Inter War Years:

International agreements after Versailles:

Problems faced by Europe:

Unsolved problems of the Versailles:

• New countries and boundary problems.
• Germany claiming German territory.
• France wanting to punish Germany with occupying the Rhineland.
• New countries wanting to defend their independence.
• Hungary claiming territories from the same countries as Germany.
• National security. France felt threatened, as did Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Estonia etc.
• GB didn´t want France to get too strong.
• France wanting to make sure that Germany wouldn’t revenge the Versailles.
• Czechoslovakia wanting to keep it’s territory from Hungary and Germany.
• Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania being threatened by the Soviet Union.
• Poland stuck in the middle between Germany and Russia, both claiming it’s territory.
• Germany left with a useless army.
• Economic problems, the cost of war. Not only a problem for Germany! France and GB had paid a lot too.
• France wanted Germany to pay for the war.
• GB felt the same way.
• Germany being stripped of its natural resources.

How did the countries solve the problems?

National Security:

• France and the “eastern countries”:
• Signed a treaty with Poland in 1921 against any future German aggression.
• “The Little Entente” signed in 1920 by Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia against any future attack from Hungary, Romania joined in 1926.
• France signed an agreement with “The Little entente” in 1924.
• The problem with this deal is that it gave a false impression of security, the actual help that France would be able to give was very limited, as seen in the German occupation of Sudetenland etc.
• USA isolated it self, not joining the League of Nations.
• GB was troubled by the French aggression and saw reasons for easing the German debts to herself and France.

The Economic question:

• The Genoa Meeting and the Rapallo Treaty:
• In 1922 an international conference was held:
• GB and France demanded that Germany should pay its debts.
• France also insisted the communist regime should pay for Russia’s part in the war.
• Led to the “Treaty of Rapallo” where Germany and Russia agree that they should claim no war damages from each other and should cooperate in economic deals.
• The First London Conference:
• Britain propose that GB and France should cancel all war debts by Germany IF the US cancelled all European debts to her.
• The US refused
• and France claimed all debts from Germany but agreed on discussing the sum as long as they got full right of exploiting the mines in Ruhr.
• GB said “Bad, bad Frenchmen, we don’t like this at all”. The French couldn’t care less….
• The Second London Conference:
• GB proposed a cancellation of payment despite the US response.
• France insisted on that Germany should pay.
• The occupation of Ruhr January 1923:
• In response to the second London Conf, France feared that the whole treaty was at stake.
• Occupied with the support of Italy and Belgium the Ruhr area.
• German workers responded by passive resistance and refused to work.
• The French brought in unemployed French workers.
• The German currency collapsed and extremist parties threatned the unity of Germany.
• GB and US respond:
• Both were concerned by this French action and condemned it.
• They feared the France would tilt the power balance in Europe and saw the aggression as opposed to the Versailles treaty.
• France realized that she couldn’t act entirely on her own.
• The Dawes Plan:
• France agreed to a decrees in German war debts.
• The plan was to operate for five years and meant that Germany had to deposit some of its industry and railroad to the allies.
• The Young Plan
• Germany complained to the level of payment and that no fixed sum was set in the Dawes plan.
• This plan solved these problems:
• German reparations and payments were further reduced and spread over time until 1988.
• GB and French payments to the US were linked with German payment.
• Weakness of the plan:
• A large sum of American capital were invested German industry leading to that the faith of German economy now lay in the hands of American economy.
• When the depression strikes the US in 1929 Germany will get severe economic problems.

Treaties on the issue with German borders:

• The Treaty of Locarno 1925:
• France’s action in the Ruhr was the topic to discuss:
• GB was reluctant to give its full support to France, worrying about France’s involvement with the Little Entente.
• France was worried that Germany would reinvade Alsace-Lorraine.
• Germany was worried that France would abuse this “threat of invasion” and occupy more parts of Germany.
• Germany also worried about the presence of foreign troops in the Rhineland.
• Solving the problem?
• Germany, France and Belgium signed a mutual agreement to staus quo in the Border issue.
• Germany accepted a demilitarized zone in the Rhineland.
• Germany accepted that Alsace-Lorraine was a part of France
• Germany accepted territorial losses to Belgium (Eupen-Malmedy)
• Germany accepted the French deal with the Little Entente.
• GB and Italy agreed to intervene if any side should break the agreement.
• France and Belgium would invade German territory.
• Germany’s western borders were set.
• Not solving the problem?
• Italy tried to make Germany accept the prohibition to join Austria with Germany but failed.
• Germany never agreed on the eastern borders. Still claiming Polish territory in the Polish Cooridor.
• Borders against Czechoslovakia not agreed on.
• What would happen if Germany was military reinforced?
• The Kellog-Briand Pact 1928:
• Germany signed along with GB, France etc an agreement that war was not a method to gain national political goals.
• Germany was accepted into the League of Nations.
• Germany became part of the community again.

Germany and the fragile Weimar republic had survived a very difficult time in history, but would not survive the next problem, the Wall Street Crash in 1929 and the coming World Depression.

To read in the book on the part of History we cover this week:

Todd chap 2 on the League of Nations

Todd chap 3 on today’s lesson.

Traynor chap 6.