CAUSES AND RESULTS OF

THE FIRST WORLD WAR

EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE
BETWEEN 1870 AND 1914 IN
EUROPE IN RELATION TO
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
• German consisted of 39 different
states mostly under the influence
of Austria.
• The most influential state was the
Kingdom of Prussia.
• In 1862 King William I of Prussia
appointed Otto von Bismarck as
Prime Minister.
• Bismarck wanted to unite all the
states into a powerful German
Empire under Prussian control.
• Austria however opposed to this
idea since she was controlling
German states.
• France too opposed to this move
because she felt that a strong
unified Germany would be a threat
to her security.
• Bismarck attacked and defeated
Austria in a seven Week’s War in
1866.
• The defeat of Austria led to
Hungary achieving autonomy but
after some agreement the country
became Austria-Hungary.
• Bismarck then fought with France in
1870 during Franco-Prussian War.
A. UNIFICATION OF GERMANY
• It was proclaimed on 18 January
1871 in the Hall of Mirrors at
the Palace of Versailles.
• William I became the Kaiser of
new German Empire with
Bismarck as its Chancellor.
• France lost treasured coal and iron
territories of Alsace and Lorraine.
• France was also asked to pay 5
billion francs in 3 years as
reparations.
[Link] OF BALANCE OF
POWER IN EUROPE
• After 1815, Russia, Austria, France
and Prussia were the same in military
and political strength.
• No one of them could dominate the
other hence there was peace in
Europe.
• Unification of Germany made it to be
the most economically and militarily
powerful nation.
• The balance of power went to a single
state (German).
• France and Russia formed Dual
Alliance which shifted the balance of
power away from Germany.
C. NATIONALISM
• This was a cause of conflict in the
Balkans.
• Most states in the region had sought
for independence from the Turkish
Empire.
• There was instability hence the
region was referred to as the “sick
man of Europe.”
• Its ruler, Sultan Abdul Hamid II was
disliked because of his repressive
policies, murder and torture.
D. IMPERIALISM

• This was a dominant theme in the

politics of Europe.
• After 1871, France turned to West
Africa for overseas territory.
• After 1880, Kaiser William II felt that
Germany should build a worldwide
territory like Britain.
• Imperialism caused conflicts among
European powers and the need to
defend strategic regions increased
expenditure on military building.
E. CAPITALISM
• The industrialised European nations
converted regions of Africa and
Asia into production of raw
materials for the western nations.
• This led to European nations
fighting for Africa and Asia for
control.
MAJOR COUNTRIES INVOLVED
IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR
• The war was fought between the
Central Powers and the Allied Powers
(Allies)
ALLIED POWERS (ALLIES)
• In 1914 the Allies comprised Britain,
France, Russia and Serbia.
• Later Italy joined in May 1915,
Romania (August 1916) and USA
(April 1917)

CENTRAL POWERS
• Was made up of Germany and
Austria-Hungary.
• Later were joined by Turkey
(November 1914) and Bulgaria
 CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD
WAR
1. POLITICAL ALLIANCES
• Political Alliances were friendship
agreements in which countries
pledged to assist each other in case
of war.
• It dates back to the 1871 Franco-
Prussian war when Germany
 defeated France.
• Germany snatched away the French
economic provinces of Alsace and
Lorraine.
• Bismarck feared that France would
one day wish to revenge in order to
regain her lost territories.
• Bismarck hence thought that to
prevent France from revenging was to
 THE THREE EMPEROR’S
LEAGUE (1872)
• Bismarck brought together Kaiser
William I, Franz Joseph and Czar
Alexander II (Austria-Hungary) into
an alliance in 1872.
AIMS OF BISMARCK
• To control Austria-Hungary
 AGREEMENTS MADE
• Mutual military assistance against
France.
• The three promised to officially gain
Russian influence in Bulgaria.

PROBLEMS OF THE ALLIANCE

• Colonial rivalries between Russia and
Austria-Hungary affected the alliance
 i.e Russia wanted Ottoman Empire to
disintegrate into separate states fro
easy control while Austria-Hungary
was determined to prevent its collapse
to avoid slave nationalism.

THE DUAL ALLIANCE (1879)

• Bismarck made secrete arrangements
with Austria-Hungary in September
except those touching on Russia.

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE (1882)

• Italy and France were interested in
Tunisia.
• Bismarck decided to use the situation
to divert attention of France away
from Alsace-Lorraine.
• He therefore assured France that
Germany would support France to
settle in Tunisia.
• Hence France occupied Tunis in
1881.
• Consequently Italy was drawn into
Triple Alliance in 1882.
• It was made with Germany and
Austria-Hungary.
 AGREEMENTS MADE
• The two pledged to support Italy in
case France and Russia attacked her.
• If any of the three launched a
‘preventive’ or ‘defensive’ attack, the
others would remain neutral.
 THE REINSURANCE TREATY
(1887)
• Bismarck secretly signed a treaty of
neutrality with Russia in 1887.
• They pledged to be neutral in case
one of them was at war.
• German’s intention was to avoid a
two-front war with Russia and France.
• However young Kaiser William II
(1888-1918) quarreled with Bismarck
over domestic policy.
• Hence Bismarck was forced to retire
in March 1890.
 THE DUAL ENTENTE (1893)
• It was signed between Russia and
France in 1893.
• The alliance ended German
domination of Europe and the balance
of power was reaffirmed.
• The two agreed to offer each other
military aid in case one of them was
at war with Germany.
 THE ANGLO-JAPANESE
ALLIANCE (1902)
• It was between Britain and Japan after
Britain had stopped Isolationist policy
• the two agreed to help each other if
either of the them was at war.
• Japan further promised to safeguard
British colonial interests in the Far
East in times of war.
 THE ENTENTE CORDIALE (1904)
• It was a friendly alliance signed
between Britain and France due to
behaviour of Kaiser William II.

AGREEMENTS MADE
• They agreed to sort out their
differences hence:
• France recognised Egypt as a British
sphere of influence while Britain
promised diplomatic support for
French ambitions in Morocco.

THE TRIPPLE ENTENTE (1907)

• Russia was weakened after defeat in
1904/05 Russo-Japanese war and
internal revolution.
• The signing of Anglo-French (Entente
Cordiale), Russia knew that it would
be difficult to get support from France
without being in good terms with
Britain.
• Therefore this alliance was signed
between Britain, France and Russia
on 3 August 1907.
• They agreed to resolve their
• They also agreed to assist each other
if either of them was at war with
Germany.

POLITICAL ALLIANCE AND

OUTBREAK OF WAR IN 1907
• Alliance system caused serious threat
to peace in Europe.
• Europe got divided into two hostile
camps: Triple Alliance and Triple
Entente.
• Lack of precise knowledge about
arrangements created suspicion, fear
and tension among nations.
• The situation escalated minor
conflicts as the countries started
provoking each other.
2. ARMS RACE AND MILLITARISM
• Arms race refers to the competition
between countries to increase the
number or power of their weapons.
• Militarism is the belief that a
country needs strong army for it to
have political power or influence.
• The two involved the production of
war machines, build up of battleships,
drawing up of war plans
 REASONS FOR ARMS RACE
AND MILITARISM
1. Each country wanted to ensure her
security hence increasing the size of
its army.
2. A powerful navy and a strong army
would ensure a balance of power.
3. A bid army and a formidable navy
gave a particular country prestige.
 THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN
• It was a plan drawn by Count von
Schlieffen of Germany in which she
could win a war in Europe in a quick
knockout blow.
• Germany would first defeat France by
going through Belgium.
• The Germany would turn to Russia b4
 she was prepared.
• The hope was that the plan would
work because Russia had the poorest
railway network in Europe so they
would face the difficulties in
supplying their troops.
 PLAN 17
• It was made by France in which they
arranged a strong defensive line along
their 332 kilometer boarder with
Germany.
• The plan was designed to regain
Alsace and Lorraine.
 ARMS RACE AND THE
OUTBREAK OF THE WAR IN 1914
• Arms race created tension and
hostility between the two rival camps.
• It brought about favourable conditions
for the outbreak of a major war since
Generals started preparing for the
undeclared war e.g when Germany
formulated the Schlieffen plan, France
responded with Plan 17.
• It gave way to military self
confidence hence any slight
provocation would draw countries to
war.
3. NATIONALISM IN THE BALKANS
• Balkans is a region to the south west
of Europe.
• It had mixed ethnic groups such as
Slavs and Croats.
• It consisted of states such as Bosnia,
Serbia, Greece, Herzegovina and
Montenegro.
• Most of them had declared
themselves independent of the
weakening Turkish Empire.
• This led to three powers to be
interested in the region.

1. SERBIA
• she wished to create a strong state
to include Bosnia, Herzegovina,
 and Montenegro.
• She was supported by Russia.

2. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
• She had problems with Slav
speaking people in her empire who
demanded independence hence was
ready to suppress this nationalism.
• Secondly she wanted to gain a
continuous territory in the Balkans
however was blocked by Serbia.
• Consequently Austria-Hungary was
looking for an opportunity to wipe out
Serbia on the map even if it meant
war.
3. RUSSIA
• She had the largest number of Slav-
speaking people and so she
considered herself as the protector
of all Slavs.
• Russia also wanted a trade route to
the Mediterranean Sea through the
Balkans straits.
• In a summary Balkan region was
politically unstable due to:
a. The region contained various ethnic
groups with differing customs and
languages.
b. Increasing growth of nationalism in
the Turkish Empire.
c. New nations which got
independence from Turkey were in
d. Both Russia and Austria-Hungary
wanted to control the region.
 HIGHLIGHTS OF FIRST
WORLD WAR (1914 – 1918)
1. MURDER AT SARAJEVO (1914)
• On 28th June 1914, nephew and
heir to the emperor Franz Joseph,
Archduke Francis Ferdinand with
his wife, Sophia were shot dead by
a Serb terrorist Gavrillo Princip.
• Hence Austria –Hungary vowed to
deal with Serbia.
• They got assurance of military
support from Germany.
• Austria-Hungary hence set tough
conditions for Serbia to meet.
• On 29th July, Russia ordered a
general mobilization of her troops.
• Germany ordered Russia to
cancel it.
• Russia never responded hence
Germany declared war on Russia
on 1st August 1914.
• On 3rd August, Germany declared
war on France.
• On 6th August, Austria-Hungary
declared war on Russia.
• Britain declared war on Germany
on 4 August.
th

• In the Far East, Japan declared

war on Germany on 23 August
and on Austria-Hungary on 25
August.
2. ENTRY OF ITALY
• Italy remained neutral, arguing
that her Allies’ actions were
aggressive.
• Later, Italy signed the Secret
London Treaty in May 1914 in
which she was promised
territories such as Trentino, South
Tyrol, Istria after the war.
• Hence Italy entered the war on
the side of the Allies.
3. RUSSIA WITHDRAWAL, 1917
• By 1917, disorder grew in Russia
and on 3 March 1918, Russia:
 Had lost huge territories to
Germany including the rich
wheat lands of Ukraine
 Lost important coal and Iron
regions.
Had to pay a compensation sum
of 300 million roubles to
Germany.
• Russia pulled out of the war.
• Germany moved its troops to the
western Front hoping the Allies
would be defeated before
American soldiers arrived.
• As Russians pulled out of the
war, American troops arrived
in great numbers.
4. ENTRY OF USA
• Initially Americans provided
supplies and money to the
Allies.
• American opinion changed
when Germany submarine sunk
the Lustania (British passenger
ship) on 7 may 1917.
 1200 civilians got drowned in
which 128 were American
citizens.

• USA hence declared war on

Germany.
5. WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE.
• Before the war, jobs were socially
classified into “men’s and
women’s”
• As millions of men went to the
war, women joined workforce in
large numbers.
• Women worked as messengers,
ticket sellers and in heavy
industry such as building and
steel works.
• At the battle front they served
as nurses and ambulance
drivers.
6. ARMISTICE
• USA’s entry brought in vast
resources onto the Allied sides.
• They also lent them out money,
food and weaponry to be paid
back after the war.
• Bulgaria was the first to surrender
on 29 September 1918.
• By 3 November 1918, Austria-
Hungary stopped fighting.
• The Allies rejected the German
request for an armistice.
• When Kaiser William II was
abdicated, the Allies agreed to
negotiate with Germany.
• Hence an armistice was signed at
Compiegne in France on 11
November 1918 and all fighting
officially ended at 11:00am on the
same day.
FACTORS THAT LED TO THE
DEFEAT OF THE CENTRAL
POWERS
1. COLLAPSE OF THE SCHLIEFFEN
PLAN
• The failure of the Schlieffen Plan
frustrated German hopes of an
early quick victory.
• When Russia sent troops into
East Prussia, Germany
transferred two of its armies to
face Russians on the Eastern
Front and this reduced the
number of German troops on
the Western Front.
2. MULTIPLE FRONT
• Italian entry into the war in 1915
opened up another front for the
Central Powers to face.
• It forced Austria-Hungary to re-
deploy some of its troops to defend
her southern boarders with Italy.
• This dispersal of troops reduced
the impact of Central Powers on
the Allies.
3. ENTRY OF THE USA
• The arrival of the US soldiers
brought vast amount of resources,
money and manpower onto the
side of the Allies.
4. GERMAN UNRESTRICTED
SUBMARINE CAMPAIGN
• The introduction of the convoy
system enabled the Allies to survive
the U-boat submarine campaigns.
• While German and her allies run
short of supplies, British and
French were kept supplied by arms,
munitions and food stuffs.
5. WEAKNESS OF GERMANY’S
ALLIES
• Due to their weaknesses, Germany
had to deploy some of her troops to
help Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
• This dispersal of her forces reduced
German impact on the Allies.
6. ALLIED ACCESS TO
COLONIAL MANPOWER
AND RESOURCES
• Access to colonial and raw materials
contributed to the Allied victory.

• They used the vast troops in their

empires and supplied them with arms.
 IMPACT OF THE FIRST
WORLD WAR
1. The war led to the destruction of life,
infrastructure, and industry.
• At least 20 million people were
killed.
2. The outbreak of influenza pandemic
resulted in greater casualties.
• Some 20 million people
died due to influenza
between 1918 and 1919.
[Link] need to preserve
international peace led to the
formation of the League of
Nations.
4. Attitude about gender changed
in several ways:
i. They joined professions such as
law and architecture which were
previously restricted to men.
ii. Access to family planning
methods and education
increased.
iii. Women gained the right to
vote in most European
countries e.g. in Britain all
women above 30 could now
vote after 1918.
5. There was rising national
debts in Britain and France
since they borrowed huge
sums of money which they
promised to pay after the war.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INTER-
WAR PERIOD 1 (1919 - 1939)

AGENDA OF THE PARIS PEACE

CONFERENCE
• From January to June 1919, Allied
leaders gathered in Paris to discuss
the peace treaty that could
formally end the war.
• There were leaders and
representatives from 30 nations
however Germany and her allies
were prohibited from attending the
meeting.
• The discussions was dominated by the
Big Four (USA, Britain, France and
Italy).
AIMS OF THE CONFERENCE
1. To weaken Germany so as to prevent
another war.
2. To establish a just and lasting peace.
3. To punish Germany.
• To reward the victors.

DIFFERENT POSITIONS OF THE

‘BIG FOUR’
WOODRAW WILSON
• He was the American president.
• Due to the fact that USA suffered
fewer casualties than her Allies,
 he suggested that there was no need to
punish Germany to avoid a revenge
from her.
• He therefore brought fourteen points
as a basis for lasting peace.
WILSON’S FOURTEEN POINTS
1. Abolition of secret diplomacy
2. Free navigation at sea for all in war
and peace.
3. Free trade between countries.
4. An all-round reduction of
armaments.
5. Colonies to have a say in their future.
6. German troops to evacuate from
Russia.
7. Independence for Belgium.
8. Restoration for Alsace-Lorraine to
France.
9. Adjustment of frontiers of Austria
and Italy.
[Link]-determination for the peoples
of Eastern Europe.
11. Serbia to have access to the sea.
[Link] determination for the peoples in
the Turkish Empire.
[Link] to become independent state
with access to the sea.
14.A general association of nations to
preserve peace.

N.B: The points were self-

determination (the right of people to
belong to a national government)
 GEORGES CLEMENCEAU
• He was the president of France.
• Since France suffered more damage
than any of her allies, he insisted that
Germany should be severely
punished.
• He wanted Germany to be completely
crippled to avoid her attacking France
again.
• He therefore demanded heavy
reparations on Germany as
compensation for the loss.

DAVID LLOYD GEORGE

• He was the British leader.
• He favoured a more lenient treaty
with Germany so as to recover and
resume trade with Britain.
• But due to public pressure at home he
was forced to support harsh treaty
with Germany.

VITTORIO ORLANDO
• He was an Italian leader.
• After getting the promised territories,
it was rejected since it conflicted with
the right of self-determination.
• He was also negatively affected
because of not speaking English
hence he pulled out of the
conference much earlier.
ATTITUDE OF THE BIG FOUR
TORWARDS THE NON-
WESTERN COUNTRIES
• They treated non-European
representatives with lack of respect
and indifference.
• South African representative (Jan
Smuts) view was ignored when he was
for the side of not punishing Germany.
• Britain and France took control of
German colonies in Africa and Asia
without consulting the natives.

• Japan’s attempt to include a clause on

racial superiority in the League’s
Covenant to check racial segregation
was rejected hence Japan pulled out
of the conference early.
• Western leaders held the notion of
white superiority.
• Non-European representatives’
proposals to have the Council elected
by all members were rejected.
• Colonial populations were treated as
‘uncivilized’ people who could not
stand by themselves.
 THE VERSAILLES TREATY
• After a long disagreements due to the
differing objectives of the leaders,
they finally drew up the terms of a
treaty with Germany which were
largely based on Wilson’s Fourteen
Points.
 TERRITORIAL LOSSES
• Poland became an independent
country.

• Alsace-Lorraine was returned to

France.

• Eupen and Malmedy went to

• Danzig and Memel were to be
administered by the League of
Nations.

• All German and Turkish colonies

were taken away and put under
Allied control.
 MILITARY TERMS
• Union of Germany and Austria
was forbidden.

• The Germany army was reduced

to 100,000 men, only six battle
ships with no vehicles,
submarines or aircrafts.
• The Rhineland was demilitarized
and this reduced threat to France
as the area stand on the French
border with Germany.

ECONOMIC TERMS
• The blame was fixed on Germany
for having started the war.
• Germany had to pay 6,600
million pounds in reparations to
the Allies.

POLITICAL TERMS
• The League of Nations was set
up to maintain international
peace.
• Though Germany was
horrified with its treaty’s harsh
terms they signed the
Versailles Treaty on 28 June
1919.
 STRENGTHS OF THE TREATY

• It created the League of Nations.

• It made the first systematic attempt
to redraw the map of Europe along
national lines.
 WEAKNESSES OF THE TREATY

• Self-determination was applied to

all nations except Germany.
• The reparations were too high
which brought Germany economy
to its knees.
• Creation of new states affected
trade due to increased tariffs and
prices.

• It created the problem of minority

as the new states often consisted of
a mix of ethnic groups who were
suffering at most times.
• Its harsh terms continued the
bitterness in Germany which later
led to the Second World War in
1939.

