Twentieth Century History – My Opinion

The Cold War ended in 1991. Unfortunately for America, a decade later a tragic event will occur in New York City that shall change the United States of America and put her into a new war.

Every country has its bad moments, but it’s those bad moments that make any country better. Vietnam was America’s worst moment, but despite that America has maintained her grandeur. And what makes America great; is her people – working hard together – and that is how a country should work. Although America has her enemies, she also has strong friends, such as Great Britain.

I can only pray and hope that America doesn’t fall one day; for if she does the world will be in complete ruin; for whatever happens to America has a domino effect on the other countries of the world.

In my opinion the United States of America is AWESOME and the most UNIQUE country in the world. And she has always been AWESOME.

Twentieth Century History (1939 – 1945)

The Second World War

Blitzkrieg in Poland

The Second World War began when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. Britain and France had pledged to defend Poland. On 3 September the French and the British governments declared war on Germany. The French and the British could do very little to stop a German victory in Poland. By the end of the month, Polish resistance had collapsed. On 17 September Soviet forces crossed the Polish frontier and took control of part of eastern Poland. This was part of the deal Hitler had struck with Stalin before the war in the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Stalin also moved his troops into the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

In Poland and each of the following campaigns Hitler’s methods became known as ‘Blitzkrieg’ or lightning war. Blitzkrieg involved the use of overwhelming force, in as short a time as possible, in order to crush the enemy. Extensive use was made of tanks and other armoured vehicles. The Germans had much success with this technique.

The Phoney War

Having succeeded in the east, Hitler’s thoughts turned west. He began to make plans for an attack on France. Meanwhile, the British and the French tried to weaken Germany by stopping German trade by sea. In particular they tried to cut off the supply of iron ore from Scandinavia. From October 1939 to April 1940 there was little fighting between Britain, France and Germany. This period became known as the phoney war.

Fighting did take place in the winter of 1939-40 between the USSR and the small Baltic state of Finland. The Finnish army fought with great skill and ferocity and it took from October 1939 to March 1940 for the USSR to defeat her small neighbour. Eventually, Finland was defeated and forced to give territory and a naval base to the USSR. The Soviet struggle to defeat Finland convinced Hitler that the Red Army could easily be beaten by Germany. His secret long-term plan was to turn against the Soviet Union and set up a new German empire in the east.

In April 1940 the French and the British started mining Norwegian waters to stop the trade in iron ore. Germany responded by invading Norway and Denmark. The fall of Finland, Norway and Denmark led to a political crisis in Britain and France. Both prime ministers were forced to resign. In Britain, Winston Churchill came to power in May 1940.

The Fall of France

After months of waiting Hitler struck west in May 1940. The Netherlands, Belgium and France were invaded and rapidly defeated by German forces. A British army was forced to flee from the continent back to Britain from the port of Dunkirk. Germany took direct control of much of France, leaving part of the south and south-east of the country under a puppet French government, with its capital in the town of Vichy. At this point it seemed that Hitler had virtually won the war. France was beaten and much of Europe was occupied. Only Britain remained to fight Germany. Sensing that the war was nearly over Mussolini joined forces with Germany in June 1940. He wanted Italy to get some of the rewards of victory.

Having defeated France, Hitler prepared for a German invasion of Britain. However, before invading Britain, German forces invaded a small group of islands just off the northern coast of France known as the Channel Islands on 30 June 1940 until 9 May 1945. The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by Germany. The German air force, the Luftwaffe, set out to win control of the air over Britain. This was the first stage of the invasion plan. German planes bombed military sites, factories and the capital city, London, in August and September 1940. The British air force, the RAF, fought back and clash of the two air forces became known as the Battle of Britain. Although there were heavy losses on both sides, the RAF got the upper hand in the Battle of Britain and as a result Hitler was forced to abandon his plans for an invasion of Britain.

The Italian attempt to share in Hitler’s victory went disastrously wrong. An Italian army was defeated by Britain in North Africa and Greece successfully stopped an Italian attempt to invade. Hitler was obliged to send German forces to North Africa and to Greece in order to assist his ally.

Hitler turns east

One of the great turning points of the war took place on 22 June 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in an operation known to the German leaders as Barbarossa. At first the blitzkrieg approach was successful for Germany. An army of over 3 million men stormed into the USSR, armed with over 3,000 tanks and 5,000 aircraft. Stalin was taken completely by surprise. German forces penetrated deep inside the Soviet Union capturing key cities such as Smolensk and Kiev. By mid-October over 3 million Soviet troops had been captured and the Germans were moving in on Moscow. At this point the campaign began to go wrong for Hitler. The German army reached the suburbs of the Soviet capital but met with fierce resistance and failed to capture the city. German troops weren’t equipped for the freezing Russian winter because Hitler thought that the war would be over in three months.

