France and Britain didnt agree with USA, but didnt say anything during the

war because they needed their support. Post the war, they managed to voice
their differences.
David Lloyd George of Great Britain had two views on how Germany should be
treated.
His public image was simple. He was a politician and politicians needed the support
of the public to succeed in elections. If he had come across as being soft on
Germany, he would have been speedily voted out of office. The British public was
after revenge and Lloyd George's public image reflected this mood. "Hang the
Kaiser" (popular newspapers slogan) and "Make Germany Pay" (something that
Lloyd George publicly declared that he would do) were two very common calls in the
era immediately after the end of the war and Lloyd George, looking for public
support, echoed these views.
However, in private Lloyd George was also very concerned with the rise of
communism in Russia because he feared that it might spread to Western Europe.
After the war had finished, Lloyd George believed that the spread of communism
posed a far greater threat to the world than a defeated Germany. Privately, he felt
that Germany should be treated in such a way that left her as a barrier to resist the
expected spread of communism. He did not want the people of Germany to become
so disillusioned with their government that they turned to communism. Lloyd George
did not want Germany treated with lenience but he knew that Germany would be the
only country in central Europe that could stop the spread of communism if it burst
over the frontiers of Russia. Germany had to be punished but not to the extent that it
left her destitute. He also believed that if Germany was too weak, this would give
France too much power in Europe. As per their traditional enmity, he didnt want this
to happen any more than he would have liked Germany to take control. However, it
would have been political suicide to have gone public with these views.
Another point of contention between USA and Britain was that Wilson wanted the
colonies to be looked after by the League of Nations until they became independent
as per his self-determination policy. Lloyd George wanted them divided up between
the winning powers. He wanted to make sure that South Africa, Australia and New
Zealand were rewarded with nearby German territories. Both Britain and France
wanted a share of the former Turkish lands of the Middle East.
It should also be noted that Lloyd George would have liked to regain supremacy of
Britain in Europe by weakening the German navy.
Georges Clemenceau of France had one very simple belief - Germany should be
brought to its knees so that she could never start a war again. France and also
Britain had built up huge debts-mostly owed to the USA- and needed to repay them.
25% of all French men (18-27 years old) had been killed during the war. France

wanted revenge for the 1870-71 wars and annexation of Alsace Lorraine. Ideally,
France wanted to break Germany into small, weak states.
This reflected the views of the French public but it was also what Clemenceau
himself believed in. He had seen the north-east corner of France destroyed and he
determined that Germany should never be allowed to do this again. "The Tiger" did
not have to adapt his policies to suit the French public - the French leader and the
French public both thought alike.
He was pretty disappointed when the commission that that controlled the reparations
only made Germany pay after 1921, because France had suffered damage that
needed immediate action.
Woodrow Wilson of America had been genuinely stunned by the savagery of
the Great War. He could not understand how an advanced civilisation could have
reduced itself so that it had created so much devastation. He believed that politics
was either wrong or right and thought it was USAs job to stop the war. America is
the hope of the world.
In America, there was a growing desire for the government to adopt a policy of
isolation and leave Europe to its own devices. In failing health, Wilson wanted
America to concentrate on itself and, despite developing the idea of a League of
Nations, he wanted an American input into Europe to be kept to a minimum. He
believed that Germany should be punished but in a way that would lead to European
reconciliation as opposed to revenge.
He had already written about what he believed the world should be like in his
"Fourteen Points". The main points in this document were:
1) no more secret treaties
2) countries must seek to reduce their weapons and their armed forces
3) national self-determination should allow people of the same nationality to govern
themselves and one nationality should not have the power to govern another (Britain
and France were very suspicious of this because they were imperialistic countries)
4) all countries should belong to the League of Nations.
On 28th June, the Treaty of Versailles was signed.
The treaty can be divided into a number of sections; territorial, military, financial and
general.

Territorial
The following land was taken away from Germany:
Alsace-Lorraine (returned to France)
Eupen, Moresnet and Malmedy (given to Belgium)
Northern Schleswig (given to Denmark after plebiscite)

Hultschin (given to Czechoslovakia)

West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia (given to Poland)
The Saarland- which had coal mines and was controlled by the French for 15 yearsDanzig- which became a free city- and Memel were put under the control of the
League of Nations and the people of these regions would be allowed to vote to stay
in Germany or not in a future referendum.
Rhineland would form a barrier between France and Germany, and so it was agreed
that it would be demilitarised and occupied by allied troops for 15 years.
German and Turkish colonies were divided up amongst the winning powers, but they
agreed to look after these territories on behalf of the League of Nations. This
agreement was in the mandates.
The League of Nations also took control of Germany's overseas colonies.
Germany had to return to Russia land taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Some of
this land was made into new states: Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. An enlarged
Poland also received some of this land.

Military
Germanys army was reduced to 100,000 men; the army was not allowed tanks.
Germany was not allowed an airforce. She was allowed only 6 battleships and no
submarines.
Rhineland was demilitarised, conscription was banned, and the navy was only
allowed 15,000 men.

Financial
The loss of vital industrial territory would be a severe blow to any attempts by
Germany to rebuild her economy. Coal from the Saar and Upper Silesia in particular
was a vital economic loss. Combined with the financial penalties linked to
reparations, it seemed clear to Germany that the Allies wanted nothing else but to
bankrupt her.
Germany was also forbidden to unite with Austria to form one superstate, in an
attempt to keep her economic potential to a minimum (Anschluss was forbidden)

General
There are three vital clauses here:
1. Germany had to admit full responsibility for starting the war. This was Clause 231 the infamous "War Guilt Clause".
2. Germany, as she was responsible for starting the war as stated in clause 231, was
responsible for all the war damage caused by the First World War. Therefore, she
had to pay reparations, the bulk of which would go to France and Belgium to pay for
the damage done to the infrastructure of both countries by the war. Payment could
be in kind or cash. The figure was not set at Versailles - it was to be determined later.
The Germans were told to write a blank cheque which the Allies would cash when it
suited them. The figure was eventually put at 6,600 million - a huge sum of money
well beyond Germanys ability to pay.
3. A League of Nations was set up to keep world peace.

Saint- Germain: Austria, 1919

-

Austria lost South Tyrol and Istria to Italy and huge areas of land to new states
Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia.
The land given to Czechoslovakia included some of Austrias wealthiest
territories and over 3 million German speakers were placed in the new state.
Austria was reduced to a country of 6.5 million people, a third of which lived in
Vienna.
Austria was forbidden from ever seeking unification or Anschluss with
Germany
Army limited to 30,000 men

Trianon: Hungary, 1920

-

Two thirds of Hungarian territory given to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and

Romania
Population was hence reduced to 7 million people from 18 million people.
Army was limited to 35,000

Neuilly: Bulgaria, 1919

-

Land given to Greece, Yugolavia and Romania

Army restricted to 20,000 men

Sevres: Turkey, 1920

-

Lost nearly all its land in Europe to Greece

France took charge in Syria, Britain took control in Palestine, Jordan and Iraq
Reparations to be paid

Lausanne: Turkey, 1923

-

Regained much of its land

No reparations to be paid

Impact of the treaties

Germany
1919- Weimar Republic was set up and attacked from all sides. In 1919, communist
Spartacists tried to stage a revolution in Berlin. In April, communists tried to seize
power in Munich. Both these rebellions were smashed by groups of ex-servicemen
known as the Freikorps. In 1920, a Freikorps force attempted to seize Berlin. The
army sympathised with them and refused to fight them. This attempt at a right wing
revolution was eventually stopped by a strike by left wing workers.
The Ruhr Crisis on 1 January 1923 caused massive inflation. The French invaded
the industrial area of Germany on the grounds that the Germans were not paying
their taxes. Germans responded with strikes, but this merely damaged the German
economy even further. With so much money in circulation, prices rocketed, but this
money was worthless.
Hungary

Hungarians were horrified by the terms of the Trianon treaty as it had lost about
2/3rds of its pre-war territory. After 1920, Hungarian foreign policy was dominated by
a wish to get back the lost lands. As a result, Romania, Czechoslovakia and
Yugoslavia felt threatened. They formed an alliance in order to protect themselves
from the threat of a Hungarian invasion. This became known as the Little Entente.
Czechoslovakia
There existed great tension between ethnic groups. The western Czechs were
wealthier than the Slovaks of the east, and hence the Slovaks complained that they
were treated as second class citizens. The Sudeten Germans also said that they
were not treated fairly by the western Czechs.
Poland
Poland was immediately involved in a series of brief wars with most of its
neighbours. In 1920, they defied the treaties and took control of the Lithuanian city of
Vilna. They had fought against Germany, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania and USSR. It
seemed impossible to form a stable government. In 1926, Marshal Pilsudski seized
power and ended democracy in Poland.
Was the Treaty fair?
The Germans certainly didnt think so. They called the politicians who signed the
armistice the November Criminals and talked about a stab in the back. Germany
hadnt even been involved in the discussion for the TOV.
-This lack of consultation angered Germans who called it a diktat: a dictated peace.
-They thought it was wrong to put the sole blame for the war on Germany. Other
countries had also shown aggression.
-This treaty managed to punish the people of Germany instead of the rulers of
Germany. Germany was tricked because they had been offered justice and fairness
by Wilson when he talked about his 14 points. There was nothing about war guilt and
reparations in the 14 points.
-The treaty aimed to destroy the economy of Germany- something that would do no
good to anyone. People throughout Europe would suffer because of this.
On the flip side,
-The settlement removed only limited areas of land from Germany, and in fact, took
back land that had been unfairly taken in the first place (such as Alsace-Lorraine)
-German statements about the 14 points were hypocritical. They made no remark
when Wilson described them in 1918, but took it seriously only when they were
looking for the best possible terms.
-The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a brutal peace treaty Germany imposed on the
Russians. If that was fair, why wasnt the Treaty of Versailles fair?
-The basic strength of the German economy was not destroyed. Germany soon
recovered its position as the most successful economy in Europe.

