1920-1930 Research Paper
What developments between 1920- 1930 were aimed at preserving world peace and what was the impact of these developments upon international relations?
From 1920-1930, people were shell-shocked after the terror and brutality of the war. They were desperate to ensure that it never happened again, which lead to the creation of many new treaties designed to maintain the peace around the world.
In 1924, the Dawes Plan was introduced to collect war reparations debt from Germany. The Dawes Plan aimed to begin payments at one billion marks in the first year, rising to two and a half million marks annually. The plan also stated that the Ruhr area was to be evacuated by Allied troops, and reorganize the Reichsbank, the central bank of Germany. Germany and the Triple Entente accepted the plan and it began in September 1924. Reparation payments were made quickly, but it became apparent that Germany could not continue repaying such large annual payments for much longer. The Young Plan was brought in as a substitute in 1929. …show more content…
The Dawes plan provided short term benefits for the German economy.
It stabilized the currency, dulled the burdens of war reparations, and brought more foreign investments to the German market. However, this made the Germany economy dependant on foreign economies and markets, which meant that later problems with the U.S economy, such as the Great Depression, hurt Germany as well. It also made the U.S economy vital to other western countries as the U.S loaned to Germany, which then made reparations to other European nations, which used the money to pay off debts to
America.
The Kellogg-Briand pact was an agreement to renounce war, signed in August, 1928 by 65 countries. Originally it was formed only between France and the United States, but one of the authors of the treaty, U.S Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, altered it and proposed a multilateral pact against war. The treaty did not enforce punishments against countries that violated it; it was based purely on the cooperation of the different nations. This is essentially why the pact was ineffective; it did not prevent the U.S invasion of Central America, the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935, or the German invasions of Poland.
Despite the treaty not being successful towards its aim on ending war, it remains an important treaty because it binded the nations that signed it and established a rapport between them. It was particularly important for Germany, wanting to show that they could be trusted as a participant. The treaty also confirmed that France and Britain wanted to avoid another war at any cost, which reassured the population that another war was unlikely. It also provided a legal base to establish the international standards against threat or use of military force.
Although these treaties were unsuccessful and ultimately failed to prevent a Second World War, they managed to temporarily create bonds between nations and rebuild hope that people had lost after World War One, which at the time was of crucial importance.
From 1920-1930, people were shell-shocked after the terror and brutality of the war. They were desperate to ensure that it never happened again, which lead to the creation of many new treaties designed to maintain the peace around the world.
In 1924, the Dawes Plan was introduced to collect war reparations debt from Germany. The Dawes Plan aimed to begin payments at one billion marks in the first year, rising to two and a half million marks annually. The plan also stated that the Ruhr area was to be evacuated by Allied troops, and reorganize the Reichsbank, the central bank of Germany. Germany and the Triple Entente accepted the plan and it began in September 1924. Reparation payments were made quickly, but it became apparent that Germany could not continue repaying such large annual payments for much longer. The Young Plan was brought in as a substitute in 1929. …show more content…
The Dawes plan provided short term benefits for the German economy.
It stabilized the currency, dulled the burdens of war reparations, and brought more foreign investments to the German market. However, this made the Germany economy dependant on foreign economies and markets, which meant that later problems with the U.S economy, such as the Great Depression, hurt Germany as well. It also made the U.S economy vital to other western countries as the U.S loaned to Germany, which then made reparations to other European nations, which used the money to pay off debts to
America.
The Kellogg-Briand pact was an agreement to renounce war, signed in August, 1928 by 65 countries. Originally it was formed only between France and the United States, but one of the authors of the treaty, U.S Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, altered it and proposed a multilateral pact against war. The treaty did not enforce punishments against countries that violated it; it was based purely on the cooperation of the different nations. This is essentially why the pact was ineffective; it did not prevent the U.S invasion of Central America, the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935, or the German invasions of Poland.
Despite the treaty not being successful towards its aim on ending war, it remains an important treaty because it binded the nations that signed it and established a rapport between them. It was particularly important for Germany, wanting to show that they could be trusted as a participant. The treaty also confirmed that France and Britain wanted to avoid another war at any cost, which reassured the population that another war was unlikely. It also provided a legal base to establish the international standards against threat or use of military force.
Although these treaties were unsuccessful and ultimately failed to prevent a Second World War, they managed to temporarily create bonds between nations and rebuild hope that people had lost after World War One, which at the time was of crucial importance.