America joins the war: the attack on Pearl Harbor

While the battle for Moscow raged, the most powerful country in the world, the United States of America, became involved in the war. On 7 December 1941 the Japanese went to war against the United States with a surprise attack on the US naval base of Pearl Harbor. The result of this was that the United States joined forces with Britain and the USSR to fight Germany, Japan and Italy. In the end this was to swing the balance of the war decisively against Germany. At first Japan was all-conquering and in the early months of 1942 Japanese forces seized control of much of Eastern Asia and the islands of the Pacific.

The tide turns

In the summer of 1942 the Germans renewed their attack on the USSR. They concentrated their forces in the south and tried to capture the southern city of Stalingrad. A fierce battle for the control of the city was fought in the autumn of 1942. The Soviet force launched a counter-attack in November and the German army eventually surrendered. At the end of January 1943 the German army at Stalingrad surrendered. The battle for Stalingrad was a crucial event. It proved that the Red Army could beat the German army. After Stalingrad Germany was on the defensive and the war began to go against Hitler.

There were further decisive battles in 1942. In June the United States stopped the tide of Japanese conquest at the Battle of Midway Island. After Midway, American forces began a slow process of capturing the islands of the Pacific from the Japanese. In October 1942 the German army in North Africa was defeated by British forces at the Battle of El Alamein. By May 1943 the Germans and Italians had been completely driven out of North Africa.

The Holocaust

Both the Germans and the Japanese treated many of their prisoners with extreme brutality. The most horrific atrocity of the war was the way millions of Jewish civilians were systematically murdered in Europe. This act is now known as the Holocaust. As German forces captured territory in Eastern Europe special army units massacred local Jews and other groups disliked by the Nazi Germans. In July 1941, the German leadership decided on a ‘Final Solution’ to the question of how Jewish people should be treated by the Nazi authorities. Death camps were set up to exterminate the Jewish population. Many were gassed to death; others were used as slave labour until they died. There can be no doubt that Hitler personally approved the decision.

The end game

After the decisive battles of 1942 the war went against Hitler and his allies. However, progress was slow:

–          British and American forces landed in Italy in 1943. The Germans put up stiff resistance to the liberation of Italy. Rome was taken in June 1944 but it wasn’t until 1945 that the whole of Italy was under British and American control.

–          In January 1944, the Germans abandoned the siege of Leningrad, which had been going on for over two years. By the summer of 1944, the Germans were in retreat across the Soviet Union.

–          France was invaded on 6 June 1944. This was known as ‘D-Day’. By 25 August, the British and American forces had reached Paris. The Germans launched a counter-attack in December 1944 in the Ardennes area of Belgium during Operation Market Garden. After some early success the German attack was turned back.

–          The United States liberated territories in the Pacific taken by Japan. The Japanese forces put up ferocious resistance at every stage. In October 1944 the Americans invaded the Philippines. Over 170,000 Japanese soldiers were killed before the capital, Manila, was taken.

German power in Europe finally collapsed in April 1945. Soviet forces captured Berlin and Hitler committed suicide. The German forces finally surrendered on 8 May 1945 but the war continued against Japan. The American government was very concerned at the level of Japanese resistance. The Americans expected a huge loss of life if they invaded and tried to conquer the islands of Japan. American scientists had been for some years on the development of a new kind of weapon – the immensely powerful Atomic Bomb. In August 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The devastation caused by these bombs forced the Japanese government to surrender on 14 August 1945. The Second World War was over.

Twentieth Century History (1945 – 1991)

The Start of the Cold War

The wartime allies become enemies

Soon after the end of the war the USA and the USSR became hostiles towards each other. A period of hostility known as the Cold War lasted until the late 1980s.

Yalta and Potsdam

The leaders of the USA, USSR and Britain met twice in 1945 to discuss the world after the war. They had met once before in Tehran, 1943.

Yalta, February 1945
Leaders present:	Roosevelt (USA), Stalin (USSR), Churchill (Britain)
Discussed:	Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe
Agreed:	Non-communists to be part of emergency governments Free elections as soon as possible
Outcome:	Soviet Union did not allow democracy in PolandGreat bitterness caused in the USA
Potsdam, July 1945
Leaders present:	Truman (USA), Stalin (USSR), Churchill, replaced by Attlee (Britain)
Discussed:	The future running of Germany
Agreed:	Borders between Germany and Poland wiping out Nazi influence arrangements for reparations
Outcome:	USA prevented Soviet Union involvement in the rich Ruhr area of Germany and occupied JapanThe Soviet Union blocked American involvement in Eastern Europe

Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech in March 1946

From Stettin to the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient cities of Central and Eastern Europe: Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Sofia. All these famous cities lie in the Soviet sphere and all are subject to a high and increasing control from Moscow. The Russian-dominated Polish government has been encouraged to make enormous and wrongful inroads upon Germany and mass expulsions of millions of Germans are now taking place. The Communist Parties, which were very small in all of these Eastern States, are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control.

