Year 9 Revision Guide - Causes of WW2 PDF

Causes of the Second World War Who were the Big Three? Georges Clemenceau - President David Lloyd George - Prime Woodrow Wilson - President of France. Minister of Britain. of the USA. -750,000 homes and 23,000 -Wanted to punish Ger...

Causes of the Second World War Who were the Big Three? Georges Clemenceau - President David Lloyd George - Prime Woodrow Wilson - President of France. Minister of Britain. of the USA. -750,000 homes and 23,000 -Wanted to punish Germany but -Set up League of Nations to factories were destroyed in to make sure that it could still keep peace in Europe. France, and 1.5 million men trade with Britain. -USA joined the war in 1917 were killed. -Priority was keeping the British so least impacted. -Shared a border with Germany Empire strong. and feared another attack. Treaty of Versailles - The Germans were treated like BRATs Blame - Germany had to take blame for starting the War. This angered nationalists who believed they could have won or did not thin it was fair as other countries also started the war. Reparations - Germany to pay £6.6 billion. Germany had spent $39 billion on the war and their economy had been destroyed, payment would be very difficult. Questions: -Why would each of the Big Three Army - Army reduced to 100,000 men. This angered want different things for Germany? nationalists that wanted a strong army. Germans also feared that this made them more vulnerable to attack. -Why would the Treaty be so harsh on Germany? -What is the immediate impact of Territory - Lost all colonies, 10% of the German the Treaty of Versailles on population and 13% of European territory. This angered nationalists and made paying reparations harder as there Germany? were fewer resources to use.  Causes of the Second World War Invasion of the Ruhr and hyperinflation: In 1922, the German government was bankrupt. They did not pay reparations and so French troops occupied the Ruhr (a very wealthy area) to forcefully take the payment. The German government encouraged those in the Ruhr to take on “passive resistance” and not go to work. Instead, the government would pay workers’ wages and began to print the money instead. However, this led to hyperinflation. Hyperinflation - when the government prints so much money it becomes worthless When there is lots of something, it becomes less valuable. Because there was so much printed money, the value of it rapidly declined so much that it was worthless. People who had lots of savings and pensioners were worst hit by hyperinflation as their money lost all value. Many were angry that the government did not appear to have any control over the situation. Super-Stresemann? Economic saviour? International relations saviour? -1924, introduction of the -1925, signed the Locarno PAct with Rentenmark fixed France and Belgium, improving relations. hyperinflation with a new -1926, Joined League of Nations. currency. -1924, Dawes Plan secured $800 million US loans for Questions: German businesses. -How did Stresemann save Germany? -1929, Young Plan reduced -Were these long term or short term reparations to £2.2 billion and solutions? given 59 years more to make payments. -How successful was he overall?  Causes of the Second World War Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression At the end of October 1929, the American economy collapsed. As a result, American banks immediately recalled their foreign loans. This pushed many other countries into serious economic problems in a period known as the Great Depression. In Germany, between 1929-1932, unemployment rose from 2 million to 6 million and 50% of all Germans between 16-30 years old were unemployed. Why vote for Hitler? Unemployment was incredibly high, Hitler and his Nazi Party promised “Work and Bread” Wealthy people feared communists would take their money to make society equal so the Nazis promised to destroy communism. Hitler was a strong nationalist and promised to make Germany great again. Belief in “lebensraum” (living space) meant that Hitler wanted more land for German people by taking over other countries. Hitler’s actions During the 1930s, Hitler’s actions challenge the Treaty of Versailles. In 1935 he introduced conscription (forced men to join the army). This increased the army to 1 million, and then in 1935 he marched 22,000 soldiers into the Rhineland, close to the French border. In 1938 Hitler also took control of Austria, the Sudetenland and in 1939 took over the whole of Czechoslovakia. Appeasement - trying to please a more aggressive country to avoid war. Many people desperately wanted peace after the horrors of WW1, some Questions: politicians thought that Hitler would deal with the threat of communism in -Why did people vote Europe, or that the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh on Germany. for Hitler? Britain could not afford another war and needed more time to build up -Why do you think resources. However, appeasement meant that Hitler was emboldened and people wanted eventually war was declared after the invasion of Poland in September appeasement? 1939.