Yash Kumar

Waldron
IB World History 1st Hour
09/02/2015
Chapter 4 Journal Entry
Section 1: Summary
The period following the war was one of major concerns. These ranged in the areas of
internationalism, empires, and autarchy. The first major issue pertained to Korea. As delegated in
the Treaty of Versailles, Korea was under the control of Japan, which had annexed the peninsula
in 1910. However, this annexation triggered Korean rebellion and resulted in massacres that
caused a massive increase in tensions. This situation indicated three types of futures: one of
independence through isolation, one of national development with integration into the global
community, and one of development through an empire. These visions are expressed the aspects
of nationalism in a country. For this specific example, Japan was continuing their interest with an
empire. The reason that nationalism had surged in many countries was due wartime propaganda
that had celebrated each nation and glorified nationhood. For this reason, it loosened the grip
European powers on its colonies and empires, and led the world to look for new ways of
international integration.
One method of international integration was internationalism. This was primarily seen as
Woodrow Wilsons program for bringing the word lasting peace. Wilsons idea rested upon two
ideas: self-determination and international government. The main body responsible for the
maintaining the peace of the world was the League of Nations. This body resulted from the Paris
Peace Conference. The charter established a permanent body that had the trappings of
government. Members would commit themselves to disarmament and peaceful resolution of
conflicts. The main problem with the League was that it lacked the unambiguous power to
coerce. The League failed to establish mechanism which it would uphold the tenants of peace it
was founded on. The League failed to resolve international disputes adequately, and as a result,
became a stage for theatrics and a site for resolving the details of policies that had been
determined by the major powers behind closed doors.
Despite its limitations, the League produced noteworthy international agreements. One of
these was the Washington Naval Conference. This conference was hosted by United States and
discussed the balance of power in the Pacific and limits on naval forces. The significance of this
conference was that it avoid an expensive naval race among US, Britain, and Japan. The
agreement had a limit that the ratio of vessels between the three countries would be 5:5:3, with
Italy and France with even less tonnage. Thus, the Washington Conference achieved arms
control, but it carved up the Pacific into spheres of influence. These included US supreme in
western waters, Britain in the southeast, and Japan in the northeast. As similar situation accorded
at Locarno. The problem at this meeting was the reintegration of Germany in to the community
of World War I in order to prevent its alliance with Soviet Russia and transferring power
eastward. The solution was a framework of alliances and guarantees that elicited German
commitment to territorial status quo in exchange for restoration of its position in world
diplomacy. While both these conferences helped stabilize international relations, they also
illustrated the weakness of the League. However, the League was able to keep peace of over the
clauses in the Treaty of Versailles. One example is the negotiations of the control of Upper

Yash Kumar
Waldron
IB World History 1st Hour
09/02/2015
Silesia between Poland and Germany. In addition, to keeping peace, League undertook social and
humanitarian actives that attempted to restore international cooperation. This shows that the
League was not so much reforming the world as undertaking damage control and restoration of
international diplomacy.
Another internationalisms were movements such as Pacifism and Comitnern. Pacifist
groups tended to argue that weapons promoted warfare and conflict and thus saw disarmament as
key to ensuring peace. In turn, Russian-sponsored communist groups were organized into
Comintern or Communist International. This was Russian-led and expressed many of the same
ideas as Pacifists especially regarding disarmament. However, they saw little hope of that in a
world dominated by capitalism and thus attempted to cause a social revolution that would bring
an end to war. The significance was that these groups inflamed nationalism due to the wartime
propaganda campaigns as evidenced by Socialist Party in Germany and rise of the Weimer
Republic. Independence movements of masses where exploited peasants and workers rose up
against imperial rule in order to achieve freedom were rare as situations were very complicated.
This is best illustrated by both Ireland and Egypt. In Ireland, the desire of Irish nationalists to be
independent led to civil war and massive violence. A similar situation was in Egypt as the
country was intent on protecting the Suez Canal. However, in both situations the response by the
British was continued rule by commitment of troops and wealth.
Moreover, the greatest magnitude of independence movements was Indias movement for
independence. India was Great Britains largest and richest imperial possession. Politically, India
was fragmented between the two-thirds of the subcontinent under direct British supervision
while the reaming was under control of hereditary princes. British maintained dominion or raj
over this huge empire. The first political party to speak for all of India was the Indian National
Congress. The first spurts of nationalistic sentiment that rose amongst Congress members were
when the desire to be represented in the bodies of government, to have a say, a vote in the
lawmaking and issues of administration of India. Congressmen saw themselves as loyalists, but
wanted an active role in governing their own country, albeit as part of the Empire. The
significance was a start of a successful revolution by employing civil disobedience effectively
with demonstrations and boycotts. With British responding with violence, the Congress Party
gained popularity and was also led by Gandhi. Gandhi utilized Satyagraha, which is a spinoff of
the principle of civil disobedience. This was leading force of the revolution against the British
and was embodied by the Congress Party. Thus, Congress Party was heavily involved in Indias
future.
Besides the political changes brought about by World War I, the war also created a host of
new economic concerns. These included economies of dependency. This was the fact that other
areas of the world were dependent on the West. Thus, when economies in Europe or America
declined, then Latin America were left in depression. Furthermore, due to the role of export
economies, many boom-bust cycles were created in regions such as Latin American and Africa.
This caused political instability as seen by the Mexican Revolution. The significance of these
dependencies was that it demonstrated that although economic development along European
lines demanded foreign capital, such investment triggered social changes no one could control.