• The treaty failed to bring about

stability in Europe.
FORMATION OF THE LEAGUE
OF NATIONS
• It was established on 10 June
1920 and its headquarters was
Geneva, Switzerland. (because
it was a neutral country and
had not fought in the WWI)
 ITS AIMS
• To maintain peace and security
through collective action.
• To encourage international
cooperation in areas such as
eradication of diseases, trade,
loans and resettlement of
refugees.
 MEMBERSHIP
• Not all the major powers of the
world were members of the
League of Nations.
• Russia stayed out throughout
the 1920s.
• Russia was only admitted in 1934.
• Germany was not accommodated
due to bitterness that the victors
had over her.
• Later Germany was admitted in
1926 after improvement of
relations with the West.
• In 1933, Germany withdrew after
France rejected arms parity with
her at Disarmament Conference.
• Japan withdrew its membership in
March 1933.
• Italy left in December 1937.
• USA never joined the League due
to its policy of isolationism.
 ORGANISATION OF THE
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
THE ASSEMBLY
• Every member state sent three
representatives to the Assembly.
• Each member country had one
vote.
• It met once in a year.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE
ASSEMBLY
• It discussed matter presented by
the Council.
• It admitted new member states to
the League.
• It elected temporary members to
the Council.
• It prepared budget for the League.

THE COUNCIL
• It consisted of four permanent
members: Britain, France, Italy and
Japan.
• Each member enjoyed the right of
veto (any member could block a
decision for the council to act).
 AIMS OF THE COUNCIL
• To prevent disputes before they got
out of hand.
• But upon failure to settle the
disputes, the council could take
three measures:
i. MORAL SANCTIONS
• It could condemn the aggressor, or a
country that invaded the other and ask
it to stop.
ii. ECONOMIC SANCTIONS
• It could call on member states not to
trade with the aggressor.
• However USA would still carry out
the trade with the aggressor.
[Link] SANCTIONS
• It could ask member states to
provide armed forces against the
aggressors.
• However the League did not
have its own military.
 THE SECRETARIAT
• Its headquarters was at Geneva,
Switzerland.
• Its first Secretary-General was Sir
Eric Drummond from Britain.

Duties of the Secretariat

i. It kept minutes or records of the
ii. It prepared reports from
different agencies of the
League.
 PERMANENT COURT OF
INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
• Was set up in 1922 with its
headquarters at The Hague in
Holland.
• It had 15 judges fro different member
countries.
• It only dealt with specific disputes if
asked to.
 INTERNATIONAL LABOUR
ORGANISATION
• Its main objective was to ensure
international agreement on matters of
wages, hours and general
improvement of work conditions.
• It also advised on the rights of
workers to join a trade union.
• It held its meetings once a year.
 ASSESSMENT OF THE
LEAGUE OF NATIONS

STRENGTHS
A. AALAND ISLANDS (1921)
• The Island belonged to Finland but
majority of the population was
Swedish.
• A conflict emerged in 1921
between Sweden and Finland over
its control.
• The League resolved the issue by
declaring that the Island remain
with Finland.
• Sweden accepted the settlement.
B. UPPER SILESIA (1921)

• It lay between Poland and Germany but

in 1921 the people held a plebiscite.
• The majority of the people chose to be
part of Germany.
• Riots broke and the League intervened
and divided the area between Poland
and Germany.
C. BULGARIA (1925)
• In 1925 some Greek soldiers were
shot dead while patrolling the
boarder with Bulgaria.
• On 25 October, Greece invaded
Bulgaria and the League
successfully ordered a ceasefire
and condemned Greece.
• The Greeks were ordered to
pay a fine of £45,000.
 SOCIO-ECONOMIC SUCCESS

i. Health committee conducted

global campaigns to reduce
cases of malaria and yellow
fever.
ii. The Refugee Committee
repatriated thousands of
refugees.
iii. International Labour Organisation
worked hard to improve labour
conditions e.g
a. It campaigned for improvement of
labour conditions.
b. It introduced an 8-hour day and 48-
hour week.
c. It collected and published
information on labour conditions.
iv. The League introduced an
international high way code for
road users.
v. Its Slavery Commission assisted
in freeing slaves in Sierra Leone.
vi. It organised loans for the
reconstruction of the Austrian
economy.
 FAILURES
A. VILNA (1920)
• It was the capital of Lithuania.
• The city had many Poles hence
in 1920 the poles took control of
Vilna.
• The League failed to resolve
the conflict when Lithuania
asked for assistance.
• The Poles refused to leave the
city.
B. THE RUHR (1923)
• When Germany refused to
continue the installments, French
and Belgium invaded Ruhr
(Germany’s important industrial
zone).
• The League failed to do anything
because the dispute involved one
of the major powers.
C. CORFU INCIDENT (1923)
• Corfu was a Greek Island.
• The boarder between Italy and
Albania was not considered.
• General Telli with four other
Italian troops were shot dead on 27
August 1923.
• Italy demanded for a large fine
but Greece refused to pay.
• Consequently Italy bombarded
the Greek Island of Corfu.
• When the League ordered Italy to
pay compensation to Greece,
Mussolin (Italian leader) refused
to pay.
• The League did nothing
afterwards.

D. INVASION OF MANCHURIA
(1931)

• In 1931, Japan invaded the

Chinese province of Manchuria.
• The League ordered Japan to
remove her troops but it
refused and Japan withdrew
from the League.
• No sanctions were applied on
her.
E. FAILURE OF DISARMAMENT
(1932-1933)
• In February 1932, a conference
was held in Geneva for an all-
round arms reduction.
• France rejected Germany’s
demand for an equality of
armaments with her.
• Adolph Hitler withdrew Germany
from the League of Nations and
embarked on massive militarisation.

F. INVASION OF ETHIOPIA
(1935)
• In 1935, four Italian troops were
killed on the Ethiopian-Somaliland
boarder.
• When Mussolin demanded
compensation from Ethiopia,
Emperor Haile Selassie appealed
to the League.
• The League applied economic
sanctions i.e export of arms and
certain commodities; imports
from Italy and loans to Italy.
• However export of vital
commodities such as steel, oil
and coal was excluded.
• The richest power USA was
not involved.
• Italy the resigned from the
League in December 1937.
 DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
INTERWAR PERIOD 2 (1919 -
1939)

• After the war, Europe suffered

serious economic problems
which eventually resulted in
political and social crises.
 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN
EUROPE AFTER THE FIRST
WORLD WAR
1. HEAVY DEPENDENCE ON
IMPORTS
• After the war industrial production
slowed down which led to scarcity
of consumer goods.
2. HUGE DEBTS TO PAY BACK
TO THE USA
• After the war, Britain and
France struggled with payment
of heavy war debts to the USA.
• This slowed down their
investment.
3. ECONOMIC CHALLENGES
IN GERMANY
• Germany suffered deep
economic challenges because of
reparations owed to the Allies.
4. PROTECTIONISM WORSENED
THE ECONOMIC SITUATION.
• After 1918 most countries imposed
high tarrifs on imports to protect
their home industries.
• When USA adopted protectionism
in 1920, European nations lost the
market.
5. HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
• The reduction of production led to
high unemployment rate in
countries such as Britain, Germany
and Italy.
 DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE ALLIES TOWARDS GERMANY’S
ECONOMIC RECOVERY

USA
• It was against Germany paying the
reparations
• It therefore assisted Germany to
recover economically.
BRITAIN AND FRANCE
• Germany to pay the reparations.
• They wanted to use the
reparations from Germany to
repay the war debts to the USA.
 GERMAN CHALLENGES
WITH REPARATIONS AND
HOW THEY WERE SOLVED
A. REPARATIONS WERE TOO HIGH
• They were supposed to pay 6.6
million pound to the Allies for 42
years.
B. LOSS OF ECONOMIC
REGIONS TO FRANCE
• When Germans stopped paying the
reparations in 1922, France and
Britain troops occupied the Ruhr
on 11 January 1923.
• They took over coal and industrial
production.
• The workers went on strike and
were ordered to offer passive
resistance to French and British
soldiers.
• Over a hundred workers were shot
dead and more than 100,000
strikers were chased off from the
region.
C. HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT
RATE
• The strike led to collapse of
industrial production hence
unemployment rate rose in the
country.
D. HIGH PRICES OF GOODS
• The scarcity of goods and services
led to high prices.
• There was hyper-inflation (rapid
rise in price and loss of
purchasing power)
 SOLUTIONS TO THE
CHALLENGES
• The USA assisted German to solve
these challenges in the following ways:
A. THE DAWES PLAN, APRIL 1924
• An American banker, Charles Dawes
worked out a plan by which:
• Germany would get loans from
America to rebuild industries.
• The reparations payment would be
frozen for two years.
• Germany would repay annually
only what she could reasonably
afford.
• France agreed to withdraw from
B. THE YOUNG PLAN, 1929
• An American, Owen Young, made
another plan by scaling down
reparations to 2 million pounds
and that it should be paid for a
period of 59 years.
• However the arrangement was
disrupted by:
• The death of Gustav Stresemann in
October 1929.
• The collapse of the Wall Street
Market in 1929 which made
America to call back their loans
from Europe.
ECONOMIC SITUATION IN ASIA

• Japan was so industrious by 1890

and wanted to use China as source
of raw materials and market.
• It only became disappointed when
Russia took control of southern
Manchuria in 1900.
• After signing Anglo-Japanese
Treaty in 1902, Japan attacked
Russia in 1904/5 during Russo-
Japanese war.
• Japan emerged the victor and it
gained south Manchuria.
 THE IMPACT OF THE FIRST
WOLD WAR ON JAPANESE
ECONOMY
• Before the war, Japanese trade
increased and was the world’s
greatest supplier of silk.
• Its largest market was USA.
• Japan joined the war on 23 August
1914.
• At the start of the war its economy
flourished.
• She supplied the Allies with
warships and took over the market
in Asia.
• After the war, the Japanese
economy declined due to reduced
demand of Japanese goods in
Europe e.g silk.
• The onset of Great Depression in
1929 badly affected Japan’s
economy. During this period many
countries adopted high tariffs and
this reduced Japanese exports.
• Japan lacked resources such as oil
and rubber so in order to solve
domestic problems, the Japanese
looked to areas like China and
Korea which was under colonial
influence of Americans and
Europeans.
• This led to Japan to introduce an
aggressive foreign policy directed
at capturing territory in Asia as a
source of raw materials and
markets.
• Later Japan developed a
philosophy of Asia for Asians.
ASIA FOR ASIANS PHILOSOPHY
a. Japan was the most
industrialised and modernised
country in Asia.
• Its industry was expanding but it
lacked vital resources.
• Her focus was on China however it
was under the influence of America
and Europeans.
[Link] economic problems
resulting from Great Depression
put pressure on Japanese
society.
• They therefore felt that its rapid
growing population needed a sort
of living space outside the hom6e
islands.
• They were desperate for expansion
into Manchuria.

c. The rise of military forces.

