O LEVEL ELECTIVE HISTORY NOTES SYLLABUS 2261 (2024)

O LEVEL ELECTIVE HISTORY NOTES SYLLABUS 2261 All points taken from the textbook, all bullet points are my work. This document covers the entire syllabus. Key Knowledge Learning Outcomes (Knowledge and Skills) Key Concepts After World War I • Overview of World War I [Non-examinable] • Aims and terms of the Paris Peace Conference and its immediate impact on Europe in the 1920s – Aims of the Big Three ● US Woodrow Wilson: build a more peaceful world with his 14 pts, main pts being self-determination, that countries should rule themselves (unfair as France and Britain had colonies), and that Germany should be punished but not destroyed ● Britain David Lloyd George: best possible outcome for Britain (middle ground), wanted protection, recovery and maintenance of the British Empire. Wanted Germany to recover economically to act as a buffer against communism in Europe ● France Georges Clemenceu: Punish Germany for the losses France suffered, wanted to ensure that Germany would not be able to wage another war against France, wanted to weaken Germany as much as possible. – Treaty of Versailles and its immediate impact on Germany o War Guilt Clause, reparations, demilitarisation, territorial reductions Reasons for German resentment for TOV (later exploited by Hitler) ● War guilt clause: Germans did not feel like they alone started the war, they were only helping their ally (Austria-Hungary) ● Reparations: Germany already had huge debts from the war effort and the reparations would ruin the economy (heavy taxes on Germans, govt. printed money to pay, led to hyperinflation) ● Demilitarisation/ disarmament: An army of 100 000 was very small for a country of Germany’s size, was a insult to German pride, no other country was disarmed to the same extent ● Territorial reductions: Major blow to German pride and economy, Many Germans would have to live under the rule of Czechoslovakia and Poland; Germany had no more colonies – Re-drawing of national boundaries and the creation of new nation-states o Breakdown of old empires (Eg breaking of Austria-Hungary) • Assess the impact of post-war peace settlements on Europe. • Assess the attempts at collective security in the 1920s and its outcomes. • Collective security • Self-determination • Balance of power

o Self-determination – Attempts at collective security in the 1920s o Successes and failures of the League of Nations at peacekeeping in the 1920s ○ Failures: ● Member countries were reluctant to disarm due to protect themselves ● Memb