into the emerging
‘international community’ that sought to work together during the 1920s to avoid
another destructive war. It also helped Germany’s internal wounds to heal – the
government was seen to be taking decisive action to make life better for people and
right some of the wrongs that the Treaty of Versailles had caused. This led to greater
political stability and less extremism. This ethos of collaboration and peaceful
cooperation only lasted, however, until the onset of the Great Depression following
the Wall Street Crash of October 1929.
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Revision questions
(a) Describe the Dawes Plan signed in 1924 [8]
(a) Describe the political problems faced by the Weimar Republic. [8]
(b) Explain how Stresemann dealt with the problems faced by the Weimar Republic from 1924 to
1929 [12]
(a) Describe the problems that were faced by the Weimar Republic after the First World War. [8]
(b) How did the problems of the Weimar Republic from 1919 and 1933 lead to its decline? [12]
(a) Outline the problems of the Weimar Republic. [8]
THE RISE OF ADOLF HITLER TO POWER - 1919-1933

Hitler joined the Nazi Party in 1919 and was influential in defining its beliefs. He also
led the Munich Putsch in 1923. However, from 1924 to 1929 the unpopular party
gained little electoral success.
Early development and childhood
Adolf Hitler was born in1889 and raised in Austria. As a child his upbringing was not
always happy, but he later wrote about how close he was to his mother. He wanted to
become an artist and tried to enter art school in Vienna, but was rejected. In Vienna,
Hitler spent time as a vagrant (drifting from place to place) and doing odd jobs like
sweeping snow in the streets. He left Vienna and went to Germany in order to avoid
military service. However, when World War One started, Hitler was caught up in the
excitement and joined the army. Many of his early experiences influenced what he
wrote in his book, Mein Kampf.
Adolf Hitler fought in the German army during World War One. He was badly wounded
twice and won two Iron Crosses for bravery. Germany’s surrender in November 1918
was a shock to him and had a profound effect on his political views. Like many other
German people at the time, he felt they had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by politicians:
❖ Many Germans hated the government for signing the armistice in November
1918 - and called them the 'November Criminals'.
❖ Many people were led to believe that Jews in the army and government had
encouraged the surrender.
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❖ The German government also signed the Treaty of Versailles, which blamed
and punished Germany for starting the war. As many German families had
lost their men during the war, this was especially hard to bear.
The German Workers' Party and the start of the Nazis
With World War One over, Hitler returned to Munich and set on a path that eventually
led him to become the leader of the Nazi party.
❖ In 1919 Hitler joined the German Worker’s Party (DAP), a right-wing group led
by Anton Drexler.
❖ 1920 – Hitler became the Party’s leading public speaker and propagandist.
❖ 1920 – The group changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers
Party (NSDAP) – or Nazis for short.
❖ 1921 – Hitler was elected Party Chairman and leader of the Nazis.
The early Nazi Party - beliefs and structure
Under Hitler’s leadership the Nazi party quickly developed a 25-Point Programme, a
list of the policies it would introduce if it came to power. Key Nazi beliefs contained in
the 25-Point Programme:
❖ A strong Germany - the Treaty of Versailles should be abolished and all

German-speaking people united in one country.
❖ Führer - the idea that there should be a single leader with complete power
rather than a democracy.
❖ Social Darwinism - the idea that the Aryan race was superior and Jews were
'subhuman'.
❖ Autarky - the idea that Germany should be economically self-sufficient.
❖ That Germany was in danger - from communists and Jews, who had to be
destroyed.
❖ Lebensraum - the need for 'living space' for the German nation to expand.
How Hitler Rose To Power

The appeal of the Nazis
In the 1920s, the Nazis tried to appeal to a lot of different members of society. The
25-Point Programme had policies that were:
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Socialist:
❖ farmers should be given their land

❖ pensions should improve
❖ public industries such as electricity and water should be owned by the state
Nationalist:
❖ all German-speaking people should be united in one country

❖ the Treaty of Versailles should be abolished
❖ there should be special laws for foreigners
❖ Racist:
❖ Jews should not be German citizens.

❖ Immigration should be stopped.
❖ Fascist:
❖ focused on creating a strong central government

❖ government control of the newspapers
Membership and growth
When Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party he became its 55th member. By the end
of 1920 the newly named Nazi Party recorded a membership of 2,000 and during the
upheaval of the hyperinflation crisis its membership grew rapidly, to 20,000 by the
time of the Munich Putsch in November 1923.
The role and impact of the SA
In 1921 Hitler assembled a large group of unemployed young men and former soldiers,
known as the Storm Troopers (Sturmabteilung) or SA, as the Nazi Party’s private army:
❖ They gained the nickname ‘Brownshirts’, after their brown shirted uniforms.
❖ Their role was to protect party meetings, march in Nazi rallies and intimidate
political opponents by breaking up their meetings.
❖ Many of the SA men were former soldiers. Some were upset with the way they
had been treated after World War One and saw the government as the
‘November Criminals’.
❖ After the failure of the Munich Putsch, the SA was reorganised.
❖ It began to be used to intimidate voters into voting for the Nazi Party.
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❖ However, the Nazi Party was not the only organisation to have
a paramilitary group. The communists also had similar elements.
By 1932 the SA had 400,000 members. This number swelled to an estimated two
million by the time Hitler came to power in 1933, largely due to unemployed men
joining up during the Great Depression.
The Munich Putsch and the lean years, 1923-29
In November 1923, Hitler tried to take advantage of the hyperinflation crisis facing
the Weimar government by trying to launch a revolution in Munich – known as the
Munich Putsch. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to take power, but poor
planning and misjudgement resulted in failure and the subsequent imprisonment of
Adolf Hitler.
❖ Causes that led to Hitler attempting the Munich Putsch in 1923
❖ By 1923, the Nazi party had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever
before.
❖ The Weimar Republic was in crisis due to hyperinflation.
❖ In September 1923, the Weimar government had called off the general strike,
and German nationalists were furious with the government.
❖ Hitler thought he would be helped by important nationalist politicians in
Bavaria.
❖ Hitler had a huge army of SA members, but he knew he would lose control of
them if he did not give them something to do.
❖ Hitler hoped to copy Mussolini - the Italian fascist leader - who had come to
power in Italy in 1922 by marching on Rome.
Summary of events
During the hyperinflation crisis of 1923, Hitler saw an opportunity. People

across the country had many different ideas about how Germany was being
run. The individual states had different identities that affected how politics
was run in that area. In Bavaria, (capital – Munich) the majority of the
population were Catholic and things were quite traditional. This meant that
many within that state intensely disliked the new Weimar government and saw
them as weak. Hitler thought he would take advantage of this and plotted with
two nationalist politicians - Kahr and Lossow - to take over Munich in a
revolution. Hitler collected the SA and told them to be ready to rebel.
But then, on 4 October 1923, Kahr and Lossow called off the rebellion. This was
an impossible situation for Hitler, who had 3,000 troops ready to fight. On the
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night of 8 November 1923, Hitler and 600 SA members burst into a meeting
that Kahr and Lossow were holding at the local Beer Hall. Waving a gun at them,
Hitler forced them to agree to rebel - and then let them go home. The SA took
over the army headquarters and the offices of the local newspaper. The next
day, 9 November 1923, Hitler and the SA went into Munich on what they
thought would be a triumphal march to take power. However, Kahr had called
in police and army reinforcements. There was a short scuffle in which the police
killed 16 members of the SA. Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later.
Consequences of the Munich Putsch
The Munich Putsch was a failure in the short term, but it was also an important
event in the Nazis’ rise to power. As a result of the Putsch:
Short term failure:
❖ The Nazi party was banned, and Hitler was prevented from speaking in public
until 1927.
❖ Hitler was tried for high treason (betraying his country) and sentenced to five
years in prison.
Long term success:
❖ He was sentenced in April and out of prison by December. During his time
in the comfortable Landsberg Prison, he wrote 'Mein Kampf' – a
propaganda book setting out Nazi beliefs. Millions of Germans read it,
and Hitler's ideas became very well-known.
❖ The fact that the judge had been so lenient with the sentence and that
Hitler had served so little time suggests that some people in authority
had sympathy with Hitler and what he had tried to do.
❖ Hitler realised that he would never come to power by revolution and that
he would have use democratic means, so he reorganised the party to
enable it to take part in elections.
The Nazi Party rebuilds, 1924-29
Hitler was released from jail after the Munich Putsch in December 1924. He
committed the Nazis to democratic politics – taking part in elections – and began to
reorganise the party, strengthening his authority as leader and beginning to build a
national party structure. However, the period up to 1929 is known as the Nazi Party’s
‘lean years’ because two apparently contradictory things were happening to it:
❖ it was growing in size – its membership increased from 27,000 in 1925 to

130,000 in 1929
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❖ but it struggled to win seats in the Reichstag:
❖ May
❖ May ❖ Dec
❖ Election 1928
1924 1924
Number of seats won by the

32 14 12
Nazis
Total number of seats in the

472 493 491
Reichstag
The growth in support for the Nazis, 1929-32
Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January 1933. His rise to power was the result of
many factors: the impact of the Depression, the weaknesses of Weimar democracy
and the strengths of the Nazi party.
The impact of the Depression on Germany
In October 1929 the Wall Street Crash on the US stock exchange brought about a
global economic depression. In Europe, Germany was worst affected because
American banks called in all of their foreign loans at very short notice. These loans,
agreed under the Dawes Plan in 1924, had been the basis for Germany’s economic
recovery from the disaster of hyperinflation. The loans funded German industry and
helped to pay reparations. Without these loans German industry collapsed and a
depression began:
The most obvious consequence of this collapse was a huge rise in unemployment.
Over the winter of 1929-30 the number of unemployed rose from 1.4 million to over
2 million. By the time Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933 1/3 Germans were
unemployed, with the figure hitting 6.1 million. Industrial production had also more
than halved over the same period.
The impact of unemployment
❖ The rise in unemployment significantly raised government expenditure on

unemployment insurance and other benefits.
❖ Germans began to lose faith in democracy and looked to extreme parties on the
both the Left (the communists) and the Right (the Nazis) for quick and simple
solutions.
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Political failure
In March 1930 the German Chancellor, Hermann Müller, resigned when his
government could not agree on how to tackle the rise in government spending caused
by the rise in unemployment. He was replaced by Heinrich Brüning. His policies were
ineffective in dealing with the unemployment crisis and further undermined Germans’
faith in democracy:
❖ In July 1930 Chancellor Brüning cut government expenditure, wages and

unemployment pay. This added to the spiral of decline and unemployment
continued to rise, as well as making those who had lost their jobs even
poorer.
❖ However, Brüning could not get the Reichstag to agree to his actions, so
President Hindenburg used Article 48 of the Weimar constitution, which
gave the President the power to pass laws by decree, to govern. This
undermined democracy and weakened the power of the Reichstag – arguably
opening the way for Hitler’s later dictatorship.
The rise of extremism
During the economic depression between 1930 and 1933, many people were affected
and poverty hit Germany hard. Extreme political parties offering simple solutions to
their problems appeared at both ends of the political spectrum. Between 1930 and
1933, support for the extreme right-wing Nazis and the extreme left-wing
communists soared.
By 1932 parties committed to the destruction of the Weimar Republic held 319 seats
out of a total of 608 in the Reichstag, with many workers turning to communism. The
communists had their own version of the SA, the Communist Red Fighting League,
which broke up opposition party meetings. They confronted the police in street
battles, and clashed with the Nazis’ SA as well. However, ultimately, the party that did
better out of all this unrest were the Nazis.
Reasons for the growth in support of the Nazi Party
In 1928, the Nazis had only 12 seats in the Reichstag; by July 1932 they had 230 seats
and were the largest party. Because the Nazis’ 25 Point Programme appealed to
people all over the country from all walks of life, they became popular. Other
extremist groups like the communists only really appealed to the industrial workers
in Germany’s cities and couldn’t keep up. The Nazi Party appealed to the following
groups for different reasons;
❖ Wealthy businessmen: were frightened communists would take their wealth away
and did not want to see any more increase in support for them. To combat this,
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they began to give money to Hitler and the Nazis, hoping they would gain more
seats – not the communists.
❖ The middle-class: were generally quite traditional and were not convinced by the
Weimar democracy. Hitler promised them a strong government and won their
votes.
❖ Nationalists: they blamed the legacy of the Treaty of
Versailles and reparations for causing the depression and so lent their support
to the Nazis who had promised to make Germany strong again.
❖ Rural areas: The Nazis appealed to people in the countryside - especially middle
class shopkeepers and craftsmen, farmers and agricultural labourers.
How Hitler became Chancellor, 1932-33

The chain of events that led to Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor on 30 January 1933
is a complicated one. Chancellors in this period were normally weak
because proportional representation made it hard for political parties to gain a
majority of seats meaning the Chancellor found it difficult to control the Reichstag.
By 1932 President Hindenburg had to use Article 48 to pass almost every law. It was
against this backdrop that the events of 1932 and 1933 unfolded.
Major events leading to Hitler becoming Chancellor
1932
April – Presidential election. Hitler came second to Hindenburg, who won 53 per cent
of the vote to Hitler’s 36.8 per cent.
May – Brüning resigned as Chancellor. Hindenburg appointed Franz Von Papen, a

conservative, as his replacement.
July – Reichstag elections. The Nazis became the largest party with 230 seats. Hitler
demanded to be made Chancellor but Papen remained.
November – Reichstag elections called by Von Papen to try to win a majority in

parliament. Nazis lost 34 seats but remained the largest party with 196 seats.
December – Von Papen resigned. Hindenburg appointed Kurt Von Schleicher, an army
general, as Chancellor. Von Schleicher tried to split the Nazis by asking a leading Nazi
called Gregor Strasser to be his Vice Chancellor. Hitler forced Strasser to decline.
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1933
January – Von Papen and Hindenburg turned to Hitler, appointing him as Chancellor
with Von Papen as Vice Chancellor. They believed they could control Hitler and get him
to do what they wanted.
Nazi control and dictatorship 1933-1939