• This made them to believe that
self-sufficiency in natural
resources was necessary to fight a
total war.
• The military tried to solve Japanese
problems through force.
• They invaded Manchuria in 1931.

d. Imitating the growing US

dominance/supremacy in the
Western hemisphere.
• They wished to control vast resources
just like the USA.
• In 1937 Japanese troops invaded
the rest of China and by 1938 it
controlled almost the entire
Chinese territory.
• The aggressive policy drove them
into the Second World War.
 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN
THE [Link] IN THE EARLY 1920s
• Throughout 1920s, America offered a
market for most European nations and
Japan,
• During this period, the immigrants
provided cheap labour supply.
• America had huge natural resources
such as oil, coal, timber and iron.
• Therefore this era was described as
an era of ‘booming 20s’ or ‘the
roaring 20s’.

FACTORS FOR AMERICA’S BOOMING

ECONOMY
a. Stability in America
• No American factory or territory
• This stability provided a fertile
ground for the post-war ‘economic
boom’.

b. Availability of export markets

• As Europe was busy with the
war, they lost markets for
exports.
• Therefore the American firms took
over the export business from
European nations.

c. Plenty of money for investment

• During the war, Britain and her
allies had borrowed huge sums
of money from America.
• After 1918, they repaid billions of
dollars to the USA at an interest.
Therefore America had plenty of
money for investment.

d. Presence of natural resources

• America had vast natural
resources at her disposal.
• They include timber, oil, coal and
iron which enabled development
of industries.

e. Development of science and

technology
• It helped to spur mass industrial
production.
• Mass production of automobiles
encouraged manufacturers to
introduce ways that enabled quick
sale of the products and reduction
of the cost of production.
 THE WALL STREET CRASH
• This a street in New York where
American offices of the stock
market are located.
• The Wall Street Crash refers to the
event in 1929 when the value
shares fell so low that people lost
their savings.
 CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
1. Over production
• American industrial and farm
production was encouraged by high
profits during the period of
prosperity.
• Industries and farms produced too
many goods for domestic and
foreign consumption hoping that
trade would continue to expand.
• After the war, overseas demand for
food and manufactured items
dropped. This led to the falling of
prices.
• The result was reduction of
production, labourers being laid
off and some companies closed
down completely.
2. Wild Speculation
• Speculation is a form of
gambling that takes advantage
of the market situation.
• Many people bought stocks on
credit hoping to sell them at
higher price however they sold
the shares at much lower prices.
• As people anticipated prices to
keep getting lower, they rushed to
sell their property or shares before
prices got even worse.

3. Uneven distribution of income

• The profits made by American
industries were not evenly
• The majority of wage earners were
unable to purchase manufactured
goods such as cars, washing
machine, TV sets e.t.c
• This widening gap between the
rich and the poor reduced the
consumer volume.
4. Impact of USA Tariffs
• The USA enacted the law
(Fordney McCumber Act, 1922)
which imposed high tarrifs on
foreign goods.
• As a result European countries
were reluctant to buy American
goods due to high tariffs on
imports
• Germany was paying reparations,
while Britain and France were
struggling with war debts hence
they just stayed away from buying
American goods.
• As a result American exports
began to fall
5. Weak Banking System
• United States had too many
banks however due to panic
caused by speculation, many
people started to withdraw their
savings.
• The banks did not have the
resources to cope with the high
demand of people.
• The result was mass closure of
banks in 1929.

EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

a. Closure of Banks and Industries
• There was massive closure of
banks and industries in USA and
Europe in general.
• Millions of people withdrew their
money and kept the money at
home which made banks to have
no money to pay everybody.

b. Unemployment
• As companies closed, millions
became jobless and the living
c. Stoppage of loans to Germany
• Americans stopped paying the
loans to Germany and this
brought untold misery to
Germany.
d. Worsening Political Resentment
and the Rise of Radical Leaders
• These economic problems
created a conducive
environment for the rise of right
wing governments e.g
Mussolini’s Fascist Italy and
Hitler’s Nazi
 NEW DEAL
• It was an economic approach
which was put in place by Franklin
Delano Roosevelt in order to solve
the Great Depression.
 How the New Deal Solved the
Economic Problems of the USA
• The New Deal involved assistance
to agricultural and industrial
sectors in the following ways:
a. The government temporarily
took over and restructured the
banking system.
b. Under the farmer’s Relief Act
(1933), the government
encouraged farmers to reduce
output in order to improve
prices.
c. The Government created the
Civil Conservation Corps to
provide jobs for young men in
conservation projects for a small
Recovery Administration improved
labour conditions. This created
millions of jobs.
f. The Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) encouraged conservation
measures like control of soil
erosion.
 wage, clothing, shelter and food.
d. The government encouraged
artists and performing arts
through the Federal Emergency
Relief Administration.
e. The Public Works
Administration made available
cash for building dams, schools,
bridges and the National
THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
IN RUSSIA
BACKGROUND TO RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
• Russia was agrarian society
consisting of peasants.
• In 1649 all peasants were turned
into serfs with no land and had to
work for their landlords.
• In 1861 serfdom was abolished.
• Freed peasants were given land in
mirs (village communes) where
they had to make land redemption
payment for 49 years.
• The rise of industrial working
class resulted in many problems
such as long hours of work, poor
housing and low wages.
• There were strikes and constant
conflicts between workers and the
police.
• Russia was ruled by Tsar of the
Romanov dynasty which was
autocratic.
• Russian society was being
influenced by Marxism which was
a belief propagated by Karl Marx.
• Karl Marx believed that economic
history develops in four stages:
Feudalism (where peasants worked
for the landlords).
Capitalism (where society was
divided into workers and factory
owners)
Socialism (a system in which the state
would own and run certain industries)
Communism (where all wealth
would be held in common). This
will lead to “classless society”: no
rich and no poor.
• The conditions in Russia gave rise
to formation of political groups.
• In 1898 the Social democratic
Party was founded by a group of
intellectuals.
• Vladmir Llych Ulyanov (adopted
the pseudonym ‘Lenin’) became
the editor of a newspaper called
Iskra (the Spark)
• In 1903 the Social Democratic
Party split into two due to
misunderstandings: the Bolsheviks
(majority) and the Mensheviks
(minority).
• Lenin led the Bolsheviks.

CAUSES OF THE 1905 REVOLUTION

1. Political Reforms
• Many of the literate Russians
demanded political
representation and civil
liberties.
• Political groups like Social
Revolutionaries and Liberals were
convinced that Russia needed a
revolution for political change to
occur.
2. Socio-economic Hardships
• The majority of peasants were
not satisfied by the 1861 land
reforms.
• All they wanted was land, tax relief
and revenge on the local officials
who ill-treated them.

3. Russian defeat
• Russian defeat in 1904/05 was
humiliating to the Russian society.
• They blamed the defeat on the
Tsar’s government.
4. Bloody Sunday, 22 January
1905
• After the sacking of four workers
at Putilov in December 1004,
thousands of workers in St
Petersburg went on strike.
• On 22 January 1905 Father Goerge
Gapon led a procession of strikers
to the Tsar’s Winter Palace.
• Several people were killed and
injured and Gapon was later killed
too by revolutionaries as he was
suspected of being a government
agent.
• Peasants began to burn houses and
to kill landlords.
• Urban workers across Russia
joined and demanded improved
labour conditions and political
representation.
• Later Tsar issued the October
Manifesto which granted the
Russians freedom of press and the
right to form political parties.
• Tsar also promised a parliament
 (Duma) to which all adults would
have the right to vote.
• The Duma however was just
saying yes or no to the laws
proposed by the Tsar.
• Hence many liberals protested and
were either jailed, executed or
exiled to Siberia.
• When the order was restored, the
Tsar abandoned most of the
reforms.

