Lesson 1 - The First World War and its consequences

All German governments after 1919 were violently opposed to the Versailles settlement, and tried to evade its provisions. While the frontiers in western Europe were formally accepted in 1925 under the Treaty of Locarno, there was no similar agreement to cover Germany's eastern frontiers. Germany refused to accept the creation of the Polish corridor and the loss of Danzig and a part of Upper Silesia as permanent features of the east European territorial settlement.  Why did Germany feel so strongly about the Treaty of Versailles? 

2. Withdrawal of the USA from the victorious wartime coalition. The First World War could not have been won without the economic and military aid of the United States. However, the refusal of the American Senate to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, or to take any active part in European or League of Nations diplomacy in the 1920s (see next lesson), left Britain and France to police the Versailles settlement alone. It also denied eastern Europe much needed economic aid and investment capital. 

3.The Russian revolution and emergence of a Bolshevik government in late 1917 unleashed a new ideological war across Europe and further afield, which aimed to overthrow existing governments not by external aggression but by inciting revolution from within. In addition to existing problems, therefore, governments at the end of the war had a new set of enemies to face: Bolshevik Russia and the communist supporters it could mobilise in countries across Europe.

​4. With the collapse of the Habsburg and Romanov Empires, eastern Europe had become fragmented, divided up into a number of new, weak and unstable states. The Baltic states, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary all faced serious economic problems. Nationality issues also surfaced from communities with different cultures and languages which did not necessarily share the ambitions of the national majority.  The new states owed their existence to the collapse of the Russian empire on the one hand and the defeat of Germany on the other. The revival of either or both of these great powers would threaten their existence. Consequently, eastern Europe remained an insecure and very vulnerable area throughout the interwar period.

5. The Italian problem The other major European power who was opposed to the Versailles settlement was Italy, who described it as a 'mutilated peace'. Italy felt denied legitimate territorial gains, and the hostility and nationalist agitation that erupted as a consequence contributed considerably to Mussolini's rise to power and to his restless attempts to undermine European stability. 

6. Economic instability Throughout the 1920s, European powers experienced economic difficulties arising from the disruption which war had caused to international trade and to financial markets. While the Wall Street Crash in 1929 undoubtedly stemmed from American domestic economic policies, its impact on Europe through the Depression it triggered off was magnified as a result of economic weaknesses brought about by the war. 

​Many historians have drawn attention to what they see as a '20-year crisis' in Europe. They have pointed out that the First World War left Europe in a state of chronic instability which was highly likely to result in another major upheaval. This is the basis of the Thirty years' war thesis which argues that the First World War brought about a complete breakdown of European order which resulted in a succession of international crises ending only with the outbreak of another world war.

Activity

Create a revision diagram for the '20-year crisis'. You need six points in your diagram, each of which you need to explain with examples:

​1. The Treaty of Versailles, 2. Withdrawal of the USA , 3. The Russian revolution,  4. Collapse of the Habsburg and Romanov Empires 5. The Italian problem, 6. Economic instability.  

The Complete History of the Second World War | World War II Documentary | Part 1 and 2