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End of WW1
World War I was a global war that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously known as the Great War or "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilization of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history -
Treaty of Versailles
The Paris Peace Conference was the formal meeting in 1919 and 1920 of the victorious Allies after the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers. Dominated by the leaders of Britain, France, the United States and Italy, it resulted in five controversial treaties that rearranged the map of Europe and imposed financial penalties. Germany and the other losing nations had no voice which gave rise to political resentments that lasted for decades. -
Corfu incident
In August 1923 Italians forming part of an international boundary delegation were murdered on Greek soil, leading Benito Mussolini to order a naval bombardment of Corfu. After the Greeks appealed to the League of Nations, the Italians were ordered to evacuate but Greece was forced to pay Italy an indemnity. -
Hyperinflation in Germany
Germany had suspended the gold standard and financed the war by borrowing. Reparations further strained the economic system, and the Weimar Republic printed money as the mark's value tumbled. Hyperinflation soon rocked Germany. By November 1923, 42 billion marks were worth the equivalent of one American cent. -
The Geneva Protocol
The Corfu incident demonstrated how the league could be undermined by its own members. Geneva Protocol, official name Protocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, (1924) League of Nations draft treaty to ensure collective security in the world. The French enthusiastically supported the protocol, but it failed after it was rejected by the British. -
Germany accepts terms and condition of Treaty of Versailles
Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles under protest, and the United States did not ratify the treaty. France and Britain at first tried to enforce the treaty, but over the next several years a number of modifications were made. Germany ignored the limits that the treaty placed on its rearmament. -
Germany joins League of Nations.
When the League was set up, Germany was excluded from joining. The United States never joined so for many the League was ineffectual. Germany, after the Locarno Pact 1925 managed to secure negotiations for Germany to join. In September 1926, Germany was admitted to the League, to join all the other great powers. -
The Manchurian crisis: WW2 powder keg
The Manchurian Crisis 1931-1933 followed the Mukden Incident in which Japanese rail tracks were destroyed in an explosion. Claiming that it was saboteurs, the Japanese responded with force, taking control of the Chinese province of Manchuria. The Great Depression affected Japan hugely, leaving them in lack of resources. So the Japanese ruler at the time used the railway track explosion as a reason to invade China. The league ignored this, and it became a key to illegal invasions. -
The Hoare-Laval pact
The Hoare–Laval Pact was an initially secret December 1935 proposal by British Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare and French Prime Minister Pierre Laval for ending the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The Pact offered to partition Abyssinia and thus partially achieve Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's goal of making the independent nation of Abyssinia into an Italian colony. The proposal ignited a firestorm of hostile reaction in Britain and France and never went into effect. -
Abyssinia Crisis(Oct 1935-May1936)
The Abyssinia Crisis was an international crisis in 1935 originating the then-ongoing conflict between Italy and Ethiopia (Abyssinia). The League of Nations ruled against Italy and voted for economic sanctions, but they were never fully applied, Italy ignored the sanctions, quit the League. The crisis degraded the League and moved Fascist Italy closer to an alliance with Nazi Germany. Ethiopia and Italy pursued a policy of provocation against each other and Italy prepared to invade Ethiopia.