CAUSES OF 1907 REVOLUTION

a. Land Grievances
• After 1905, important land forms
were introduced and Peter Stolypin
 communal farming and grain
taxation.
• However Stolypin oppressed the
revolutionaries by hunging them to
death.
• In 1911 he was assassinated and
his reforms were abandoned.
• This led to peasants having heavy
b. Ineffective Duma
• In 1906 when the first Duma
met, Tsar sent home the
representatives whenever he
disliked its recommendations.
• Later the government changed
election laws so that candidates
to the second Duma were unable
to stand.
• Since people had no hopes in the
Duma they looked to a revolutionary
overthrow of the Tsar.

c. Influence of Marxism
• Different groups such as the Socialist
Revolutionaries and the Social
Democratic Party believed
 that the political and economic
situation in Russia would improve
only through socialist revolution.

d. Industrial Worker’s Problems

• Industrial workers faced many
problems due to rapid and
unplanned industrialisation. e.g
 overcrowding in slums, unhygienic
dwelling places, wages paid in
kind instead of money, long hours
of work.

e. Dissatisfaction with Gregory Rasputin

• Rasputin was an illierate ‘holy
man’ from Siberia.
• He was into the royal family by
the illness of their son, Alex, who
was suffering from hemophilia.
• Rasputin ended up dominating the
Tsar government as he reached the
extent of influencing the
appointment of ministers.
• People disliked him because he
was often drunk; was blasphemous
 and harassed women.
• In 1916 he was assassinated by a
group of conservatives.

f. Impact of the First World War

• Russian soldiers sustained greater
casualties since they were ill-
equiped and poorly trained.
• Tsar himself went to the battlefront
• this made people to believe that
Tsar was responsible for the
successive defeats.
HOW THE BOLSHEVIKS GAINED
POWER
• Members of Duma set up the
Provisional government amidst
confusion and uncertainty.
• Its interim leader was Prince
George Lvov.
• After the abdication of Nicholas II
 power was shared between the
Provisional Government and the
Petrograd Soviet.
• Petrograd Soviet controlled the
military, railways and factories.
• Alexander Kerensky replaced Lvov in
July 1907.
• He promised Russians land and
elections to the Constituent Assembly.
 MISTAKES MADE BY
KERENSKY’S GOVERNMENT
• The government followed unpopular
decision of not pulling Russia out of
the First World War
• Kerensky’s government was very slow
in solving land problems.
• The government delayed the promised
elections to the Constituent Assembly.
• The government was slow in
sharing power with the Petrograd
Soviets.
• There was growing economic
disorder: inflation leading to price
rise of bread, lagging wages and
shortage of fuel.
• This resulted in another revolution
in November 1907.
• Lenin returned to Russia on 16th
April 1907 and he produced a
document to his supporters who
gathered in Petrograd. In his
document he called for Russia:
• to leave the war
• to proceed on a path of socialist
revolution
• to get rid of provisional government
• to transfer all power to the Soviets.
• Lenin became popular due to his
slogan “Bread, Peace and Land”
• The result was riots and strikes in
July which led to the arrest of
Bolsheviks leaders.
• Lenin fled back to exile in Finland.
• In August General Lavr Kornilov
 the army commander-in-chief
marched to Petrograd to restore
peace however his troops refused
to fight and instead defected into
the crowd of the revolutionaries.
• There was a general collapse of
law and order in the country.
• In October, Lenin secretely
returned to Russia.
• Following his instructions the Red
Guards and Bolshevik army
assembled to wrest power from the
government of Alexander
Kerensky.
• On the night of 6 November, the
Red Guard began to seize key
targets such as public buildings,
the State Bank, bridges and so on.
• Next they arrested government
ministers but Kerensky escaped
into exile leading to Lenin and
Bolsheviks to take over power the
following day.
 HOW THE BOLSHEVIKS
CONSOLIDATED POWER
• Lenin called for elections to the
Constituent Assembly.
• The Bolsheviks lost the elections
as out of 707 seats they only
secured 175 seats.
• The Social Revolutionaries got
• Lenin decided to do something if
Bolsheviks were to survive in
power.
• In January 1918 Lenin dissolved
the Assembly and reused any
suggestion to form a coalition
government.
• He appointed a Congress of
Soviets to pass several decrees.
i. Lenin implemented his slogan
of Bread, Peace and Land. All
land belonging to the Tsar, the
Church and the nobles was
taken away for peasants use.
ii. Lenin sent troops into the
country side to seize grain and
other foodstuffs to feed the
urban population.
iii. In December 1917, a secret police
called the Cheka was formed to deal
with spies and counter-
revolutionaries.
iv. the Bolsheviks party changed its
name to Communist Party and
banned all other political parties.
v. Bolsheviks established complete
control after their victory in the
Russian Civil War (1918 – 1921.)
 CAUSES OF RUSSIAN CIVIL
WAR
• From 1919, Russia plunged into
bloody civil war that lasted for
three years.
• Various anti-Bolshevik group
called the Whites united so as to
get rid of the Bolsheviks.
• They included the supporters of
Tsar, landlords, capitalists, the
Social Revolutionaries, the Czech
(former prisoners of war) and
Mensheviks.
• Troops of Britain, Japan, the USA
and France also supported the
Whites against the Red Army.
• The causes for the Civil War were:
i. The liberals, the Mensheviks
and Social Revolutionaries
disliked the dissolution of the
Constituent Assembly (Duma)
in January 1918.
ii. Many Russians were
discontented with the
ruthlessness of the Cheka.
• During the Civil War, any
suspected opponent of Lenin was
shot dead, beaten or hanged.
iii. Supporters of Tsar were
annoyed by the murder of the
royal family. During the
November Revolution, the
Bolsheviks shot the royal
family.
iv. The Allies were unhappy that
Russia had withdrawn from the
war without consulting her allies.
• By Russia pulling out of the war,
the eastern front got collapsed.
v. The Allies intended to crush
communism whose spread
caused much fear among the
western Allies.
 RESULTS OF THE CIVIL WAR
a. In 1921, the Reds emerged
winners in the Civil War.
b. In 1923, the Russian Empire was
renamed the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR)
under a new constitution. All
other party were made illegal
except the Communist Party.
c. Having failed to crush
communism, European powers
began to officially recognize
Russia as a communist state.
This made Soviet Union to be
allowed into the League of
Nations in 1934.
 LENIN’S ACHIEVEMENTS
a. He established the first
Communist state in Russia and
the world.
b. His new economic policy was a
remarkable success as it helped
Russia recover from the worst
effects of the First World War.
c. His War Communism enabled
the Bolsheviks to win the Civil
War and save communism.
d. The formation of USSR was
through his own efforts. He
personally supervised the
drawing up of the constitution
for the formation of USSR
 HIS FAILURES
a. Inability to form a class-less
society as intended. Once in
power the Bolsheviks
concentrated on power in the
Communist Party and created a
dictatorship.
b. No clear succession plan. After
his death, power rivaly
developed within the
Communist Party.
c. Inability to sell communist ideas
to other parts of the world. For
example attempts to establish
socialist states collapsed in
Bavarian and Hungary in 1919.
d. There was no respect for human
rights. The secret police tried to
suppress any divergent opinion.
Religion was also abolished to
ensure that the state was a centre
of all aspirations.
 POWER RIVALRY AFTER
LENIN’S DEATH
• In 1922, Lenin had a stroke
leading to the country being
governed by triumvirate of
Trotsky, Stalin and Bukharin.
• After the death of Lenin in January
1924, power struggle emerged
between Trotsky and Stalin.
• Stalin (Man of steel) was often involved
in violent bank robbery to raise party
funds.
• The two men split over political
direction.
• Trotsky thought of spreading socialist
revolution outside Russia if communism
was to survive. This theory was called
Permanent Revolution while Stalin
believed in Socialism in one Country
• Stalin had majority support in the
politburo while Trotsky was only
popular among ordinary member of
the communist party.
• Stalin being a General Secretary of
the party was promoting his
supporters to key positions.
• Later he expelled Trotsky and 75 of
his supporters in 1927 from the party.
• By 1929 Stalin had became a
dictator in Russia.
• Trotsky was exiled to Siberia and
later was banished from Russia
and he went to Mexico where he
was assassinated by Stalin’s agent
in 1940.
 HOW STALIN MADE RUSSIA STRONG
ECONOMICALLY AND POLITICALLY
• Stalin’s aim for economic
programme was to make the
Soviet Union industrially powerful
and independent of the West.
• Stalin therefore made the
following programmes:
 LAUNCHING OF THE 5-YEAR
PLAN
• He set about modernising industry.
• In 1928 he set a Five Year Plan
replacing the New Economy
The First Five Year Plan (1928-32)
• The emphasis was put on heavy
industry such as coal, steel, oil,
machinery and electricity.
• Dams were constructed for hydro-
electric power to supply energy to
the new industries.

The Second Five Year Plan (1933-37)

• Priority was on major industries.
• Transport and communication was
heavily improved through
• Training and education also
increased to meet technical support
for the industries.

The Third Five Year Plan (1937-1941)

• The industries focused on
consumer goods such as radios,
bicycles, e.t.c
• Russia started producing arms
such as guns, bullets, tanks and
military uniform during the onset
of Second World War.

The Fourth Five Year Plan (1945-1950)

• Due to heavy destruction during
second world war, Russia was in a
very bad state.
• They therefore focused on heavy
industries.
• Due to neglect of consumer goods,
people’s living standards went
down.

