modern history

they will be on ww1 and 2 and the suffragists and suffragettes

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alliances

These are the main alliances in the ww1

Triple Entente

include Britain,France and Russia

Triple Alliance

include Germany,Austria Hungary and Italy

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Causes of world war one

Causes of world war one

  • Nationalism - the belief that your country is better than others. This meant nations were assertive and aggressive.
  • Imperialism - the desire to conquer colonies, especially in Africa. This brought the powers into conflict - especially Germany, which wanted an empire, against France and Britain, which both already had empires.
  • Militarism (Arms Race) - where military concerns influence a country's policy, especially the attempt to build up a strong army and navy. This gave the nations the means and the will to make war.
  • Alliances - in 1882, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. Alarmed, France and Britain in 1904, then Russia in 1907, formed the Triple Entente. Thus Europe was divided into two armed camps, to help each other if there was a war.
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incidents wich increased tenion in ww1

Events

During 1900-1914, the great powers of Europe clashed a number of times. Each of these events increased international tension and rivalry, and made war more likely. War was going to come sooner or later.

Key events 1899-1914

Event Description 1. Boer War 1899-1902 Germany opposed Britain's attempt to defeat the Boers in South Africa. 2. First Moroccan crisis 1905 Kaiser Wilhelm promised to support the sultan of Morocco against France's attempts to take over the country. 3. 'Daily Telegraph' article 1908 In a newspaper interview, Kaiser Wilhelm said the English were mad and the Germans hated them. This caused great offence in Britain. 4. Bosnia 1908 Austria annexed Bosnia in the Balkans from Turkey. This annoyed Serbia, which had wanted to take over the area. Russia wanted to help Serbia, but had to back down. 5. Dreadnought crisis 1909 Scared by the growing German navy, the British people demanded that the government build eight of the new Dreadnought battleships. 6. Agadir 1911 There was a revolution in Morocco, so France sent an army to take over. Kaiser Wilhelm sent the gunship 'Panther', but Britain and France forced him to back down. 7. Balkan Wars 1912-1913 Serbia and other countries in the Balkans conquered most of Turkey's land in Europe. Serbia became a powerful country, and said Austria-Hungary was its next target. 8. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand 1914 The heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary was shot by Gavrilo Princip, a young Serb terrorist, in Sarajevo in Bosnia.

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assasination of archduke franz ferdinand

the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in a cr driving the wrong way because the driver hadnt been told the directions the person who killed them was princip

Sarajevo was in Bosnia, the province that - to Serbia's anger - had been annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908.

2. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. He was inspecting the army in Sarajevo with his wife Sophie. The royal couple arrived by train at 9.28am.

3. Seven young Bosnian Serbs planned to assassinate Franz Ferdinand as he drove along the main road in Sarajevo, the Appel Quay.

4. The first conspirator who tried to kill Franz Ferdinand was Nedeljko Cabrinovic - he threw a bomb at his car. He missed and was arrested.

5. The Archduke escaped unhurt and went to the town hall. He decided to abandon the visit and return home via a different route to the one planned. The royal couple left the town hall immediately.

6. No one had told the driver the route had changed. On the way back, therefore, the driver turned into Franz Josef Street, following the published route and, when told of his error, stopped the car to turn around.

7. Unfortunately, the car stopped in front of Gavrilo Princip, one of the conspirators, who was on his way home thinking he had failed.

8. Princip pulled out a gun and shot at Franz Ferdinand, hitting him in the jugular vein. There was a tussle, during which Princip shot and killed Sophie. By 11.30am, Franz Ferdinand had bled to death.

