HISTORY 12MS LESLIE

France, Germany and the UK in the 1920’s

Washington Naval Agreements of 1922

Between USA, Britain, France, Italy and Japan.

Placed limits on warships for all major powers. Battleships only, no cruisers, destroyers or subs.

But there was no provision for inspections and Japan soon violated this agreement.

Locarno Pact. Dec. 1, 1925

series of agreements whereby Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain, and Italy mutually guaranteed peace in Western Europe.

The treaties were initialed at Locarno, Switz., on October 16 and signed in London on December 1.

Locarno Continued

German-Belgian and Franco-German frontiers were fixed by the Treaty of Versailles;

said that Germany, Belgium, and France would never attack each other except in “legitimate defense” or in consequence of a League of Nations obligation;

that they would settle their disputes by pacific means;

Allied troops evacuated from the Rhineland in 1930, five years ahead of schedule.

Locarno Continued….

Germany renounced the use of force to change its western frontiers

but agreed only to arbitration as regards its eastern frontiers

Great Britain promised to defend Belgium and France but not Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Problems with Locarno

It set western but not eastern boundaries; meaning there is a hierarchy of borders

It reconstructed the Concert of Europe on the basis of multi-lateral guarantees; undermining the League of Nations.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928

Originally proposed to the USA by France’s Briand that they sign a pact renouncing war. Kellogg (US Secretary of state at the time) suggested other nations sign as well.

Eventually 65 nations signed it. Japan broke its promise within 3 years when it struck out

against China when trying to overcome the Depression by seizing resources and markets. (Manchurian Crisis)

Problems with Kellogg-Briand

1) Nothing was done to outlaw war. 2) Failed to define self-defense. 3) USSR not included

London Naval Conference of 1930

An extension of the Washington Conference. Now allowed to have cruisers, destroyers and

subs. Never worked as Germany and Italy left the

conference and Japan violated it in 1937.

Geneva Disarmament Conference 1932

60 nations attended including USA and USSR. But Hitler pulled out when he came into power in 1933.

And hopes of effective disarmament were lost.

State of the Continent

Weimar GermanyAfter defeat in WWI, the Kaiser abdicated

and an entirely new form of government was born.

Germany became more and more democratic under the constitutional agreements drawn up at Weimar and accepted in 1919

German states remained locally independentUniversal suffrage was given to determine the

Reichstag (lower house). Secret ballot and proportional representation.

The government was directly responsible to the Reichstag. The Chancellor was appointed by the President and had to have a majority of the Reichstag supporting them to govern.

General elections every 4 yearsPresident was largely a figurehead elected every 7

years. Did have more power in times of emergencyThe Reichrat (Upper house) was made up of

representatives of the states. They could delay legislation but little else.

There was also a strong authoritarian and anti-democratic element in Germany.

Opposition to the constitution by the right and left was a constant problem.

The 1920’s was one of stability for Germany politically.

In 1923 Gustav Stresseman formed a government that seemed capable of coping with Germany’s problems.

A New stable currency was introduced, the Reichsmark, and was gaining public confidence.

Stresseman’s accomplishments

Creating sense of reparations through the Dawes Plan of 1924

Keeping the East open to later German revision in the Locarno Treaty.

Helped join German to the League of Nations in 1926.

Helped cut reparations further in 1929 with the Young Plan

Sign of things to come

1. Hitler’s light sentence by the courts. 2. Hindenburg’s election after the death of

President Ebert. 3. Stresseman died just before the stock

market crash. Unemployment rose from 1.3 million in Sept 1929 to 6 million in Jan 1933.

Will go this in more detail when we cover the rise of Hitler

France

Politics very unstableRaymond Poincare ruled between 1919-24 in a right-

wing coalition called the Bloc National.When he failed in the Ruhr a left-wing coalition under

Cartel des Gauches came in until financial crisis of 1926.

The union Nationale, another right-wing coalition, was in power from 1926-32

After came another 6 different left wing coalitions, none of which could cope with the Depression.

The extreme right “Croix de Feu” engaged in street battles with the left.

Why the instability

Part of the Problem with France was a lack of strong leaders.

The old leaders were dying off (Clemenseau, Briand, Poincare) with no strong replacements.

France’s Economic Problems

o France’s population was growing slowly. In 1939 the population was only 40 million, the same as it was in 1913. At the same time, Germany had 80 million. France was desperate to increase its population and even instituted a reward system for having a lot of babies.

o Agriculture had not come into the modern era. Small farms were unable to use modern techniques of mass production. High Tariffs provided no incentive for farmers to modernize, as farmers had no problem making money with the amount they produced.

o Industry continued to be dominated by small factories. War damaged factories were rebuilt to be modern, and the auto industry was helped by this (Renault, Citroen and Peugot did very well)

o Massive wartime borrowing and the cost of reconstruction left France with high rates of inflation, which were only increased in the 1930’s.

Britain

Had problems transitioning from a war economy and the subsequent depressions

Had difficulty maintaining the empire when there were so many post-war European demands.

Lloyd George had won re-election in 1918 with promises of rebuilding Britain and making Germany pay.

This was difficult to fulfill as resources had been used up, export trade lost and industrial plants were obsolete.

4 million soldiers had returned home looking for work.

massive inflation as wages remained low and prices rose.

2,000 strikes between 1919 and 1920. Radicals were looking to the Russian

revolution as a signal for a time for change in Britain as well.

In 1924 a Labour government under Ramsey Macdonald was elected.

Problems with the Irish

Imperial Politics were becoming threatening at home. IN Ireland 73 Sinn Fein MP’s set up their own Dail

(parliament) rather than take up their seats in the British Parliament.

The IRA launched a terrorist campaign.

The British responded by sending in demobilized soldiers.

In December of 1921, a settlement was negotiated allowing for a partition of Ireland and Southern Irish independence as a Dominion within the Empire.

The Sinn Fein split in to two groups after an internal disagreement; Eamonn De Valera led the more radical party called Fianna Fail (Soldiers of Destiny), which was eventually elected in 1932.

De Valera eventually broke the remaining links with Britain and in 1937 Southern Ireland was completely independent in practice with a constitution.

Full independence was granted in 1949.

Indian Independance

In 1917 Indians were promised self-government. Many British Conservatives, like Churchill, remained

opposed to the idea of an independent India. For many Indians like Nehru and Gandhi, the promise

was not far reaching enough.

In 1919 a national parliament was established with the vote given to 5 million of the wealthiest Indians.

Indians were allowed to be ministers in provincial governments and a commission was to be struck in 10 years time to see if India was ready for further concessions.

The Indian National Congress party was terribly disappointed and trouble broke out. In Amritsar 379 people were gunned down by troops lead by General Dyer.

The Amritsar massacre made accommodation impossible. Throughout the 1920’s and 30’s Indian politicians struggled for independence.

Britain was struggling to maintain security in Europe and within its own empire.

The fact was that Britain could not do both and Britain would loose one of the struggles.

The End