• In general, the Five Year plans

were an economic success.
• By 1940, Russia had overtaken
Britain in iron and steel production
 COLLECTIVISATION
• In 1929 agriculture was nationalised so
that several peasant household farms
were organised into large collective
farms called Kolkhoz
• Collective farms were supplied with
tractors, combine harvesters and other
machinery on credit to improve
production.
• The mechanised farms reduced the
amount of labour hence the surplus
labour was moved to the industries
• Collection of grain was also easier.
• However peasants like Kulaks
refused to hand over their land and
produce to the collectivised farms.
• They started killing their animals,
 burning crops, farm buildings and
destroying machines.
• This resulted to poor harvest and
famine
THE PURGES
• Stalin was removing (Purging) any
one suspected of being anti-socialist.
• The purges affected every sector of
the Russian society: the Politburo,
 the Communist Party, the army,
police, factories, university
lecturers and teachers and ordinary
people.
• Secret police (NKVD) was used to
deal with Stalin’s enemies.
 STALIN’S POLICIES
DOMESTIC POLICY
ACHIEVEMENTS
a) Russia was transformed from an
agrarian country into an industrial
superpower.
• Industrial production greatly
improved and Russia was able to feed
b) By 1938, Russia was producing
more tractors and locomotives than
any other leading country in the
world.
c) Education was expanded and made
compulsory. e.g by 1918 there were
92,000 graduates.
d) Unemployment became almost
non-existent due to expansion of
 FAILURES
a) Purges weakened Russia since
many able people were
removed. e.g doctors, teachers,
lecturers and engineers were
either shot dead or sent into
forced labour in Siberia where
they never returned.
b) Religious persecution was
common. e.g Islam was thought
to hold back industrialisation so
Muslims were imprisoned or
deported and mosques were
closed. Christians were arrested
for attending churches.
c) Over time, a personality cult
developed around Stalin.
• Stalin was highly praised by the
Russian society. History books
tried to show Lenin and Stalin as
heroes. Stalin’s statues, portraits
and photographs were all over
towns.
d) Stalin grew suspicious of
everyone around and this
increased the purges.
 FOREIGN POLICY
• Russian foreign policy was to protect
Soviet Russia from the threat of
foreign invasion.
• In the mid 1920s, Soviet relations
with the western nations improved.
E.g in 1924 Britain gave full
diplomatic recognition of communist
government in Russia.
• Soviet relations with Germany had
been good until the rise of the Nazi
in 1933.
• Stalin improved relations with
France and Britain hence was
admitted into the League of
Nations in 1934.
• Russia also signed trade
agreements with the several
western governments.
IMPACT OF COMMUNISM ON
RUSSIA AND THE WORLD
a. Russia was economically and
politically transformed.
• By the end of the Second World
War it gained a prominent
position in world politics as
superpower.
b. The living standards of people in
communist countries were lower
than in the western countries.
• People started migrating from
east to west in search of better
jobs.
c. The communist governments
were dictatorship with little
regard for human rights.
d. It encouraged other revolutions
around the world.
• After 1945, some countries
adopted communist governments
e.g Cuba

e. Communism encouraged
nationalist movements in
e.g during the Cold War, Soviet
Union supported nationalist
movements in African countries.
 DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOCRATIC
GOVERNMENTS IN GERMANY
• In October 1918, sailors at Kiel
mutinied resulting in widespread
riots in the country.
• The Kaiser abdicated on 9
November 1918 and fled to
Holland.
• Friedrich Ebert of Social
Democratic Party took over power.
• In the elections of January 1919,
SDP formed an alliance with other
political parties.
• Ebert became the first president of
the Weimar Republic
• The president appointed head of
 from the majority party.
• The National Assembly consisted
of the upper house called the
Reichsrat (senate) and the lower
house the Reichstag (parliament)
 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS IN
GERMANY AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR
• The socio-economic problems in
Weimar Republic gave rise to the
Nazi extremists.

CONSTITUTION PROBLEMS
• They were using a system of
 Proportional Representation (PR)
in electing members to the
Reichstag and this created serious
constitutional problems.
• By this, seats in the Reichstag
were distributed according to the
percentage of votes a party gained.
• This system created weak coalition
governments.
 POLITICAL PROBLEMS
Lack of experience with democracy
• Since Germans were used to strong
dictatorship government under the
Kaiser democracy was strange to
them.
• The Germans hated the republic
hence the Republican politicians
 were so unpopular to the extent of
some of them being assassinated.

Communist Threat
• Communists wanted to convert
Germany into a communist state like
the Soviet Union.
• Between 1919 and 1923 the Weimar
Republic faced a series of communist
a. The Spartacus Revolt (1919)
• The Spartacus League staged a
revolt in Berlin in 1919.
• They wanted to seize power and
set up a communist state.
• However their leader, Karl
Liebknecht was murdered.
b. The Ruhr revolts (1920)
• The occurrence of the revolts
was saved by the police, the
army.
 ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
• Germany relied on international
trade so as to raise money for
payment of reparations.
• When most European countries
raised tariffs to protect their
struggling industries, Germany
suffered slow economic growth.
• Due to slow production,
companies closed which resulted
in widespread unemployment in
Germany.
 ADOLF HITLER
• He was born on 20 April 1889 at
Braunau in Austria.
• He had a poor record at school
hence he left it in 1905 as he
wanted to become an artist.
• His father Alois died in 1908.
• He spent most of his time painting
and selling postcards.
• He used to live alone and he
developed hatred for the Jews
whom he blamed for all his
failures.
• During the first world war, he
volunteered to fight in the
Germany army.
• He got wounded and blinded by
poison gas in the trenches.
• At the time of the end of the war
he was in hospital.
• Due to Germany’s defeat German
Workers’ Party emerged under the
leadership of Anton Drexter in
1919.
• Hitler joined the party.
• Since Hitler had good public
speaking skills, he was made in
charge of the party’s propaganda.
• Hitler frequently spoke in beer
halls against Versailles Treaty, the
Jews, the Communist.
• In 1920 at the party’s launch,
 Hitler announced a Twenty-Five
Point program for the Nazi.
• Important points include:
oDestruction of the Treaty of
Versailles.
oOnly pure blooded Germans shall
be citizens.
oCreation of strong state control
oExpansion of Germany towards
eastern Europe.
• In 1921, he became the party’s
leader and he named the party’s
name to National Socialist German
Worker’s Party or Nazi – a short
form of nationalsozialistische.
(National Socialists).
• In Septembe1921 he oganised a
band of war veterans (Freikorps)
into the Sturm Abteilung (SA).
• It was used to disrupt opponents’
rallies.
 FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED
TO THE POPULARITY OF THE
NAZI AND HITLER
1. His Personal Qualities and
Beliefs
• He was a skilful speaker who
could appeal to the emotions not
reason of his evidence.
• He presented himself as a Messiah
to the unemployed maasses,
nationalists, property owners,
industrialists and ex-soldiers.
• He condemned those who signed
the armistice in 1918 as November
criminals.
 HIS MESSAGE
1. Germany had not been defeated
but betrayed by the Republicans.
2. Restoration of Germany’s
glorious days.
3. The need for the nation to be
purified from inferior races like
[Link] to the economic
problems affecting Germany
[Link] away with the reparations.

HIS BELIEFS
[Link]
- The Aryan (mostly Germans and
some north Europeans) were a
superior race.
- Jews were the worst race and
Germany needed to be purified of
non-Aryans
- The superior Aryan needed a
lebensraum (living space) in
Eastern Europe.
b. Nationalism
- German nation had to return to its
former greatness as in the era of
Bismarch
c. Leadership
- He never believed in decisions
democratically reached but he
believed in the unquestionable
leadership and a strong state
d. Struggle
- He believed that all life was a
struggle in which only the strongest
would survive.

2. Support from the Industrialists

- His fanatical hatred for communism
persuaded landlords, industrialists
and property owners to support him.
- They provided financial support to
the Nazi.

3. The Catholic Church

- It rallied behind the Nazi due to
communist threat as the
communist disliked religion.
- The church offered moral support
to the Nazi.
4. The Impact of Reparations
- Hitler and the Nazi manipulated
the economic situation to their
own advantage.
- They promised to undo the
reparations payment and
inflation which made them to
win support of the middle-class.
5. Impact of high Unemployment
Rate
- The Great Depression resulted
in widespread unemployment in
Germany e.g by 1932, over 6
million people were unemployed
- Hitler seemed to offer hope to
the millions of jobless Germans.
- He promised jobs if the Nazi came
to power.

NAZI IDEOLOGY
• Ideology is a system of ideas and
principles that forms the basis of a
political or economic theory.
• Nazism was basically a mixture
Socialist and Fascist characteristics.

a. Anti-semitism
- Jews were racially foreign to
Europe and were the source of
all European troubles.
b. Racial Superiority
- The Aryan race was superior to all
 other races and therefore needed a
lebensraum in Eastern Europe.

c. Nationalism
- Germany had to become a
strong and glorious nation.
d. Militarism
- The greatness of a nation could
only be achieved through war and
hence aggressive foreign policy.

e. Anti-Communism
- Nazism considered Russia
communism threatened European
civilization.
- Therefore communism had to be
destroyed.

f. Totalitarian State
- Nazism was totalitarian in
nature, aimed at the ruthless and
total control of all political,
economic and social
 ESTABLISHMENT OF NAZI
DICTATORSHIP
- When Hitler became the
Chancellor, he called for elections
so that the Nazi should gain an
overall majority in government.
 THE REICHSTAG FIRE
• On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag
building in Berin burned down.
• Hitler put the blame on the
communists.
• He convinced Hindenburg to take
strong action against the communist
threat.
• Consequently state of emergency
was declared and Hitler was given
powers to deal with the “threat”
• The results was that all communist
leaders were arrested.