The Soviet take-over

In 1946, Churchill described now an ‘iron curtain’ was put across Europe; the iron curtain divided Soviet-styled states in Eastern Europe from democratic, capitalist states in Western Europe. Between 1945 and 1948 the Soviet Union imposed communist governments on several East European countries:

• Poland
• Bulgaria
• Romania
• Hungary
• Czechoslovakia

The communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948 particularly angered people in the West.

For the Soviet leader, Stalin, the take-over was a defensive move: an attempt to build up a friendly buffer between the USSR and the Western capitalist states.

For the American leader, Truman, the take-over was an offensive move: the first step in a Soviet attempt to impose communism on all the countries of the world.

The American response

Between 1945 and 1949, the Americans developed a policy called ‘containment’. This involved using the power and wealth of the USA to try to stop or ‘contain’ the spread of communism, first of all in Europe and later throughout the world.

Containment in Europe

1947: The Truman Doctrine

The American President Truman said that the world was being divided into free, democratic countries and undemocratic communist states. Truman promised help for any people who wanted to resist communism and immediate help to anti-communist governments in Greece and Turkey.

1947: The Marshall Plan

The economy of Europe was in ruins at the end of the war. The Marshall Plan, named after General George Marshall, the US Secretary of State, aimed to re-build the European economy so that it could resist communism. In theory, East European countries could join but the American made it clear that communist states were not welcome.

1949: the founding of NATO

The USA took the lead in organising a military alliance of non-communist countries in Europe and North America. It called the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. All members agreed to defend each other in case of Soviet attack.

1949: the setting up of West Germany

At the end of the war, Germany was divided into the British, French, American and Soviet zones. The city of Berlin was also divided into four zones. At first both the USA and the USSR wanted a unified Germany. When the Soviet Union took control of much of Eastern Europe, America moved towards the setting up of pro-Western state in the British, French and American zones. West Germany, officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany, was established in May 1949.

The Soviet Reaction to Containment

Stalin, in turn, saw American actions after 1945 as aggressive and a threat to the Soviet Union. The Soviet response was as follows:

1948-1949: the Berlin Blockade

West Berlin was an island of democracy and capitalism in the Soviet zone. Stalin was worried by the possibility of a strong West German state. In June 1948, Stalin blocked all road and rail transport with West Berlin. This was a failure. Britain and the USA organised an unprecedented airlift to stop West Berliners from being starved out. The Blockade was ended in May 1949. The blockade accelerated moves towards a separate West Germany and the NATO alliance.

1949: COMECON

In January 1949, the Soviet Union tried to answer the Marshall Plan by setting up a trading bloc of communist countries. It was called the Council for Mutual Economic Aid or COMECON.

1949: the setting of East Germany

After the official establishment of West Germany, the Soviet zone of Germany was turned into a separate communist state, officially known as the German Democratic Republic.

1949: the Soviet atom bomb

The USA had a monopoly of atomic weapons after 1945. Stalin ordered Soviet scientists to produce an atomic bomb and in 1949 they succeed.

1955: the Warsaw Pact

In 1955, NATO was expanded to include West Germany. The Soviet Union created a military alliance of communist countries known as the Warsaw Pact.

Containing Communism

After the communist take-over of Eastern Europe, US governments were preoccupied with the need to stop the spread of communism. This policy was called containment.

The Fall of China: 1949

Led by Mao Zedong, communists took power in China in 1949. Communist success in China convinced American leaders they needed to be more energetic in a worldwide struggle against communism. This led to a huge increase in American spending on defence.

The Korean War: 1950-3

At the end of the Second World War, Korea was divided in two at the 38^th parallel – North Korea was communist and South Korea was anti-communist. North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950. The Americans won UN support for a war against the invading North Koreans. General MacArthur led a fight-back that drove the North Koreans out of South Korea. MacArthur then continued deep into North Korean territory. This was going beyond ‘containment’ and became an attempt to ‘roll back’ communism.

A massive Chinese army invaded to help the North Koreans in November 1950. The US army was driven back close to the original border in early 1951. There was then a military stalemate. MacArthur wanted to widen the war by attacking China itself. President Truman disagreed and dismissed MacArthur. Peace talks dragged on for two years. The war finally ended in July 1953.

The Cuban Missile Crisis: 1962

Led by Fidel Castro, there was a revolution in Cuba in 1959. Castro introduced communist ideas to Cuba. The US attempted to invade and overthrow Castro, but this ended in disaster at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

In 1962 Khrushchev, the Soviet leader placed nuclear missiles on Cuba. American spy planes discovered them and the American President, Kennedy, insisted that the missiles be removed. There was a real possibility of a nuclear war. Eventually, Khrushchev gave way and agreed to remove the missiles in return for a US promise to remove missiles in Turkey. The ending of the crisis was seen as a victory for Kennedy and a defeat for Khrushchev.