In 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany and by 1934 he had declared himself
Führer - the leader of Germany. Hitler eliminated all sources of opposition, both within
the Nazi Party and in Germany.
The creation of a dictatorship, 1933-34
In January 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany but his real aim was to become
a dictator. Before he could realise his ambition, he needed to gain enough seats to be
in a position strong enough to allow him to make the changes that would lead to his
goal. He convinced President Hindenburg to call a new Reichstag election for March
1933. This set off a series of events that ended with Hitler becoming Führer.
Date Events How this helped Hitler to gain power
Reichstag Fire and Reichstag

election: on 27 February the
Reichstag building was set on Hitler used the fire to persuade Hindenburg to pass an
fire. Hitler blamed the emergency law restricting personal liberty. This
communist, for the burning of enabled him to imprison many communist leaders,
27
the building. Days later in the which stopped them campaigning during the election.
Feb -
election 44 per cent of the Although the Nazis did not gain the overall majority
5 Mar
population voted for the Nazis, that Hitler had hoped for in the Reichstag, it gave them
1933
who won 288 seats in the enough seats - after Hitler had arrested all the
Reichstag – still not an overall communist deputies and the other parties had been
majority. Hitler had to join with intimidated by the SA - to pass the Enabling Act.
the nationalists to form a
majority.
The Enabling Act: with the

communist deputies banned Arguably this was the critical event during this period.
23 Mar and the SA intimidating all the It gave Hitler absolute power to make laws, which
1933 remaining non-Nazi deputies, enabled him to destroy all opposition to his rule. This
the Reichstag voted by the removed the Reichstag as a source of opposition.
required two-thirds majority to
give Hitler the right to make
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laws without the Reichstag’s

approval for four years.
Nazi officials were put in charge

of all local government. ‘Alien The Nazis got rid of any potential opposition in
7 Apr elements’ (people from other positions that could prove influential, eg judges. They
1933 countries) in the civil service, also got rid of people they thought were ‘undesirables’
courts and education were – like the Jews.
removed from their positions.
Trade unions were banned. Trade unions could unite people to protest – therefore
2 May Instead, German workers were the Nazis had got rid of a potential form of opposition.
1933 now expected to join the new They also destroyed a possible form of sympathy and
German Labour Front (DAF). support for their arch-enemies, the communists.
Political parties were banned: Banning political parties made Germany a one-party
14 Jul
only the Nazi party was allowed state and destroyed democracy in the country. This
1933
to exist. removed other parties as a source of opposition.
Hitler could centralise all policy and make sure

different states listened to him and did as he wished. It
Jan All state governments were encouraged even more nationalism in Germany.
1934 taken over. Possible dissent (disagreement) was lessened as the
state governments couldn’t lead people as they had
once done.
Night of the Long Knives: Many

members of the SA, including its
leader Ernst Röhm, were
demanding that the Nazi party
This destroyed all opposition to Hitler within the Nazi
30 carry out its socialist agenda
Party and gave power to the brutal SS. It also showed
Jun and that the SA take over the
the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was. This
1934 army. Hitler could not afford to
removed any internal Nazi Party opposition to Hitler.
annoy businessmen or the
army, so the SS (Hitler's personal
bodyguards) murdered around
400 members of the SA,
including Röhm, along with a
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number of Hitler's other

opponents like the previous
Chancellor, von Schleicher.
Hitler became Führer: when

Hindenburg died, Hitler declared
himself jointly president,
19 This formally made Hitler the absolute ruler of
chancellor and head of the
Aug Germany. This neutralised any sources of opposition to
army. Members of the armed
1934 Hitler within the army.
forces had to swear a personal
oath of allegiance not to
Germany, but to Hitler.
Hitler also extended his power in other ways:
• Local government was reorganised – with Nazi Party officials put in charge of
each area of Germany.
• Trade unions were abolished and their leaders arrested.
• A Concordat (agreement) was signed with the Pope, which allowed Hitler to
increase his power in Germany without opposition from the Catholic Church,
as long as he left the Church alone.
• People's courts: Hitler set up the Nazi people's courts where judges had to
swear an oath of loyalty to the Nazis. By the autumn of 1934 Hitler was in
complete control of Germany.
HOW HITLER CONSOLIDATED HIS POWER

The Police State
By August 1934 Hitler was a dictator with absolute power. In order to maintain this
power he needed organisations that could control the population to ensure absolute
loyalty to the Führer. After the demise of the SA on the Night of the Long Knives, there
were three main interlinked organisations (in addition to the regular German police
force) involved in controlling the German people through spying, intimidation and if
necessary, imprisonment:
❖ Schutzstaffel (SS) - led by Heinrich Himmler, the SS was the most important of
these organisations and oversaw the others. Initially set up as Hitler’s personal
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bodyguard service, the SS was fanatically loyal to the Führer. It later set up
concentration camps where ‘enemies of the state’ were sent.
❖ Gestapo - this was the Nazis’ secret police force. Its job was to monitor the
German population for signs of opposition or resistance to Nazi rule. It was
greatly helped by ordinary German people informing on their fellow citizens.
❖ Sicherheitsdienst (SD) - this was the intelligence gathering agency of the SS. It
was responsible for the security of Hitler and other top Nazis and was led by
Himmler’s right hand man, Reinhard Heydrich.
Nazi control of the legal system
The Nazis quickly swept away many of the freedoms that Germans had enjoyed under
the Weimar constitution. The party’s control of the legal system made opposition to
the regime very difficult indeed:
• Judges had to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler and were expected to act
always in the interests of the Nazi state.
• All lawyers had to join the Nazi Lawyers' Association, which meant they could
be controlled.
• The role of defence lawyers in criminal trials was weakened.
• Standard punishment for crimes were abolished and so local prosecutors could
decide what penalties to impose on those found guilty.
These changes more than halved the number of criminal offences between 1933 and
1939, whilst the number of crimes that carried the death penalty increased from
three to 46. Many convicted criminals were not released at the end of their sentences
but instead were moved to the growing number of concentration camps being
established by the SS.
Nazi policies towards the Catholic and Protestant Churches
There were approximately 45 million Protestants and 22 million Catholic Christians in

Germany in 1933. Hitler saw Christianity as a threat and a potential source of
opposition to Nazism because it emphasised peace. The Nazis tried to control the
Churches with policies and bargaining.
Control of the Churches
A state Reich Church under the leadership of the Nazi Bishop Ludwig Müller was
established to unify the different branches of Protestantism. This enabled the Nazis
to use a group called the ‘German Christians’ within the Reich Church to promote Nazi
ideas.
In 1933 Hitler agreed a Concordat with the Pope, which said that he would not
interfere in the running of the Catholic Church if it stayed out of political matters.
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Hitler didn’t keep his side of the bargain, however, as the Nazis attempted to infiltrate
the Church and spread their propaganda.
Nazi attempts to supress the Churches
The Reich Church attempted to ban the use of the Old Testament in religious services
as it was considered a ‘Jewish book’. Eight hundred Pastors of the Confessional
Church, a non-conforming Protestant group, were arrested and sent to concentration
camps.
The Nazis attempted to stop Catholics using the crucifix in church, though this
attempt was not successful. Catholic schools and youth organisations were
supressed, with German children being educated in state schools and taught a Nazi
curriculum, as well as being expected to join the various branches of the Hitler Youth.
Catholic newspapers were banned and four hundred Catholic priests were sent to
Dachau concentration camp.
Impact of the Nazis actions
In 1937 Hitler was forced to return control of the Church to the old Protestant
leadership, in return for a promise that the Church would stay out of politics.
Attendance at Catholic churches increased substantially under the Nazis, especially

during World War Two, showing that Hitler’s attempts to reduce the influence of
religion in Germany was ultimately unsuccessful.
Both Protestant and Catholic clergy played a large role in opposing Hitler and the
Nazis, for which they often paid a high price.
Controlling and influencing attitudes
Goebbels and the Ministry of Propaganda
Hitler and the Nazi Party were a constant presence in the life of the German people, with:
❖ the infamous Swastika symbol appearing on every government uniform and

public building
❖ pictures of Hitler displayed everywhere
❖ Germans having to greet each other with a ‘Heil Hitler’ raised arm salute
The government department responsible for all of this was the Ministry of
Enlightenment and Propaganda, headed by Dr Joseph Goebbels. It aimed to brainwash
people into obeying the Nazis and idolising Hitler. Its methods included:
❖ Censorship of the press - All newspapers were controlled by the government and could
only print stories favourable to the Nazi regime.
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❖ Control of radio broadcasts - People's radios were sold very cheaply so that most
Germans could afford one. All radio output was controlled by Goebbels’ ministry
through the Reich Broadcasting Corporation.
❖ Mass rallies - These public displays of support for Nazism involved music, speeches
and demonstrations of German strength. The biggest one was held each year in
August at Nuremberg.
❖ Use of sports events - Berlin hosted the Olympics of 1936, which the Nazis used as an
opportunity to showcase the success of the regime and to demonstrate the
superiority of the Aryan race. The victories of the African-American athlete Jesse
Owens for the USA infuriated the Nazi leadership.
Loudspeakers in public places also blared out Nazi propaganda. Much of the information
Germans received reinforced the message of Aryan racial superiority whilst demonising
the Jews and other ‘enemies’ of the regime.
Nazi control of culture and the arts
The Nazis’ interest in and influence on all of these areas demonstrates the extent to
which the party sought to control German life and win over the population to the Nazi
cause.
Nazi policy towards women
In Weimar Germany, there had been new opportunities for women. They experimented
with their appearances, some took jobs and women were treated as equal citizens
within the constitution, having the right to vote. However, there is debate about how
many women experienced these changes. Life had altered in some ways, with some
greater freedoms acquired but some women had experienced very little change.
The Nazis had clear ideas of what they wanted from women. They were expected to stay
at home, look after the family and produce children in order to secure the future of
the Aryan race – the traditional role of the woman that had existed before the 1920s.
Hitler believed women’s lives should revolve round the three 'Ks': Kinder – Children, Kuche –
Kitchen, Kirche – Church.
Goebbels said: The mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the
world.
Marriage and family
Hitler wanted a high birth rate so that the Aryan population would grow. He tried to
achieve this by:
❖ introducing the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage which gave newlywed
couples a loan of 1,000 marks, and allowed them to keep 250 marks for each child
they had.
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❖ giving an award called the Mother’s Cross to women who had large numbers of
children.
❖ allowing women to volunteer to have a baby for an Aryan member of the SS.
Employment
Measures were introduced which strongly discouraged women from working, including:
❖ the introduction of the Law for the Reduction of Unemployment, which gave
women financial incentives to stay at home.
❖ not conscripting women to help in the war effort until 1943.
However, female labour was cheap and between 1933 and 1939 the number of women
in employment actually rose by 2.4 million. As the German economy grew, women were
needed in the workplace.
Appearance
Women were expected to emulate traditional German peasant fashions - plain peasant
costumes, hair in plaits or buns and flat shoes. They were not expected to wear make-
up or trousers, dye their hair or smoke in public. They were discouraged from staying
slim, because it was thought that thin women had trouble giving birth.
Nazi aims and policies towards the young

Young people were very important to Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler spoke of his Third
Reich lasting for a thousand years and to achieve this he would have to ensure German
children were thoroughly indoctrinated into Nazi ideology.
To this end, from the age of 10 boys and girls were encouraged to join the Nazis’ youth
organisation, the Hitler Youth (the girls’ wing of which was called the League of German
Maidens). Membership from age 10 was made compulsory in 1936 and by 1939, 90 per
cent of German boys aged 14 and over were members.
The Hitler Youth The League of German Maidens
Its aim was to prepare German boys Its aim was to prepare German girls for future
to be future soldiers motherhood
Girls wore a uniform of blue skirt, white

Boys wore military-style uniforms
blouse and and heavy marching shoes
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The Hitler Youth The League of German Maidens
Activities centred on physical Girls undertook physical exercise, but

exercise and rifle practice, as well as activities mainly centred on developing
political indoctrination domestic skills such as sewing and cooking
Nazi control of the young through education
As well as influencing the beliefs of young Germans through the Hitler Youth, schools
indoctrinated young people into the political and racial ideas of Nazism.
All teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers’ Association, which vetted them for political
and racial suitability.
The curriculum was altered to reflect Nazi ideology and priorities:
• History - lessons included a course on the rise of the Nazi Party.

• Biology - lessons were used to teach Nazi racial theories of evolution
in eugenics.
• Race study and ideology - this became a new subject, dealing with the Aryan ideas
and anti-Semitism.
• Physical Education - German schoolchildren had five one-hour sports lessons
every week.
• Chemistry and Mathematics - were downgraded in importance.
Again, the aim was to brainwash children so that they would grow up accepting Nazi
ideas without question.
Employment and living standards
The Nazis promised to stop the suffering many Germans had felt since the end of World
War One and make the economy strong again. Unemployment would disappear and
Germany would become an autarky – though neither of these things truly happened.
How Hitler increased employment
• He began a huge programme of public works, which included building hospitals,

schools, and public buildings such as the 1936 Olympic Stadium. The construction
of the autobahns created work for 80,000 men.
• Rearmament was responsible for the bulk of economic growth between 1933 and
1938. Rearmament started almost as soon as Hitler came to power but was
announced publicly in 1935. This created millions of jobs for German workers.
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• The introduction of the National Labour Service (NLS) meant all young men spent
six months in the NLS and were then conscripted into the army. They were no
longer counted in the unemployment figures.
Invisible employment
Although Germany claimed to have full employment by 1939, many groups of people were
not included in the statistics, including:
• The 1.4 million men in the army at this time. There were also a number of men
working on public works schemes.
• Jews who were sacked and their jobs given to non-Jews.
• Women who were encouraged to give up their jobs to men.
Autarky
Hitler wanted Germany to become an autarky – (a country, state, or society which is

economically independent.) - to produce everything that it needed. Certain materials like
rubber were needed more as Germany geared up for war, and it was hoped that inventions
would mean that this product could be produced synthetically (man-made) instead of
needing to try and get it by trading. In 1937, Hermann Göring was made Economics
Minister with the job of making Germany self-sufficient in four years. However, the
measures he introduced, such as tighter controls on imports and subsidies for farmers to
produce more food, were not successful. By the outbreak of World War Two Germany was
still importing 20 per cent of its food and 33 per cent of its raw materials.
Changes in the standard of living
Despite the loss of freedom, life improved in Germany for many ordinary people who were
prepared to conform and look the other way. However, Nazi economic policies had
different effects on different groups in society:
Big businesses - When trying to get into power, the Nazis had promised to tackle monopolies
– the tendency of one company to hold all the interests in one area of business and
dominate the market. By 1937 monopolies controlled over 70 per cent of production and
the Nazis had links to major companies such as Krupp steel and IG Farben (which produced
chemicals). Both of these areas would be important for rearmament, and from 1935
onwards major industrial companies definitely benefited. Profits rose by 50 per cent
between 1933 and 1939.
Small business - Rules on opening and running small businesses were tightened, which
resulted in 20 per cent of them closing.
Farmers - Having been one of the main sources of their electoral support during their rise
to power, farmers benefitted under the Nazis. The Hereditary Farm Law of 1933
prevented farms from being repossessed from their owners, which gave farming families
greater security. By 1937, agricultural prices had increased by 20 per cent and agricultural
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wages rose more quickly than those in industry. However, historians do disagree
somewhat about the levels to which life in rural regions improved under the Nazis – not all
of their promises were met.
Industrial workers
Pre-1933 the Nazis had lacked support amongst the workers, who tended to vote for the
communists or the Social Democratic Party. However, given the needs of rearmament it
was important that the workers were controlled and productive. To this end, the Nazis set
up three organisations for workers:
• The Labour Front. This was a Nazi organisation that replaced Trades Unions, which
were banned. It set wages and nearly always followed the wishes of employers,
rather than employees.
• Strength Through Joy. This scheme gave workers rewards for their work - evening
classes, theatre trips, picnics, and even very cheap or free holidays.
• Beauty of Labour. The job of this organisation was to help Germans see that work
was good, and that everyone who could work should. It also encouraged factory
owners to improve conditions for workers.
Those working in the rearmament industries aside, living standards did not really improve
for German workers under the Nazis. From 1933 to 1939 wages fell, the number of hours
worked rose by 15 per cent, serious accidents in factories increased and workers could
be blacklisted by employers if they attempted to question their working conditions.
The persecution of minorities
Hitler and the Nazis had firm views on race. They believed that certain groups were inferior
and were a threat to the purity of the Aryan race. There were many groups who were
targeted for persecution, including Slavs (Eastern Europeans), Blacks, gypsies,
homosexuals and the disabled - but none more so than the Jews.
Nazi racial beliefs

The Nazis’ racial philosophy taught that Aryans were the master race and that some races
were ‘untermensch’ (sub-human). Many Nazi scientists at this time believed in eugenics,
the idea that people with disabilities or social problems were degenerates whose genes
needed to be eliminated from the human bloodline. The Nazis pursued eugenics policies
vigorously.
Policy of persecution
• Sterilisation - In order to keep the Aryan race pure, many groups were prevented
from reproducing. The mentally and physically disabled, including the deaf, were
sterilised, as were people with hereditary diseases.
• Euthanasia - Between 1939 and 1941 over 100,000 physically and mentally
disabled Germans were killed in secret, without the consent of their families.
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Victims were often gassed - a technique that was later used in the death camps
of the Holocaust.
• Concentration camps - Homosexuals, prostitutes, Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies,
alcoholics, pacifists, beggars, hooligans and criminals were often rounded up and
sent away to camps. During World War Two 85 per cent of Germany's gypsies died
in these camps.
The Nazis’ persecution of the Jews
The group most heavily targeted for persecution by the Nazis were the Jews of Germany.
The outbreak of World War Two brought the horror of mass killings and the Final Solution,
but the period 1933 saw a gradual increase in persecution, reaching a turning point during
Kristallnacht (the wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms) in November 1938:
1933
• Nazis organised a boycott of Jewish businesses.