Yash Kumar
Waldron
IB World History 1st Hour
09/02/2015
Section 2: Key Terms
League of Nations: This body resulted from the Paris Peace Conference. The charter
established a permanent body that had the trappings of government. Members would
commit themselves to disarmament and peaceful resolution of conflicts. The significance
is that it was the first major attempt to achieve global peace, but its failures later
influenced the United Nations.
Washington Naval Conference: This conference was hosted by United States and
discussed the balance of power in the Pacific and limits on naval forces. The significance
of this conference was that it avoid an expensive naval race among US, Britain, and
Japan. The agreement had a limit that the ratio of vessels between the three countries
would be 5:5:3, with Italy and France with even less tonnage.
Treaty of Locarno: This treaty solved the problem of reintegration of Germany in to the
community of World War I without reversing the clauses of Treaty of Versailles in order
to prevent its alliance with Soviet Russia and transferring power eastward. The solution
was a framework of alliances and guarantees that elicited German commitment to
territorial status quo in exchange for restoration of its position in world diplomacy. The
significance of this was that it helped stabilize international relations, but also
undermined Leagues already weak peacekeeping authority.
Mexican Revolution: This was an extended civil war that profoundly affected Mexicos
political and social structure. The revolution did not result in democracy but avoid brutal
dictatorships. The significance was that it demonstrated that although economic
development along European lines demanded foreign capital, such investment triggered
social changes no one could control.
Congress Party: The first spurts of nationalistic sentiment that rose amongst Congress
members were when the desire to be represented in the bodies of government, to have a
say, a vote in the lawmaking and issues of administration of India. Congressmen saw
themselves as loyalists, but wanted an active role in governing their own country, albeit
as part of the Empire. The significance was a start of a successful revolution by
employing civil disobedience effectively with demonstrations and boycotts.
Satyagraha: This is mobilization of the force of truth. It is a spinoff of civil
disobedience, inspired by Thoreau, and yields that it was better for reformers to meet
injustice with reverence for life and nonviolence (ahimsa). This was in the form of
peaceful demonstrations and noncooperation. The significance was that it led the format
of revolution against the British and also later inspired Martin Luther King Jr.
Boer War: With the defeat of the Zulus, and the Pedi, the Transvaal Boers were able to
give voice to the growing resentment against the 1877 British annexation of the Transvaal
and complained that it had been a violation of the Sand River Convention of 1852, and
the Bloemfontein Convention of 1854. The significance is that is shows the increase in
nationalism, but also shows the British reliance on force and their wealth.
Communist International: Also known as Comintern. This was Russian-led and
expressed many of the same ideas as Pacifists especially regarding disarmament.

Yash Kumar
Waldron
IB World History 1st Hour
09/02/2015
However, they saw little hope of that in a world dominated by capitalism and thus
attempted to cause a social revolution that would bring an end to war. The significance
was that these groups inflamed nationalism due to the wartime propaganda campaigns
especially in Germany.
Section 3: Analysis
Essential Question: To what extent was the League of Nations a success?
Originating out of the Paris Peace Conference, the League of Nations was established to
maintain international stability. However, it is key to analyze that the League was not so much
reforming the world as it was undertaking damage control and restoration. In these aspects, the
League of Nations can be considered a success. However, it cannot be considered an overall
success due to its structure and failures.
The first area of concern was leadership of France and Britain in the League of Nations.
This was weakening to the goal of the League. For example, when the USA did not join the
League, it left both powers lacking the major military, economic and political power needed to
uphold the League decisions. Hence, both countries often disagreed with the course of action or
were slow or hesitant. Britain was more interested in rebuilding British trade and looking after
the British Empire than in being an international police force. On the other hand, Frances main
concern was still Germany, and it desired the League to enforce the treaties. Both countries
suffered from the impact of the First World War and the Depression on their economies and a
result were not willing to commit forces to events a long way from home. For this reason, Britain
and France seemed to fail to commit to making tough decisions and hence resulted in many
failures of the League.
Another internal factor that resulted in failures was the fact that some countries viewed
the League with suspicion. This is contradictory to Wilsons idea as he hoped the League would
preserve world peace and encourage international cooperation. However, Wilsons idealism and
beliefs were not shared by the cynical Europeans as less than half the worlds nations wanted to
join. For example, Germany and its allies were not allowed to join until they were considered
suitable. The USSR was not invited to join because Britain and France did not recognize the
Communist government. Hence, due to the failure to keep the cooperation of a majority of
nations, the League was inherently unable to keep the overall international peace.
The results of these two inherent problems with the League along with the inability for it
to coerce decisions resulted in many failures. One example is Vilna. This was claimed by
Lithuania and Poland and was occupied by Polish forces. The League tried to negotiate to
remove the Polish forces but failed. League members were not willing to supply armed forces as
Britain and France saw Poland as a barrier against Germany and Russia and hence shows its
inability to maintain the peace. Another example was the Russo-Polish War as Poland was not
content with its eastern borders and decided to seize White Russia and Ukraine. The League was
unable to prevent this warfare. In fact, Poland was backed by France and Britain. This shows that
due to the leadership of France and Britain, the league was motivated by self-interest rather than