Restricting Soviet influence in the Middle East

Both the United States and the Soviet Union tied to influence states in the Middle East. The US encouraged the new Jewish state of Israel, set up in 1928. Some Arabs, including the governments of Egypt and Syria and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), looked for Soviet help in their conflict with Israel. With American money and weapons, Israel was able to defeat its Arab enemies in a series of wars (1948-9, 1967, and 1973). These defeats convinced the Egyptian president, Sadat, to break with the USSR. The US government enabled Israel and Egypt to sign a peace treaty in 1979.

The Vietnam War: 1965–1975

Vietnam had been a French colony before the Second World War. The French pulled out in 1954 and Vietnam was divided between the communist state in the North and an anti-communist state in South Vietnam. The leader of North Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh.

After 1958 communist guerrillas, known as Vietcong, helped by troops of the regular army of North Vietnam, tried to overthrow the government of South Vietnam. At first the Americans supplied the South with money and weapons and in March 1965 President Johnson sent US combat troops to Vietnam. Eventually there were 540,000 Americans fighting in Vietnam.

The defeat of the United States

The United States was unable to defeat the Vietcong. Many people in the United States were opposed to the war. In January 1968 the Vietcong launched a massive series of attacks called the Tet Offensive. This was not a military success but it convinced American leaders that they would never win in Vietnam. President Johnson was replaced by Richard Nixon, who was determined to pull out of Vietnam. Nixon tried ‘Vietnamisation’ – a policy of reducing American troops and trying to strengthen the forces of South Vietnam. In 1973 the US signed a peace treaty with North Vietnam and American troops left the country. Vietnamisation did not work – without American forces the government of South Vietnam was overthrown by communist forces in 1975. Vietnam became a single, communist state. After the fall of Vietnam several neighbouring countries also became communist. 

After Vietnam: détente

The US presidents of the 1970s – Nixon, Ford and Carter – pursued a policy of ‘détente’. This involved establishing peaceful relationships with the two great communist powers: the USSR and China.

Defeat in Vietnam reduced American self-confidence.

Further disasters followed:

• The pro-American government in Iran was overthrown in a revolution in 1978. American diplomats were taken prisoner and were held hostage from 1979-81.
• A Soviet army invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to support its new communist government.

The End of Détente

The new US President, Ronald Reagan, restored some of America’s self-confidence in the 1980s. He ended détente. He aggressively challenged the Soviet Union and began a new arms race. This period has been called the Second Cold War. Reagan invested in ‘Star Wars’ (officially known as Strategic Defence Initiative). This was intended to be a system for shooting down Soviet missiles in space. The Soviet Union could not compete. Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union and established good relations with Reagan. The arms race came to an end and the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan in 1988-9.

The Soviet Empire 1948-91

The split with Tito

The Yugoslav communist leader, Tito, liberated Yugoslavia from German control without help from Moscow. He argued with Stalin and refused to take orders from Moscow. In 1948 Yugoslavia was expelled from Cominform, the international grouping of communist parties. The Soviet Union opposed a trade ban on Yugoslavia but they survived due to support from the United States. Stalin dealt ruthlessly with other East European countries between 1949 and 1953. He was worried that they might try copy Tito. Leading communists with independent ideas were imprisoned or executed.

Turmoil in the Communist World after Stalin

• After Stalin’s death in 1953 people in Eastern Europe hoped for more freedom from Soviet control.
• The new Soviet leader, Khrushchev, established friendly relations with Yugoslavia in 1955. Hungarians hoped to copy Yugoslavia independence.
• In 1956 unrest in Poland led to reforms and concessions by the communist government. This encouraged Hungarians to demand reforms.

The Hungarian Uprising

In October 1956 unrest in Hungary led to the appointment of a new Prime Minister, the communist reformer, Imre Nagy. People demanded that Hungary should leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral. Nagy agreed but in November 1956 Soviet troops invaded Hungary and imposed a new pro-Soviet government. There was fierce street fighting in which thousands of people were killed. Nagy was arrested and later executed. The United States did nothing to help the Hungarians: people in the West were preoccupied with the Suez crisis.

The Prague Spring

Economic problems caused unrest in Czechoslovakia in 1967. A new communist leader, Dubcek, took power in January 1968. He introduced democratic reforms while remaining communist. In August 1968 Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia to end the reforms. Dubcek lost his job in 1969 a pro-Soviet government was put in place. Afterwards the Soviet leader, Brezhnev, announced the ‘Brezhnev Doctrine’: the Soviet Union would use force to keep communists in power in any country.

1956 and 1968 compared

• In both cases the Soviet Union used force to end reforms in East European countries. New pro-Soviet governments were imposed.
• The Hungarian government wanted to break with the Soviet Union, leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral. The Czechoslovak government wanted much more democracy at home but promised to stay in the Warsaw Pact.
• In both cases the United States did nothing to help. The West was preoccupied with Suez in 1956 and Vietnam in 1968.
• The Hungarians fought against the Soviet invasion – thousands were killed. The Czechoslovak people offered non-violent resistance. The Hungarian leader, Nagy, was executed; the Czechoslovak leader, Dubcek, lost his job but alive and free.