• Books by Jewish authors were publicly burnt.
• Jewish civil servants, lawyers and teachers were sacked.
• Race science lessons were introduced, teaching that Jews were sub-human.
1935
The Nuremberg Laws formalised anti-Semitism into the Nazi state by:
• Stripping Jews of German citizenship.

• Outlawing marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Germans.
• Taking away from Jews all civil and political rights.
1938
• Jews could not be doctors.

• Jews had to add the name Israel (men) or Sarah (women) to their name.
• Jewish children were forbidden to go to school.
• Kristallnacht - 9 November. The SS organised attacks on Jewish homes, businesses and
synagogues in retaliation for the assassination of the German ambassador to
France by a Jew.
Many Jews saw the events of Kristallnacht as a turning point. Up until then there had been
a progressive erosion of their rights but Jews had not been physically threatened or
attacked. When their businesses and homes were destroyed and their synagogues were
burnt down, many concluded that their time in Germany was up. Those who were able to
fled and a scheme to evacuate Jewish children to Britain, called the Kindertransport,
began.
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1939
• Jews were forbidden to own a business, or even a radio

By the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939, the Jews were stateless, their
employment options in Germany were severely restricted and they feared for their safety
Hitler’s Foreign policy aims
Hitler had three main aims in his foreign policy:
➢ revise the Treaty of Versailles

➢ unite all German-speaking people into one Reich (One big Germany)
➢ expand eastwards to achieve Lebensraum (Living Space)
Historians have disagreed about Hitler’s aims. A J P Taylor argued that Hitler did not
deliberately set out for a destructive war. Instead, Hitler was an opportunist and made gains
in his foreign policy by direct action and audacity.
Hugh Trevor-Roper has argued that Hitler had a long term plan - a programme of
colonisation of Eastern Europe and a war of conquest in the West. This Stufenplan, step-by-
step policy, led to war.
Probably the most convincing argument is that Hitler had consistency of aims, but was also
an opportunist that was flexible in his strategy.
There were three stages to his foreign policy.
1. A moderate policy up to 1935.

2. Increased activity between 1935 and 1937.
3. A more confident foreign policy after 1937, certain that there would be little
opposition to his plans.
Rearmament and conscription
Rearmament created jobs in the armaments industry pushing the idea of 'guns before
butter'. Rearmament started almost as soon as Hitler came to power but was announced
publicly in 1935.
The introduction of national service meant all young men spent six months in the RAD and
then they were conscripted into the army. By 1939, 1.4 million men were in the army, so they
were not counted as unemployed.
In January 1935, the population of the Saar coalfield, separated from Germany by the post-
war treaties, were allowed a plebiscite and showed that over 90 per cent of the population
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wanted to reunite with Germany. Hitler regarded this as a great triumph because it was the
first of the injustices of the Treaty of Versailles to be reversed.
Rhineland Invasion, March 1936
For many years the Rhineland area had been a key industrial region of Germany, producing
coal, steel and iron resources.
The Rhineland also formed a natural barrier to its neighbour and rival, France. In the event
of a war, the River Rhine, if properly defended, would be a difficult obstacle for an invading
force to cross.
One of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was that the Germans would not be able to
keep military forces in a 50 km stretch of the Rhineland. Hitler resented this term as it
made Germany vulnerable to invasion. He was determined to enlarge his military
capability and strengthen his borders.
In 1935, Hitler revealed that he had built up an air force and signed the Anglo-German
Naval Agreement that allowed him to enlarge his naval forces.
In 1936, Hitler boldly marched 22,000 German troops into the Rhineland, in a direct
contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler offered France and Britain a
25 year non-aggression pact and claimed 'Germany had no territorial demands to make in
Europe'.
Austrian Anschluss, March 1938
Hitler wanted all German-speaking nations in Europe to be a part of Germany. To this end,
he had designs on re-uniting Germany with his native homeland, Austria. Under the terms
of the Treaty of Versailles, however, Germany and Austria were forbidden to be unified.
Hitler also wanted control of the largely German-speaking area within Czechoslovakia,
called the Sudetenland. This area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before world
war I. Importantly, Austria shared a border with this area. In an attempt to realise his goals,
Hitler was determined to destabilise Austria and undermine its independence. His ultimate
goal was Anschluss (union) with Austria.
The failed coup
The Austrian Chancellor, Dollfuss, tried to crack down on the Socialists and Nazis - political
factions that he thought were tearing the country apart. Dollfuss banned the Nazi party.
In 1934, Hitler ordered the Austrian Nazis to create havoc in Austria. This turned into an
attempt to overthrow the government. Chancellor Dollfuss was murdered but the
attempted coup failed because the Austrian military intervened to back up the
government. In 1934, Italy had an agreement with Austria that it would protect Austria
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from outside aggression. The Italian dictator, Mussolini, honoured the agreement and
moved Italian troops to the Austrian border to deter Hitler from invading.
Events in Austria
The new Austrian Chancellor, Schuschnigg tried to preserve the country from German
invasion by trying not to give Hitler an excuse for aggression. He tried to co-operate with
Hitler as much as possible. Schuschnigg signed the German-Austrian Agreement of 1936.
This pact recognised the independence of Austria but the price was that Austria's foreign
policy had to be consistent with Germany's. The agreement also allowed Nazis to hold
official posts in Austria. Schuschnigg hoped this would appease Hitler. He was wrong.
Schuschnigg's position was undermined in 1936 when Hitler and Mussolini formalised the
Rome-Berlin Axis during their joint involvement in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). With
Germany and Italy now firm allies, Austria had lost the protection of Italy and was
vulnerable to German attack.
In 1938, Schuschnigg visited Hitler at his summer retreat at Berchtesgaden, near the
Austrian border. Hitler demanded that Nazis be given key government posts in Austria.
Schuschnigg compromised and the Nazi member, Seyss-Inquart, was made Minister of the
Interior. Hitler ordered Austrian Nazis to create as much trouble and destruction as
possible in order to put pressure on Schuschnigg. If Hitler could claim that Austrian law
and order had broken down he could justify marching German troops into Vienna to
restore peace - despite the fact that he was responsible for the chaos in the first place.
Four days in March
Wednesday 9 March 1938 - In a desperate act, Schuschnigg announced a referendum whereby

the Austrian people would decide for themselves if they wanted to be a part of Hitler's
Germany. Hitler was furious. If the Austrians voted against joining Germany his excuse for
invasion would be ruined.
Thursday 10th March 1938 - Hitler told his generals to prepare for the invasion of Austria. He
ordered Schuschnigg to call off the referendum. Knowing he would receive no help from
Italy, and that France and Britain would not interfere in Hitler's plans, Schuschnigg
conceded. He called off the referendum and resigned. The Nazi Austrian Interior Minister,
Seyss-Inquart, was ordered by Hitler to ask for German help in restoring order in Austria.
Friday 11th March 1938 - Hitler reassured Czechoslovakia that they had nothing to fear.
Saturday 12th March 1938 - German troops marched into Austria unopposed. Hitler now had
control of Austria. A month later, Hitler held a rigged referendum. The results showed that
the Austrian people approved of German control of their country.
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Foreign reaction
France
French politics were in turmoil in March 1938. In fact, two days before Germany invaded
Austria, the entire French government had resigned. France was not in a position to
oppose the invasion.
Britain
In March 1938, Britain was having its own political problems. Anthony Eden, the Foreign
Secretary, had resigned over Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's decision to open
negotiations with the fascist dictator of Italy, Mussolini. As such, with Chamberlain
determined to appease Hitler, there was no political will to oppose Germany.
Furthermore, the British population were against the idea of another European war. The
Anschluss was not seen as a threat to Britain and, as both nations were German-speaking,
there was a sense that there was no good reason why Austria and Germany shouldn't
unify.
Anti-appeasers, such as Winston Churchill, were alarmed by Germany's annexation of

Austria. They believed that if Hitler had a true claim to Austria, he should have used
negotiation and diplomacy rather than force.
Results
❖ Germany added seven million people and an army of 100,000 to its Reich.
❖ Germany gained useful resources such as steel, iron ore and Austria's foreign
exchange reserves.
❖ The balance of power in south-eastern Europe shifted in favour of Germany,
increasing their influence in the Balkans.
❖ Czechoslovakia was now surrounded on three fronts by Germany.
The Sudentenland 1938
After gaining Austria, Hitler turned his attention to Czechoslovakia after his Anschluss
triumph. He wanted to dismember this democratic country by whatever means necessary.
Czechoslovakia was a member of the League of Nations and allied to France and the Soviet
Union. There were however large minorities within Czechoslovakia. This included 3 million
Germans in the area known as the Sudetenland.
Key events
❖ Early in 1938 - the German leader in the Sudetenland Konrad Henlein complains that
Sudeten Germans are being mistreated by Czechs.
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❖ 30 May 1938 – Hitler orders plans to destroy Czechoslovakia by 1 October.
❖ 12 September 1938 – Hitler makes a speech attacking Czechoslovakia.
❖ 15 September 1938 – Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, flies to see Hitler
at the Berghof and agrees that Czechoslovakia should give all areas with 50 per cent
German Sudetens to Germany. The British and French persuade the Czechs to agree.
❖ 22 September 1938 – Chamberlain is successful in persuading Edvard Beneš, President

of Czechoslovakia, to accept Germany’s demands. Chamberlain meets Hitler at Bad
Godesberg confident that the crisis was over. Hitler however had changed his mind
and wanted the Sudetenland by 1 October. The talks break down and there is real
fear now of a war in Europe. Chamberlain persuades Mussolini, the Italian dictator,
to arrange a conference at Munich to discuss the issue of the Sudetenland.
❖ 29-30 September 1938 – Britain, France, Germany and Italy met in Munich. Crucially
Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were not present. The four countries agreed
to the German occupation of the Sudetenland between 1 and 10 October. German
troops occupy the Sudetenland. Britain and France were following a policy of
appeasement. Neville Chamberlain returned to Britain claiming he had
established peace in our time. However following the agreement both Britain and
France speeded up their own rearmament plans. Chamberlain's claim turned out to
be a false hope as within a year of the agreement World War Two had started.
The final destruction of Czechoslovakia - 1939
❖ The Munich agreement dealt only with the Germans in the Sudetenland. It said
nothing of the nearly 2 million Germans living in Bohemia and Moravia. Hitler now
moved to bring them under German control.
❖ Using the same tactics as in other events, he claimed that Germans were being
treated unfairly. He claimed that the Czech government had lost control and that
the German army should be sent in to restore order.
❖ Hitler invited President Hacha to Berlin on 14 March 1939 and kept him waiting until
01:15 while Hitler finished watching a film. Hitler demanded that Hacha agreed to
split Czechoslovakia within a few hours. At 04:00, President Hacha caved in to
Hitler’s demands and German troops marched into Prague on 15 March 1939. This
was conquest pure and simple.
❖ Germany expanded and gained valuable resources as Czechoslovakia was rich in

coal and possessed the huge Skoda armaments factory.
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The Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939
Hitler wanted the restoration of Danzig to Germany and also the return of the Polish
Corridor. Britain and France had realised by now that it was not possible to appease Hitler
and made a commitment to defend Poland.
In August, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact. This was a
promise not to fight each other. Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German Foreign minister,
went to Moscow with full authority to negotiate an agreement. The agreement publicly
stated that there would be non-aggression for ten years and made economic agreements.
There were however secret elements to the agreement. Both countries agree to help each
other if there is a war against Poland. Crucially this gave Hitler the freedom to invade
Poland without having to worry about the Soviet Union.
The Pact was an amazing U-turn. Hitler had always stressed that the Soviet Union was his
main enemy, ruled by Jewish Communists and subhuman Slavs. It was the main focus
of Lebensraum.
It was a masterstroke because:
❖ it left Poland isolated
❖ it destroyed attempts by the West to bring the Soviet Union into an alliance against
Germany
❖ Germany avoided being dragged into a war on two fronts
❖ Germany gained vital raw materials from the Soviet Union that helped rearmament.
REVISION QUESTIONS
2017
(a) Describe the Dawes Plan signed in 1924 [8]
(b) Explain how the Enabling Act of March 1933 helped Hitler gain total control of Germany
[12]
2016
(a) Describe the events of the Munich Putsch of 1923 [8]
(b) Explain how Stresemann dealt with the problems faced by the Weimar Republic from 1924
to 1929 [12]
2015
(b) Explain the steps taken by Adolf Hitler in achieving his foreign policy aims [12]
2014
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(a) Outline the main features of the Nazi totalitarian state. [8]
(b) Explain the steps that were taken by Hitler to consolidate his power in Germany between
1933 and 1934. [12]
2013
(a) Outline the aims of Hitler’s foreign policy. [8]
(b) Explain how the problems of the Weimar Republic helped Hitler to rise to power. [12]
2012
(a) Describe the problems that were faced by the Weimar Republic after the First World War.
[8]
(b) Explain how Hitler’s foreign policy led to the outbreak of the Second World War. [12]
2011
(a) Outline the reasons for Nazi popularity in Germany after 1933. [8]
(b) Why did Hitler follow an aggressive foreign policy after 1933? [12]
2009
a) Outline the main features of Nazism. [8]
b) How did the problems of the Weimar Republic from 1919 and 1933 lead to its decline? [12]
2008
a) Outline ways in which Hitler organized the German economy. [8]
b) Explain how Hitler reversed the Versailles Treaty. [12]
2007
a) Describe the political problems faced by the Weimar Republic. [8]
b) How was Adolf Hitler able to control Germany between 1933 and 1939?
[12]
2006
a) Describe the steps taken by Hitler to rise to power in Germany by 1933.
[8]
b) How did Hitler’s domestic policy enable him to stay in power in Germany by 1933?
[12]
2005
a) Outline the main features of the Nazi totalitarian state. [8]
b) Why did Germany embark on an expansionist policy from 1933-1941?
[12]
2004
a) Outline the aims of Hitler’s foreign policy. [8]
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b) How far did the problems of the Weimar Republic help Hitler rise to power?
[12]
2002
a) Describe the factors which led to the rise to power of Hitler in Germany.
[8]
b) How was Hitler able to consolidate his power in Germany up to 1934?
[12]
2001
a) Describe the events that led to the fall of the Weimar Republic. [8]
b) Explain why Hitler rose to power by 1933. [12]
2000
a) Outline the problems of the Weimar Republic. [8]
b) Why did Hitler follow an aggressive foreign policy after 1933? [12]
THE SOVIET UNION 1917-1989
The Russian Revolution