-The German army was reduced in size, but its leaders were not removed. The
generals were ready and able to re-build German armed forces if needed.
A Failure of Management
The failure of the Treaty of Versailles was a failure of management. The Treatymakers compartmentalised the process of negotiation so there was one working
group looking at the League of Nations, another at territorial adjustments, another at
reparations etc. and there was insufficient communication between the different
aspects.
The problem was that each issue was settled quite reasonably in its own right. The
damage to France was massive so wasnt it reasonable that the invader should
pay to put things right? After four years of invasion and slaughter, wasnt
it reasonable for France to want the border with Germany to be VERY, VERY
secure? And if German militarism had ignited the war, wasnt it reasonable to
reduce German armed forces?
The problem is that 10 plus 10 plus 10 doesnt make 10. It makes 30. And it
was the same with the Treaty of Versailles. Nobody was keeping track of the final
total impact all these decisions would have on Germany. And when they put them
all together into those 440 different articles, I think they all got a complete shock.
Because, taken together, all those reasonable decisions (and remember that
Lloyd George and Wilson had persuaded the French to tone down their demands)
taken together, the Treaty of Versailles simply wiped Germany out.
By the time they had got a reasonable sum for reparations, it came to 6,600 million
a third of what some people wanted, but still totally beyond any country of the time
to pay (with the exception, perhaps, of the USA). By the time they had secured
Frances eastern border, and created Poland etc., theyd taken a tenth of Germanys
land, half its industry, and its best farmland. Everybody else in Europe had got selfdetermination but an eighth of the German population ended up under the rule of
different countries, and the Germans in Germany were forbidden to unite with the
Germans in Austria. And then the peacemakers reduced the German army until it
was a tenth of the French army, and smaller than the Czechoslovakian army.
Lloyd George summed it up:
I am one of the four upon whom devolved the onerous task of drafting the treaties of
1919 . . .
The conditions that were imposed upon Germany were ruthlessly applied to the limit
of her endurance.
She paid 2,000,000,000 in reparations. We experienced insuperable difficulties in
paying 1,000,000,000 to America - and we are a much richer country than
Germany.
We stripped her of all her colonies.
We deprived her of part of her home provinces.

We took her great fleet away from her.

We reduced her army of millions to 100,000 men.
We deprived her of artillery, tanks, airplanes, and broke up all the machinery she
possessed for re-equipping herself.
David Lloyd George
Perhaps worst of all, Germany was excluded from the League of Nations. Despite
the fact that Germany had expelled the Kaiser, and adopted a new western-style
democracy, and agreed to the Treaty: despite everything, Germany was still treated
like an international leper and although it had reduced its army to the point of
impotence it was excluded from the new process of international justice and
peace-keeping that was meant to replace the old ways of wars and treaties. Again,
it was Lloyd George who hit the nail on the head:
When communities are deprived of the protection of law by selfish and unscrupulous
interests they generally find refuge in taking the law into their own hands.
David Lloyd George
It wasnt just the Germans who were horrified by the Treaty Lloyd George, JM
Keynes, most of the British public, the American Senate they were all astounded at
how harsh it was. And if we and they can understand just how crazy and unfair
it all was, how badly must the Germans have felt?
And of course we know how badly the Germans felt they felt 'Adolf Hitler' badly.
(jhttp://www.johndclare.net/ToV5_Comment.htm)
The Treaty was undeserved and unreasonable. Germany was forced to accept war
guilt when other countries also played a part in the outbreak of war. Austria-Hungary
had invaded Serbia first and Germany only became involved to support its ally, just
like Russia became involved to support Serbia.

The League of Nations

Structure and Organisations

Its organisation comprised an assembly, which met once a year-this could be

a weakness: what can be achieved out of annual meetings?; a council, which met
more regularly to consider crises: decisions needed to be unanimous, making it
difficult for the Council to take action if there was a disagreement amongst its
members; a small secretariat to handle the paperwork; a conference of ambassadors
that oversaw the way the peace treaties were put into effect; a Court of International
Justice; and a number of committees such as the International Labour Organisation
and the Health Organisation 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.

A lot of non-Europeans asked the league to oppose racial discrimination, but the
league didnt agree, it thought that more civilised states should have to job of looking
after the more uncivilised. It gathered reputation as a European club, wherein world
public opinion wasnt considered, only Europe was.
USA failed to join the league, as the public belief in USA at the time was to follow the
policy of isolationism, which lead to a serious weakening in the authority of the
league. Even USSR wasnt invited to join the league. All the founder members of the
LON were either victorious or neutral in the world war. As a result, Germany, Austria
and Hungary saw the League as a club for their enemies. The league really couldnt
claim to be the voice of world opinion.
The league was dominated by Britain and France. The French wanted to make the
league into a military alliance, with strict obligations on members to support each
other. This stemmed from the French obsession with the dangers of an attack on
France by Germany. The British saw the League as a much looser, less formal
organisation. The British resisted French demands for a stronger League They were
finding it difficult to defend their own empire and had no wish to get involved in
military conflicts elsewhere. Britain was suspicious of France as it thought that they
wanted to use the LoN to gain power. France and Britain had different opinions on
almost every topic to be discussed, and had the power to use the league for their
benefit, without considering everyone else.
Collective Security used 4 possible weapons:
-

The pressure of world public opinion

Democracies didnt exist everywhere- how were people to say what they
wanted?
Undemocratic governments could ignore world public opinion
No evidence that ordinary people preferred peace
World public opinion differed in different states
Use of trade sanctions
USA was absent from the league. If members stopped trading with a country,
USA could simply fill up that gap.
Reducing the armaments of all countries to a minimum level
very vague talk: no defined level of arms that a country could keep
Disarmament commission had not way of checking that countries disarmed,
or forcing countries to disarm
The use of force
The League had no army of its own. They assumed each member state would
risk the money and lives of their own people in order to sort out a quarrel
between two other countries

The Geneva protocol:

Everyone knew that the LoN was weak.

France attempted to give it real military power.

Her moves in the early 1920s were blocked by Britain.

1923, draft treaty of mutual assistance was discussed:

Made the threat of force more real.

Countries were only obliged to send troops to nearby conflicts.

Thrown out by the British.

1924 Geneva Protocol was discussed:

Set out clear rules for the peaceful arbitration of disputes.

If these rules were not followed the LoN would use sanctions or force.

The British leader Ramsay MacDonald originally supported this but he

fell from power in 1924 and the new government rejected the protocol.

Attempts to give military power to the league had failed.

Humanitarian Work of the League

The commissions and committees set up by the League did some great work.

Refugees from conflicts were given vital help. A famous Norwegian

explorer, Fridjof Nansen, worked for the League on the problems of
prisoners of war stranded in Russia and helped half a million men return
safely home.
The International Labour Organisation (led by Albert Thomas) improved
working conditions in many countries.
The Health Organisation worked successfully to reduce the number of
cases of leprosy.
The Slavery Committee worked against slavery
The mandate Committee worked to see that the mandates werent
misused

The League did tremendous work in getting refugees into camps and former
prisoners of war back to their homelands. About 400,000 prisoners were returned to
their homes.
The League acted quickly to deal with cholera, smallpox and dysentery in Turkish
refugee camps
The ILO banned poisonous white lead from paint.
The ILO reduced the hours of work for children and recommended a 48 hour week
for adults.
The Health Committee worked hard to defeat leprosy and reduce cases of malaria.

The League dealt with shipping lanes and introduced an international highway
code.
The League blacklisted four large companies involved in the illegal drug trade.
It freed 200,000 slaves in Sierra Leone and reduced the death rate on the
Tanganyika railway.
Successes and Failures- 1920
Successes:
The Aaland Islands (1920): Both Sweden and Finland claimed control of these
islands. The League decided that it should be given to Finland and this decision
was accepted by Sweden.
Upper Silesia (1921): The Treaty of Versailles had given the people of Upper
Silesia the right to have a referendum on whether they wanted to be part of
Germany or part of Poland. In this referendum, 700,000 voted for Germany and
500,000 for Poland. This close result resulted in rioting between those who
expected Silesia to be made part of Germany and those who wanted to be part of
Poland. The League was asked to settle this dispute. After a six-week inquiry, the
League decided to split Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland. The
Leagues decision was accepted y both countries and by the people in Upper
Silesia.
Greece and Bulgaria (1925):
Both these nations have a common border. In 1925, sentries patrolling this border
fired on one another and a Greek soldier was killed. The Greek army invaded
Bulgaria as a result. The Bulgarians asked the League for help and the League
ordered both armies to stop fighting and that the Greeks should pull out of Bulgaria.
The League then sent experts to the area and decided that Greece was to blame
and fined her 45,000. Both nations accepted the decision.
Fair administration of the Saarland and Danzig throughout the 1920s
1922- Successfully organised a rescue plan for the Austrian economy
1926- Germany joined the League as part of the Locarno settlement
1934: USSR became a member of the League
Failures:
Vilna(1920): In 1920, the Poles seized Vilna. Lithuania asked for League help but the
Poles could not be persuaded to leave the city. Vilna stayed in Polish hands until the
outbreak of World War Two. The use of force by the Poles had won.
Corfu (1923): In 1923, Italy invaded the Greek island of Corfu. The League didnt do
anything because France didnt want to annoy the Italian government.
The Dawes and the Young Plan

Dawes Plane (1924): - Charles Dawes

2 year freeze on payment of reparations

Level of German payments scaled down
USA offered huge loans to Germany ($2 billion)
French agreed to get their forces out of Ruhr

Young Plan (1929): - Owen Young

Payments reduced further

Germany had to pay a third of the sum required each year as part of a
mandatory agreement about $157 million. However, the other two-thirds
only had to be paid if Germany could afford to do so in a manner that would
not harm her economic development.

