Today we finished daily blog discussions, and talked more about WW2.
Topics to Discuss:
*Treaty of Versailles
- Aimed to punish Germany
- US, Great Britain, and France made most of the decisions
- getting back the land that was lost during WW1
- lost land to France, Belgium, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, and Poland
- League of nations took control of Germany's oversea colonies
- Land was made into new states
- Military was dimantelled
- Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men
- the army was not allowed tanks
- Germany not allowed air force
- Germany only allowed 6 capital naval ships and no submarines
- west of Rhineland and little bit east of River Rhine was made into a demilitarized zone.
- No German soldier or weapon was allowed into this zone
- The allies were to keep an army of occupation on the west bank of the Rhine for 15 years
- Rhineland was between France and Germany
- Financial: the loss of vital industrial territory would be a severe blow to Germany's economy
- Coal from the Saar and Upper Silesia in particular was a vital economic loss
- Germany had to pay $33 billion to the Allies (Great Britain, and France)
- Germany was also forbidden to unite with Austria to for one superstate
- Put Germany into depression in the 1920's
- General: Germany had to admit full responsibility for starting the war
- This was Clause 231- the infamous "War Guilt Clause."
- A league of Nations was set up to keep world peace
- Germany hated the treaty and wanted revenge
- led to the rise of the Nazi party
*League of Nations
- Peace keeping organization
- countries come together and talk about their problems
- Help prevent wars
- Weakness- US never joined the League of Nations, didn't have a military force, required approval (needed everyone's approval on everything)
- Now called the United Nations
*Isolationism "Return to Normalcy"
- US never joined League of Nations
- Never signed the Treaty of Versailles
- We thought we were going to get pulled into the war anyway
- Stay out of everything, and all problems that happened in Europe
*Washington Naval Conference (4,5,9 power pacts)
- Held on November 1921 in DC
- 4 power pact= treaty signed by the US, Great Britain, France and Japan at the the conference
- countries agreed to respect each others possessions in the Pacific and not seeking further territory
- 5 power pact= Great Britain, US, Japan, France, Italy
- Designed to prevent an arms' race
- Limited the construction of battleships, battle cruisers, and air craft carriers
- did not restrict Cruisers, destroyers, or subs
- 9 power pact= US, Japan, China, France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal
- Guaranteed Chinese independence and upheld the Open Door Policy
*Kellog Briand Pact
- sign a pact to outlaw war
- 60 something countries
*Great Depression
- Japan couldn't trade with anyone and broke all of the 4, 5, 9 power pacts
- people needed change
- Undid all the peace offerings that happened in the 1920's (everything that we talked about above)
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