In 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and
setting into motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation of
the Soviet Union. While the two revolutionary events took place within a few short
months, social unrest in Russia had been simmering for decades. In the early 1900s,
Russia was one of the most impoverished countries in Europe with an enormous
peasantry and a growing minority of poor industrial workers.
Much of Western Europe viewed Russia as an undeveloped, backwards society. The
Russian Empire practiced serfdom - a form of feudalism in which landless peasants
were forced to serve the land-owning nobility - well into the nineteenth century. In
contrast, the practice had disappeared in most of Western Europe by the 1900s.
In 1861, the Russian Empire finally abolished serfdom. The emancipation of serfs
would influence the events leading up to the Russian Revolution by giving peasants
more freedom to organize.
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Russian Revolution of 1905

Russia industrialized much later than Western Europe and the United States. When it
finally did, around the turn of the 20th century, it brought with it immense social and
political changes. Between 1890 and 1910, for example, the population of major
Russian cities such as St. Petersburg and Moscow nearly doubled, resulting in
overcrowding and destitute living conditions for a new class of Russian industrial
workers.
A population boom at the end of the 19th century, a harsh growing season due to
Russia’s northern climate, and a series of costly wars—starting with the Crimean
War (1854-1856)—meant frequent food shortages across the vast empire. Large
protests by Russian workers against the monarchy led to the Bloody Sunday
massacre of 1905. Hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed or wounded by the
czar’s troops. The massacre sparked the Russian revolution of 1905, during which
angry workers responded with a series of crippling strikes throughout the country.
Nicholas II
After the bloodshed of 1905, Czar Nicholas II promised the formation of a series of
representative assemblies, or Dumas, to work toward reform. Russia entered
into World War I in August 1914 in support of the Serbs and their French and British
allies. Their involvement in the war would soon prove disastrous for the Russian
Empire.
Militarily, imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian
casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Food
and fuel shortages plagued Russia as inflation mounted. The economy was hopelessly
disrupted by the costly war effort.
Czar Nicholas left the Russian capital of Petrograd (St. Petersburg) in 1915 to take
command of the Russian Army front. (The Russians had renamed the imperial city in
1914, because the name “St. Petersburg” had sounded too German.)
Rasputin and the Czarina

In her husband’s absence, Czarina Alexandra—an unpopular woman of German
ancestry—began firing elected officials. During this time, her controversial
advisor, Grigory Rasputin, increased his influence over Russian politics and the
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royal Romanov family. Russian nobles eager to end Rasputin’s influence murdered
him on December 30, 1916. By then, most Russians had lost faith in the failed
leadership of the czar. Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy
remained backward and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma, the toothless
Russian parliament established after the 1905 revolution, when it opposed his will.
Moderates soon joined Russian radical elements in calling for an overthrow of the
hapless czar.
February Revolution
The February Revolution started with Demonstrators crying out for shortage of bread
took to the streets of Petrograd. Apart from bread the demonstrators were
complaining about other things like the continuing WWI which continud to waste lots
of resources and killing many Russians. They also had qurries about land and
demanded land reforms. Supported by huge crowds of striking industrial workers,
the protesters clashed with police but refused to leave the streets. On March 11, the
troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out to quell the uprising. In some
encounters, the regiments opened fire, killing demonstrators, but the protesters kept
to the streets and the troops began to waver.
The Duma formed a provisional government on March 12. A few days later, Czar
Nicholas abdicated the throne, ending centuries of Russian Romanov rule. The leaders
of the provisional government, including young Russian lawyer Alexander Kerensky,
established a liberal program of rights such as freedom of speech, equality before the
law, and the right of unions to organize and strike. They opposed violent social
revolution. As minister of war, Kerensky continued the Russian war effort, even
though Russian involvement in World War I was enormously unpopular. This further
exacerbated Russia’s food supply problems. Unrest continued to grow as peasants
looted farms and food riots erupted in the cities.
Bolshevik Revolution
The Russian Revolution of 1917 also known as the Bolshevik Revolution was one of
the most explosive political events of the twentieth century. The violent revolution
marked the end of the Romanov dynasty and centuries of Russian Imperial rule.
During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks, led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir
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Lenin, seized power and destroyed the tradition of Czarist rule. The Bolsheviks would
later become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
On October 24 and 25 leftist revolutionaries led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir
Lenin launched a nearly bloodless coup d’état against the Duma’s provisional
government. When Lenin returned home to Russia in April 1917, the Russian
Revolution was already beginning. Strikes over food shortages in March had
forced the abdication of the inept Czar Nicholas II, ending centuries of
imperial rule. By fall of 1917, Russians had become even more war weary.
Peasants, workers and soldiers demanded immediate change in what became
known as the October Revolution.
Russia had come under the command of a Provisional Government, which
opposed violent social reform and continued Russian involvement in World
War I. The provisional government had been assembled by a group of leaders from
Russia’s bourgeois capitalist class. He called this “dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.”
He instead called for a Soviet government that would be ruled directly by councils of
soldiers, peasants and workers. The Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government
buildings and other strategic locations in Petrograd, and soon formed a new
government with Lenin as its head. The new Soviet government ended Russian
involvement in World War I with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Russian Civil War

Civil War broke out in Russia in late 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution. The warring
factions included the Red and White Armies. The Red Army fought for the Lenin’s
Bolshevik government. The White Army represented a large group of loosely allied
forces, including monarchists, capitalists and supporters of democratic socialism. On
July 16, 1918, the Romanovs were executed by the Bolsheviks. They killed all
members of the royal family. The Russian Civil War ended in 1923 with Lenin’s Red
Army claiming victory and establishing the Soviet Union.
Impact of The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution paved the way for the rise of communism as an influential
political belief system around the world. It set the stage for the rise of the Soviet
Union as a world power that would go head-to-head with the United States during
the Cold War.
War Communism
The Bolshevik Revolution plunged Russia into a three-year civil war. The Red
Army—backed by Lenin’s newly formed Russian Communist Party—fought the
White Army, a loose coalition of monarchists, capitalists and supporters of
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democratic socialism. During this time, Lenin enacted a series of economic

policies dubbed “War Communism.” These were temporary measures to help
Lenin consolidate power and defeat the White Army. Under war communism,
Lenin quickly nationalized all manufacturing and industry throughout Soviet
Russia. He requisitioned surplus grain from peasant farmers to feed his Red
Army.
These measures proved disastrous. Under the new state-owned economy,
both industrial and agricultural output plummeted. An estimated five million
Russians died of famine in 1921 and living standards across Russia plunged
into abject poverty.
Mass unrest threatened the Sovie t government. As a result, Lenin instituted
his New Economic Policy, a temporary retreat from the complete
nationalization of War Communism. The New Economic Policy created a more
market-oriented economic system, “a free market and capitalism, both
subject to state control.”
Cheka
Soon after the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin established the Cheka, Russia’s
first secret police. As the economy deteriorated during the Russian Civil War,
Lenin used the Cheka to silence political opposition, both from his opponen ts
and challengers within his own political party. But these measures did not go
unchallenged: Fanya Kaplan, a member of a rival socialist party, shot Lenin in
the shoulder and neck as he was leaving a Moscow factory in August 1918,
badly injuring him.
Red Terror
After the assassination attempt, the Cheka instituted a period known as the
Red Terror, a campaign of mass executions against supporters of the czarist
regime, Russia’s upper classes and any socialists who weren’t loyal to Lenin’s
Communist Party. By some estimates, the Cheka may have executed as many
as 100,000 so-called “class enemies” during the Red Terror between
September and October 1918.
Lenin Creates the USSR

Lenin’s Red Army eventually won Russia’s civil war. In 1922, a treaty between
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasus (now Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan) formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Lenin
became the first head of the USSR, but by that time, his health was declining.
Between 1922 and his death in 1924, Lenin suffered a series of strokes which
compromised his ability to speak, let alone govern.
His absence paved the way for Joseph Stalin, the Communist Party’s new
General Secretary, to begin consolidating power. Lenin resented Stalin’s
growing political power and saw his ascendency as a threat to the USSR. Lenin
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dictated a number of predictive essays about corruption of power in the

Communist Party while he was recovering from a stroke in late 1922 and early
1923. The documents, sometimes refe rred to as Lenin’s ‘Testament,’
proposed changes to the Soviet political system and recommended that Stalin
be removed from his position. Upon his death he was succeeded by Joseph
Stalin, afer a succession dispute with Leon Trotsky.
Joseph Stalin
Georgian-born revolutionary Joseph Stalin rose to power upon Lenin’s death

in 1924. The dictator ruled by terror with a series of brutal policies, which left
millions of his own citizens dead. Du ring his reign—which lasted until his
death in 1953—Stalin transformed the Soviet Union from an agrarian society
to an industrial and military superpower.
The Five-Year Plans

Stalin implemented a series of Five-Year Plans to spur economic growth and
transformation in the Soviet Union. The first Five-Year Plan focused on
collectivizing agriculture and rapid industrialization. Subsequent Five -Year
Plans focused on the production of armaments and military build -up.
Collectivization
Between 1928 and 1940, Stalin enforced the collectivization of the
agricultural sector. Rural peasants were forced to join collective farms. Those
that owned land or livestock were stripped of their holdings. Hundreds of
thousands of higher-income farmers, called Kulaks, who opposed Stalin’s
policies were rounded up and executed, their property confiscated. The
Communists believed that consolidating individually owned farms into a
series of large state-run collective farms would increase agricultural
productivity.
The Great Purge

Amid confusion and resistance to collectivization in the countryside,
agricultural productivity dropped. This led to devastating food shortages.
Millions died during the Great Famine of 1932 -1933. The famine was
estimated to have claimed the lives of 3.9 million people, about 13 percent of
the population.
Stalin eliminated all likely opposition to his leadership by terrorizing
Communist Party officials and the public through his secret police. During the
height of Stalin’s terror campaign, a period between 1936 and 1938 known as
the Great Purge, an estimated 600,000 Soviet citizens were executed.
Millions more were deported, or imprisoned in forced labor camps known
as Gulags.
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Joseph Stalin and World War II

In 1939, on the eve of World War II, Joseph Stalin and German dictator Adolf
Hitler signed the German-Soviet Pact. They agreed no to be aggressive
against each other, but also agreed to share Poland among themselves. Stalin
did not trust Adolf Hitler, after the signing of the pact, he immediately told
his commander of the armed forces to prepare for an attack from Germany.
He then proceeded to annex parts of Poland and Romania, as well as the Baltic
states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania . He also launched an invasion of
Finland. Then, in June 1941, Germany broke the Nazi -Soviet pact and invaded
the USSR, making significant early inroads in what came to be known as
Operation Barbarossa. As German troops approached the Soviet capital of
Moscow, Stalin remained there and directed a scorched earth defensive
policy, destroying any supplies or infrastructure that might benefit the
enemy. With the help of the Russian winter, the tide turned for the Soviets
with the Battle of Stalingrad from August 1942 to February 1943, during
which the Red Army defeated the Germans and eventually drove them from
Russia.
As the war progressed, Stalin participated in the major Allied conferences,
including those in Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945). His iron will and deft
political skills enabled him to play the loyal ally while never abandoning his
vision of an expanded post-war Soviet empire.
Joseph Stalin’s Later Years

Joseph Stalin did not mellow with age: He prosecuted a reign of terror,
purges, executions, exiles to labor camps and persecution in the postwar
USSR, suppressing all dissent and anything that smacked of foreign –
especially Western–influence. He established communist governments
throughout Eastern Europe, and in 1949 led the Soviets into the nuclear age
by exploding an atomic bomb. In 1950, he gave North Korea’s communist
leader Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) permission to invade United States-
supported South Korea, an event that triggered the Korean War.
The death of Joseph Stalin

Stalin, who grew increasingly paranoid in his later years, died on March 5,
1953, at age 74, after suffering a stroke. His body was embalmed and
preserved in Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square until 1961, when it
was removed and buried near the Kremlin walls as part of the de -Stalinization
process initiated by Stalin’s successor Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971).
The Cold War

Following the surrender of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, the
uncomfortable wartime alliance between the Soviet Union and the United
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States and Great Britain began to crumble. The Soviet Union by 1948 had
installed communist-leaning governments in Eastern European countries
that the USSR had liberated from Nazi control during the war. The Americans
and British feared the spread of communism into Western Europe and
worldwide.
In 1949, the U.S., Canada and its European allies formed the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO). The alliance between countries of the Western
bloc was a political show of force against the USSR and its allies. In response
to NATO, the Soviet Union in 1955 consolidated power among Eastern bloc
countries under a rival alliance called the Warsaw Pact, setting off a rivalry
that came to be known as the Cold War. The Cold War lasted for decades and
resulted in anti-communist suspicions and international incidents that led
the two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disa ster. This power struggle—
waged on political, economic and propaganda fronts between the Eastern and
Western blocs—would persist in various forms until the fall of the Soviet
Union in 1991.
Khrushchev And De-Stalinization

Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) led the Soviet Union during the height of the
Cold War, serving as premier from 1958 to 1964. Though he largely pursued a
policy of peaceful coexistence with the West, the Cuban Missile Crisis began
after he positioned nuclear weapons 90 miles from Florida. At home, he
initiated a process of “de-Stalinization” that made Soviet society less
repressive. Yet Khrushchev could be authoritarian in his own right, crushing
a revolt in Hungary and approving the construction of the Berlin Wall. Known
for his colorful speeches, he once took off and brandished his shoe at the
United Nations.
Nikita Khrushchev: The Early Years

Khrushchev was born on April 15, 1894, in Kalinovka, a small Russian village
near the Ukrainian border. At age 14 he moved with his f amily to the Ukrainian
mining town of Yuzovka, where he apprenticed as a metalworker and
performed other odd jobs. Despite his religious upbringing, Khrushchev
joined the communist Bolsheviks in 1918, more than a year after they had
seized power in the Russian Revolution. During the subsequent Russian Civil
War, Khrushchev’s first wife, with whom he had two children, died of typhus.
He later remarried and had four more children.
In 1929 Khrushchev moved to Moscow, where he steadily rose through the
Communist Party ranks. Eventually he entered the inner circle of Soviet
dictator Joseph Stalin, who by that time had consolidated control over the
country and instituted a bloody purge of perceived enemies. Millions of
people were killed or imprisoned in Gulag labor camps, and millions more died
in famines brought on by the forced collectivization of agriculture.
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Khrushchev Takes Over for Stalin

During World War II, Khrushchev mobilized troops to fight Nazi Germany in
the Ukraine and at Stalingrad. After the war, he helped to rebuild the
devastated countryside while simultaneously stifling Ukrainian nationalist
dissent. By the time Stalin died in March 1953, Khrushchev had positioned
himself as a possible successor. Six months later, he became head of the
Communist Party and one of the most powerful people in the USSR.
At first, Khrushchev and other high -ranking officials ruled through a form of
collective leadership. But in 1955 he organized the ou ster of Premier Georgi
Malenkov and replaced him with an ally, Nikolai Bulganin. Khrushchev foiled
a Malenkov-led coup attempt in June 1957 and took over the premiership the
following March.
Khrushchev’s De-Stalinization Process

