Diplomacy in Europe (1919–1945)

Versailles (Germany, 1919); St Germain (Austria, 1919); Neuilly (Bulgaria, 1919); Trianon (Hungary, 1920); Sèvres/Lausanne (Ottoman Empire/Turkey, 1920/1923).

The War Guilt Clause — forced Germany to accept sole responsibility for WWI. It was the legal basis for reparations and a major source of German resentment exploited by nationalist politicians including Hitler.

Hungary lost two-thirds of its pre-war territory and around 3 million ethnic Hungarians were placed under foreign rule in Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. This created lasting irredentism and regional instability.

Wilson (USA): fair peace based on Fourteen Points and self-determination. Clemenceau (France): cripple Germany permanently. Lloyd George (Britain): punish but not destroy Germany to avoid future extremism.

(1) USA never joined (Senate rejection, 1920). (2) USSR excluded until 1934. (3) No standing army — enforcement depended on member states. (4) Germany excluded until 1926.

Britain, France, and Italy united to condemn German rearmament and defend Locarno. It collapsed because: Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (June 1935) without consulting allies, and Italy's invasion of Abyssinia (October 1935) brought League sanctions, pushing Mussolini toward Hitler.

Italy had fought for the Allies but felt cheated at Versailles — denied Fiume and Dalmatia promised by the Treaty of London (1915). Mussolini exploited this grievance to justify an aggressive foreign policy aimed at making Italy a great Mediterranean power.

(1) Destroy the Treaty of Versailles. (2) Rearm Germany. (3) Unite all Germans in a Greater Germany (Austria, Sudetenland). (4) Win Lebensraum in the east, at the expense of the USSR.

Germany accepted its western borders with France and Belgium; Britain and Italy guaranteed them. They created the optimistic 'Spirit of Locarno'. Crucially, eastern European borders (e.g. with Poland and Czechoslovakia) were NOT guaranteed, leaving them open to future revision.

After an Italian general was killed in Greece, Mussolini bombarded the Greek island of Corfu. The League condemned Italy but ultimately backed down under pressure; Greece was forced to pay compensation. It showed that great powers could bully smaller states with few consequences.

Britain unilaterally accepted Germany's right to a navy 35% the size of the Royal Navy — directly breaching Versailles without consulting France or Italy. It undermined the Stresa Front, signalled British willingness to accept treaty revision, and emboldened Hitler.

Mussolini: Mediterranean/African expansion, great-power status; initially opposed German Anschluss (sent troops to Brenner 1934). Hitler: destroy Versailles, unite Germans, win eastern Lebensraum; more radical and ideological. Before Abyssinia they were rivals, not allies.

Appeasement was the policy of making concessions to aggressive states (mainly Nazi Germany) to avoid war. **Neville Chamberlain** (Britain) is most closely associated with it; France's Daladier followed Britain's lead. It dominated Western policy from roughly 1936 to March 1939.

Britain (Chamberlain), France (Daladier), Italy (Mussolini) and Germany (Hitler) agreed to transfer the **Sudetenland** to Germany. Czechoslovakia was not invited and could not resist. Chamberlain claimed it secured 'peace for our time'. Six months later Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia.

Stalin had been excluded from Munich (1938) and distrusted British and French intentions. The Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop) bought the USSR time to rearm and gave it eastern Poland and the Baltic states under a secret protocol. For Hitler it removed the danger of an eastern front when he attacked Poland.

1. **Versailles legacy** — humiliation and economic harm that gave Hitler popular grievances to exploit. 2. **Rise of aggressive nationalism** — Hitler's deliberate programme of rearmament, remilitarisation and expansion from 1933. 3. **Failure of collective security** — the League's inability to stop Japan (1931) and Italy (1935) showed democracies lacked will to resist.

Operation Barbarossa (22 June 1941) was Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union — the largest military operation in history. It was a strategic mistake because it opened a massive eastern front before Britain was defeated, recreating the two-front dilemma of WWI. The vast distances, Russian winter and Soviet resistance eventually destroyed the Wehrmacht.

The Grand Alliance was the wartime partnership of **Britain, USA and USSR** against the Axis (formed 1941). Key conferences: **Tehran (1943)** — agreed D-Day timing; **Yalta (February 1945)** — planned post-war Europe, zones for Germany, creation of the UN; **Potsdam (July 1945)** — rising tensions foreshadowed the Cold War.

**Stalingrad (1942–43)**: Germany's Sixth Army was encircled and destroyed; over 800,000 Axis casualties; the myth of German invincibility ended. **Kursk (July 1943)**: largest tank battle in history; Germany's last major offensive on the eastern front failed, giving the Soviets permanent strategic initiative.

The USA's industrial capacity was decisive — producing more tanks, aircraft and ships than all Axis powers combined from 1942 onwards. US **Lend-Lease** supplied Britain and USSR with vital equipment. Germany failed to fully mobilise its war economy until 1942 (under Speer — too late). The Allied naval blockade cut off raw materials.

Allied **Combined Bomber Offensive** devastated German cities from 1942 (Hamburg 1943; Dresden 1945). The **Holocaust** killed approximately six million Jews and millions of others. In 1945, Soviet advances caused mass civilian flight westward; millions of ethnic Germans were expelled from eastern Europe after the war.

France was divided: German-occupied north and the collaborationist **Vichy** regime in the south under **Pétain**. Vichy implemented anti-Semitic laws and conscripted workers under the **Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO)**. German reprisals against the Resistance were brutal (e.g. Oradour-sur-Glane massacre, June 1944 — 642 civilians killed).

**Long-term**: Versailles grievances (1919) created conditions for extremism. **Medium-term**: Hitler's rearmament, remilitarisation and expansion (1933–38); failure of collective security. **Immediate**: Nazi-Soviet Pact (August 1939) removed two-front threat; German invasion of Poland (1 September 1939) triggered war. Good Paper 3 essays distinguish all three levels.

Three reasons: (1) Hitler's aims were **not limited** — he wanted Lebensraum in the east, not just Versailles revision; (2) appeasement **emboldened** Hitler, who expected further concessions over Poland; (3) it **delayed Allied rearmament** and undermined deterrence. The occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 proved conclusively that concessions had not satisfied Hitler.