Paper 1
Answer 3 Questions
They are at the front of exam
paper:
1. Growing tension in Europe, 1900-1914, Why
did WW1 begin?
2. The peace settlement at the end of WW1, The
Treaty of Versailles, The league of Nations,
why did it fail to maintain peace?
3. Hitler's foreign policy, Appeasement and the
causes of WW2
Timings/Technique
• 35 minutes per section:
• 5 mins: description questions (4 marks)describe 2 things (3 to be sure). A good
paragraph.
• 12-15 mins: source questions (6 marks) – Use
your knowledge. Use the source, its
provenance. How can you agree and disagree?
• 15-18 mins: bullet point essay questions (10
Marks)- one para 1st bullet, one para 2nd bullet:
describe, explain each bullet. Final paragraph is
your judgement: which is more important&why?
Growing tension in Europe, 19001914, Why did WW1 begin?
The Alliance system in Europe
In 1914 the six most powerful countries in Europe were divided
into opposing Alliances:
The Triple
Alliance
• Germany
• Austria-Hungary
• Italy
Formed in 1882.
The Triple
Entente
• Britain
• France
• Russia.
Formed in 1907
Neutral countries included, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and
Portugal.
Each country was heavily armed, and each one had reasons for
distrusting other countries in Europe.
Dreadnoughts Guns that
can fire in
and the naval any direction
race
Guns that can
fire over 9KM
Armour
plating
Franz Ferdinand (above). On the right
you can see him with his wife.
1900-1914 Growing Tension
The Alliance
system
Assassination at
Sarajevo 1914: The
spark that lights the
fuse
The 1st
Moroccan/Tangier
crisis 1905
The naval
race
The Bosnian
crisis 1908-09
The arms
race
The 2nd
Moroccan/
Agadir crisis
1911
The peace settlement at the end of
WW1, The Treaty of Versailles
The Paris peace conference
Lloyd George, Clemenceau (with the walrus moustache) and Wilson at
the peace conference.
Wilson (US
president)
Clemenceau (French president) about
to operate the guillotine
Lloyd
George
(British
PM)
The cartoon portrays Germany as bound and about to be executed, killed,
destroyed by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles
German cartoon commentating on the Treaty of Versailles. The caption
read “Versailles sends Germany to the guillotine”
The league of Nations, why did it
fail to maintain peace?
The Failure of the League of
Nations
Japan: in military
uniform walking all
over….
Geneva was the HQ of the League of Nations
The woman
represents
the league
This man is
Lord
Lytton.
He is
Applying…
Face saving
The Doormat Cartoon by David Low from 1933
Make-up to the
League
The League was now
seen as a joke. Nobody
had any faith in the
League. The USA was
disgusted with it.
The League was now
badly damaged and had
little authority.
How did the Abyssinia crisis
damage the League?
The Abyssinian crisis
killed off the League.
It encouraged Hitler
to show off his
power. He now began
to ignore the League.
USA and other
powerful
countries
(USSR, Japan
and Germany)
either didn’t
join, joined late
or left the
League
Decision
making was
slow and
difficult due to
the League
meeting
infrequently
Self-interest of the
Leading nations
The treaties it had to
enforce (i.e. Versailles)
were seen as unfair
Why did the League
of Nations fail?
Leading countries
were unwilling to
disarm
Lack of troops.
The League of
Nations never
had an army
Economic sanctions did
not work. They were
meant to be the Leagues
main weapon but
countries could get
round this by trading with
the USA
League of Nations. Revision
Mnemonic:
When you revise this topic remember The League
of Nations was a:
F
A
I
L
U
Re
French and British self-interest
Absent powers
Ineffective sanctions
Lack of armed forces
Unfair Treaty of Versailles
Reaching decisions far too slowly
Hitler's foreign policy, Appeasement
and the causes of WW2
Abolish the harsh and unfair
Treaty of Versailles
Expand German
Territory to the
East to give
Lebensraum
Unite all
German
Speaking
people
Rearm Germany
Hitler's
plans
for
Germany
Defeat the spread
Of Communism
To achieve all these aims Hitler argued it would be necessary to:
•Destroy the power of France
•Win the friendship of Italy
•Become an ally of Britain
The re-militarization of the
Rhineland, 1936
In 1936 Hitler sent German
troops back into the
Rhineland. This was a
popular move with the
German people.
The German army was still
too weak to fight a war
but Britain and France did
nothing to stop Hitler
breaking this term of the
Treaty of Versailles.
German civilians salute German
forces crossing the Rhine River
in open violation of the Treaty of
Versailles
Anschluss with Austria
1000s await Hitler's arrival in
Vienna in 1938.
Hitler entering Vienna in
triumph
Appeasement in action
Chamberlain (British PM) and Hitler
shake hands at the Munich
conference of 1938. Chamberlain
thought that he had avoided war
through his policy of appeasement.
The attitude of
the British
Empire. Countries
in the British
Empire, such as
Canada or India
might not support
war.
No one wanted
to repeat the
horrors of
World War One.
Hitler was standing up
to Communism. Hitler
could prevent the spread
of the USSR and
Communism which Britain
feared.
People
supported
Appeasement
because…
The USA would not
support Britain if war
broke out. Remember
Isolationism? USA did not
want to get involved in
another European war.
Britain was not ready for war.
The government believed it
needed time to get the army
ready for war.
Britain's
economic
problems were
more important.
Britain and France
were suffering with
debts and high
unemployment and
war was too
expensive.
People thought the Treaty of
Versailles was unfair. Many felt
that the Treaty was unfair and
that Germany once it put right
these wrongs would stay at
peace.
It encouraged Hitler to
be aggressive.
It scared the USSR.
Hitler made no secret that he planned to
expand east (towards the USSR).
Appeasement sent the message that Britain
and France were not going to stop him doing
this.
With each gamble Hitler
got away with he
became more
aggressive and more
willing to take risks.
What was wrong
With appeasement?
It put too much
trust in Hitler's
promises.
Hitler often went
back on his
promises.
Appeasement was
based on the idea
that you could trust
what Hitler said.
It allowed Germany to
grow too strong.
Germany was not just
recovering lost ground it was
becoming much more
powerful than Britain or
France.
The Nazi-Soviet pact 1939
Von Ribbentrop and Stalin look on in Moscow as Molotov (the Soviet foreign
minister) signs the Nazi-Soviet pact.
Causes of WW2 revision
Mnemonic
The world went CRASHING into World War 2:
C
Civil war in Spain
R
Rhineland reoccupied (re-militarized)
A
Anschluss
S
Sudetenland taken
H
Hitler invaded rest of Czechoslovakia
I
Italy and Germany sign a pact
N
Nazi-Soviet pact
G
Germany invades Poland