Once a loyal Stalinist, Kh rushchev gave a long speech in February 1956 that
criticized Stalin for arresting and deporting opponents, for elevating himself
above the party and for incompetent wartime leadership, among other
things. This withering, albeit incomplete, indictment of St alin was supposed
to remain secret. By that June, however, the U.S. State Department had
published the complete text. Starting in 1957, Khrushchev made some minor
attempts to rehabilitate Stalin’s image. But he switched course once again in
1961, when the city of Stalingrad was renamed and Stalin’s remains were
removed from Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square.
Emboldened by Khrushchev’s so-called “secret speech,” protestors took to
the streets in the Soviet satellites of Poland and Hungary. The Polish revolt
was resolved fairly peacefully, but the Hungarian revolt was violently
suppressed with troops and tanks. In all, at least 2,500 Hungarians were killed
in late 1956, and about 13,000 were wounded. Many more fled to the West,
and others were arrested or deported.
On the domestic front, Khrushchev worked—not always successfully—to
increase agricultural production and raise living standards. He also reduced
the power of the Soviet Union’s feared secret police, released many political
prisoners, relaxed artistic censorship, opened up more of the country to
foreign visitors and inaugurated the space age in 1957 with the launch of the
satellite Sputnik. Two years later, a Soviet rocket hit the moon, and in 1961
Soviet astronaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first man in space.
Khrushchev’s Foreign Policy

Khrushchev had a complicated relationship with the West. A fervent believer
in communism, he nonetheless preferred peaceful coexistence with capitalist
countries. Unlike Stalin, he even visited the United States. Relations between
the two superpowers deteriorated somewhat in 1960 when the Soviets shot
down an American U-2 spy plane deep inside their territory. The following
year, Khrushchev approved the construction of the Berlin Wall in order to
stop East Germans from fleeing to capitalist West Germany.
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Cold War tensions reached a high point in October 1962 when the United
States discovered Soviet nuclear missiles stationed in Cuba. The world
appeared to be on the brink of nuclear conflict, but, afte r a 13-day standoff,
Khrushchev agreed to remove the weapons. In return, U.S. President John F.
Kennedy, who one year earlier had authorized the failed Bay of Pigs invasion,
publicly consented not to attack Cuba. Kennedy also privately agreed to take
American nuclear weapons out of Turkey. In July 1963, the United States, the
United Kingdom and the Soviet Union negotiated a partial nuclear test ban.
One of the sharpest thorns in Khrushchev’s side was fellow communist Mao
Zedong, the leader of China. Startin g around 1960, the two sides engaged in
an increasingly vindictive war of words, with Khrushchev calling Mao a “left
revisionist” who failed to comprehend modern warfare. The Chinese,
meanwhile, criticized Khrushchev as a “psalm-singing buffoon” who
underestimated the nature of Western imperialism.
Khrushchev’s Fall From Power

The break with China and food shortages in the USSR eroded Khrushchev’s
legitimacy in the eyes of other high -ranking Soviet officials, who were
already bothered by what they saw as hi s erratic tendency to undercut their
authority. In October 1964 Khrushchev was called back from a vacation in
Pitsunda, Georgia, and forced to resign as both premier and head of the
Communist Party. Khrushchev wrote his memoirs and quietly lived out the
remainder of his days before dying of a heart attack in September 1971. The
fact that Nikita Khrushchev managed to be recalled from office and lived
there after shows the extent of his democratisation of the USSR.
Leonid Brezhnev becomes president of the USSR

Leonid Brezhnev, one of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s most trusted proteges, is
selected as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet—the Soviet equivalent
to the presidency. This was another important step in Brezhnev’s rise to power in
Russia, a rise that he later capped by taking control of the Soviet Union in 1964.
Brezhnev had been a trusted associate of Khrushchev since the 1940s. As Khrushchev
rose through the ranks, so did his protege. After Stalin’s death in 1953, Khrushchev
rapidly consolidated his power and succeeded in becoming First Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This position had always been the real seat of
power in the Soviet Union—the first secretary was able to control the vast Communist
Party apparatus throughout the Soviet Union. The position of president (or, more
formally, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet) was largely symbolic.
The president often greeted foreign visitors and handled more mundane government
matters, but policymaking always rested with the first secretary.
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In May 1960, Khrushchev named Brezhnev to the position of president. While the post
meant little in the way of real power, it did allow Brezhnev to come into contact with
numerous foreign dignitaries and visitors and to travel the world as a representative
of the Soviet government. He made the most of these opportunities and was soon
viewed as an efficient and effective official in his own right, not simply a puppet of
Khrushchev.
In 1964, Khrushchev was removed from power and Brezhnev was named new first
secretary. Brezhnev held that post for 18 years until his death in 1982. His era was
marked by a certain blandness of rule, a much-needed stability in Soviet ruling circles,
a sometimes harsh repression of the Soviet people, and a hard-line attitude toward
relations with the United States.
Mikhail Gorbachev
A longtime Communist Party politician, Mikh ail Gorbachev came to power in
1985. He inherited a stagnant economy and a crumbling political system. He
introduced two sets of policies he hoped would reform the political system
and help the USSR become a more prosperous, productive nation. These
policies were called glasnost and perestroika.
Gorbachev’s glasnost plan called for political openness. It addressed personal
restrictions of the Soviet people. Glasnost eliminated remaining traces of
Stalinist repression, such as the banning of books (like Boris Pasternak’s
Nobel Prize-winning “Dr. Zhivago”) and the much-loathed secret police
(though the KGB wouldn’t fully dissolve until the Soviet Union’s collapse in
1991). Newspapers could criticize the government, and parties other than the
Communist Party could participate in elections.
Perestroika was Gorbachev’s plan for economic restructuring. Under
perestroika, the Soviet Union began to move toward a hybrid communist -
capitalist system, much like modern China. The policy -making committee of
the Communist Party, called the Politburo, would still control the direction of
the economy. Yet the government would allow market forces to dictate some
production and development decisions.
Collapse of the Soviet Union

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Communist Party elite rapidly gained wealth
and power while millions of average Soviet citizens faced starvation. The
Soviet Union’s push to industrialize at any cost resulted in freque nt shortages
of food and consumer goods. Bread lines were common throughout the 1970s
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and 1980s. Soviet citizens often did not have access to basic needs, such as
clothing or shoes.
The divide between the extreme wealth of the Politburo and the poverty of
Soviet citizens created a backlash from younger people who refused to adopt
Communist Party ideology as their parents had.
The USSR also faced foreign attacks on the Soviet economy. In the 1980s, the
United States under President Ronald Reagan isolated the Soviet economy
from the rest of the world and helped drive oil prices to their lowest levels in
decades. When the Soviet Union’s oil and gas revenue dropped dramatically,
the USSR began to lose its hold on Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, Gorbachev’s reforms we re slow to bear fruit and did more to
hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union than to help it. A loosening of controls
over the Soviet people emboldened independence movements in the Soviet
satellites of Eastern Europe.
Political revolution in Poland in 1989 sparked other, mostly peaceful
revolutions across Eastern European states and led to the toppling of
the Berlin Wall. By the end of 1989, the USSR had come apart at the seams.
An unsuccessful coup by Communist Party hard-liners in August 1991 sealed
the Soviet Union’s fate by diminishing Gorbachev’s power and propelling
democratic forces, led by Boris Yeltsin, to the forefront of Russian politics.
On December 25, Gorbachev resigned as leader of the USSR. The Soviet Union
ceased to exist on December 31, 1991 .
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR 2

Introduction
Twenty years after the end of WWI, another war erupted in Europe. The world had
thought WWI was the most devastating war in but WWII became more devastating
and disruptive. Just like WWI, the causes of WWII were many, some and of many
facets. They can be traced to the settlements of previous War, the peace treaties, the
failure if the League of Nations and mostly, the acts of aggressions and Expansionist
policies of nations in the 1930s. Some historians argue that World War 2 was a direct
result of acts of aggression and expansionists policies by countries which wanted to
expand their territory and power. A lot of countries in Europe between 1931 and 1941
embarked on expansionist policies even though there was little justification for such
policies. Their expansionist policies later brought them into conflict with other
countries and hence causing the Second World War.
Causes of World War 2
[Objective: Discuss/ evaluate causes of World War 2]
I. The unfairness and harshness of the Treaty of Versailles was one of the causes of World War 2.
This was because the treaty filled Germans with bitterness and a spirit of
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revenge. The treaty caused bitterness in Germany because Germany was not
allowed to be part of the discussions at Versailles, the treaty made Germany to
lose territories in Europe, Africa and the Pacific region, she was forced to
disarm, she was forced to accept all responsibility of causing World War 1 and
she was also forced to pay high reparations to the allied powers. This heavy
punishment angered Germans and hence their desire to revenge. Germans in
other words were desperate to reverse the terms of the Versailles Treaty. As a
way of revenging for the injustices of the treaty, Germans began to support the
Nazi Party in large numbers for the leadership of that party promised to
overturn the treaty once they were voted into office.
II. Failures of the League of Nations - This was the case because it denied membership
to the defeated nations and as a result came to be viewed as a club of the
victorious powers. Its covenant was also included in each of the peace treaties.
This caused the League of Nations to be associated with the hated peace
treaties. In fact, Germany and her allies extended the hatred they had for the
peace treaties to the League of Nations. Furthermore, the League of Nations
failed to punish aggressor states such as Japan when she invaded Manchuria
in 1931, or Italy when she invaded Abyssinia in 1935. This caused other
countries, to see the League as a toothless bulldog, and started defying it. For
example Germany remilitarised the Rhineland, and later invade countries such
as Czechoslovakia in 1938 and Poland in 1939 in the belief that they like Japan
and Italy would not be punished. However, this instead resulted in to war.
III. The World Economic Crisis between 1928 and 1932 - The World Economic Crisis made
countries such as Japan and Germany to follow expansionist and aggressive
foreign policies. This ultimately brought them into conflict with others. This
period of economic hardship also caused some countries to lose faith in
democracy and international cooperation. This led to the rise of aggressive
fascists governments.
IV. Hitler’s foreign policy - In the 1930s Germany embarked on a militaristic and
expansionist foreign policy. This was characterized by the taking over of the
Saar, the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936, union with Austria in 1938,
taking over of the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia in 1939 and invasion of
Poland among others. Germany’s unending acts of aggression, and reversal of
the terms of the Versailles Treaty, ultimately forced Britain and France to act
against her in September 1939 and this marked the beginning of World War 2.
V. The policy of appeasement - Britain and France pursued the policy of appeasement
in trying to satisfy Adolf Hitler, thinking he will stop aggression. This failed to
contain the aggressive demands and actions of Germany in particular when she
took over Czechoslovakia in 1938 and later Poland in 1939. Failure to act on the
part of Britain and France was viewed as a sign of weakness by the aggressors.
The policy of appeasement bought countries such as Germany time to rearm
and once they had done this became reckless and overly ambitious.
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Results of World War 2

[Objective: Discuss/ evaluate immediate results of World War 2]
Social Results
▪ LOSS OF LIFE - At the end of the war about 40 million people had lost their lives.
The vast majority of these were Russians (over 20 million), 6 million Poles, 4
million Germans and 2 million Chinese among others.
▪ DISPLACEMENT OF PEOPLES - The war also resulted in the displacement of 21
million people. Some of these people were taken to Germany to work as slaves
and others were put in concentration camps especially those set up in Germany
and Poland by the Nazis. After the war, the victorious nations were
overburdened with the responsibility of repatriating them. Millions of people
were left homeless after the war. In Russia alone 25 million people were left
homeless. This problem was also common in France and Italy.
▪ HOLOCAST - The holocaust was one of the worst atrocities of the war. Jews
were murdered in extermination camps set up by the Nazis in Poland and
Russia. Upwards of 5 million Jews were killed in the process.
▪ SOCIAL WELFARE POLICIES - On a positive note, the war gave birth to important
social changes. One such was the development of the welfare state in most
countries where governments provided free medical care and money to the
unemployed, the old and the disabled.
Economic Results
▪ DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY - The war resulted in the destruction of property,

infrastructure and industries. Germany’s industrial areas were completely
ruined, almost 50% of France’s total wealth was lost and Italy had also lost a
significant proportion of her wealth. In the Far East mines and plantations were
totally destroyed and this not only affected the livelihoods of the people in
those areas but also the economies of the European countries which controlled
those territories before the war.
▪ UNRRA - The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA)
was set up to reorganize agriculture, industry and transport. Many countries
the world over were given aid as a result.
▪ IMF - The International Monetary Fund was set up to help member states
balance their books.
▪ THE MARSHAL PLAN - The Marshall Plan was introduced in 1947 to help
European countries which were on the verge of economic collapse. The USA
feared that if such countries were not assisted, they will turn to communism
and hence make it impossible for the USA to trade with them. The plan made
large sums of money available to European countries as grants.
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▪ THE WORLD BANK - The World Bank was also set up to aid the transition from war
to peace. It however later came to supply capital for projects where formal
financial assistance would otherwise not be available.
Political Results
▪ END OF EUROPEAN DOMINATION - The Second World War brought Europe’s

domination of the world to an end. After the war France, Germany and Italy
were weak politically, militarily and economically. They were bankrupt because
they had spent a lot of money in the war. Germany in particular was weakened
by her division into East and West Germany. Britain’s economy was devastated
by the war and had to borrow money from the USA. The world was now
dominated by the USA and to some extent the USSR.
▪ EMERGENCE OF TWO SUPERPOWERS - Two superpowers emerged after World War
2 and these were the USA and the USSR. They now were no longer isolated from
international affairs. The USA suffered little from the war. Instead she
prospered from supplying her allies with food and materials. The USSR on the
other hand quickly recovered from the ravages of the war. These two
superpowers started to compete for influence the world over and this
ultimately led to the Cold War.
In accordance with the decisions taken at the Potsdam Conference in July 1945 the
major war criminals were tried at Nuremberg after the war. These were the
Nuremberg Trials. 19 leading Nazis were found guilty of war crimes and 12 were
sentenced to death.
The horrors of World War 2 and revulsion (strong feeling of shock and dislike) against
the war led to the formation of the United Nations Organization. The UNO was to be
part of the post war settlement. The organization was formally set up in October 1945
with its headquarters in New York. Its principal aim was to maintain world peace.
REVISION QUESTIONS
2018
a) Outline any four causes of the Second World War. [8]
b) Explain the factors that led Hitler to rise to power in Germany by 1933. [12]
2015
(a) Describe the appeasement policy adopted by Britain and France before World War
II [8]
2007
a) Outline any four of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points [8]
b) Explain how the weaknesses of the League of Nations contributed to the outbreak
of the Second World War. [12]
2003
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a) Outline any four causes of the Second World War [8]

b) How did Hitler’s foreign policy contribute to the outbreak of the Second World War?
[12]
THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION (UNO)

Origins
The United Nations Organization was formed in 1945 to replace the League of Nations
which had failed to preserve world peace.
The signing of the Atlantic Charter between Great Britain and the United States of
America in 1941 paved the way towards the formation of the UNO. The leaders of both
countries agreed that a new world peace organization had to be set up after the end
of the Second World War.
The UNO also came into existence as a result of a conference that was held in 1944 at
Dumbarton Oaks. It was at this conference where representatives of Great Britain, the
USSR, China and the USA set up the structure of the UNO. The structure of this new
organ consisted of a General Assembly and a Security Council.
The Yalta Conference of 1945 further contributed to the formation of the UNO. It was
agreed at this conference that China, Great Britain, the USSR and the USA would have
the veto power in the Security Council. The 1945 San Francisco Conference also
contributed to the birth of the UNO. This conference culminated in the signing of the
Charter of the United Nations by 51 countries.
Membership of the UNO is open to all peace-loving independent states. The

Headquarters of the UN are situated at New York in USA.
PURPOSES/ AIMS OF THE UNO
Article 1
The Purposes of the United Nations are:

1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective
measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the
suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring
about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and
international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations
which might lead to a breach of the peace;
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal
rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures
to strengthen universal peace;
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3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social,

cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for
human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race,
sex, language, or religion; and
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
The principal aim of the UNO is to maintain world/ international peace and security.
This aim is to be achieved through “collective action” which entails imposing either
economic or military sanctions or both on aggressors.
The UNO also aims at encouraging international co-operation to solve social and
economic problems facing especially the poor and underdeveloped nations. It was
also set up to develop friendly relations among nations.
The UNO was finally established to act/ become a centre where actions of nations in
the attainment of the aims of the UNO could be harmonized.
STRUCTURE OF THE UNO

Main Organs
The main organs of the UN are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the
Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of
Justice, and the UN Secretariat. All were established in 1945 when the UN was
founded.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
It is composed of representatives of all the member states of the UN.
❖ Each member has one vote.

