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 ● Member countries were reluctant to stop trade with aggressor countries when economic sanctions were put in place for the benefit of their own economy; LON did not have an army to take action against the aggressor ● US congress did not allow US to join the LON and USSR was also not in the LON, which meant that they could still trade with aggressor countries and render the economic sanctions imposed useless/ hard to enforce, was also difficult for the LON to take strong action against aggressor countries as US was not part of LON ● Corfu 1923: Mussolini blamed Greeks for killing 3 Italian officials on the border of Albania and Greece, and demanded compensation. Greece appealed to the LON, Britain wanted to help, but France was busy. In the end, Greece was forced to apologise and pay Italy. If Britain and France had come together, Musolini probably would not have gotten his way. Success: ● Greek- Bulgarian border 1925: Greek soldiers killed on Greece’s border with Bulgaria, Greece invaded Bulgaria, Bulgaria appealed to LON. LON told both sides to stand down and had Greece withdraw. Britain and France supported, and Greece withdrew.

Rise of Authoritarian Regimes • Overview of the attempts at establishing viable political systems after World War I [Non-examinable] Case Study of Nazi Germany* • Circumstances leading to the rise and establishment of authoritarian rule in Germany – Weaknesses of the Weimar government: problems of the Weimar constitution, unpopularity of the Weimar government ● Political-Proportional Representation: any party taking part will get seats proportional to number of votes received. Most views and interests were represented, but made it hard for one party to gain a majority which led to the formation of weak, short-lived coalitions (made it difficult for the Reichstag (Parliament) to pass laws.) ● Political-Article 48: stated that the president could rule the country during times of emergency, effectively as a dictator for a certain period of time. This could be misused and exploited and threaten the constitution. (Hitler convinced Hindenburg to pass the Decree for the Protection of People and the State, giving him sweeping emergency powers) ● Social-Unpopularity: The Weimar government signed the Treaty of Versailles that was not negotiated upon with Germany, and was called a diktat, meaning a dictated peace forced on Germany; Led to German resentment for TOV. Weimar govt. politicians were called the “November Criminals” for signing the TOV. Threats/ Challenges to the Weimar Republic ● Spartacist Uprising 1919: communist Spartacists fought for power, defeated by anti-communist WWI veterans, Freikorps. ● Kapp Putsch 1920: Wolfgang Kapp led 5000 Freikorps to Berlin rebellion, German army refused to act against the Freikorps. In the end Trade Unions and 12M industrial workers declared a strike. There was no transport, power, or water; Kapp realised he could not win and fled. – Appeal of Hitler and the Nazi Party o Role of Hitler (social) ● Hitler’s charisma: Hitler was persuasive and addressed people’s concerns (appeared as a man of the people, like he understood their problem). He won over important business owners and they funded his party. o Methods of Nazi Party (use of propaganda and force, participation in elections) (political/ social) ● Propaganda: Joseph Goebbels was in charge of propaganda. The propaganda promised strong decisive actions, such as rebuilding Germany’s armed forces, creating millions of jobs, and Jews were • Demonstrate awareness of political developments after World War I. • Examine the rise of authoritarian regimes and evaluate their impact on the political, economic and social context of countries. • Evaluate the roles of key players in the establishment of authoritarian rule. • Communism • Nationalism • Authoritarianism • Militarism • Parliamentary rule

offered as scapegoats to blame for problems. The propaganda appealed to the people, and was communicated through leaflets, newspapers and radio broadcasts, blaming the economic problems on the Treaty of Versailles, and blaming the Weimar politicians for being too selfish and divided to take the actions necessary to get people back to work. ● Use of force: SA were prepar