The Berlin War

Between 1958 and 1961 there was a dispute between the Soviet Union and the United States over Berlin. The Soviet leader, Khrushchev, said Western forces should leave the city and that it should become neutral. The US president, Eisenhower, was prepared to compromise but he was replaced by President Kennedy. Kennedy refused to compromise and both leaders publicly threatened war over Berlin. In 1961 the crisis was resolved and the threat of immediate war disappeared, when a wall was built around West Berlin to stop East Germans fleeing the communist state.

Poland and the rise of Solidarity

Shipyard workers in Gdansk went on strike in 1980 in protest against rising prices. They were led by Lech Walesa and formed a new non-communist trade union called Solidarity. Millions of workers joined Solidarity. The Soviet government considered invading Poland in order to crush the union. To avoid this, the Polish communist leader, Jaruzelski, banned Solidarity in December 1981. He declared martial law and imprisoned Solidarity’s leaders without trial but failed to destroy the union. Solidarity did well in elections in 1989 and formed a non-communist government.

Soviet Communism in decline

The Soviet Union was in crisis by the early 1980s:

• The economy had failed to match the economies of America and Western Europe.
• The arms race further reduced living standards.
• There was widespread corruption.
• The Soviet Union was fighting a disastrous war in Afghanistan.

The second Cold War

After the Vietnam War the United States pursued a policy of détente with the Soviet Union. This involved peaceful co-existence and some arms reductions. Ronald Reagan became president of the United States in 1981 and he ended détente and became a new arms race with the USSR.

Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev, a reformist communist, took control of the Soviet Union in 1985. He wanted to improve the Soviet Union by ‘perestroika’ – ‘restructuring’ or reforming the economy – and ‘glasnost’ – greater ‘openness’ and freedom of speech. His reforms undermined the positions of old-style pro-Soviet leaders in other countries. He renounced the ‘Brezhnev Doctrine’ of interference in other countries.

The whole of communist Europe was swept with revolution in 1989. One by one, the communist authorities were overthrown. The Soviet Union led by Gorbachev did nothing to stop this process. The Berlin War was torn down in November 1989. In 1991 the Soviet Union fell apart. After a failed communist coup in August, the republics that made up by the USSR declared their independence. Gorbachev resigned. Russia became separate state ruled by Boris Yeltsin.

Twentieth Century History – United Nations

The United Nations was set up in 1945 by the victors of the Second World War.

Structure of the United Nations

The United Nations consists of six principle organs:

• The General Assembly;
• The Security Council;
• The Economic and Social Council;
• The Trusteeship Council (not in operation today);
• The International Court of Justice;
• The Secretariat.

Organisation of the United Nations

Purpose of the United Nations

The purpose of the United Nations is to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people. It affords the opportunity for countries to balance global interdependence and national interests when addressing international problems.

Aims of the United Nations

The aims of the United Nations were stated in the United Nations Charter of June 1945:

• To keep peace throughout the world;
• To develop friendly relations between nations;
• To work together to help people live better lives, to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms.
• To be a centre for helping nations achieve these aims.

Principles of the United Nations

• All Member States have sovereign equality;
• All Member States must obey the Charter;
• Countries must try to settle their differences by peaceful means;
• Countries must avoid using force or threatening to use force;
• The UN may not interfere in the domestic affairs of any country;
• Countries should try to assist the United Nations.

The UN has not been very successful in peace-keeping. The Security Council has been stopped from taking firm action because of the right of veto held by permanent members and the Cold War conflict between the United States and the USSR.

Power of General Assembly

Functions and powers of the General Assembly:

• Consider and make recommendations on the general principles of cooperation for maintaining international peace and security, including disarmament;
• Discuss any question relating to international peace and security and except where a dispute or situation is currently being discussed by the Security Council, make recommendations on it;
• Discuss, with the same exception and make recommendations on any questions within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and functions of any organ of the United Nations;
• Initiate studies make recommendations to promote international political cooperation, the development and codification of international law, the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms and international collaboration in the economic, social, humanitarian, cultural educational and health fields;
• Make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation that might impair friendly relations among nations;
• Receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs;
• Consider and approve the United Nations budget and establish the financial assessments of Member States;
• Elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council and the members of other United Nations councils and organs and on the recommendation of the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General.

Power of Security Council

When the Security Council is paralysed on a decision by veto, the General Assembly can take charge of the decision.

The functions and powers of the Security Council are:

• To maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations;
• To investigate any dispute or situation with might lead to international friction;
• To recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement;
• To formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments;
• To determine the existence of a treat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken;
• To call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression;
• To take military action against an aggressor;
• To recommend the admission of new Members;
• To exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations in “strategic areas”;
• To recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary General and, together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court of Justice.

Role of Superpowers

The permanent powers of the United Nations are:

• United States (Superpower);
• United Kingdom;
• France;
• Russia;
• China.

United States’ role:

The United Nations was formed in the United States and was placed in New York City and the United States is the leading member.