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The Schlieffen Plan

The Schlieffen Plan

a plan for war they didn't want to fight on two fronts it was supposed to take six weeks to defeat France and Russia and it failed and took 6 years because they had to get through Belgium to get to France and Britain stepped in and helped defeat Germany

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steps to war

July 5th The Austrian government asks the German government if it will support Austria in a war against Russia, if Russia supports Serbia. The Germans say they will support whatever the Austrian government decides to do - the so called 'blank cheque'. July 23rd The Austrian government sends the Serbian government an ultimatum. July 25th The Serbians accept all the conditions except one - that Austrian police should be allowed into Serbia. July 28th Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. July 30th The Russian army is mobilised. August 1st Germany declares war on Russia. August 3rd Germany declares war on France and, following the Schlieffen Plan, attacks Belgium. August 4th

Britain keeps the promise made in a treaty of 1839 to defend Belgium, and declares war on Germany.

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treaty of versilles

the confrence was the main three

Wilson america)

Loyd George Britain

Clemençeau France

1-26: The Covenant of the League of Nations - Germany was not allowed to join. 42: The Rhineland was demilitarised - the German army was not allowed to go there. 45: The Saar, with its rich coalfields, given to France for 15 years. 51: Alsace-Lorraine returned to France. 80: Germany forbidden to unite with Austria. 87: Lands in eastern Germany - the rich farmlands of Posen and the Polish corridor between Germany and East Prussia - given to Poland. 100: Danzig made a free city under League of Nations control. 119: All Germany's colonies taken and given to France and Britain as 'mandates'. 160: The German army restricted to 100,000 men. 181: The German navy restricted to six battleships and no submarines. 198: Germany not allowed to have an air force. 231: Germany was responsible for causing all the loss and damage caused by the war. 232: Germany would have to pay reparations, to be decided later - eventually set at 132 billion gold marks.

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other treaties

Germany: Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919)

  • 100,000 soldiers, six battleships, no airforce
  • 132 billion gold marks to be paid in reparations
  • Posen, Polish corridor, Alsace-Lorraine, all colonies
  • Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania

Afterwards: The Dawes and Young Plans re-scheduled Germany's payments.

Austria: Treaty of Saint Germain (10 Sept 1919)

  • 30,000 volunteers, no navy
  • reparations agreed, but never set
  • the Austro-Hungarian empire was dismantled, Tyrol lost to Italy
  • Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania

Afterwards: Austria went bankrupt before the amount of reparations could be set.

Hungary: Treaty of Trianon (4 June 1920)

  • 35,000 volunteers, three patrol boats
  • 200 million gold crowns
  • The Austro-Hungarian empire was dismantled
  • Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania

Afterwards: Hungary could not pay the reparations, so its payments were suspended.

Bulgaria: Treaty of Neuilly (27 Nov 1919)

  • 20,000 volunteers, four torpedo boats, no air force
  • 2.25 billion francs
  • Land to Yugoslavia, Romania and Greece
  • n/a

Afterwards: Bulgaria paid its reparations.

Turkey: Treaty of Sèvres (10 Aug 1920)

  • 50,000 soldiers, seven sailboats and six torpedo boats
  • None
  • Smyrna and East Thrace to Greece, Rhodes to Italy
  • Kurdistan, Armenia, Hejaz (Arabia). Iraq and Palestine became British mandates. Syria became a French mandate

Afterwards: Turkish nationalists, led by Kemel Attaturk, rebelled and rejected the

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leaugue of nations

Aims, strengths and weaknesses - the basics

The League of Nations was set up by the Treaty of Versailles.

  • Its aims were to stop wars, encourage disarmament, and make the world a better place by improving people's working conditions, and by tackling disease.
  • Its organisation comprised an assembly, which met once a year; a council, which met more regularly to consider crises; a small secretariat to handle the paperwork; a Court of International Justice; and a number of committees such as the International Labour Organisation and the Health Committee to carry out its humanitarian work.
  • Its main strengths was that it had set up by the Treaty of Versailles, which every nation had signed, and it had 58 nations as members by the 1930s. To enforce its will, it could offer arbitration through the Court of International Justice, or apply trade sanctions against countries that went to war.
  • Its main weaknesses were the fact that it was set up by the Treaty of Versailles (which every nation hated); that its aims were too ambitious; that Germany, Russia and the USA were not members; that it had no army; that its organisation was cumbersome; and that decisions had to be unanimous.
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Abyssinian crisis

The Manchurian and Abyssinian crises shook people's confidence in the League and proved that the League had no real power or authority over its members.