MARCH 1933 ELECTIONS

• S.A broke up rival party rallies and
beat up their opponents.
• They also suppressed newspapers
that supported the opponent
parties.
• In the election of march 1933,
Nazi failed to secure the two thirds
majority hence they agreed to
work together with the Catholic
Centre Party in the Reichstag.
HOW THE NAZI CONSOLIDATED POWER

a. Enabling Law 1933

- It was passed on 23 March
19333 which gave the Nazi full
control over Germany.
- The law granted Hitler, as
chancellor, emergency powers to
 govern the country by decree for
the next four years.
- Within six months, the Weimar
Constitution had been suspended
and democracy wiped out.
b. Promise of Economic Stability
- Hitler appointed Hjalmar
Schacht to plan the economy.
- Schacht entered into trade
agreements with underdeveloped
countries from which Germany
acquired raw materials in
exchange of manufactured goods.
- Millions of people were provided
with jobs in construction of
schools, hospitals and bridges.
- In 1933, Hitler embarked on
rearmament of Germany where huge
amounts of money were made
available for building arms and
military recruitment.
- In 1936, Hitler launched the 4 year
plan, aiming at mobilising the
economy war.
- New armament factories were opened
and existing ones expanded.
- He introduced autarky (economic
policy aimed at achieving national
self-sufficiency) where the
government refused cash from
foreign countries when they
bought German goods.
- Industries were ordered what to
produce according to the country’s
needs.
c. Use of the GESTAPO and Storm
Troopers
- The Geheime Staatspolizei
(Gestapo) was set up in 1933.
- It was led by Reinhard Hendrich
and was used to spy on ordinary
people.
- Everyone had to be careful on what
they said especially about Hitler
d. Use of Concentration Camps
- Concentration camps were
labour camps meant to punish
and silence opponents of the
Nazi regime.
- The first one was opened at
Dachau and Orangeburg in 1933
- Prisoners were subjected to
• Hard labour, beatings and
diseases.
• Millions of people including the
clergy, communists and Jews
were worked to death in these
camps.
e. Use of Propaganda
- Propaganda refers to the spread of
information, usually twisted truth,
favourabe to the government.
- It is used to enhance or build the
good image of a government.
- A Minister of Propaganda,
Goebbels skillfully used the state
apparatus such as radios and
 newspapers to influence people’s
attitude towards the Nazi regime.
- Germans only listened to the
achievements and greatness of
Hitler and the Nazi.
- All newspapers, magazines and
books that did not support Nazi
values and beliefs were banned.
f. The Night of Long Knives
- Since Hitler needed the support of
the army, on the night of 30 June
1934 the SS arrested and executed
Ernst Rohm (head of the SA).
- On 2 August 1934, President
Hindenburg died and
consequently abolished the office
of the president.
- He combined its powers with that
of a chancellor.
- The army now took an oath of
allegiance to Hitler and this made
him to have a control of
Germany’s military forces.
 HITLER’S DOMESTIC AND
FOREIGN POLICIES
DOMESTIC POLICIES
ACHIEVEMENTS
1. Hitler’s rule brought economic
stability.
- Nazi policy of self-sufficiency
improved food production.
• The Nazi solved the problem of
unemployment in Germany. The
jobs were provided through
purging Jews and opponents and
by 1938 unemployment had gone
down from 6 to 1 million.
2. The army was the only instrument
that could have removed Hitler
from power but in 1934 he
cleverly dealt with the SA.
3. Education became an effective
way of spreading Nazi ideology.
However the curriculum was
politicized to reflect Nazi beliefs.
4. Hitler provided authoritarian
leadership which the Germans
wanted.
5. He restored German honour
through destruction of the
Versailles Treaty. E.g he
repudiated reparations once he
came to power.
6. Germans were indoctrinated with
Nazi ideology. The Nazi
brainwashed the youth into
willingness to sacrifice to the
greater good of the nation.

FAILURES
7. The banning of trade unions
deprived workers of the right to
bargain for better work conditions.
2. The country continued to
depend on imports.
- At least one-third of raw
materials were being imported.
3. Unfair and ruthless treatment of
his opponents.
- Millions of people perished in
concentration camps.
4. Schools were turned into
instruments of Nazi ideology and
propaganda.
5. The Nazi suppressed freedom of
worship through state control of
religion.
6. Nazi censorship of the press,
books and art suppressed freedom
of opinion and expression.
7. All political parties were banned
except the Nazi party.

FOREIGN POLICY
In foreign policy, Hitler’s aims
were:
• to undo the Versailles Treaty
• To create a greater Germany by
uniting all German-speaking people
• to acquire a living space for the
Germans in the east.

a. Rearmament
- Hitler secretly rearmed Germany
between 1933 and 1935 as he
increased the forces and trained
pilots.
b. The Concordat, 1933

- Hitler signed the Concordat with

the Pope in 1933.
- The two parties assured each other
of non-interference in each others
work.
c. Anglo-German Naval
Agreement, June 1935

- In June 1935 Britain and Germany

agreed that German navy be raised
to 35% of the British navy.
Germany was allowed to have
submarines which had been
banned by the Versailles Treaty.
d. The Rhineland, March 1936

- In 1936, Hitler sent troops to

occupy the Rhineland. Britain and
France did nothing. Hitler
successfully defied the Versailles
Treaty.
e. Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
• In the 1936, Spanish Civil War,
the communists sympathised with
the republicans and fought the
rebels under General Franco.
• Hitler was able to support Franco
and to test weapons.
f. Rome-Berlin Axis, October
1936
• The Spanish Civil War drew
Hitler and Mussolini together. In
1936, the two signed Rome-
Berlin Axis.
g. Ant-Comintern Pact, November
1936
• Japan, Germany and Italy
entered into an agreement to
work together against worldwide
expansion of communism.
 CAUSES AND RESULTS OF
SECOND WORLD WAR
• Second World War was the
bloodiest conflict that involved
almost every continent in the
world.
 MAJOR COUNTRIES IN THE
SECOND WORLD WAR

a. Major Axis Powers

• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
b. Major Allied Powers
• Britain
• France
• United States of America
• Soviet Union (Russia)
 CAUSES OF THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
a. The Versailles Treaty
• The terms of Versailles Treaty
were so vindicative towards
Germany.
• When France turned down arms
parity in 1932, Germany (Hitler)
 secretly set about to rearm
Germany until Germany turned
into a strong military state.
• When peaceful revision of the
Versailles Treaty failed, Hitler
resorted to force to reclaim
Germany’s might and honour.
• In 1936, Hitler’s troops occupied
the demilitarised Rhineland.
• This led to the collapse of
international peace in 1939.

b. Failure of the League of Nations

• The League of Nations lacked
efficient machinery to stop
aggressive actions of Germany,
Italy and Japan.
• In most cases it failed to enforce
its decisions.
• Hitler and Mussolini exploited the
lack of unity between the “two
pillars” of the League of Nations.
• Britain could not cooperate with
the French to stop aggression.
c. Policy of appeasement
• Appeasement was a policy by
which Britain and France tried to
avoid war with aggressors by
giving way to their reasonable
demands.
• France and Britain took no action
against Hitler’s and Mussolini’s
aggressive acts in the hope that
 they would prevent war.
• However Hitler interpreted the
policy as a sign of British and
French weakness.
 Reasons For The Appeasement
Policy
a. Fear of Communism
• Britain feared the spread of
communism more than Hitler’s
threat.
• They felt that Germany would act
as a buffer against communist
b. Sympathy
• There was growing sympathy for
Italy and Germany as they
believed that they had genuine
grievances.
• Italy had not been given the
promised reward for taking part in
the war.
• Germany had been unfairly and
harshly treated under the Versailles
Treaty.
• Britain hence tried to assist Germany
to revise the most hated articles of
the Versailles Treaty hoping that it
would remove German aggression.
• However this encouraged further
aggression from Germany.
c. Strong Anti-war Feelings and
Cost
• The Spanish Civil War revived
memories of horrors of war.
• Many people in Britain were
worries about the cost of
rearmament and general cost of a
major conflict would bring more
economic chaos.
d. Dialogue over conflict
• Since the League of Nations was
weak, the British Prime Minister
(Neville Chamberlain) was
convinced that disputes could only
be effectively settled through
contact and dialogue.
e. Unpreparedness for full-scale
war
• Britain and France were not prepared
for a major war without the help of
USA but Americans chose not to be
caught up in the affairs of other
countries.
• So Chamberlain was buying time in
order for Britain to get well armed
d. Aggression of Germany, Japan
and Italy
• Aggressive foreign policy of
Germany, Japan and Italy
contributed to the outbreak of the
Second World War. e.g Japan
resorted to conquer South-East
Asia where they came into conflict
with the USA.
e. The Impact of the Great
Depression
• To cushion the effects of the economic
crisis, the Nazi in Germany, the
Fascists in Italy and the militarists in
Japan adopted aggressive expansionist
policy.
• By gaining new territories, the leaders
of Italy and Japan hoped to gain vast
economic resources for their countries
 for example Japan invaded
Manchuria (China) in 1931 and
1937 for this reason.

EVENTS LEADING TO THE

SECOND WORLD WAR
a. Invasion of Manchuria, 1931
• Japan was interested in
• The region was close to Japan
• The Japanese had investments in
mining and soya beans.
• The Japanese also controlled
railway lines in the area.
• Since the Russio-Japanese War,
Japan controlled some parts of the
region.
b. Disarmament Conference
(1932-33)
• Sixty nations met at Geneva to
consider a plan intended to reduce
armaments.
• When France demanded that this
be postponed for years, Hitler
withdrew from the conference in
October 1933.
• He later pulled out of the League
of Nations and announced a
rearmament programme.