Veto right

Veto power is wielded solely by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China), enabling them to prevent the adoption of any “substantive” draft Council resolution, regardless of the level of international support for the draft. The veto does not apply to procedural votes, which is significant in that the Security Council’s permanent membership can vote against a “procedural” draft resolution, without necessarily blocking its adoption by the Council.

Collective Security

This was the improvement of the original League of Nations ‘Collective Security’.

Basic assumptions:

• In an armed conflict, member nation-states will be able to agree on which nation is the aggressor;
• All member nation-states are equally committed to contain and constrain the aggression, irrespective of its source or origin;
• All member nation-states have identical freedom of action and ability to join I proceedings against the aggressor;
• The cumulative power of the cooperating members of the alliance for collective security will be adequate and sufficient to overpower the might of the aggressor;
• In the light of the threat posed by the collective might of the nations of a collective security coalition, the aggressor nation will modify its policies or if unwilling to do so, will be defeated.

Peace Making, Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement

UN peace-making brings hostile parties to agreement through diplomatic means. The Security Council sets up UN peacekeeping operations and defines their scope and mandate in its efforts to maintain international peace and security. Most operations involve military duties, such as observing a ceasefire or establishing a buffer zone while negotiators seek a long-term solution. Others may require civilian police or other civilian personnel to help organize elections or monitor human rights. Peace enforcement is a practice of ensuring peace in an area or region. Part of the three part scale between peacekeeping and peace-making, it is sometimes considered to be the midpoint.

Role of Secretary-General

Responsibilities:

• Administrative;
• Human Resources;
• Peacekeeping;
• Meditation.

United Nations Agencies

In addition to peacekeeping, the United Nations has run a number of organisations to ensure economic and deal with a whole range of global problems. This aspect of the work of the United Nations has been more successful than its peacekeeping activities. Organisations include:

• UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation;
• UNICEF – the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund;
• ILO – the International Labour Organisation;
• WHO – the World Health Organisation;
• UNHCR – the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

History

The changing face of the United Nations

In the late 1940s and 1950s, the General Assembly was dominated by the United States. This began to change in the 1950s as more African and Asian colonies became independent and joined the United Nations. In 1945, there were 51 members, by 1965 there were 118. Some of the new states were sympathetic to the USSR; many others were ‘non-aligned’. It became much more difficult of the United States to dominate the General Assembly. The influence of the non-aligned countries increased in 1971 when Communist China joined the United Nations. Non-aligned countries played an increasing role in the agencies of the United Nations. In the late 1980s, the US government claimed that these agencies were anti-American.

The United Nations in Korea and the Congo

A UN army, led by the United Nations, fought the Korean War, 1950-53, against communist North Korea and Communist China. UN support for the war was only possible because the USSR was boycotting the Security Council in 1950. The UN forces drove the communists out of South Korea but were unable to conquer North Korea.

The African state of Congo (modern Zaire) was a Belgian colony. After independence in 1960, it was torn apart by civil war. A UN force was sent to bring peace to the Congo. The leader of the breakaway province of Katanga, Tshombe, defied the United Nations. The United Nations was criticized by the USSR for not doing enough. In 1961, the United Nations took a tougher line with Katanga and finally reunited the Congo in 1963.

Twentieth Century History (1919 – 1939)

International Relations since 1919

The peace treaties of 1919-23

The Big Three

The winners gathered in Paris in 1919 to decide on the future of Europe. The leaders of the victorious countries each had different objectives:

–          Woodrow Wilson, the US President, wanted a fair peace. During the war he called for a fair settlement in his famous Fourteen Points speech (January 1918). The USA had suffered much less than her allies in loss of life and economic damage. He accepted that Germany must be punished but he did not want to be too harsh. He believed in self-determination – that every nation should have its own government.

–          Clemenceau, the French Premier, called for harsh treatment of Germany. Much of the war was fought in France and the level of damage was enormous. His aim was to weaken Germany so much that she would never again try to dominate Europe.

–         Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister, wanted a middle ground between the French and American positions. He was more interested in the British Empire than events in Europe.

The Treaty of Versailles 1919

This dealt with the future of Germany.

–          Germany was forced to disarm. The army was limited to 100,000. Tanks were banned and the navy was limited to six warships. German troops were banned from the Rhineland area, bordering France.

–          The territory of Germany was reduced. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France. Poland gained West Prussia, Posen and part of Upper Silesia; Danzig was to be controlled by the League of Nations. A ‘corridor’ of Polish territory separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. Small territories were given to Belgium, Denmark and Lithuania. The coal-rich Saarland was put under League of Nations control for 15 years and the coal mines were handed over to France for this period. Germany was forbidden from ever uniting with Austria. German colonies were confiscated.

–          Germany was ordered to pay huge compensation or ‘reparations’ to the winning powers. These payments were justified on the grounds that Germany was guilty of starting the war. A war guilt clause was included in this treaty.