Two important events

Halie Selassie leaving the League of Nations (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/images/hist_halie_selassie.jpg)

Halie Selassie the Abyssinian emperor

In the early 1930s, two events destroyed people's belief in the ability of the League to stop wars. In both situations, the League did not act quickly enough or made poor decisions about how to suppress the aggressor nation. This served to show that smaller countries could not expect protection from the League and that aggressors (such as Hitler) had nothing to stand in their way.

  • By February 1932, Japan (a member of the League's Council) had invaded and conquered Manchuria. It took the League nearly a year to send a commission and declare that Japan ought to leave - whereupon Japan left the League. The League couldn't send an army, and it needed America's support to impose sanctions successfully. In the end, it did nothing.
  • In 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia. Although the Abyssinian emperor Haile Selassie went to the League himself to ask for help, all the League did was to ban arms sales, which did Abyssinia more harm than Italy. A League commission offered Italy part of Abyssinia, but Italy invaded anyway. Far from stopping Italy, Britain and France tried to make a secret pact to give Abyssinia to Italy.
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ww2 aims and claims made by hitler

n January 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and immediately began to challenge the Treaty of Versailles and adapt an aggressive foreign policy, which led to war. Some historians argue that Britain and France were to blame for the Second World War because they did not stand up to Hitler.

Summary

It is easy to blame Hitler for starting the war.

Hitler's aims were aggressive, and he openly stated them in his book "Mein Kampf" in 1924:

  1. Destroy the Treaty of Versailles.
  2. Create a Greater Germany (a country of all the German people).
  3. Lebensraum (living space) to conquer land for Germany in Eastern Europe.

Once he came to power, Hitler set about doing exactly what he had said he would do. For each of his actions between 1935 and 1939, can you see which aim(s) he was fulfilling by undertaking:

  • 1935 - Rearmament
  • 1936 - Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
  • 1938 - Anschluss with Austria
  • 1938 - The annexation of the Sudetenland
  • 1939 - The invasion of Czechoslovakia
  • 1939 - The invasion of Poland
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chamberlain

During the 1930s, Britain and France followed a policy of appeasement - they gave Hitler what he wanted in order to keep the peace. So why did Britain and France keep on giving in to Hitler's demands?

Why appeasement?

Chamberlain waving the Munich Agreement (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/images/hist_chamberlain_peace.jpg)

Chamberlain believed the Munich Agreement would appease Hitler

As the League of Nations crumbled, politicians turned to a new way to keep the peace - appeasement. This was the policy of giving Hitler what he wanted to stop him from going to war. It was based on the idea that what Hitler wanted was reasonable and, when his reasonable demands had been satisfied, he would stop.

Although historians recognise appeasement in the actions of Britain and France before 1938 (look at the page on Hitler's aims and actions for examples), the Sudeten Crisis of 1938 is the key example of appeasement in action. Neville Chamberlain was the British prime minister who believed in appeasement.

In 1938, Germans living in the border areas of Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland) started to demand a union with Hitler's Germany. The Czechs refused. Hitler threatened war. On 30 September, in the Munich Agreement - without asking Czechoslovakia - Britain and France gave the Sudetenland to Germany.

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who was to blame

Four factors - the basics

Hitler looking through binoculars (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/images/hist_invading_poland.jpg)

Was Hitler to blame for the Second World War?

It is easy, but too simplistic, to blame Hitler for causing the Second World War. Over the years, historians have focussed on four factors that brought war:

  • The Treaty of Versailles was unfair and made Germany determined to destroy it.
  • The League of Nations was too weak to keep the peace.
  • Hitler's policies were aggressive. Hitler went on until there was a war to stop him.
  • The Nazi-Soviet Pact released Hitler to go to war in 1939.
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aylish kilcoyne

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sorry the suffragettes and suffrigists have yet to be finished

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