1922: Germany and USSR sign a secret document called the treaty of Rapallo,
where they agree to establish friendly relations and agree to cooperate on military
planning. This enabled Germany to get most of the weapons that had been banned
by the TOV. The Treaty was a complete blow to the authority of the League.
Locarno (1925):

Germany, France and Belgium agreed to accept their existing borders with
each other as set up by the TOV
Britain and Italy guaranteed the agreement
The main agreement and the guarantee did not apply to the eastern borders
of Germany as laid down by the TOV
Germany agreed to join the LON
France promised to defend Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia if any of
these countries was attacked by Germany

Spirit of Locarno: the hope of future peace

Foreign ministers of Britain; Austen Chamberlain, France; Aristide Briand; and
Germany; Gustav Stresemann were important players in the pact.
Kellogg-Brian Pact (1928):
Government leaders of 15 powerful countries signed, stating that each participating
country would not use warfare to get what it wanted. This pact was completely
worthless.
The Great Depression
24 October, 1929 was the day of the Wall Street Crash.
After the WSC, the US government became even more isolationist. Politicians were
more interested in rebuilding the US economy. Lacking support from USA, the
leaders of France and Britain were encouraged to be cautious towards the dictators.
This encouraged Hitler to think that Germany could be aggressive without much risk

of war with USA. Moreover, the depression ensured that German people would be
more likely to side with Hitler since democracy wasnt working. They turned to the
right wing parties. This gave Hitler support, and a path to bring greatness to
Germany again.
From its beginning in 1920, the League had no authority to raise an army or to
enforce economic sanctions. Individual member nations were under no obligation to
provide either and since even the strongest member nations (France and England),
were in a financially weakened state after WW1, they were more inclined to act in
their own self-interest rather than the common good of the League. For example,
after the Depression, British leaders became very worried about the British Empire.
They were not convinced that Britain was rich enough to defend it. They knew they
could not afford to fight two wars at the same time- one against Japan to defend the
Empire, and one in Europe against Germany. Since the Empire was the first priority,
the financial crisis encouraged the British government to take a very cautious
approach to Germany. Another issue was the fact that Britain and France both cut
down on spending on defence, leaving them vulnerable to attack and hence unlikely
to be aggressive toward Germany.
The Great Depression not only created conditions which made possible the rise of
the Axis Powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan), but it simultaneously
left the League too weak to counter Axis aggression. The impotence of the League of
Nations in the face of such aggression led to WW2. Therefore I suppose you could
say that the effect of the Great Depression on the League of Nations was war.
Manchuria: 1931
IN WW1, Japan joined forces with Britain and France and declared war on Germany.
Japanese forces occupied all the German territories in the Pacific. They were
disappointed by the 1919 peace settlement as they expected more rewards than
they got because they expected to be treated as an equal by other powerful states.
This led to a great sense of resentment towards Britain, France and USA.
After the Wall Street Crash the US government introduced tariffs to protect her
industry from Japanese competition. The tariffs had a huge impact of Japanese
industry and led to high unemployment. As the economic situation got worse army
leaders voiced their opinion that the only way in which Japan could solve its
economic problems and show that it was still a strong nation was through expansion.
The Japanese already had a colony on the Asian mainland and were highly
influential in several areas, particularly a Chinese province called Manchuria.
Manchuria was the source of much of Japans imported raw materials such as coal
and iron ore. In September 1931 the Japanese owned railroad from Manchuria to the
coast was vandalised at Mukden.
In September 1931, the army organised an armed clash with Chinese forces in
Manchuria. War followed. Japan won, and set up a puppet regime. Both China and
Japan were members of the LON. The League did virtually nothing. The Lytonn
Committee was sent to Manchuria to find out what was happening. It took months to
carry out its investigation, by which time Japan was firmly in control. Eventually, it

criticised both Japan and the government of China. The LON criticised Japan, too.
Japan disliked this, and walked out of the League in 1933.
Response:
USSR thought that the move in Manchuria was seen as a challenge to Soviet power
in East Asia, however it was too busy dealing with chaos at home and had no allies
who might join forces against Japan. They did nothing.
USA was appalled by Japanese aggression, but they followed the policy of
isolationism and didnt want to get involved in the conflict. As a result, they refused to
support the idea of economic sanctions against Japan. This weakened the ability of
the LON to threaten trade sanctions.
Italy and Germany both wanted to see if the Japanese would get away with the use
of force.
France just didnt care. They disapproved of Japanese actions but had no desire to
get involved. The use of French forces there would weaken defences in Europe. In
public, they condemned Japanese actions, in private, messages were sent to let
them know that France sympathised with the difficulties faced by Japan in China.
Britain believed that war in Japan would be disastrous because vital parts of the
British Empire could be lost if fighting broke out between Britain and Japan. British
businesses also did considerable trade with Japan and they were unwilling to lose
this trade. It was worried, but not prepared to take action.
Abyssinia 1935-6:
In the late 19th century, Italy tried to conquer Abyssinia, but failed. Italians wanted
revenge after the Abyssinians destroyed an Italian army at Adowa.
By the 1930s, Italy was suffering from depression. Mussolini wanted a successful
war to strengthen his position at home. He was also disturbed by the rise of Hitler.
Mussolini decided to look south and make Italy a great Mediterranean power.
Britain and France were keen to stop Italy joining forces with Germany. In return,
they seemed ready to give Italy a free hand in Africa. People began to talk about the
Stresa Front: an anti-German grouping of Italy, France and Britain. The declaration
talked about the need to keep the peace in Europe- which Mussolini thought meant
that in return for supporting Britain and France in Europe, hed be allowed to attack
Abyssinia without interference.
The British government greatly weakened the Stresa Front in June 1935. They
signed a treaty with Germany that fixed the size of the German navy at 35% of the
British navy. The agreement allowed Germany to have submarines. The French and
Italians were annoyed as this was a breach of the TOV and they had not been
consulted.
Italy invaded Abyssinia on 3rd October, 1935. Britain and France didnt want to
annoy Mussolini but they also wanted to support the League. The League finally
condemned Italian action and imposed a trade ban, but this ban didnt include oil and

petrol. As long as the Italians had petrol, they could continue the war. This didnt
work.
In December 1935, the British Foreign Secretary, Samuel Hoare had secret talks
with Pierre Laval, the Prime Minister of France. They designed a compromise known
as the Hoare-Laval Pact, wherein Abyssinia would be divided in two, with Italy given
the richer part. However, the details of the Pact were leaked to the press. The people
saw it as surrender to Italian aggression. The Pact was scrapped and Hoare forced
to resign.
After the failure of the Hoare-Laval Pact, Britain and France finally (March 1936)
decided to ban the sale of oil and petrol to Italy, but it was too late. The League had
failed.
The Abyssinian emperor made a passionate speech to the League Assembly
highlighting its failure, after which the League was completely discredited.
Impact on Hitler:

He understood that the League was unlikely to stop German aggression any
more than it had stopped Mussolini
The anti-German Stresa front fell apart, as Mussolini was annoyed by the
French and British double dealing. He turned to Hitler.
The linking of Germany and Italy in the Rome-Berlin Axis
Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact- an agreement to
work together against the spread of communism, and a step towards the
alliance of the countries that wanted to take land from their neighbours.

The League did manage to get the USSR to become a part of it in 1934
Leagues Failures 1930s
1)
2)
3)
4)

Manchuria, 1931; Japan left League

Hitler left the League, 1933
Abyssinia, 1935
Spanish Civil War, 1936: War broke out in Spain, Germany and Italy sent
forces to the anti-government side, LON looked on and did nothing after
repeated pleas of help from Spain.
5) Second World War, 1939
The Road to WW2
Rearming

1931- Hitler started secretly rearming Germany

1935- there was a massive military rally
1935- Naval agreement with Britian that allowed Germany to have 2/3rd of
Britains navy
1936- conscription reintroduced
1932-1939- 100,000 men to 950,000 men in the army.

Hitlers excuse for reintroducing conscription in Germany was that Britain had just
announced air force increases and France had extended conscription from12 to

18 months. Frances justification was that Germany was rearming. Worries about
increased numbers of weapons and troops increased tension and made each
country more likely to expand its own armed forces in response. This made war
more likely.
The Saar
The Treaty of Versailles had put the Saar under the control of the League of Nations
for 15 years. In 1935, as preparations began to hold the plebiscite (vote) the
inhabitants would decide whether they returned to Germany, or retained their
separate identity.
On 13 January 1935, the plebiscite was held, overseen by two judges from Italy
and Holland, and a US History Professor, Sarah Wambaugh they declared that
the election had been fair, and that the result was genuine. The result was
overwhelming: 90.3% of the voters voted to return to Germany.

Outcomes:
1. The result validated the Nazi regime. The result was, says one historian,
'the greatest triumph of the Nazis in a free election'. It demonstrated that
Germans were NOT just being browbeaten into supporting the terror by Nazi
Brownshirts Germans who lived outside Germany had shown the world that
they hated the Treaty of Versailles and loved Germany more than they feared
Hitler's regime. It made it very hard for Hitlers opponents to argue that the
German people were not wholly behind him.
2. The result gave a massive boost to Hitler's prestige, and was in the future to
provide him with the moral authority to advance his demands for unity with
Austrian and the Sudeten Germans. The Saar plebiscite confirmed Hitlers
expansionist agenda for the rest of the 1930s, and made it very difficult for
democratic regimes to oppose his claims to Austria and the Sudentenland.
3. Events had also, as early as 1935, showed the League was scared to confront
violence (Nazi Saarlanders had threatened to resort to violence: didnt happen,
though). And even more importantly, appeasers such as Daladier and
Chamberlain failed to notice that the Nazis had immediately backed down when
Eden (Brit who said that if the Nazis were threatening violence he would send in
British soldiers) had threatened to send soldiers.