❖ It meets annually in September, but special sessions can be called by the
Security Council in times for emergency.
The General Assembly performs the following functions:
❖ It debates and makes proposals about International problems concerning

peace and co-operation.
❖ It elects the non-permanent members of the Security Council.
❖ It considers the budget and what amount each member state should pay.
❖ It supervises the work of many other UN bodies.
*Decision do not require unanimous vote as they did in the League Assembly, two-
thirds majority is usually needed on important issues.
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THE SECURITY COUNCIL
The Security Council seems to be the most important organ of the UN. It is composed
of five permanent members who are the USA, USSR, Britain, France, and China. There
are also ten non permanent members who are elected by the General Assembly for a
two-year term. It sits in permanent session. Each of the five permanent members has
a veto power. However, a member may decide not to use it by not voting, thus
abstaining.
Its primary function is to maintain international peace and security. It is the Security
Council that recommends and sees to it that economic and military sanctions are
imposed on an aggressor.
Member states of the UNO undertake to make available to the council their armed
forces to assist in maintaining international peace and security.
THE SECRETARIAT
The secretariat is the permanent administrative staff elected by the General

Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. The staff of the secretariat
is selected from various member states. The secretariat performs the following
functions:
❖ It is responsible for running the day-to day affairs of the UN.

❖ It looks after the administrative work, preparing minutes, translations and
pieces of information.
❖ Has the power to bring to the Security Council any matters of importance it
wishes to be discussed.
THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
The International Court of Justice is at The Hague. It has 15 judges elected from
various nations by the General Assembly and the Security Council. Members serve for
3 years.
Its functions are as follows:
❖ It judges cases submitted to it. Such cases involve settlement of disputes over
frontiers for example, it has settled frontier disputes between Holland and
Belgium and the disagreement between Britain and Norway over fishing limits.
The ICJ also advices the UNO on international law and also on matters such as the
interpretation of treaties.
Nations appealing to it have to agree to accept its decisions as binding. Failure to do

so can mean that the decision will be enforced by the Security Council.
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THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL
This organ replaced the League’s Mandates Commission. Its membership comprises
of 5 permanent members of the Security Council and states with Trust Territories and
others.
Its main function is to see to it that all states looking after trust territories prepares
them as soon as possible for independence.
❖ In 1994 its job was completed, with the independence of South West Africa
from white minority rule.
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
This council originally had 18 members who serve for 3 years. The number has
increased to 54.
Its function is to co-ordinate the economic and social work of the United Nations and
the specialized agencies.
❖ The council initiates activities relating to development of world trade,

industrialization, natural resources, human rights, social welfare, prevention of
crime and other social and economic problems.
Some of the specialized agencies are:
❖ THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATIONS (ILO)
o ILO investigates the working conditions, wages, trade union rights and
social security of workers in all parts of the world.
o It ensures that governments give fair deals to workers whose grievances
can lead to disorder.
❖ FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION (FAO)
o It collects and disseminates information concerning nutrition, food and
agriculture.
o Besides, it sends experts to help countries needing technical advice on
food production, how to fight pests and animal diseases and soil
conservation.
o During times of fire, resulting from drought and other natural crises the
FAO sends food relief to the victims of these natural disasters.
❖ THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO)
o The WHO is the agency which advices countries on public health
problems and the control of diseases.
o It fights against pandemics like Malaria, TB, Typhus, Polio, HIV/AIDS and
COVID-19.
o WHO’s greatest achievement has been the eradication of smallpox from
the world.
❖ THE UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISATION
(UNESCO)
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oIt encourages not simply the spread of education but also international
co-operation between artists, scientists and scholars in all fields.
o It works on the assumption that the best way of avoiding war is to
educate people’s minds in pursuit of peace.
o Besides, it encourages the study of science in educational institutions in
the developing countries by supplying equipment and books.
o UNESCO promotes universal respect for justice, rules, laws and human
rights.
❖ THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S EMERGENCY FUND (UNICEF)
o It’s concerned with the care of children in under-developed countries. It
specializes in the supply of medicines, food and equipment for child
welfare societies.
THE UNO AND PEACE-KEEPING
Although the UN has had mixed success, it is probably fair to say that the UNO has
been rather more successful than the League of Nations in its peace keeping efforts
especially in crises which did not directly involve the interests of great powers.
1. The UNO is keeping peace forces in Lebanon where a protracted civil war has been
going on. Though the UNO has not been able to end the civil war, the presence of the
peace keeping forces stationed there has reduced tension between the warring
factions.
2. On the other hand the UN has scored complete successes on two occasions:
▪ The 1950-1953 Korean War - This was the only occasion on which the UNO was able
to take a decisive action in crises involving the interests of the great powers
during the Cold War.
✓ South Korea was invaded by communist-North Korea in June 1950.
✓ The Security Council immediately passed a resolution condemning North
Korea.
✓ It called on member states to send help to South Korea. Accordingly, troops
were sent and were able to repel the invasion and preserve the frontier
between the 2 Koreas.
✓ Though the success was achieved with a heavy American support in the
absence of Russia, the initiative and the operation were taken in the name
of the UN hence the UN is credited with success.
3. THE SUEZ CRISIS 1956 - This crisis showed the UN at its best.
✓ President Nasser of Egypt suddenly nationalized the Suez Canal in which

Britain and France had heavy shares.
✓ In reply Britain and France protested and sent troops to protect their interests.
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✓ At the same time the Israelites invaded Egypt from the east. It became obvious
that Nasser was to be destroyed.
✓ The Security Council condemned the invasion though it was vetoed by France
and Britain.
✓ The matter was passed to the General Assembly and a resounding majority
condemned Britain and France.
✓ As a result, French and British troops withdrew on the condition that the UN
ensured a reasonable settlement over the Canal and stopped the Arabs and
Israelites from killing each other.
✓ A UN force was moved in while British, French and Israeli forces pulled out.
✓ The UN by this quick and useful decision stopped the war.
SOME PROBLEMS FACING THE UN
I. Disarmament - One of the most common problems facing the UN is disarmament.

This is because it is the arms race which creates tension and suspicion
preceding world wars. The arms race which preceded the world wars persists
and America and Russia have greater quantities of arms. Besides, a similar
situation of the balance of power between the 2-armed camps of Triple
Entente and Triple Alliance exists today. NATO and WARSAW PACT countries
belong to 2 opposing armed camps of the west and east respectively. Arms
control talks between Russia and USA have not yielded any concrete results as
mutual suspicion and mistrust continue to grow. The Security Council which is
specifically responsible for disarmament has not yet been able to do much in
disarmament.
II. Power Bloc Politics - Power Bloc Politics involving the interest of the big power
threatens the efforts of the UN. On the other hand, the Africa-Asian Bloc tends
to co-operate against the big powers instead of considering issues critically on
their merit.
III. Financial Problems - Peace keeping operations and the work of the UN specialized
agencies cost a lot of money. Failure of some member states to pay their
contributions has increased international tension, e.g., at the start of 1965
almost twenty nations including Russia and France were behind in payments.
The UN Charter provides that any nation which is 2 years behind its payment
is to be denied a vote in the General Assembly. However, the enforcement of
this rule would increase rather than decrease world tension.
SOME ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE UN
❖ In spite of all the unsolved problems that face the UN, considerable amount has
been achieved in the years since 1945.
❖ Local wars which could easily spread have been isolated.
❖ In 1950-1953 the UN, heavily supported by the USA was able to repel
communist North Korea trying to invade South Korea.
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❖ The Greek and Turkish Cypriots confrontations have been kept under control
by the presence of a UN peace making force in Cyprus.
❖ In Human affairs the success has been remarkable and international co-
operation has resulted in important progress against hunger, disease and
illiteracy through the activities of UN specialized agencies. The eradication of
smallpox, e.g., is a great victory the WHO has won.
❖ The UN has survived in a world still divided by fear, suspicion and jealousy.
❖ It has become a much more international body than the League of Nations.
❖ Above all it provides a great international forum for discussing issues which can
result in a war without the existence of UN.
RECENT UN PEACE-KEEPING ACTIVITIES
a) UN’s involvement in Namibia’s achievement of independence - When South Africa refused

to grant Namibia independence the South West Africa People’s Organization
(SWAPO) resorted to arms struggle to take power. South Africa resisted and the
result was a prolonged bitter war which claimed lives on both sides. However,
as a result of UN sanctions against South Africa and the relentless loss of life
and destruction of property South Africa eventually opted for a diplomatic
solution of the Namibian crisis. It then became necessary for the UN Security
Council through Resolution 435 to send into Namibia troops - United Nations
Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) and the requisite personnel to supervise
the ending of the war and the conduct of fair elections in order to grant
Namibia independence. Apart from a few shortcomings the UN personnel and
the peace-keeping force performed well. As a result, Namibia won her
independence 1990 under a SWAPO government led by Sam Nujoma.
b) UN’s involvement in the 1990 Gulf crisis - Iraq and Kuwait are rich oil producing
neighbouring Arab countries in the Middle East. Frontier disputes and oil
production conflicts had narrowed the relations between Iraq and Kuwait for
some time. Instead of Iraq taking the conflict to the UN for a peaceful solution
Iraq rather invaded and annexed Kuwait. This was a threat to peace. As a result,
the permanent member states of the UN unanimously agreed to impose
economic sanctions on Iraq, the aggressor.
This measure was adopted to compel Iraq to pull out of Kuwait and thereby
prevent any war between the 2 countries. Accordingly, troops from member
states of the UN were amassed into Saudi Arabia and in the Gulf to ensure the
imposition of effective economic sanctions on Iraq. This crisis and the response
of the UN clearly illustrates UN’s collective action to impose economic
sanctions in order to maintain peace and prevent the outbreak of war.
REVISION QUESTIONS
2013
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(a) Describe the origins of the United Nations Organization. [8]

(b) Explain any three problems faced by the United Nations since its formation. [12]
2012
(a) Name any four minor agencies of the United Nations Organisation and describe
their functions. [8]
(b) Explain the weaknesses of the United Nations Organisation in its peace keeping
efforts. [12]
2007
a) Describe the origins of the United Nations Organisation
[8]
b) Explain the role played by the United Nations Organisation in the Korean War of
1950-1953 and the Suez Crisis of 1956. [12]
2004
a) Outline the achievements of the United Nations Organization from 1960 to 1995.
[8]
b) Explain the problems faced by the United Nations Organization since its formation.
[12]
2002
a) Describe the functions of the main organs of the United Nations Organizations. [8]
b) Explain the role played by the United Nations in any three peace-keeping
operations. [12]
2001
a) Describe the functions of four of the United Nations’ specialized agencies. [8]
b) How successful has the United Nations been in keeping peace? [12]
2000
a) Describe the aims of the United Nations Organisation [8]
b) Explain why the United Nations Organisation had some successes in its peace-
keeping activities from 1945 to 1966 [12]
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LATIN AMERICA - CASE STUDY OF CUBA

You should be able to:
➢ Explain the establishment of communism rule in Cuba

➢ Explain internal developments under Fidel Castro
➢ Discuss the relationship between Cuba, United States of America and the
Soviet Union
➢ Evaluate the contribution of Castro’s Cuba to the Americans and Africans.
4. CUBA BEFORE FIDEL CASTRO

For many year, Cuba was a Spanish colony. The USA played an important role
during Cuban struggle for independence against the Spanish. The USA helped Cuba
to defeat the Spanish. After independence, the USA got involved in Cuban internal
affairs.
i) The USA kept a large naval base on Cuba at Guantanamo bay
ii) The American companies controlled Cuban economy because they
owned:
a. Mines
b. Sugar plantations
c. Cattle ranches
d. Hotels in Cuba.
iii) Cuban economy was heavily dependent on the USA because the
USA was the main importer of Cuba’s main crop, ie. Sugar.
iv) Havana, the capital of Cuba, became a tourist destination for rich
Americans. It was a holiday resort for rich Americans.
v) A few Cubans were wealthy while many of them were poor
vi) There were shortages of schools and teachers
vii) About 40% of the people were illiterate.
viii) There was shortage of doctors and hardly hospitals for the people
in the countryside (rural areas).
ix) In 1952, an army general called Batista took over control of Cuban
government and he:
a. Became a dictator
b. Closed parliament and ignored the constitution.
c. Imprisoned and killed his political opponents.
x) The USA government supported Batista’s government because he
was anti-communist.
xi) Many Cubans were dissatisfied with their living conditions and
wanted a change of government.
NB: The above points can be used to answer the question: WHY WAS THERE A
COMMUNIST REVOLUTION IN CUBA?
5. FIDEL CASTRO COMES TO POWER
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▪ Fidel Castro was a young lawyer who wanted to do something about Cuba’s
domestic problems.
▪ He organized a group of activists to fight Batista’s rule. The group comprised
only 160 activists. This group planned to attack the Moncada Barracks.
They wanted to seize weapons and start a general uprising against the
government.
▪ Castro and his group attacked in July 1953 but failed; Seventy of Castro’s
supporters were killed while others were captured and tortured by Batista’s
troops. Castro and others were put in trial and given prison sentences of up
to 15 years.
▪ In 1955, Castro was released from prison and went to Mexico where he met
an Argentinean revolutionary doctor, Ernesto ‘Che'Guevara, who then
became Castro’s useful ally. It was while in Mexico that Castro decided once
more to overthrow Batista’s government.
▪ In 1956, Castro and about 80 of his revolutionaries returned to Cuba with
weapons and supplies. However, Batista’s troops were waiting for them
and most of them were killed and captured. Only 12 survived, among them
Castro and his brother Raul and Che Guevara who then retreated to Sierra
Maestra Mountains.
▪ At Sierra Maestra Mountains, Castro built up support from the local people
by:
o Building Schools and Clinics.
o And Organized land Reforms
o News about Castro spread and many more people began to support
him. Opposition groups around the country began to think of Castro
as the person who could free Cuba from Batista’s tyranny.
▪ Batista sent troops to try to crush Castro and his rebels but were not
successful because some of Batista’s soldiers even joined Castro. Slowly
Castro captured the Towns and large parts of Cuba. By the end of 1958,
Castro’s rebels were on the outskirt of Havana. This made Batista to realize
that he was defeated and he fled to exile.
▪ Castro and his supporters were welcomed in mass demonstrations when
they entered Havana in January 1959, and and Castro became the Leader of
Cuba.
REASONS WHY FIDEL CASTRO CAME TO POWER/ FACTORS LEADING TO THE RISE OF
COMMUNISM IN CUBA
1. Amount of American influence in Cuba- Many Cubans resented American influence
in Cuba. They hated the idea that American companies controlled all aspects
of Cuban economy, with American companies having interest in sugar,
tobacco, textile iron, nickel, copper, manganese, paper and rum industries.
US companies also owned ½ of the land, ⅗ of the railway lines, and all
electricity production and the entire telephone systems. The USA was the
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main market for Cuban exports. All these things sparked resentment and
anger among many Cubans who then supported Castro against Batista.
2. Cuba’s wealth was in the hands of a few people while the majority were poor. This
unequal distribution of wealth angered many people in Cuba hence they
decided to support Castro whom they believed would do much better then
Batista’s government.
3. Unemployment was a serious problem - yet there was no unemployment benefit
and this caused a lot of resentment among Cubans who then turned to
Castro whom they believed would provide employment for them.
4. Batista’s government officials were very corrupt and they lived lavish lifestyles in
Havana while the majority of Cubans were very poor and lived horrible lives.
This angered many in Cuba and they supported Castro, something which
contributed to the support Castro received from the ordinary people, the
workers and youth.
5. Batista’s government was very weak – since the seized power in 1952, Batista
introduced no reforms. He spent a lot of time attending his private affairs
and his foreign fortunes, leaving himself too little time for affairs of the
state. Batista was also very brutal because he tortured and murdered his
opponents. His brutality even made many of the middle class to support
Castro as the most likely way of getting rid of a brutal dictator. Morale in
Batista’s poorly paid army began to crumble in the summer of 1958 after
they failed to destroy Castro’s forces. The USA began to feel
embarrassment at Batista’s behavior and cut off arms supplies to him. This
was a serious blow to Batista who on 1 st January 1959 fled from Cuba. A
liberal government was set up with Fidel Castro as its head.
INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS UNDER FIDEL CASTRO/ CHANGES MADE BY FIDEL CASTRO IN CUBA
ECONOMIC REFORMS
1. Land Reforms- the first of Castro’s government tackled was land. Castro
nationalized all farms larger than about 400 hectares. This included much of
the land owned by big American agricultural farms. The farms were made in to
collective farms (State owned farms).
2. Modernization of Sugar Plantations- Castro’s government introduced changes to
modernize sugar production to increase output. Sugar factories and businesses
were nationalized.
3. The government controlled all aspects of the economy through the policy of
Nationalization
4. Attempts were made to introduce new industries and crops to reduce Cuba’s
heavy dependence on the export of sugar
SOCIAL REFORMS
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Fidel Castro’s government introduced much needed social Reforms and these
included:
1. Improvement of Education- as a result many Cuban children received some