Yash Kumar
Waldron
IB World History 1st Hour
09/02/2015
international stability and hence cannot have achieved overall success. Further incidents include
Greece vs turkey, the Memel, and the Corfu Incidents which all ended in with the League being
powerless to prevent conflict. Another major example is the Invasion of Ruhr by France. As seen
by the previous examples as well, the League was unable to prevent France and Belgium from
invading the Ruhr after Germany failed to pay its second reparations installment. In fact, France
did not even consult the League before it took action, which highlights that the League was not
considered a major body. Thus, the League failed to bring about disarmament and also to solve
several problems. This was often in the facet of carrying the self-determination policy out. This
was mainly due to it was limited in its ability to protect the rights of ethnic minorities in the new
central and eastern European states. These failures show why the League of Nations was not an
overall success.
However, as mentioned before, the League of Nations was a success in preventing
majority of conflicts. Specifically, the League was at its best when dealing with small nations in
the 1920s as they were willing to accept the Leagues authority. Both Sweden and Finland
claimed the Aaland Islands. The League decided they should be awarded to Finland and this was
accepted by Sweden, which shows how the League avoided war. Other examples include
Yugoslavia vs Albania, Mosul, and Greece vs. Bulgaria over Macedonia. The last major success
was the issue of Upper Silesia. This was a dispute between Poland and Germany. A plebiscite in
1921 decided that the division of the territory was tight, and the riots followed. The League was
asked to intervene. The territory was divided between Poland and Germany. Germany got most
land, but the part given to Poland contained the rich industrial area of Silesia, so the Germans
were embittered by this loss. However, the peaceful resolution of this conflict shows the
Leagues success. Furthermore, the League demonstrated this again with its successful running
of the Danzig and the Saar. The League also helped keep the peace with economic endeavors, as
it stabilized the currencies of Austria and Hungary in the 1920s by helping to raise loans to save
Austria from bankruptcy. Furthermore, the League undertook large amounts of social and
humanitarian activities. These were headed by different committees. One committee working
with International Health Office helped check the spread of tropical diseases such as yellow
fever and malaria. The League also helped return 400,000 prisoners of war to their own countries
and fond homes for countless refugees. One example of this was the expulsion of Greeks and
Armenians from Turkey. In addition, its Communication and Transport Organization established
conventions governing travel between countries which help promote cooperation.
When comparing the success and failures of the League, it is clear that League was
successful in its attempt to restore damage after the war and prevent conflicts. However, due to
its inherent structural flaws and lack of power to coerce decisions it cannot overall be considered
a success. But, the League provided crucial insight into later international diplomacy and
provided a resurge of diplomacy which was necessary considering the failure of the July Crisis.

Section 4: OPVL (Map 4.1)

Yash Kumar
Waldron
IB World History 1st Hour
09/02/2015
The map shown on page 123 illustrates territorial changes in Europe and the Middle East after
World War I. This map help outlines the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles and show the
changes in the Central Power and the new mandates by the League of Nations and this is its
origins. The purpose of the map is to show how the Europe and the Middle East territorially
changed after World War I and the shift in power. The timeframe of the map is very crucial
because it provides viewers with a representation of power immediately after the war and can
show how the war shaped Europe and the Middle East. For this reason, this map is a valuable
resource because it shows the changes in power struggles after World War I and the territorial
provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. For example, it shows Upper Silesia as an area lost by
German Empire and gained by Poland. The limitations of this map is that it does not show the
areas controlled by Great Britain, the largest empire at that time, and its scope is limited to
Europe and Middle East. Thus, while it provides a great outlook onto the changes in power and
territory in Europe and the Middle East following World War I, it fails to provide a global picture
of the Wars effect especially in the Pacific.