Rhineland
The mineral resources of the Rhine Province, coupled with its favourable
situation and the facilities of transit afforded by its great waterway, made it the
most important manufacturing district in Germany. It was considered the "richest
jewel in the crown of Prussia". It had an abundance of coal, iron ore, zinc, lead,

lignite, copper, manganese, vitriol, lime, gypsum, volcanic stones (used for
millstones) and slates.
Hitler's decision to remilitarize the Rhineland was brilliant for four reasons. First,
Hitler was able to predict that no nation would try to stop him from remilitarizing
the Rhineland. Second, by remilitarizing the Rhineland, Hitler gained a better
military position both offensively and defensively against France. Third, Hitler also
increased the support of the German people for the government and for himself.
Finally, Hitler was able to safeguard his control over the natural resources in the
Rhineland, where a large majority of Germany's coal supply was located. Without
that supply, Germany would likely have fallen right back into the Depression,
taking away its main advantage over all other major powers.
1936- Hitler took considerable risks and moved into the Rhineland. There was a
chance that France would send troops to resist the German forces and this would
mean war, something that the German army was not prepared for. German
generals were unhappy at Hitlers plan and suggested waiting. Hitler refused. The
first troops into the Rhineland were ordered to retreat if they met with French
resistance.
Instead of giving way, Hitler tried to show the world that his actions in the
Rhineland were completely reasonable. The ambassadors of Britain, Italy and
France were told that Hitler had important places for long term peace in Europe.
He proposed a 25 year agreement between Germany, France and Belgium and
promised not to attack his western neighbours. He also suggested there be a
demilitarised zone on either side of the French-German borders. He talked about
Germany returning to the League of Nations. These werent serious proposals,
but they made Hitler seem reasonable. He tried to prove that the Rhineland
wasnt worth fighting for, and suggested that he was actually trying to build a new,
peaceful Europe.
Hitler also managed to convince everyone that since the Franco-Soviet pact was
being signed, he felt threatened and wanted to be able to defend Germany/
Reactions
In the end, the French decided to protest, but not to fight. They had internal
political conflict at the moment, and did not want to get involved.
Many British people actually approved of what Hitler had done; they thought that
the German army had a right to be in German territory. Germany was only going
into their own backyard. They sympathised and took no action.
Hitler had been planning to wait until 1937, when the German army would have
been stronger due to rearmament, but he recognised that the Abyssinian crisis
provided an unusual opportunity. Britain, France and the LON were overwhelmed
by the crisis in Abyssinia and they were reluctant to get involved in any more
conflicts. Hitler now concluded that France would not do anything to stop Hitler
anywhere else if it was unable to stop Germany from rearming a zone that was
supposed to be demilitarised for Frances own protection.
Spanish Civil War -1936

On the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War the leaders of the military uprising
immediately asked theGerman government for help. Hitler justified his decision to say
yes by arguing that he was attempting to save Europe from "communist barbarism".
Another reason was that it brought Germany closer to Italy, a country that was also
supporting the military uprising in Spain. Hitler also knew that a Nationalist victory
would give him an important ally in his struggle with Britain and France. He was
especially interested in obtaining iron, copper, mercury and pyrites from Spain for his
armaments industry. Another factor in Hitler's decision was that providing military aid
to the Nationalist Army would give him the opportunity to test out his commanders,
weapons and tactics. (Guernica suffered the most)
Hitler sent transport planes so that Franco could move his tropps and equipment
from Morocco to Spain. At the end of 1936m Hitler set up the Condor Legion, which
was to assist Franco in Spain., It consisted of personnel and equipment from the
army air force and the navy. This Legion was constantly getting Franco out of
trouble. He tried out carpet bombing in Guernica and blitzkrieg tactics on Bilbao. He
also sent a considerable maount of food, fuel and weapons.
Anti-comintern pact 1937
Italy had also fought against the communists in Spain, and so Italy Japan and
Germany signed the anti-comintern pact in 1937, that aimed to limit commumist
influence around the world.
Anschluss- 1938:
Austrias soldiers, weapons and its rich deposits of gold, iron ore and salt would be
added to Germanys increasingly strong army and industry.
Local Nazis in Austria were making life difficult for the government of Chancellor Kurt
Schuschnigg. In January, 1938, it was discovered that there was a plot by Austrian
Nazis to create chaos in Austria by killing the German ambassador. Austrian Nazis
hoped that in the turmoil, the German government would take over. Hitler wanted
this, because then his troops could invade Austria with reason.
Hitler met Schuschnigg in Feb 1938 for crisis talks. Hitler demanded that Nazis be
allowed to join the Austrian government and be given control of law and order. When
Schuschnigg got back to Austria, he decided to announce a plebiscite in Austria to
decide whether the people wanted their country to remain independent. He placed
that minimum age of voting at 24 so that younger Nazis would not be able to vote.
Hitlers troops marched into Austria on 11th January. Under the watchful eyes of the
Nazis, about 99% of all votes were in favour of unification.
Sudetenland- 1938
Sudeten Germans were a large minority in Czechoslovakia. Local Nazi leader
Konrad Henlein claimed (with support of Hitler) that the Sudeten Germans were not
treated fairly. He took part in negotiations with the Czech government, but these got
nowhere. Hitler told him to keep making demands that the Czechoslovak
government couldnt possible accept. He hoped to create a crisis over
Czechoslovakia.

France had signed the Locarno Pact which made it clear that if Germany attack
Czechoslovaki, France would have to send help. The new Prime Minister, Daladier,
however, wasnt fond of this idea. Hitler was sure neither Britain nor France would
attack. He also had support from Mussolini. He was very keen on smashing the
Czechs.
The British and French governments reacted by putting pressure on the
Czechoslovaks to make concessions. Britain sent Lord Runciman to try to work out a
settlement between the two sides. He recommended that the Sudetenland be
separated from Czechoslovakia; he was biased towards the Sudeten Germans.
Hitler was ready to go to war, but his generals thought that France and Britain would
reiterate. In early September, Henlein ordered local Nazis to attack Czech and
Jewish targets. Negotiations, therefore, broke off. Much publicity was given to his
stories of the mistreatment of Sudeten Germans.
Chamberlain + Hitlers meetings:

15 Sept: (Berchtesgaden.)
Without consulting Czechoslovakia, he promises to give Hitler all the areas where
more than 50 per cent of the population is German, in return for the promise that
Hitler wouldnt use force. Then he persuades France to agree. Benes was unhappy,
but decided to cooperate.

22 Sept: Chamberlain goes to Bad Godesberg to tell Hitler about the decision,
but Hitler now demands ALL the Sudetenland. Chamberlain refuses; it looks like war.
Chamberlain calls the crisis 'a quarrel in a faraway country, between people of whom
we know nothing'. Hitler said that the German take over should be immediate, there
should be votes on additional areas in Czechoslovakia and Hungary and Poland had
claims on other parts of Czechoslovakia.

30 September 1938: At the Munich conference, France and Britain agree to

give Hitler the Sudetenland. Chamberlain waves 'a piece of paper' with Hitler's
statement that he does not want to go to war. German troops march into the
Sudetenland, and are welcomed as heroes. Hitler says that after Czechoslovakia,
there would be no more attacks on the rest of Europe.
Appeasement : was it justified?
Chamberlain was horrified with the idea of another war. He believed in the
importance of peace. in war there are no winners but all are losers. He was an
honest man and believed that others were also honest. He didnt realise that Hitler,
was in fact, lying
The British Empire mattered very much to Britain. The most powerful voices in the
Empire were those of the self-governing countries, known as dominions: Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa etc. They were great supporters of
appeasement and made it very clear that they would not back Britain if it came to
war over Czechoslovakia. It was clear to Chamberlain that an aggressive policy
towards Germany would split the British Empire. Also, much of the British Empire
was in Asia where Britain faced another threat in the form of Japan. The generals
didnt believe Britain was strong enough to fight both countries at the same time, and
hence the military leaders also supported appeasement.

USA was still following its isolationism policy and would offer no support to Britain. It
didnt spend much on defence, and was therefore described as a sleeping giant.
The American forces were in no position to fight. They had inefficient weapons and a
smaller army.
Roosevelt also realised that Americas werent interested in what happened in
Europe. They had been devastated by the WSC and wanted to rebuild their own
economy first. A Neutrality Act was made permanent in 1937. We seek to isolate
ourselves from war-Roosevelt.
USSR had a very large army, but it was communist and Britain didnt trust them.
Stalins purges increased the distrust and weakened the armys fighting capacity.
Chamberlain knew that without support war was risky. In WW1, Britain had allies, but
there were only able to defeat Germany when USSR entered the picture. If it came
to war, nobody knew who would win.
Appeasement was also a means of giving Britain time to rearm itself, so if necessary
it could resist using force. It gave Britain time to rearm. A rearmament plan began in
1936, but wasnt completed up until 1940.
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Why did Anglo-Soviet Talks Fail? [SCAB]
Suspicion
a. Chamberlain did not trust Stalin, who was a Communist and a dictator. In
particular, he would not ever have allowed Russia to control Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania.
b. The Russians thought Britain wanted to trick them into war against Germany.
c. Poland did not trust that the Russians (who wanted to send troops into Poland),
once in, would ever leave.
Choice
a. Britain could not send troops to fight in Poland, so if Stalin supported Britain, he
would end up fighting a war in Poland on Britains behalf.
On the other hand, Hitler was promising him peace, half of Poland and a 'sphere of
influence' over eastern Europe.
Appeasement
After Munich, Stalin was convinced that Britain would break its promise to
Poland. He was convinced that Britain would leave Russia fighting Hitler alone.
Britain delayed
a. At first, Lord Halifax refused Stalins offer of a meeting
b. When the British sent an official, he could not make any decisions. Stalin got fed
up with British delay.