education. Before Castro rose to power, fewer than half the children had
attended school. Before 1959, about 40% of the Cuban population was semi-
literate. By 1984, literacy rate in Cuba stood at 96% and was one of the highest
in the world. This was due to the introduction of free education. Young people
from the university were sent to rural areas to teach farmers how to read and
write. This improved the literary rate.
2. Improvement of health and medical facilities- All graduates of health schools had to do
two years health care service in rural areas. There was free health care for all
Cubans by 1984. Many diseases were wiped out, e.g. Polio and Malaria.
Sanitation and hygiene were improved. Infant mortality rate dropped from 70
deaths per 1000 live births to 2 deaths per 1000 live births.
3. Equality before the law – Castro gave black Cubans equality unlike before when
they were looked down upon.
4. Women and children rights – there were more rights of women and children
than before.
5. Arts and culture – Touring cinemas, theatres, concerts and art exhibitions
travelled around the country, giving entertainment to the people.
NB: The above points(economic Reforms and Social Reforms) show Castro’s success in
Cuba.
SHORTCOMINGS OF CASTRO’S GOVERNMENT
Not all Cubans supported Castro’s government because;
1. Castro’s government used harsh methods to crash opposition. 500 people who
had worked for Batista were put to death.
2. More than a million people left Cuba in the years after the Revolution. Many of
these people were middle class Cubans who were opposed to Castro’s
economic policies. Many of them chose to live in exile in the USA.
3. Some Cubans were unhappy about lack of political freedom in Cuba during
Castro’s rule because Cuba, under Castro, became a one-party state. Under this
system no one was allowed to criticize the government and whoever dis was
put to death.
4. There was no freedom of the Media because media was strictly censored and
controlled.
5. There was no religious freedom in Castro’s rule. Before Castro rose to power,
the Roman Catholic was the main church in Cuba. Under Castro’s government,
religion was not encouraged and the activities of the church were restricted. As
part of discouraging religion, Castro’s government outlawed religious holidays.
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NB: The above points can also be used to address the question on the failures of
Castro’s government or the negatives of Castro’s domestic policy.
CUBA’S FOREIGN POLICY

A. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CUBA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Initially relations between the USA and Cuba were not bad. However, relations
became bad/sour because:
1. Castro started to nationalize American owned estates, factories and oil

refineries. The USA suspected that Castro was setting up a communist state in
Cuba.
2. The USA began to cut down the amount of sugar that is imported from Cuba to
show that she disapproved of Cuba becoming a communist state. This badly
affected the Cuban economy since Cuba relied heavily on the export of sugar
to the USA for most of its income.
3. Castro started to negotiate trade with the Soviet Union which promised to buy
Cuban sugar. This made the USA alarmed because she did not want Soviet ally
close to her coast at that time of the cold war.
4. Cuba nationalized the remaining American-owned sugar estates and this led
to the USA cutting all trade links with Cuba and breaking off diplomatic
relations with Cuba.
5. The USA decided to support the Cuban exiles (wealthy Cubans who had fled
from Cuba when Castro came to power). With help of the CIA (American Secret
Service), an invasion force landed in Cuba in April 1961 at a place called the Bay
of Pigs. However, the whole invasion was badly planned and carried out.
Castro’s forces easily defeated the invaders with many killed or captured. After
this incident, relations between Cuba and the USA got worse. Castro now
declared himself to be a Communist and turned more to the Soviet Union for
aid and support.
6. In 1962 there was Cuba missile crisis because the US spy plane had detected
Soviet missiles bases in Cuba. The USA was horrified by the thought of Soviet
missiles so near to their country and this further deteriorated relations
between the two countries.
B. RELATIONS BETWEEN CUBA AND THE SOVIET UNION
As relations between the USA and Cuba deteriorated, relations between Cuba and the
Soviet Union improved because:
1. Castro started trade negotiations with the Soviet Union were when the USA cut
down the amount of sugar she bought from Cuba. The soviet Union promised
to buy Cuban sugar and the two countries grew closer to each other.
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2. The Soviet Union had started to supply economic aid to Cuba and this made the
two countries friends.
3. The Soviet Union promised to provide Cuba with weapons so that she could
defend herself against the US invasion. This was after Bay of pigs incident. This
shows that Cuba and the Soviet Union were friends.
4. Fidel Castro and the Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev decided in secret to turn
Cuba into a Soviet nuclear base and this resulted in the Cuban missile crisis
after which relations between Cuba and the USA remained cold while relations
between Cuba and the Soviet Union became even more closer.
5. By 1991 the USA split up and ceased to be communist. This meant that Cuba
had lost its most powerful supporter. This then left Cuba dangerously isolated.
C. CUBA’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE AMERICANS
1. Other Latin American states which had right-wing governments were
suspicious of Castro’s government in Cuba. They accused it of trying to stir up
Revolutions in Venezuela, Guatemala, Bolivia, Nicaragua El Salvador, Honduras
and Granada. In 1962, they expelled Cuba from Organization of American
States (OAS). Some of them even imposed economic sanctions on Cuba.
2. Castro successes in Cuba inspired some revolutionaries in Latin America. Such
revolutionaries had hoped to overthrow undemocratic governments in their
own countries. In attempt to help them, Castro sent Cubans to fight with
guerrilla groups all over Latin America.
3. Castro sent 5,000 troops, medical technicians, teachers and agricultural
experts to Nicaragua. These helped the Sandinistas Liberation Front which
managed to overthrow a harsh dictatorship.
4. Castro also sent military help to assist a rebel group in El Salvador.
5. Cuba also inspired the Montoneros in Argentina who fought a guerrilla
campaign against the government.
6. Apart from Nicaragua, the guerrillas failed to spread Revolutions in Latin
America because government in many of the countries were helped by the USA
to crash any revolutionary movement
7. By the mid-1970s, relations between Cuba and most other Latin American
countries improved and the OAS lifted sanctions against Cuba.
D. CASTRO’S CUBA’S CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICA

Cuba sent soldiers to Africa to help left-wing groups. Some of the countries
cuba assisted in Africa were the following:
1. In 1962, Castro assisted the struggle of Algeria against the French until the
attained independence.
2. Cuba was involved in Angola for a number of years. During the civil war which
followed the independence of Angola in 1975, Cuba sent about 300,000
Cubans, among them Troops, teachers and agricultural professionals, to
support the Communist government of President Agostino Neto of the
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Movement for the People’s Liberation of Angola (MPLA), who were fighting
UNITA rebels which was supported by the South African apartheid regime. Out
of the 300,000 Cubans who fought in Angola and managed to help MPLA to
retain power, about 2,000 lost their lives.
3. Cuba also was instrumental in the training of African liberation movements
cadres e.g. DRC, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Namibia.
4. Between 1970 and 1980, Cuba sent troops to Ethiopia to help the Communist
Mengistu government to stay in power.
5. Cuba supported members of the ANC armed wing (Umkhonto we Sizwe) by
training them in exile at the time When they were fighting South African
apartheid regime.
6. Cuba has assisted many African countries in health care and education. Castro’s
government sent doctors to many African countries including Botswana. This
assisted a lot in fighting diseases like Malaria and HIV/AIDS. In Education Cuba
sent teachers and financed scholarships for African students.
PAN – AFRICANISM
Aims
1. Explain the concept of Pan Africanism and its origins.
2. Describe the contribution of leading figures of Pan Africanism such as Marcus
Garvey, W.E.B. Dubois, Kwame Nkrumah and Sol Plaatje.
3. Explain how Pan Africanism was understood in Africa and the Diaspora.
4. Explain
It is a spirit that aims making all Africans conscious of their oneness. It aims at uniting
all African states to bring about a United States of Africa.
Describe the concept of Pan – Africanism (12)

It is an African movement that seeks to unite all blacks or Africans in Africa and the
Diaspora. This will help the blacks to have one strong voice on world issues faced by
the blacks in Africa and the Diaspora. It also stresses the need for collective self-
reliance. This will enable the blacks to use their resources to provide for their people.
The concept of Pan – Africanism seeks to establish nationhood for Blacks and reaffirm
their dignity in the face of white aggression and oppression. It seeks to achieve this
through negotiations where possible and when this fails force will be used to confront
white oppression. The concept of PAN- Africanism aims at defending human equality
and human rights against racial discrimination and organizing a process of liberation
of Black from subordination worldwide.
It also aims at uniting all the African states to bring about a United States of Africa
and to uplift commercial endeavors by Africans. This will help the blacks to resist
imperialism and colonialism. The concept states that a United States of Africa will help
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Africa to compete effectively on the world stage as do other continents such as

Europe and USA.
Pan – Africanism is an ideology and movement that encourages the solidarity of

Africans worldwide. It is based on the belief that unity is vital for economic, social and
political progress and aims to unify and uplift people of African descent. The ideology
asserts that the fates of all African peoples and countries are intertwined. At its core
Pan – Africanism is a belief that African peoples, both on the continent and in the
Diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny.
OUTLINE THE ORIGINS OF PAN AFRICANISM (8)

Pan – Africanism can be traced as far back as the beginning of the period of the Trans-
Atlantic Slave Trade when Africans especially those in east and west Africa resisted
the trade in slaves. In the slave ships Africans were fed to sharks to prevent ships from
sinking. Upon arrival in the Americas, slaves were sold like beasts. Those sold into
slavery were separated from their families. Slaves were harshly treated in the
plantations they worked in. Rebellious slaves were usually lynched. Thus, the slave
trade and the harsh manner in which they were treated laid the basis for the origins
of Pan Africanism.
The independence of Haiti in 1804 also led to the development of Pan – Africanism. It
taught other blacks in different parts of the world that they too can fight a successful
war of liberation against whites’ oppression. After the rebellion, Haiti became an
independent state run by ex-slaves in Central America. It inspired other oppressed
blacks in Asia, Africa, Europe and America to fight for their independence.
The Pan- African Congress held in Manchester in 1945 also contributed to the birth of
Pan Africanism. This congress demanded an immediate end to colonial rule. By 1980,
most African countries had gained independence.
The Pan – African congress which was held in Paris also sowed the seeds of Pan
Africanism. The congress was held at the same time when “The Big Three were
discussing the Paris Peace settlement terms. Since they did not say anything about
the appalling conditions of Africans (Blacks), the congress served as a polite reminder
to the leaders of the Great Nations to pay more attention to lack of basic freedoms by
blacks throughout the world.
In Africa, draconian colonial laws, oppression and exploitation as well as loss of land
created the basis for the origins of Pan Africanism. This filled Africans with the desire
to reclaim their lost independence and resources. Furthermore, the negative image
associated with Africa by the whites later came to be challenged by the emerging
educated blacks. Africa was described as primitive and technologically a backward
dark continent. Black Americans were angered by this and cited Africa as the cradle of
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mankind and even cited the civilizations of Mesopotamia (Iran) and Egypt as evidence
of Africans’ intelligence. This laid the basis for the origins of Pan- Africanism.
Black Africans in the Diaspora were angered by the fact that in most American
churches, there was only the promotion of myths of the whites by American religious
leaders. Afro- Americans as a result formed their own churches which reflected
African culture such as the beating of drums and dancing. These churches also sent
out missionaries to different parts of Africa to help in lifting up the spiritual lives of
Africans. This also laid the basis for the development of Pan- Africanism.
I conclusion, all these factors combined helped Africans to develop a common

consciousness, aspirations and hopes which crystallized into the Pan Africanist
movement. Africans formed nationalist movements which confronted whites’
oppression and subordination. They also formed religious movements which
preached equality of all people regardless of their origin and color. Eventually force
was as exerted on the whites and they began to strive for racial equality and
independence of countries in the Caribbean such as Haiti and in Africa such as in
Ghana which motivated other countries to believe that they too could fight a
successful war of liberation against white domination.
Explain how Pan – Africanism was applied in the Diaspora [12]

It was applied through the use of force and protests which forced the white masters
to listen to the blacks’ demands. This was accompanied by the training of military
personnel in an effort to fight the white masters.
It was applied through the formation of movements such as the Universal Negro
Improvement Association and the African Communities League which made Africans
in the Diaspora to be conscious of their African origins. UNIA ran a shipping line known
as “The Black Star Line” which returned African slaves to Liberia and Serra Leone. It
also took care of the commercial interests of Africans.
It was applied through the publication of books such as “Black Folk, Then and Now”.
This book was published in 1939 by William E. Dubois. It is an elaboration of the history
of black people in Africa and the New World. His other book entitled “Colour and
Democracy: Colonies and Peace”, published in 1945, is a brief call for the granting of
independence to Africans.
It was also applied through the formation of movements such as the Black Panther
Movement which was a progressive revolutionary movement which called for social
change in America since the Revolution of 1776. The Movement became an inspiration
to generations around the world to join the struggle against oppression. The
movement called for equality and integration, not segregation. The movement
militantly agitated for ethic minority and working-class emancipation.
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It was also applied through the formation of religious movements such as the
Confederation of Christian Trade Union, Catholic Workers Movement, Christian
Socialist Movement and The United Order which called for equality of all people
regardless of color or sex.
In conclusion it has to be noted that through the above discussed factors, a lot of
pressure was exerted on the different leaders of the USA. Credit also goes to leading
Pan- Africanists such as William E. Dubois and Marcus Garvey for laying the
foundation of future Pan Africanists such as Martin Luther King Junior, Malcolm X
(Little) and others who were fruitful in bringing about political, economic and social
freedom of the blacks. Despite the fact that they were assassinated by the anti-civil
rights dissidents such as the Ku Klux Klan, their deaths motivated the remaining
generations that they can still succeed in fighting a successful war of liberation.
Today, the USA is a non–racial country. Even blacks can become presidents as
evidenced by the rise to the presidency by a black person, Barack Hussein Obama.
How far was Pan-Africanism applied in the Caribbean? [12]

