Treaty of Versailles

Peace Treaty between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance
What do you infer from the cartoon below
regarding the treaty?
Treaty of Versailles- https://youtu.be/vrYhLNQMRro
Treaty of Versailles- Part 2- https://youtu.be/0jycVFL8CNM
 Do you think
that the treaty
of Versailles was
fair? Why / Why
not?
League of
Nations
An organisation that was set up as a
part of the Treaty of Versailles
 The League of Nations

L/O:

• Explain problems faced

by the League of
Nations from the
start
• Outline the reasons
for failure of the LON
 What was the League of Nations?
• An idea of American President
Woodrow Wilson following the
first world war
• An international police force
made up of representatives of
many countries
• An organisation that would
allow disputes to be settled
without resorting to war,
based in Geneva (neutral).
 Aims of the League
1. Discourage aggression from any country

2. Encourage co-operation in business and

trade

3. Encourage disarmament

4. Improve working and living conditions

for people across the world
HOW?

COLLECTIVE SECURITY: ALL

COUNTRIES WILL WORK TOGETHER
TO PREVENT ANOTHER WAR!
 Differing views on how the
League should operate:
America Britain France

A world parliament A simple organisation A strong League

where that would meet capable of enforcing
representatives during emergencies decisions with its
would meet regularly own army
to decide on matter
which affected all of
them
However, the idea of joining the League
was not popular with all Americans…
Many Americans did not think the Americans wanted to stay out of
Treaty of Versailles was fair. As the disputes that might enter their
League was linked with the treaty, troops into the kind of carnage of the
they did not want to be a part of it first world war

Others wanted to avoid the economic Many Americans were anti-French or

cost of joining the League Anti-British. They thought the
League would be run by these
countries and did not want to get
involved with their affairs
Wilson’s party lost the election in 1919. His
opponents promised to follow a policy of
isolationism (staying out of international affairs).
And so America did not join the League of
Nations…
 When it opened, some countries
were not members of the League:
America:- had become isolationist

Germany:- As a defeated country who was

blamed for staring the Great war,
Germany was not invited to join

Russia:- Were not invited to join the

League, mainly due to their Communist
government
Strengths and Weakness of
the League

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 Summary background of the League
• The League of Nations was set up in 1920

• Membership: When the League was created, there were 42 original member
countries. By 1930, membership had increased to nearly 60. However, at any
one time, several of the larger & more powerful nations were not members,
including
1. The USA, who refused to join
2. The defeated nations (including Germany), who at first, were not allowed to
join
3. Russia, who was not allowed to join because of its Communist government

• The Covenant of the League: The Covenant laid out the aims of the League,
which were to
1. Prevent aggression by any nation
2. Encourage co-operation between nations
3. Work towards international disarmament
4. Improve the living and working conditions of all peoples.

The League was built upon the idea of collective security. This meant that the
members of the League could prevent war by acting together to protect and
defend the interests of all nations.
 Why did the League fail in the 1930s?

F – France and Britain

A – absent powers
I – Ineffective sanctions
L – lack of arms
U – unfair Treaty of V.
R – reaching decisions
too slowly
E – economic depression
In next slides are given a few case studies where the
LON was appealed for help. Inquire into any two of
the case studies to know the effectiveness of the LON
as international peacekeeping organization
 Aaland Islands, 1921
Sweden and Finland wanted control over the Aaland Islands.
Both countries were willing to fight the other one!
They appealed to the League for help!

The Greek-Bulgarian Dispute

1925
 Greek troops invaded Bulgaria after some Greek troops
were killed on the border.
 Bulgaria appealed to the League.
 Upper Silesia, 1921
 An industrial region on the border of Germany and
Poland.
 Both Germans and Poles lived there
 Germany and Poland wanted to control it because of it’s
industry
 They appealed to the League!
 Vilna, 1920
• Lithuania and Poland were two new states created by
the Treaty of Versailles
• Vilna was part of the state of Lithuania and the capital
city, but had a mainly Polish population.
• Both countries wanted it.
• Was occupied by Poland during the Russo-Polish war,
and troops later refused to leave.
• Lithuania appealed to the League!
 Corfu, 1923
• Italian surveyors working on the Greek side of the
Greek-Albanian border were shot
• Mussolini (leader of Italy) demanded compensation
• Greece refused to pay and said they had no idea who
the murderers were
• Mussolini bombarded and occupied Corfu
• 15 people were killed
• Greece appealed to the League
 All together …..
Task: 1) your own version of this on A3 paper – leaving space for notes around each circle.
2) Fill in the circle to explain the letter and then write notes around each factor to show how they connect to
Manchuria/disarmament and Abyssinia

E A

Why did the

R League fail in the I
1930s?

U
L