In August 1939, Hitler sent Ribbentrop, a senior Nazi, to Russia. He offered a

Nazi-Soviet alliance Russia and Germany would not go to war, but would divide
Poland between them. Germany would allow Russia to annex Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania and Poland.
Stalin knew Hitler was lying, but he did not trust the British either the Munich
Agreement had convinced him that Britain and France would never dare to go to
war with Hitler.
Stalin had two choices:

if he made an alliance with Britain, he would end up fighting a war with Hitler
over Poland.

if he made an alliance with Germany, he would get half of Poland, and time
to prepare for the coming war with Germany.

He chose the latter. On 23 August 1939, he signed the Pact with Hitler
Why did the Nazi-Soviet Pact Happen? [THUG]

Time to prepare for war

Stalin said: We got peace for our country for 18 months, which let us make military
preparations.

Hope to gain
Stalin was sure that Russia could only gain from a long war in which Britain, France
and Germany exhausted themselves.

Unhappy with Britain

Stalin was insulted by Britains slowness to negotiate, and did not trust Britain.
When the Anglo-Soviet alliance failed [SCAB], he turned to Germany.

Germany
Hitler wanted the alliance because only Russia could keep Britains promise to
defend Poland. He believed that, if he got a promise of peace with Russia, Britain
would be forced to back down over Poland and Danzig.

It allowed Hitler to invade Poland without having to worry about fighting Russia as
well. It also ended any hopes the Western Allies had of using Russia against

Germany. Hitler became so over-confident as a result of this pact that he did not
believe the Allies would honor their promise to protect Poland from Germany, hence
leading to WW2
W06 MS: Why was the Nazi-Soviet Pact important? (7m)
Hitler knew that he could now invade Poland without having to worry about what
action the USSR would take.
The USSR realised that when Germany gained Poland they were going to get their
share without having to fight.
The pact left Britain and France alone to fight against Germany. What surprised
Hitler was the fact that they signed a formal alliance to protect Polands
independence.
The pact was the single most important short-term cause of war because Hitler
ignored the warnings and invaded Poland.
Stalin still believed that the USSR would fight against Germany. The Pact gave him
time to build up his military strength.
It helped Hitler with his aims. He could regain land lost at Versailles and begin to
acquire Lebensraum. Etc etc
Also, Italy and Japan were annoyed with the news of the pact and refused to help
Germany.
The Outbreak of War:
Chamberlain after this I cannot trust the Nazi leaders again after Hitler invaded the
rest of Czechoslovakia and on 31st March Britain said that they would side by
Poland if needed.
1st September 1939- Hitler invaded Poland (he said that Danzig needed to be
returned to Germany) , and two days later, Britain and France declared war.
The Outcomes of the Peace treaties
Destruction of the Treaty of Versailles provided Hitler with a foreign policy
agenda. He played on the peoples nationalistic feelings to achieve supremacy.

To remove the Treaty of Versailles

Anschluss with Austria

Reversal of the Treaty of Versailles by retrieving lost land, e.g. to regain the
Saar and re-militarise the Rhineland

To destroy the USSR and those who believed in communism

Building up the German armed forces

To establish a large empire in Eastern Europe where pure Aryan Germans

would live

To unite all German speaking people: Creation of a Greater Germany by

uniting all German speaking people in one home land

To expand in the east and take over Poland and the west of the USSR
(lebensraum)

http://i-study.co/IGCSE%20History/unit3.html
The Cold War
The Yalta Conference- February 1945
Britain (Churchill), USA (Roosevelt) and USSR (Stalin) met at Yalta to discuss the
shape of the post- war world, specifically Poland. They disagreed on how Poland
should be governed.
Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan once Germany had surrendered in
return for control over island territories north of Japan
They agreed that Germany and even Berlin would be divided into 4 zones: British,
USA, French and USSR.
They agreed to find and punish war criminals responsible for the genocide in
Germany
They all agreed to join the United Nations Organisation and agreed to veto power of
the security council.
They agreed that Eastern Europe should be seen as a Soviet sphere of influence
because the USSR had suffered terribly in the war and wanted to prevent this from
happening again.
They agreed that as countries were liberated from occupation by the German army,
they would be allowed to hold free elections to choose the government they wanted.
Prisoners of war from Soviet territory who joined the German army would be sent
back to the USSR.
Poland was the main debating point. Stalin explained that throughout history
Poland had either attacked Russia or had been used as a corridor through which
other hostile countries invaded her. Only a strong, pro-Communist government in
Poland would be able to guarantee the security of the Soviet Union. Stalin wanted
the border of Poland to move westwards into German territory so that the USSR
border could move westward into Poland. With Soviet troops in most of Eastern
Europe, Stalin was in a strong negotiating position. Roosevelt and Churchill tried
hard to restrict post-war influence in this area but the only concession they could
obtain was a promise that the Lublin government would be expanded to include
some of the London Poles and free elections would be held in Poland and other
Eastern European countries. (The Declaration on Liberated Europe stating that each

liberated country would be given an emergency government with representatives

from any important non-fascist groups and that free elections would be held as soon
as possible to set up a democratic government.)USSR in turn agreed not to interfere
in Greece where the British were attempting to prevent the Communists from taking
over.
Issues
Stalin and Roosevelt had completely different ideas about what democracy and
free elections were. Stalin thought these ideas were communist ones; wherein the
communist party represented the people without opposition.
Yalta raised false expectations as people thought that Stalin would now allow
western-style governments to be set up in East Europe.
The Agreement tried to compromise on Poland when compromise wasnt possible.
Either Poland was democratic or it was friendly towards USSR. Stalin knew that he
could only make sure that Poland was friendly by completely destroying free speech.
The Warsaw Uprising
The London Poles (anti-communist) decided that their only chance of frustrating
Stalin was to seize control of part of Poland before the Red Army did. In August
1944, they attacked the German forces occupying Warsaw, The Soviet army was
nearby but did nothing to help the Poles as Stalin didnt want them to defeat the
Germans; he wanted the Lublin Poles to take over after the war.
The Rising was ruthlessly smashed and nearly 300,000 Poles killed. The Germans
sent the surviving people of Warsaw to concentration camps and when the Red Army
finally took over the city, it was completely deserted.
Britain and France were appalled.
Potsdam Conference
USA (Harry Truman), Britain (Clement Attlee) and USSR (Stalin) met at Potsdam in
July-August, 1945.
Truman announced that he had the atomic bomb and therefore felt more powerful.
The US government thought it might take 20 years for USSR to develop such a
bomb. He believed that the bomb put USA in a superior position.
German reparations were agreed; each country took reparations from its own area of
occupation.
The details of the German-Polish borders on the rivers Oder and Neisse were finally
agreed.
It was agreed that the Nazi Party should be stamped out of all sectors of Germany
USSR wanted to play a part in the running of the Ruhr- USA rejected this idea
USSR wanted to share in the occupation of Japan- USA rejected this

USA and Britain asked for a greater say in what went on in Eastern Europe- Stalin
rejected this
The Iron Curtain Churchill, 1946, an iron curtain has descended across the
continentThe Communist Parties, which were very small in all of these Eastern
states, are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control
USSR gaining control of Eastern Europe by 1948- please read page 324 in GCSE
textbook
(These notes do not contain Berlin Airlift and NATO, or Soviet responses to this. Use
your textbook.)
Containment
The Korean War (1950-53)
The Japanese controlled Korea, but after ww2, it was split up at the 38th parallel.
Kim Il Sungs communist government took over in the north, and Syngman Rhees
unpopular corrupt government took over in the south.
North Korean troops invaded the South in a bid to reunite Korea by force. Truman
ordered American troops led by General McArthurt to support South Korea. He also
got UN forces involved (USSR was boycotting the UN and couldnt veto)
North Korea invaded, US forces pushed back. US forces crossed the 38th parallel.
Communist China was feeling threatened at this point, and attacked American
troops. MacArthur planned a further push towards the Chinese border, but he split
his forces up and China had no trouble resisting. Once again, they were at the 38th
parallel. China then crossed over into the South. MacArthur was now sacked
because he wanted to invade North Korea again but Truman was considering
making peace.
Peace talks began in 1951. Eisenhower catalysed an agreement to stop fighting in
1953.
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Describe relations between Cuba and USA from 1959-61 (5 m)
It was tense as the USA had supported Batista, but he had been overthrown by
Castro who they feared would be Communist. The USA continued to support exiled
Cubans.
The USA refused to buy Cuban sugar from July 1960 and in Oct 1960 ended all
trade with Cuba. (Castro had managed to nationalist sugar industry in 1959
whereas, before it used to be in relation to the USA.)
Castro had also taken over all American owned agricultural businesses in Cuba, and
had distributed American owned land to peasants in Cuba. He had also received aid
of $100 million from Khrushchev.
In Jan.1961, the USA broke off diplomatic relations as it was unable to tolerate
Soviet influence so close.