The Other Peace Treaties

Other treaties signed at the end of the First World War:

–          The Treaty of St Germain 1919 with Austria;

–          The Treaty of Neuilly 1919 with Bulgaria;

–          The Treaty of Trianon 1920 with Hungary;

–          The Treaty of Sèvres 1920 with Turkey. This was revised in 1923 and replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne.

League of Nations

Structure of the League of Nations

The League had three principle organs:

• General Assembly;
• The Council;
• The Secretariat.

Principal Organs

Chronology of the League of Nations

The main organs of the League of Nations were the General Assembly, the Council and the Secretariat. The General Assembly, which met once a year, consisted of representatives of all the member states and decided on the organization’s policy. The Council included four permanent members (Britain, France, Italy and Japan) and four (later nine) others elected by the General Assembly every three years. The Secretariat prepared the agenda and published reports of meetings.

The Assembly was the annual conference of League member states. The Proceedings of the Assembly appeared as a separate publication for the first three sessions, the first of which was held in Paris on January 16, 1920. Thereafter, until 1938, they were issued as a Special Supplement to the Official Journal. Resolutions passed in the Plenary Sessions were also published in Special Supplements. These supplements were numbered consecutively over the years. Dates for Assemblies and links to list of members of each country’s delegation.

The Council’s main function was to settle international disputes. The numbers of permanent and non-permanent members varied. Council meetings were held in ordinary session four times a year and as often as needed in extraordinary sessions. 107 public sessions were held between 1920 and 1939. From 1922 onwards, the minutes appeared in the Official Journal. Records for meetings held before 1922 were published separately. The resolutions can only be found in the minutes of the meetings. Aufricht’s Guide lists Assembly and Council meeting records.

The Secretariat carried out the day-to-day work of the League, under the direction of the Secretary-General. The three Secretaries-General were Sir Eric Drummond, 1919-1933; Joseph Avenol, 1933-1940; and Sean Lester, 1940-1946. The Secretary-General wrote annual reports on the work of the League. These are listed in Aufricht’s Guide.

The rise and fall of the League of Nations

The Establishment of the League

–         The idea of the League of Nations was discussed by American, British and French politicians during the First World War, as an organisation that would prevent future war.

–           The American President, Woodrow Wilson, was very keen on the idea of the League. He was very realistic but not very practical about how the League should work.

–      The League was set up as part of the Treaty of Versailles, 1919. It began work in 1920. Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland.

–          The plan was that the League would bring peace to the world through a system called ‘collective security’. Collective security meant that the members of the League would act together to punish and stop any country that attacked another state. This punishment could be either economic sanction: a ban on trade with an aggressor country; or military action: the use of force.

The Organisation of the League

–          Decisions were taken by the Council. This small group was dominated by a few powerful countries who were permanent members. At first the permanent members were Britain, France, Italy and Japan. Other countries took it in turns to have temporary membership of the Council.

–          At first it was expected that the USA would be a leading member of the League. President Wilson had a disagreement with US Senate about the League. In 1920 the Senate refused to let the USA join the League.

–          Any decisions taken by the Council had to be unanimous: every member of the Council had to agree before any action could be taken.

–          All member states could send representatives to the Assembly. This was a place to discuss the problems of the world. It had little real power.

The Work of the League

The League was responsible of several organisations that did good work in a number of fields. These organisations still exist today as part of the United Nations and included:

–          The Refugee Organisation which helped the victims of war;

–          The International Labour Organisation which tried to improve working conditions;

–          The Health Organisation which encouraged schemes to improve healthcare.

Successes in Peace-keeping

The League made some progress in solving arguments between states during the 1920s. Often the success stories involved arguments between smaller countries:

1920:	An argument was settled between Finland and Sweden about the Åland Islands;
1922:	The League rescued Austria from a financial crisis;
1925:	Action by the League stopped war from breaking out between Greece and Bulgaria;
1926:	Germany joined the League as part of the Locarno settlement;
1934:	The Soviet Union became a member of the League.

Failures in Peace-keeping

From the beginning, the League found it difficult to stop powerful countries from attacking other states. The weakness of the League became clear to the world in the 1930s:

1923:	Italy seized the Greek islands of Corfu. The League could not agree on any action;
1931:	Japan attacked the Chinese province of Manchuria. The League did little and Japan remained in Manchuria. Japan did not like been criticised by the League and left the organisation in 1933;
1934:	Hitler despised the League since it was set up. A year after he took power, Germany left the League;
1935:	Italy invaded Abyssinia. The League tried to stop Italy through use of economic sanctions. This did not include the ban on the sale of oil and they failed. After this the League wasn’t taken seriously.

Why did the League fail?

Some powerful countries were not members

The League was greatly weakened by the refusal of the USA to join. If America had joined, the League would have had more power and authority. Other powerful countries were either excluded or chose to leave. Germany did not join until 1926. The USSR was excluded until 1934, by which time Germany had left the League.