It was applied through holding a number of conferences such as the one held in
Manchester in 1945. This conference demanded an immediate end to colonial rule. By
1980, most African countries had gained independence.
It was also applied through the use of force and protest which forced the white
masters to listen to the blacks’ demands. This was accompanied by the training of
military personnel in an effort to use military force to fight the white masters.
It was further applied through the formation of the Negritude Cultural Renaissance
which was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. This organization rejected
European colonization and its role in the African Diaspora was to promote pride in
African “blackness “ and traditional African values and culture, mixed with Marxist
ideals.
It was also influenced by leading Pan-Africanists such as W.E.B. Dubois who came up
with the “Double Consciousness Philosophy” which encouraged African – Americans
to adapt positive aspects of both the African-American cultures for them to compete
effectively with white Americans. The “Double Conscious Theory” placed African-
Americans in a dilemma. An African was to choose the best aspects of the American
culture while maintaining his or her “Africaness”. The philosophy instilled a sense of
pride in Africans in the Caribbean.
In conclusion, it has to be noted that through the above discussed factors, a lot of
pressure was exerted on whites to grant Africans some liberties. Blacks in the
Caribbean were able to come together and struggle for justice and equality. This was
primarily made possible by Pan Africanists such as W. E. B. Dubois and Marcus Garvey.
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Explain how Pan Africans was applied in Africa. [12]

Pan Africanism is a spirit that aims at making all Africans conscious of their oneness.
It was applied through holding of conferences in Africa and outside Africa such as the
one that was held in Manchester in 1945. This conference demanded an immediate
end to colonial rule. By 1980, most African countries had gained independence.
It was also applied through the publication of books such as “Towards Colonial
Freedom” by Kwame Nkurumah. Nkurumah argued in his book that the African
continent was beset with poverty and misery despite the fact that it had abundant
natural, climatic, strategic and human wealth. This motivated many African countries
to fight for economic, social and political independence. He also published the book
“Neo – Colonialism” in which he extrapolated how foreign companies and
governments were enriching themselves at the expense of the African people.
It was further applied through the formation of the Negritude Cultural Renaissance
which was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance movement. The Negritude Cultural
Renaissance was founded by Leopold Sanghor and Len Damas. This movement helped
in the development of racial dignity especially in the French colonies. It rejected
European colonization and its role in the African Diaspora and promoted pride in
African “blackness” and traditional values and culture mixed with Marxist ideals.
It was also applied through the formation of the National Congress for the British
Colonies (NCWBA) which comprised of the four British West African colonies of the
Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and Nigeria. The NCWBA encouraged commercial
unity between Africa and UNIA. It also promoted unity of purpose and action among
these states. It successfully established Universities, colleges and academies to teach
about racial education and culture of the Africans. It aimed at improving the standard
of living especially for people in West Africa.
In conclusion, Pan Africanism was applied in Africa because of contact with African-
Americans such as William Dubois and Marcus Garvey. The educational background of
some Africans in West Africa and Southern Africa also played an important role in
ensuring that Pan Africanism was successfully applied. Furthermore, the “African
Personality” concept encouraged communism especially in British colonies and in
West Africa. It avoided reliance on capitalism as this meant total allegiance to the
west.
Explain how Pan Africanism was understood in the Diaspora. [12]

Pan Africanism is a spirit that aims at making all Africans conscious of their oneness.
Some exploited black Americans understood Pan Africanism as meaning the need to
return to Africa. They understood it as meaning “the physical return to Africa” hence
they formed the “Back to Africa Movement”. They felt that the return will lead to the
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development of Africa as a result of technological experience and knowledge of ex-

slaves from America. Sierra Leone and Liberia’s independence under the ex-slaves is
a shining example of the achievements of the proponents of the Back to Africa
Movement.
Others understood it as meaning the liberation and improvement of Black Americans

as more important than the physical return to Africa. They therefore understood it as
meaning the spiritual return which will encourage the blacks to stay in America rather
than leave America and Demand equal rights for blacks just like their white
counterparts.
Others understood it as a culture movement aimed at cultivating pride in “Africaness.”

Such people came up with revolutionary songs which were influenced by Pan
Africanism. They sang and wrote about African traditions. Such singers included
among others the likes of Bob Marley.
Some Africans in the Diaspora understood Pan Africanism as meaning “Double

Consciousness”. The Double Consciousness philosophy encouraged Africans to
promote and adapt positive aspects of the African and American cultures. This
concept was conceived by William Dubois.
On the whole, it can be summed up that Pan Africanism was a means by which blacks
both in the Diaspora and Africa could come together and struggle for justice and
equality hence Pan Africanists like W.E.B. Dubois and Marcus Aurelius Garvey stood
up and fought for the rights of blacks in the Diaspora and the Caribbean.
Explain how Pan – Africanism was understood in Africa.

Africans understood Pan Africanism to mean the total independence of all African
states that were under colonial rule. They understood it as a collective effort by
independent African states to help fellow Africans still under colonial rule to gain
independence. They therefore formed the Organization of African Unity, (now African
Union) to liberate Africa from colonial rule and bring independence to all African
countries.
Other Africans understood it as a way of uniting blacks to fight against racism and
discrimination. This will help to restore African pride, dignity and identity which were
regarded as inferior by their colonial masters. In South Africa, they used the ANC and
PAC as liberation movements to fight apartheid. It was a way of securing civil and
political rights for blacks in a country dominated by racism.
Other understood it as a culture movement aimed at learning about the African

heritage and creating pride in African achievements and history.
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It was understood as a way of restoring unity among Africans and facilitating friendly
intercourse among African. This will promote and protect the interests of all subjects
of African descent.
It was also understood as a way of encouraging Africans in education, industry and

business sectors to collaborate and work together. It was also a way of promoting
commercial ties among Africans with the aim of using Africa’s abundant resources to
compete effectively with other continents and also to be economically independent.
Leading Pan – Africanists in the Diaspora
Marcus Messiah Aurelius Garvey

He was an African who was born in the British colony of Jamaica in the Caribbean
islands. He was thus an Afro- Jamaican. Marcus Garvey preached the doctrine of
“Africa for the Africans”. This slogan has since been embraced by Africans all over the
World. He described Africa as “The Black Empire” which should be occupied by Africans
only.
Garvey formed the Back to Africa Movement which advocated for the physical return
of Africans back to Africa. He canvassed for the transportation of all the black
Americans from Africa back to Africa. He was successful because many slaves were
transported back to Africa and were deposited in Liberia –“the land of the liberated
ones”.
He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the African

Communities League which made Africans in the Diaspora to be conscious of their
origins.
Marcus Garvey also issued uncompromising orations on race relations and inspiration
such as the one that said “Up you mighty people. You can accomplish what you will!”
He even held pageants and parades through “Harlems” with red, black and green
liberation flags flying. The colors symbolized the skin, blood and the hopes and growth
potential of black people, respectively. His methodology was inspiring and refreshing.
Inclusion, it is clear that Garvey made a remarkable contribution in uplifting the social
and political status of Africans all over the world. His life and work were an
inseparable mixture of scholarship, protest activity and polemics. His work was
geared towards gaining equal treatment for black people in a world dominated by
whites. He presented evidence to refute the many myths of white racial superiority.
He was by spirited devotion and scholarly dedication an attacker of injustice and a
defender of freedom. There is no doubt that he influenced other leading Pan-
Africanists such as Kwame Nkurumah and Azikwe who played an important role in
liberating the African continent.
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William Edward Burghardt DuBois (W.E.B. DUBOIS)

He came up with the “Double Consciousness philosophy” which claimed that Afro
Americans had to adopt positive aspects of both the African-American cultures for
them to compete effectively with white Americans. The “Double Consciousness
Theory” was the soul tearing dilemma of the African – American experience. An
African was to choose the best aspects of the American culture while maintaining his
or her Africaness.
In 1909 he helped to form the National Association for the Advancement of the
Colored People (NAACP) in America. The association condemned all forms of
discrimination against blacks in and outside America. Within NAACP he initiated the
establishment of “The Crisis” which called for the alleviation of the oppression of
Africans in the Diaspora and abroad. In 1915 the NAACP successfully challenged the
law that excluded blacks from voting in the American Supreme Court.
In 1919 he also convened a Pan – African Congress in Paris. It was held at the same
time when “The Big Three” were attending the Paris Peace settlement. Since they did
not say anything about the appalling conditions of Africans, the PAC served as a polite
reminder to the leaders of the Great Nations to pay more attention to the lack of basic
freedoms by blacks throughout the world.
He led racial protests during the decade following WW1 which focused on securing
anti-lynching legislation. Rebellious black slaves were lynched mainly because of their
African race. This led to permanent disability on the part of the slaves.
Dubois’ final African gesture was to take up citizenship in Ghana in 1961 at the
request of President Kwame Nkurumah. While there he began work as director of the
“Encyclopedia Africa”. This encyclopedia provided a “cure” for color prejudice. It
repudiated the widely held view of Africa as a vast cultural cipher by presenting a
historical version of complex cultural development throughout Africa.
Most of his works centers on the role of African- American society during the
reconstruction period. His book “Black Folk, Then and Now” published in 1939, is an
elaboration of the history of black people in Africa and the New World. His other book
“Color and Democracy: Colonies and Peace” published in 1945 is a brief call for the
granting of independence to Africans.
In conclusion, it is clear that Dubois made a remarkable contribution in uplifting the

social and political status of Africans all over the world. He died in Ghana in August 27,
1963 on the eve of the civil rights march in Washington DC. He was given a state
funeral at which Kwame Nkurumah remarked that he was “phenomenon.”
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Leading Pan- Africanists in Africa

Kwame Nkrumah
He was born in Ghana which was then a British colony. He was influenced by the ideas
of Marcus Garvey. He became the Secretary General of the Pan- Africa Movement
while studying in London.
He returned to Ghana in 1947 to lead the struggle for independence. In 1957 Ghana
became the first democratic country to gain independence in Africa. It was led by
Nkurumah. Ghana’s independence influenced other African countries to demand their
independence too and by the end of the 1960’s a good number of them had
succeeded.
In 1958 he invited 28 leaders of African countries struggling to gain independence to

the first All- African People Congress which was held in Accra, Ghana. This was the
first of its kind to be held on the African soil. He wanted all African countries to unite
and gain independence. He felt that the independence of Ghana alone was
meaningless and therefore struggled for the independence of all African countries.
Kwame Nkurumah was also one of the founding fathers of the Organization of African
Unity. This was an organization whose main aim was to bring about unity, freedom
and prosperity of the people of Africa. He even constructed the Africa House in Accra
to function as the head quarters of the all African organization whose aim was to
bring about African unity and independence. At that time, most countries in Africa
were not independent.
He also founded the West African National Secretariat to work for the decolonization
of Africa. In 1961, he laid the first stones in the foundation of the Kwame Nkurumah
Ideological Institute which aimed at promoting Pan- Africanism. He also offered the
president of Guinea a loan of 10million pounds and the two countries formed a union
of their own. The president of Guinea had refused to join the French Union. France
then withdrew all economic aid to Guinea. He also gave military support to anti British
Empire backed government guerillas in Southern Rhodesia, modern day Zimbabwe.
This helped Zimbabwe to gain independence in 1980.
He also published his first book “Towards Colonial Freedom”. In the book he stated
that the African continent was beset with poverty and misery despite the fact that it
had abundant natural, climatic, strategic and human wealth. This motivated many
African countries to fight for economic, social and political independence. He also
published the book “Neo-Colonialism” in which he extrapolated how foreign
companies and government were enriching themselves at the expense of the African
people.
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In conclusion, it is not surprising that he was very influential on some Pan – Africanists
such as George Padmore, Patrice Lumumba and Jomo Kenyatta- reputed leader of the
Mau Mau Uprising and the first president of independent Kenya.
Sol/Solomon Tshekiso Plaatje

He was a journalist and writer who published a number of books and novels and even
wrote in newspapers to make the world aware of the evils and injustices of the racist
policies of the whites in South Africa. In 1912 he joined active politics and became the
first secretary of the ANC.
He was very active in contributing to Pan – Africanism because he dedicated his life to
changing the lives of fellow South Africans even though he did not have huge financial
resources.
Furthermore, it has to be noted that African History has always been written by
whites who wrote it in a manner that favored them. Sol Plaatje wrote his first novel
“Mhudi” in which he talked about the experiences of Bantu groups during the Mfecane
wars.
He also wrote a book called “Native Life in South Africa in which he drew the attention
of the world to the injustices of the Land Act and racism in general in South Africa.
He wrote a pamphlet against the prohibition of mixed marriages in South Africa.
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Senior Secondary School Syllabus

WORLD HISTORY NOTES

4. THE INTER-WAR PERIOD

MAP OF EUROPE AROUND 1900

BASIC WORLD HISTORY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

republic a government in which citizens elect the leaders

aristocracy government by the best individuals or by a small privileged class

constitution a plan of government

minority A part of a population differing from others in some characteristics and

solon a. a wise and skillful lawgiver. b. A member of a legislative body

reparation compensation for war damage

nation a community of people composed of one or more nationalities and

theocracy government headed by religious leaders or a leader regarded as a god

guerilla a person who engages in irregular warfare as a member of an

nationalism pride in one’s own nation’s desire for independence

buffer zone a neutral area separating conflicting forces; an area designed to

dynasty a line of rulers who belong to the same family

Democracy form of government in which the citizens hold power

Despot a Byzantine emperor or prince; a bishop or patriarch of the Eastern

Medieval a person of the middle ages

Agrarian a member of an agrarian party or movement; of or relating to lands or

Conservative tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or

Regent a person who acts as a temporary ruler

Indemnity payment for damages or losses

Country a political state or nation or it’s territory

Heretic a dissenter from established church dogma; especially a baptized

Capitalism an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of

Coup a brilliant, sudden, and usually highly successful stroke or act

Cede to yield or grant typically by treaty

Abdicate to brush off responsibility, to relinquish

Empire a group of territories or nations ruled by a single ruler or government

Absolute a ruler has complete control over government

Sovereign one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere

Liberal one who is open minded in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or

Majority the quality or state of being greater

Stoic a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about

Propaganda news and information intended to influence people’s feelings about a

Imperialism policy of building an empire

Coalition a temporary alliance to differing political factors

Anarchy absence of political authority

Nationalize to bring a private industry under government control

Isolationism a policy of national isolation by abstention from alliances and other

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

THE BALANCE OF POWER IN EUROPE around 1870

EUROPE BEFORE 1870

The Franco-Prussian War

The Unification of Germany

Treaty of Frankfurt of 1871

o Cession of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany – 1,694 French villages and

THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM

Dreikaiseband/ three Emperors’ league - 1873 – Germany, Austria-Hungary

The Anti-German Alliances

Franco-Russian Alliance- 1894 - This was an alliance between France and

Anglo-Japanese Alliance- 1902 - This was Britain's alliance with Japan.

First Moroccan Crisis 1905/6

Second Moroccan Crisis 1911

BALKAN NATIONALISM/ THE EASTERN QUESTION

To avert the formation of Yugoslavia, Austria-Hungary decided to try by all means to

Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1908, also known as