The USA was unwilling to get directly involved even though they were concerned as
Castro took over US owned companies and land.
Kennedy supported exiles who tried to overthrow Castro in the Bay of Pigs incident.
Kennedy was humiliated. Kennedy feared other countries becoming Communist.
April 1961- Bay of Pigs invasion
About 1300 Cuban exiles land in the Bay of Pigs hoping to get support from the
locals and overthrow Castro. They were actually supported by the USA CIA.
The invasion was a complete failure. The locals did not actually support the exiles at
all, and Castros military stuck by him and wasnt as terrible as the CIA thought. The
exiles were outnumbered by 20,000 Cuban troops and they were either killed or
captured. This in fact, made Castro EVEN MORE popular. Although the USA denied
any direct involvement, everyone knew that the CIA had helped the exiles, and this
made Castro turn to USSR for help and support. This made Khrushchev think that
Kennedy was an idiot. In the end, Cuba drew closer to USSR. Also, the defeat just
made Kenned look bad and uninformed. It also made him look like he couldnt
control what happened in his own backyard.
In 1962, USSR built nuclear missiles and placed them in Cuba. U2 spy planes
confirmed the existence of such missiles on the island, and to remove the threat of a
nuclear war, Kennedy imposed a blockade on Cuba. This included a quarantine,
which meant that no ship carrying military equipment to Cuba would have to turn
back.
20th October- Kennedy places blockade on Cuba
22nd October- Kennedy publicly asks Khrushchev to remove missiles from Cuba.
Although Khrushchevs reply to Kennedys appeal was in the negative,
26th October- Kennedy receives a letter from Khrushchev stating that USSR will
remove the missiles if USA promises not to invade Cuba and to remove the blockade
27th October- Kennedy receives another letter from Khrushchev stating that USSR
also required USAs missiles on Turkey to be removed.
Kennedy decided to ignore the second letter, but he responded positively to the first.
Later on the 27th October, John F. Kennedys borther Robert Kennedy made an offer
to the Russians saying there could be no official deal, but if the Cuban missiles were
removed, the missiles in Turkey would also be removed. Khrushchev agreed.
A permanent hotline was set up between the Kremlin and the White House.
http://www.slideshare.net/JoanieYeung/4-nuclear-race-and-cuba-33367799
The Vietnam War
Vietnam used to be a French colony, but after ww2, the French decided to pull out.
Communists took control in North Vietnam (led by Ho Chi Minh), and South Vietnam
was ruled by anti-communist Ngo Dinh Diem. (This government was unpopular,
favoured the Christians and angered the Buddhist majority because they unfairly

prosecuted them. A group of South Vietnamese generals took over the government
after this, in 1963.) There were supposed to be country wide elections to choose
which government would rule all of Vietnam, but the south refused to participate.
North invaded the South. Southern communists who had fled to North Vietnam
returned to fight. These forces were called Vietcong.
USA believed in the domio theory- if one state becomes communist, the rest wi,ll
follow. They used this as a justification of their involvement in foreight states. In
1961, Kennedy started sending American soldiers to Vietnam as combat advisors.
He hoped that they would be able to defeat the communist rebels.
Gulf of Tonkin- 1964
American destroyer near the coast of North Vietnam was attacked by North
Vietnamese ships. No serious damage was done, but President Johnson ordered
bombing of Northern naval bases to retaliate. Congress passed a resolution giving
the President power to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force in
order to defend South Vietnam. (Gulf of Tonkin resolution) After this, involvement
stepped up.
Vietcong- Farmers by day, guerrilla forces by night. Very patient people, played a very important
role. If Ho Chi Minh trail was destroyed someplace, then theyd repair it, and the war would
continue. The USA grossly underestimated these fellows. The Vietcong had built an extensive
underground system where they hid and could supply resources from. They had the advantage
that this was their terrain and they knew it well, they had the support of the normal Vietnamese
people, and were easily absorbed back into normal Vietnamese villages. Their bases were well
hidden underground (and were very difficult to destroy) and the HO Chi Minh trail helped in
getting resources to and from places.
American strategies would have worked ina straightforward battle, but the Vieetcong relied on
guerrilla tactics and sudden ambushes. The Americans tried to use massive airpower to try and
bomb supply lines, and chemical defoliants (they used Agent Orange- which killed all vegetation,
and made enemies in the forest easier to see, and Napalm, which sticks to skin and causes
severe burns). (It was a very forest-y place)
IN 1965, the USA started Operation Rolling Thunder, where they continuously bombed anything
they could see. It lasted three years (it was planned to last for 8 weeks). USA wanted to end the
war by using search and destroy tactics, but soldiers were losing hope.
(The Ho Chi Minh trail was a connection between North Vietnam and South Vietnm, and was a
major supply route)
The Tet Offensive, 1968
North Vietnam launched a massive attack at the time of a religious festival- Tet. They struck right
in the middle of the Souther capital- Saigon, and attacked the American embassy. They were
hoping that it would spark a revolution in the south. This didnt happen, the Americans fought
back and won back the towns.
Though USA had militarily won the battle, the US public realised that their government had lied to
them. The TV showed that the US as NOT close to victory. Many American politicians and people
became disillusioned with the war and the anti-war movement grew in strength. (Hey, hey LBJ,
how many kids did you kill today- popular chant in the USA) Johnson bowed out and did not
seek re-election. He called for peace talks, but they got nowhere. Richard Nixon was elected
next.

Nixon tried to leave Vietnam without abandoning South Vietnam.

He told North Vietnam that he would do a massive attack if they didnt withdraw at the
same time as US troops. The North Vietnamese called his bluff.
Nixon tried to persuade USSR and China to use their influence in return for help in other
areas. They didnt, because they didnt get anything in return immediately.
Vietnamisation. South Vietnamese forces were just not strong enough to defend the
communists and General Thieu had little support amongst the common man. TO
compensate, USA stepped up the bombing of the supply lines of the Viet Cong. This had
the effect of spreading the conflict into Laos and Cambodia.

My Lai Massacre- 1968

300+ civilians were intentionally massacred by the US troops. This story only came out in 1969,
and horrified all Americans. Opposition to the war increased tenfold. By 1968, the war was costin
30,000 million $ per YEAR.
1973- a cease fire was agreed on, and the US troops started leaving.
1975- the communists captured Saigon. The war was over.
http://www.slideshare.net/JoanieYeung/vietnam-war-33749845
A new policy of dtente (to establish peaceful relations and coexist with the communists) was
started by Nixon and his advisor Henry Kissinger.
USSRs control over Eastern Europe
Hungary (1956)
Causes:
Hungarians hated the restrictions imposed upon them by Rakosi and then Gero. They were
bitter about losing their freedom of speech. They resented the secret police and the thousands of
Soviet troops in their country. Some areas of Hungary had Russian street signs, Russian schools
and shops. Worst of all, Hungarians had to pay for Soviet forces to be in Hungary.
There was an uprising because Soviet forces moved into Budapest in large numbers after the
reforms were announced by Imre Nagy. This provoked freedom fighters to fight the Soviet
forces. W13 qp 11
Hungarian people hated communism
Rakosi was a tyrant and used everything he could do to make sure he stayed in power. Freedom
of speech was limited and those who spoke out against the government would almost certainly
be arrested by the secret police. There were also USSR military troops present in the country.
Unfortunately, it was the Hungarians that had to pay to keep them there. The Hungarians were
poor, yet were forced to export much of the food and industry the produced to the Soviet Union.
They were unable to develop their own economy.
Hungary was convinced the UN and USA would help them.
AS de-Stalinisation spread through Hungary, discontent levels started rising. In response, Rakosi
wanted to arrest 400 of the ringleaders, but Khrushchev didnt support this. Instead, due to the
popular discontent, Moscow ordered Rakosi to retire for health reasons, and appointed Erno
Gero instead. He too, was replaced, when a student led demonstration pulled down a statue of
Stalin.
Imre Nagy, was then appointed as the PM of Hungary, on the 24 th of October. In the coming
weeks, Nagy introduced democracy to Hungary, and allowed freedom of speech and freedom of

religion (which was symbolised by a Church leader that was let out of prison Laszlo Rajk). Nagy
also announced that Hungary was going to leave the Warsaw pact, severing its links to the
USSR, and also would be a neutral party in the cold war.
Leaving the Warsaw pact was a step too far. Khrushchev was simply not okay with this as it
meant losing part of its valuable buffer zone against capitalism. In response, 200,000 soldiers
and 2,500 tanks were sent into Budapest. There were two weeks of street fighting, but USSR
prevailed. Imre Nagy was hanged in Moscow. A new Hungarian communist leader was
appointed- Janos Kadar. He severely punished all supporters of the Rising, unless they had fled
across the Hungarian border.
The west remained uninvolved through all of this. USA was CONTAINING, not roiling back
communism. They were unwilling to risk war. Britian and France were too busy dealing with the
Suez crisis, and the UN couldnt do much because USSR could just veto everything.
Hungary retained its membership in the Warsaw pact, but the west became even more
determined to contain communism. The iron curtain was secure.
Czechoslovakia (1968)
Czechoslovakian people were becoming increasingly unhappy with communist rule. They did not
like the distrust between neighbours brought about by the actions of the secret police. There
were not enough homes. The economy was doing badly. By 1967, the people were restless.
IN January of 1968, the then ruler of Czechoslovakia, Navotny, appealed to the USSR to help
stop the voices of opposition. His appeal was ignored and he was forced to resign. He was
replaced by Alexander Dubcek.
Dubcek was a communist, but he was also a reformist. He believed that communism didnt have
to be restrictive. He put forward plan of action- socialism with a human face. He

Reduced censorship
Increased freedom of speech
Eased actions of secret police

While doing so, he stressed the Czechoslovakia had no plan to pull out of the Warsaw Pact or
Comecon, to appease Brezhnev.
During the first few months of his rule, known as the Prague Spring, intellectuals began to take
advantage of the changes and voiced their dissent with the communists. They took part in live
television and video debates in which they grilled the leaders about how they ran the country.
Dubcek began to consider allowing a rival political party; The Social Democratic Party.
Dubcek also met with Tito, who had left the Warsaw Pact, and was establishing friendly relations
with the Romanian leader, who also resented control from Moscow.
Hard line communist leaders in other parts of Eastern Europe were concerned that their people
may start demanding the same things that Dubcek was giving Czechoslovakia. Moscow had to
intervene. They met Dubcek and requested that he slow down his reforms. When it was clear
that this changed nothing, Soviet forces joined with Polish and East German troops to train,
RIGHT ON THE CZECH BORDER. This was clearly a threat. They even considered imposing
economic sanctions, but didnt because they were afraid that if they went too far, the Czechs
would seek assistance from the west.
IN a conference in July, Eastern European leaders met to discuss their issues. Dubcek agreed
not to allow the Social Democratic party, but insisted on keeping his other reforms.