Britain and France could not always agree

In the absence of the USA the most powerful states in the League were Britain and France. They did not trust each other and often disagreed about how the League should work. The rule that Council decisions had to be unanimous made it even more difficult for the League to make decisions.

The League lacked teeth

Collective security did not work. France, Britain and other member states were more concerned about their own interests than the authority of the League. As a result they were reluctant to get involved in collective security. The League could not make powerful countries obey its rulings.

The Depression undermined the League

The League was weakened by the Great Depression that swept the world after 1929. At a time of economic crisis governments were less interested in what happened in faraway places. Japan and Italy were able to invade other countries without being punished effectively by the League.

The 1930s: the road to war

The Impact of the Depression

After Locarno in 1925 it seemed that the world was entering a new period of peace. The years of optimism ended with the Wall Street Crash in October 1929. Many American investors were ruined when millions of dollars were wiped off the value of shares. This led to a great economic crisis that swept the whole world. Most governments made matters worse by ‘protectionism’: putting up taxes on imports.

The Depression had serious political consequences that made war more likely:

–          The USA became more isolated. Roosevelt was elected US President in 1932. At first, he was more concerned with rebuilding the American economy than foreign affairs.

–          The Depression encouraged extreme politics in Germany. The fanatical nationalist, Adolf Hitler, became Chancellor in 1933.

–          In Italy and Japan, leaders were keen to win new territory to offset the effect of the economic crisis.

–          Both Britain and France went through political turmoil and felt less able to take a firm line against aggressive nationalists.

A Catalogue of Aggression

Japan, Italy and Germany went on the offensive in the 1930s. In each country the leaders believed in aggressive nationalism. They challenged the peace by seizing land from other countries. At first, other powerful countries did virtually nothing to stop them.

1931: Japan seized the Chinese province of Manchuria.

Japan was criticised by the League of Nations but no action was taken to stop Japanese aggression.

1932-3: A major disarmament conference ended in failure.

The new leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler, took Germany out of the conference. Germany also left the League of Nations.

1935-6: Italy conquered the African state of Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia).

The League of Nations imposed a ban on trade with Italy but this did not include restrictions on the sale of petrol. The trade ban did not stop Italy from conquering Abyssinia.

1936: Hitler marched German troops into the Rhineland.

The positioning of German forces in this border area was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. The government of France considered sending troops to stop the Germans but they decided to take no action.

1938: In March Germany annexed Austria.

The unification of Germany and Austria was called the ‘Anschluss’. In September Germany annexed the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France agreed to the takeover of the Sudetenland.

1939: Germany invaded the remaining part of Czechoslovakia in March.

Hitler then threatened Poland and demanded control of the City of Danzig.

The Collapse of the Locarno Settlement

–          In 1925 Britain, France and Germany accepted the borders of Western Europe established in the Treaty of Versailles. Agreement between these powerful countries ended in the 1930s.

–          Germany left the League of Nations in 1933.

–          In 1935 an anti-German grouping in Britain, France and Italy was established called the Stresa Front.

–          In 1936, after Abyssinia, the Stresa Front fell apart.

–          Italy, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936; they pledged to fight against communism.

Appeasement

In every international crisis between 1931 to 1938 Britain and France refused to use force to stop aggression. Often they tried to negotiate a deal and to give away to the aggressor states. This was called ‘appeasement’. It was the policy of the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. The climax of appeasement came at the Munich Conference in 1938. Here Britain and France agreed to the carving-up of Czechoslovakia: the Sudetenland area was handed over to Hitler.

Appeasement has been widely criticised as a weak response to aggression. Some critics say that appeasement encouraged more aggression. Recently historians have been more sympathetic and have tried to understand why Chamberlain believed in appeasement.

–          Appeasement was based on the idea that Mussolini and Hitler were reasonable men who had just grievances.

–          The richest country in the world was the USA. Its policy was ‘isolationist’ – Americans wanted nothing to do with foreign problems. Without American support it was hard for Britain and France to take action against aggression.

–          British leaders were very worried about the defence of the British Empire. They avoided conflict in Europe in order to protect the Empire.

–          Under Chamberlain, appeasement went hand in hand with rearmament. He wanted to make sure that Britain was properly armed before risking war in Europe.

The End of Appeasement

Having been successful in the Rhineland, Austria and the Sudetenland, Hitler continued his aggressive foreign policy. In March 1939 he seized the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia.

In the early summer of 1939 Hitler prepared for a war against Poland. He created a crisis over the city of Danzig. He did not believe that Britain or France would help Poland.

The complete take-over of Czechoslovakia led to an abandonment of appeasement in Britain and France. They got ready for war with Germany. Hitler thought they were bluffing.

Both sides tried to win the support of Stalin, the Soviet leader. Hitler was successful. A German-Soviet Pact was signed in August 1939. Hitler felt without Soviet support Britain and France would not risk war.

On 1 September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland. To his surprise Britain and France responded by declaring war on 3 September 1939. The Second World War had begun.