Despite the apparent easing of tension after this meeting, the Soviet troops invaded
Czechoslovakia on the 20th of August. The Czechoslovak government decided not to resist the
invading army. Non-violent protests were conducted.
Dubcek was arrested and removed from office. A pro-Soviet leader called Husak took his place.
In 1970, a Soviet-Czechoslovak treaty was signed, wherein the Czechoslovaks were forced to
thank the Soviets for their invasion.
The events in Czechoslovakia led to the establishment of the Brezhnev Doctrine, wherein Soviet
leaders stated the iron curtain countries would not be allowed to abandon communism, and were
consequently ruled as one party states, as members of the Warsaw Pact.
Similarity b/w Hungarian Uprising (1956) and Czechoslovakian Uprising (1968)

Shared the same causes; the people were hostile to Russian control, their oppression
because of the governments, and the poverty they lived in because of poor economic
conditions.
Change started when Russia refused to support the old regime. The old leaders were
replaced with new ones
Both countries experienced short periods where their new governments introduced
reforms, such as freedom of speech.
Russia invaded, overthrew the government and replaced the rulers with hard line
communists
The west did nothing

Differences

Process of change in Hungary began with riots, in Czechoslovakia it was much more
peaceful
Czechoslovakias new government was much more planned than Hungary. Dubceks
government had a proper action plan, where they DEFINED socialism with a human face
Nagy announced he would leave the Warsaw Pact, Dubcek stressed that he would not
The Catholic Church was closely linked in the Hungarian revolution, but didnt play a role
at all in Czechoslovakia.
Hungarians got 5 days of freedom, Czechoslovakians enjoyed 4 months of it.
Hungary fought USSR actively, and suffered the loss of many human lives, but
Czechoslovakia held on passive resistance and not a lot of people died.
Nagy was executed, Dubcek was arrested and removed from power.

http://www.mrallsophistory.com/podcasts/hungaryczech.mp3
(No Berlin wall here, please use your textbook and GCSE textbook)
Solidarity
How significant was Solidarity?
In Poland, people were unhappy with living standards, wages and industry. They were also
outraged at how they lived in poverty, but government officials lived luxurious lives. People were
also unhappy with the lack of political influence that they had. Official trade unions were
ineffective, but in 1980, a new trade union was set up: Solidarity.
In August 1980, workers at the Gdansk shipyard, led by Lech Walesa put forward 21 demands
for more rights to the government, including free trade unions and the right to strike and the
lowering of food prices.
They also started the trade union Solidarity.
The government agreed to the demands. This was because:

Many important industries such as shipbuilding were involved in Solidarity.

Lech Waslesa was careful in his negotiations with the government, to avoid provoking
any disputes.
The union was extremely popular, almost 50% of workers were members, and 95% of
Poles said they trusted Solidarity.
Solidarity had the support of the Catholic Church. Almost all Poles were religious, and
although the government were anti-Catholic, they dared not confront the Catholic Church.
The government were playing for time and hoped that Solidarity would break up.
Lech Walesa and Solidarity were very popular in the West, and this could be a problem
for the government.

In September 1980, Solidaritys membership had grown to 3.5 million. By October it was 7 million
and by January 1981 the membership reached its peak at 9.4 million; more than a third of all
Polish workers. Solidarity had become an immensely popular and powerful organisation.
It must be remembered here, that solidarity did not INTEND TO OVERTHROW THE
GOVERNMENT, JUST MAKE SOME REFORMS.
Jaruzelski tried to negotiate with solidarity, but the talks were not successful. In December 1981,
the government clamped down on Solidarity because:

There were increasing signs that Solidarity was working as a political party, which could
challenge the Communist party.
Otherwise, the USSR would send in troops, like in Hungary, which Jaruzelski didnt want.
In Poland, income had fallen 13%, industrial production by 11% and foreign trade by
20%. There were also unemployment and food shortages.

In December 1981, he declared a state of martial law in Poland. The army had emergency
powers, and the leaders of Solidarity and thousands of its supporters were arrested and held
without trials. Solidarity was declared illegal. Meetings and demonstrations were forbidden. In
1982, they tried to replace Solidarity with new communist unions.
The movement didnt actively resist this. They knew that if they did, USSR troops would
forcefully shut Solidarity down. Instead, the movement survived underground. Solidarity
members still continued to resist the communist regime, along with the western powers, and
plotted minor acts of rebellion such as operating an illegal radio station where they
complained about their government with the west. They also used the radio to protest the
jailing of Walesa and demanding his release from prison. In November 1982, Walesa was
released from prison.
This showed that

Ordinary people were FED UP by the communist regime

They were only suppressed because of the threat of Soviet troops. If these troops
didnt invade, the government would be unable to resist a takeover.

In 1988, food prices had inflated by 30%, and there were strikes again. This time, the
government decided to negotiate. Lech Walesa managed to get Solidarity legalised and
manage the promise of free elections. Without help from Moscow, the communists couldnt
do anything.
The elections were organised so that 65% of the seats in the Parliament were reserved for
communists. Nevertheless, the elections were a disaster for the communists. Solidarity had
won 99% of the seasts in the senate, and Lech Walesa became the Polish leader.
Gorbachev (became leader in 1985) and his policies

It was becoming increasingly difficult for USSR to get money to fund the troops that kept East
Europe under control. Gorbachev hence said he couldnt afford the troops anymore, and urged
Eastern European countries leaders to reform.
He introduced the policy of perestroika- which means restructuring.

He allowed free market economy

He cut military spending to increase investment in health and housing sectors

Glasnost- openness

Stopped using propaganda to influence the people and cover up the countries problems
Allowed free speech

He also built better relations with the USA to achieve security for the USSR (and not continue the
arms race) and said that USSR was no longer competing with USA.
The cracks in Soviet control of east Europe first began to show in Hungary.
In early 1989, Hungary started to remove the barbed wire that acted as a fence between
Hungary and non-communist Austria. East Germans started going to Hungary on holiday, and
used this opportunity as a chance to work their way through Austria into West Germany. The East
German leader (Erich Honecker) was forced to ask Hungary to close its borders due to the large
number of people that fled the country. Hungary refused.
In November, thousands of East Germans marched along the Berlin wall because they had
heard that the border would be opened. Honecker, ordered his troops to shoot the civilians, but
they refused, and instead, opened up the wall.
Poland became non-communist first, followed by Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and
Romania.
IN 1991, USSR itself disintegrated when a bunch of old hard-line communists tried to seize
power. After this failed, Gorbachev realised that trying to save the USSR was pointless, and
announced its end on 25th December, 1991.
The Soviet economy was slowly becoming stagnant, whilst military spending went through the roof.
Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative was seen as a threat to be countered, and the Soviets threw
more money at the military - the US was spending 15-18% of its Gross Domestic Product (how much
the country earns) at the military, the Soviets were spending up to 35% - they were bankrupting
themselves.
To counter this stagnation Gorbachev introduced the policies of Glasnost' and Perestroika (Openness
and Re-Structuring) hoping that people would be open about how to rebuild the communist system,
and make it work better. All it did was allowed people to openly criticise the system - soon they were
calling for it to be replaced.
Communism was also simply not delivering the promised "workers paradise", wages were stagnant,
housing shoddy cars a rarity, and, from the 170s they could see the differences between their lifestyle
and the West on TV - especially when the (uncensored) Olympics were on.
Soviet Youth were growing tired of being told that they couldn't see certain films, couldn't listen to
Western Music, or listen to Western Radio stations, even wearing jeans were frowned on. Glasnost'
allowed them to speak out against the regime - and enabled them to listen to the music they wanted.

In the Republics, people were tired of being told what to do by Russians, they wanted to govern
themselves, or, at least, have more autonomy within the Soviet framework - but the centre would not
budge. Because of Glasnost' they could criticise and soon they began to organise. Eventually the
people in the Baltic Republics started protesting - demanding independence, and soon, with the
collapse of the union, they got it.
The even that pushed the Soviet Union into the history books was the failed coup of August 1991,
when communist hard-liners tried to remove Gorbachev from office, and put in place a more Stalinist
system - within two months of this coup the Soviet Union was no more.

The Gulf
Why was Saddam Hussein able to come to power in Iraq?
Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq in 1979.
When he was 20 years old, Hussein joined the Baath party (1957), whose aim was to unite all
Arab states in the Middle East. This is called Arab Nationalism, and to a certain extent, it drove
Saddams actions.
In 1959, when Saddam failed to assassinate a previous president who opposed Arab
Nationalism, Saddam was one of the leading figures in a bloodless yet successful coup in 1968.
This coup led to Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr becoming president. Saddam was his vice president.
Saddam combined various policies together to secure his position. His ruthless handling of
opponents and regime of terror and repression ran alongside his social and economic policies
that gained him support.
Saddam couldnt have implemented any of his policies as vice president without establishing a
strong base of power. He did this by ensuring that all the powerful positions in the government
and military were given to his friends and family from his hometown in the area of Tikrit.
To keep the army on his side, Saddam provided them with a large defence budget that enabled
them to buy and develop modern weapons, including chemical weapons.
To ensure that the population didnt oppose the ruling party, various parts of Iraqi society was
brought under the governments control, and membership of important clubs and institutions was
only allowed if you were a member of the party. Even universities and colleges required
membership of the Baath party by its applicants
Saddam also oversaw the nationalisation (or government takeover) of Iraqs oil industry in 1972,
which made the economy dramatically successful. In 1973, Iraq joined with other Middle Eastern
countries in an international organisation that coordinates petroleum policy. OPEC agreed to
reduce production, and in some cases, stop exporting oil to western countries. They did this as
punishment for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur war. The subsequent shortage of oil
increased a price of a barrel to 400% of what it used to be. As a result, Iraqs income rocketed.
A lot of the money coming into Iraqs economy was used by Saddam to invest in projects that
improved the lives of ordinary Iraqis such as schools, hospitals and transport facilities. The road,
water and power supplies increased due to the notable increase in the budget, but the most
notable improvement was in the education and healthcare sectors. The government established
free, universal education. Hundreds and thousands of Iraqis were now educated to an
unprecedented level in the years that followed the establishment of the National Campaign for
the Eradication of Illiteracy. Huge investment in healthcare also meant that Iraq had the best

healthcare systems in the entire Middle East region, for which Saddam was presented with an
award by UNESCO.
Iraq was modernising at a rapid pace, and by the end of the 1970s, the number of rural peasants
had decreased significantly, as people moved to the modern cities.
These policies of Saddam had managed to ensure that he was insanely popular amongst the
local people. It also meant that he had backing by the businessmen in the industries that he had
invested copious amounts of money in.
Saddam played a huge role in creating a state security apparatus that kept a very close watch on
Iraqi citizens. The Peoples Army was responsible for internal security, although it was actually
the Paramilitary Wing of the Baath Party. Consequently, the party was able to ensure that other
elements of the Iraqi military were not able to oppose the government.
Anyone who disagreed with the party was arrested by the secret police, known as the
Department of General Intelligence (Mukhabarat). They frequently used torture, rape and
assassination to control enemies of the state. Saddams control over who was appointed into the
security services also meant that the recruits were supporters of Saddam at an INDIVIDUAL
level. This meant that when the President resigned in 1979, the only feasible replacement they
considered was Hussein.
Nature of Saddam Husseins Rule
Saddam used three main factors to his advantage (even when he was vice president)

His influence in the Baath party

His social policies that got the public to support him
His ruthless response to opposition

When he was president, his response to opposition became even more ruthless. He also acted
quickly to ensure that he wouldnt face opposition from inside the Baath party itself. In just a
week after becoming President, Saddam ordered a meeting of the Baath party members,
wherein he declared that he had found 68 traitors within the party. These members were
removed, tried for treason and executed. By the start of August 1979, hundreds more had been
killed. From the very moment he became President, Saddam ensured that anyone who was a
threat to him was removed.
For ordinary citizens, though, Saddam provided a comfortable life. He continued to invest money
into infrastructure. Health and education were still high on the spending budget- university
education became free. Across the country, improvements to electricity and water supplies along
with an improved road network scored him the support of the locals. (In the 1995 elections, the
official results showed that Saddam received over 99% of the votes)
His popularity was helped by propaganda. When Egypt signed the Camp-David accords with
Israel, Saddam used the so called betrayal of the Arab world to his advantage. Iraqi media
portrayed him as the saviour of pan-Arabism while his cult personality was reinforced by the
erection of statues all over the country. He encouraged people to refer to him by his first name,
which also led to him looking like some sort of father figure to his people, rather than a vicious
dictator.
His life story was regularly featured in newspapers and magazines, and an autobiographical film
The Long Days was produced by the Iraqi Ministry of Information. Evening television news
would begin with a Saddam song. Saddam used to visit ordinary Iraqi homes and villages in
disguise to see what people thought of him. His hosts would pretend not to recognise him, and
expressed delight when the President finally revealed his true identity. In order to appear to
attend as many functions and official engagements as possible, Saddam resorted to the practice

of using doubles or lookalikes- these men were given months of training during which they
studied videos of Saddams public appearance.
Censorship was rampant.
Although the period of his rule appeared prosperous, violence and fear were central to Saddams
rule. From the outside, Saddams policies regarding freedom of religion were the hallmark of a
developed country, however, his violent repression of Shiite Muslims and Kurds proved that this
was just an illusion.
Shiite Muslims were the majority in Iraq, but Hussein himself was a Sunni Muslim and hence saw
the Shiites as a threat. He ensured that his government had a Sunni majority, and deported
anyone that he couldnt trust. 200,000 Shiites were consequently sent to Iran in 1980-81 alone.
Many others were tortured, monitored and arrested if the internal security thought they were a
threat to Saddams rule. Civilians were roped to the front of tanks to act as human shields while
women and children were shot on site.
Saddam was also determined to construct a new waterway in the south-east region of Iraq,
where the Marsh Arabs resided. This group was one whose culture stretched back centuries.
Some of the Marsh Arabs moved voluntarily, but others were the victims of chemical weapons
attacks and others still starved to death once their food source had been destroyed.
The Kurd minority in Northern Iraq suffered even more. Where the Shiites were a threat to
Saddams rule because he thought they might want to get MORE involved in the Iraqi
government and society, the threat from the Kurds was that they wanted to separate from Iraq
and set up their own nation called Kurdistan. Saddam was determined to extend his rule ALL
OVER Iraq, and this directly influenced the Kurds who had previously been left with a certain
amount of freedom from the Iraqi government that allowed them to rule themselves to a certain
extent.
Starting even in his vice-Presidency, Saddam launched a series of attacks against the Kurds that
exiled or killed their leading figures. Saddams hatred of the Kurds reached a boiling point when
they sided with Iran in the Iraq-Iran war. As part of the conflict, Saddam ordered the bombing of
the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988. The attack included the use of chemical weapons such as
mustard gas and cyanide. 5000 Kurds died and 10,000 were seriously injured. This attack was
masterminded by Saddams cousin, nicknamed Chemical Ali. Apart from chemical attacks, he
bulldozed entire villages and conducted vicious mass executions. About 150,000 Kurds were
killed, and a further 100,000 were forced to flee to Turkey.
The level of violence that Saddam was willing to use against his own people was the key reason
that he was able to keep hold of power for so long. Few people were prepared to stand up to
him.
Why was there a revolution in Iran in 1979?
The country today is a theocracy- which means that it is ruled by religious law. It could be said
that the revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power was backlash from the citizens due
to the unpopular rule of Reza Pahlavi.
By the mid-1900s, Iran was a very wealthy country built on the fact that it had a large supply of
oil, even though the majority of Iranian citizens had continued to live in poverty.
Pahlavi came to power in 1941, after his father was removed from power by a combined force of
British and Russian troops. He maintained a close relationship with western powers, such as
Britain and USA.

In 1951, though, his Prime Minister, Mohammad Mussadeq nationalised the British owned AngoIranian Oil Company that had control of the oil fields. This move was very popular among the
ordinary Iranians, but caused huge problems for the British and USA because they refused to
buy Iranian oil since they were no longer in control of it. The Shah also saw him as a threat
because he argued in favour of more limited powers for the monarchy. This led to Pahlavi plotting
to remove his PM with the help of the CIA and MI6.

Although the coup restored relations with the west and made Iran very rich because they now
bought oil from Iran again, a lot of Iranians saw this as an insult to Iranian sovereignty and
thought Pahlavi was pandering to the western countries.
In 1956, the Shah joined an anti-Soviet and anti-communist alliance. He had also signed a treaty
with USA the year before this, and it was becoming increasingly clear that Iran was taking sides
in the cold war. This reinforced the belief of the people that Iran was pandering to the west.
Iran was also a centre where the USA exported their meat and grain, which meant that local
farmers were put out of business. The Shah also damaged the interests of the bazaar merchants
when he tried to introduce American style shopping malls.
Industrial reforms meant that foreign investments were injected into Iran to create larger, more
modern factories. This meant that local shop owners and smaller producers were put out of
business.
The Shahs relationship with the West, was therefore a long term factor of what caused the
revolution of 1979, because many in the country felt that he was betraying Iran.
To try and regain support, the Shah used to income from the new National Iranian Oil Company
to modernise Iran. He began to introduce a series of reforms in an attempt to improve social and
economic conditions of all Iranians from 1962 onwards, which became known as the White
Revolution.
For example, land reform intended to modernise Irans rural areas by redistributing land amongst
the peasantry. In fact, most peasants ended up with holdings only just sufficient to support their
families, and so were no better off than landless labourers. Most villages still lacked piped water,
electricity, roads and other basic service.
Health reforms increased the number of doctors, nurses and hospital beds, but even in the mid1970s, Iran still had one of the worst infant mortality rates and doctor-patient ratios in the MiddleEast.
Similarly, the expansion of education failed to make significant reductions in the high levels of
adult illiteracy or alter the low proportion of the population in higher education.
By the late 1970s, the distribution of income in Iran was more unequal than it had been 20 years
earlier.
Many people believed that the shah was introducing ideas that went against the tradition of Iran,
and he wasnt doing it to benefit the people.
The shah was aware of the opposition he faced. He was only able to remove Mussadeq with
foreign intervention, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the assassination
attempts. To protect himself, he often ignored the constitution and started introducing reforms
that alienated him further from Irani society.
After 195, the Shah made sure that the cabinet and parliament were packed with individuals
agreeable to himself. Under such a system the main political parties (Melliyun, Iran Novin and
Mardom) became known as the yes, yes, sir, and yes, of course parties. Nevertheless, in
1975, the Shah decided to establish a one-party state declaring the existence of a new

Resurgence Party. It immediately began making enemies by waging and anti-profiteering

campaign in bazaars and attacking clerical establishments. They also introduced the new
imperial calendar, which supplanted the Muslim calendar.
In 1957, an intelligence service known as SAVAK was established. It was a network of informers
and frequently used brutal tactics, torture and execution. The people lived in a constant
environment of fear.
In 1977, the Shah authorised a relaxation of police controls, in response to the condemnation of
human rights violations within Iran. He agreed to release a number of political prisoners, allow
the Red Cross into prisons and ensure measures to allow fair trials. These concessions gave a
massive boost to opposition groups who immediately became more vocal. The Shah had hoped
that a tactical retreat would save the monarchy. Instead it unleashed a wave of mass protest.