c. The Stressa Front, April 1935

• In April 1935, Mussolini met with
French and British leaders at
Stressa in Italy and agreed to stop
 Hitler’s efforts to tear the
Versailles Treaty apart.
• The declaration was however
limited to the need for peace in
Europe.
• This arrangement indirectly
encouraged Mussolini’s invasion
of Abyssinia.
d. Invasion of Abyssinia, October
1935
• In December 1935, Italian and
Abyssinian troops exchanged fire.
• When the matter was brought to the
League of Nations, Italians apologised
and promised to look into the issue.
• However Italy did little and embarked
on building up troops
 in Italian Somaliland. Britain and
France did nothing to warn the
Italians.
• On October 2, 1935, Italy invaded
Abyssinia.
• The League imposed ineffective
sanctions.
e. The Rhineland, March 1936
• Hitler deployed 30000 troops to
the Rhineland in 1936. this is the
very same region that the
Versailles Treaty demilitarised.
• Hitler was ‘testing the waters’.
• The League condemned the act but
did nothing to stop him.
f. The Spanish Civil War, (1936-
39)
• During the Spanish Civil War of
1936, the Communists sympathised
with the republicans and fought the
rebels under General Franco.
• Hitler and Mussolini of Italy
decided to help France against the
Communists.
• To Hitler, this was the best time to
fight Communists and test his new
weapons and eventually he
destroyed Guernica while the
League watched with no action.
g. Anschluss, March 1938
• Under the Versailles Treaty, the
Anschuluss was banned as it was
intended to encourage German
militarism.
• Hitler wanted to unite Austria and
Germany because in Austria there
were 8 million German-speaking
people.
• In the meeting of February 1938,
Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian
chancellor, was badly insulted by
Hitler as Hitler demanded a Nazi
share in government of Austria.
• A referendum was called by the
chancellor and because of fear,
Hitler’s troops invaded Austria on
11 March.
h. The Fall of Czechoslovakia,
March 1939
• In the meeting that Hitler invited
Czech president, Dr Benes in
Berlin, Benes collapsed after being
threatened.
• On 5 March, Hitler annexed the
whole Czechoslovakia and Dr
Benes flee the country.
• Consequently, a Nazi controlled
government was installed in
Czechoslovakia.
• After this incident, France and
Britain began to build troops and
signed treaty with Poland in case
of German possible invasion.
i. Hitler’s Invasion of Poland
• On 1st September 1939, Hitler
invaded Poland however Japan and
Italy refused to offer Hitler
assistance.
• On 3rd September, Britain and
France declared war on Germany.
• This was the beginning of second
 HIGHLIGHTS OF SECOND
WORLD WAR
• By the end of September, Poland
was overrun and partitioned
between the Nazi and the Soviets.
• In the east, Russia too quickly
occupied Latvia, Luthiana and
Estonia by November 1939.
 THE PHONEY WAR
• In the west, the phoney war lasted
for five months and by April 1940,
Norway and Denmark had fallen
to Germans.
 FALL OF FRANCE
• In May 1940, Germany invaded
Holland, Belgium and France.
• Holland and Belgium collapsed.
• Italy joined the war before France
surrendered but on the side of
Germany.
• On 22 June 1940, France was
forced to sign an armistice with
Germany at Compiegne.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN,

1940
• In August the Battle of Britain
began.
• Hitler attacked Britain causing
damage to property however the
Royal Air Force destroyed a large
number of German planes.
• Germans eventually ended the
invasion at the end of September
1940.
OPERATION BARBAROSSA, 22
JUNE 1941
• After failing to win the Battle of
Britain, Hitler decided to turn to
Russia.
• He wanted to get rid of
communism and create a living
space for the Germans.
• He also wanted to control the huge
Ukrainian wheat fields.
• On 22 June Germany attacked
Russia in Operation Barbarossa.
• German forces took control of
important cities like Kiev, Riga,
Minsk, Kalinin and Smolensk in
the south.
• However, Hitler’s forces failed to
gain control of Moscow and
Leninigrad due to heavy October
rains that made the roads muddy.

PEARL HARBOUR ATTACK,

1941
• Since USA and Britain were
 Americans were worried about
Japan’s expansionist plans into
South East Asia.
• So when Japan attacked China in
1937, USA demanded Japan’s
withdrawal from China.
• In 1941 Japan invaded French
Indo-China.
• USA imposed economic sanctions
on Japan and in November 1941
Prime Minister General Hedeki
Tojo cut off diplomatic relations
with the USA.
• On 7 December, Japanese air force
attacked the American naval base
at Pearl Harbour and they
destroyed 350 American aircrafts
• On December 8 1941, USA
declared war on Japan.
• Britain and Netherlands also
declared war on Japan.
• Germany and Italy declared war
on the USA.
FALL OF ITALY
• In July 1943, American and British
troops landed at Sicily and Italy
was defeated leading to the
sacking off of Mussolini.
• His successor, Marshall Badoglio,
signed an armistice with the Allies.
• Italy then switched to the Allied
THE HOLOCAUST
• It was a deliberate mass murder of
the Jews by the Nazi.
• On 20 January 1942, the Nazi
launched the ‘Final Solution’ to
the question of the Jews.
• By 1945, at least 6 million Jews
were killed in th6is Holocaust.
FALL OF GERMANY
• On 6 June 1944 (D-Day), Allied
troops landed on Normandy
beaches so as to liberate France.
• American and British forces then
attacked Germany from the west
and on 30 April 1945, Hitler and
his wife Eva committed suicide.
• In May 1945, Germany
surrendered.

COLLAPSE OF JAPAN
• On 6 August 1945 America dropped
an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
• Some 70,000 people died in a flash
and many more died due to
radiation effects.
• Another one was dropped on
Nagasaki on 9 August 1945
leaving 36,000 people dead.
• On 14 August the Japanese
Emperor surrendered.
FACTORS FOR THE DEFEAT OF
GERMANY AND HER ALLIES
1. War on Two Fronts
• In 1945, Germany was forced to
fight the war on two fronts, a
development that weakened her
resistance.
• By May 1945, Germany had
surrendered.
2. Axis Strategic Mistakes
• During invasion of Russia,
Hitler hoped the campaign
would not last until the winter
season.
• As a result Germany failed to
capture Leningrad and Moscow
in 1941.
3. Shortage of Raw Materials
• Germany and her Allies lacked
adequate raw materials for their
industries.
• On the other hand, Americans
provided huge supplies to
Britain and Russia as early as
1941.
4. Allied Improvement on
Previous Failures
• The Allies quickly learnt how to
deal with the blitzkrieg
technique.
• They used air support and they
also developed radar device that
was used to detect enemy
aircraft and submarines.
5. Allied combined Resources
• Americans produced more war
machines such as tanks than
Germany and Japan.
• British pooled in human and
material resources from her vast
empire in Asia and Africa.
 RESULTS OF THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
1. Loss of Lives
• About 40 million people lost
their lives in the war.
• Over 20 million people were
displaced from their homes.
2. Destruction of Infrastructure
• There was heavy destruction of
factories, houses, mines, railways
and roads in the major cities of
Europe and Japan.

3. Science and Technology

• During the war, Britain
developed a radar device.
• The radar was a step towards the
television.
• European and American scientists
also developed an atomic bomb.

4. Rise of the US and the Soviet

Union as Superpowers
• The Second World War marked
 the end of European domination of the
world and the rise of the USA and the
Soviet Union as superpowers.

5. Cold War
• After the war, ideological hostilities
developed into a ‘Cold War’
between communist Soviet Union
and Capitalist western powers.
6. Decolonisation
• The war set the stage for struggle
for independence in Asia and
Africa.

7. Formation of United Nations

Organisation
• The UNO was formed to replace
the League of Nations.
FORMATION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS ORGANISATION
ORIGINSAND AIMS OF UNO
• The formation of United Nations
went through a number of stages
between 1941 and 1945.
Atlantic Meeting, 1941
• President Roosevelt of USA and
Prime Minister Winston Churchill
of Britain met in the American
battleship, Augusta, where they
issued the Atlantic Charter
declaring that the basic human
freedoms were to be respected.
• The charter also emphasised on the
‘right to self-determination’ and an
end to use of force in future and
realisation of a just peace.

Washington Declaration, 1942

• In 1942, representatives of 26
nations met in Washington, USA.
• The delegates promised to fight
together against the Axis powers.
• Franklin Roosevelt came up with
the name “United Nations”.

Moscow Conference, 1943

• In October 1943, representatives
of United States, Great Britain, the
 Soviet Union and China met in
Moscow where they agreed to set
up an international organisation to
maintain international peace and
security.

Dumbarton Oaks Conference, 1944

• In 1944, representatives of United
 States, Great Britain, the Soviet
Union and China worked out the
main structure of the organization.

Yalta Conference, 1945

• Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin
met at Yalta in USSR in February
1945.
• The leaders agreed on the
following:
a. Voting procedure in the new
organisation.
b. USA, Britain, Russia, France
and China should be permanent
members of the council.
c. The next meeting to be held at
San Francisco Conference, 1945
• In April 1945, two weeks after the
death of Roosevelt, a meeting was
held at San Francisco.
• 50 nations signed the Charter of
the United Nations.
• The basic principle of UN is:
• “(to) save succeeding generations
from the scourge of war,…to
reaffirm faith in fundamental human
rights,…to establish conditions
under which justice and respect for
the obligations arising from treaties
and other sources of international
law can be maintained, and to
promote social progress and better
standards of life in large freedom.”
• United Nations came into
existence on 24 October 1945
th

and the League of Nations was

officially defunct in April 1946.
• The headquarters of UN is in New
York in the United Stats of
America.
 AIMS OF THE UNO
• To preserve international peace and
security.
• To develop friendly relations among
nations.
• To safeguard individual human rights
• To achieve international cooperation in
solving socio-economic and cultural
problems.
 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE U.N.O

The Genera Assembly

• It forms the central organ of the
UNO and all member states are
represented.
• Each member country has one vote.
• Matters are decided by a simple
majority.
 FUNCTIONS OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY
• it carries out decisions of the UN.
• is responsible for admission or
expulsion of members.
• it appoints judges to the
International Court of Justice.
• it appoints General-Secretaries to
the Secretariat.
The Security Council
• It deals specifically with matters of
peace and security.
• It enforces its decisions through
diplomatic, economic or military
sanctions against a country that
threatens peace.
• It has five permanent members:
• USA
• France
• Britain
• China
• Russia
They elect ten non-permanent
members for a two-year term.
 THE SECRETARIAT
• It handles administrative and
clerical work of the UN such as
preparation of minutes and
translations.
• It is chaired by the Secretary-
General who is appointed for a
five year term.
 NAME COUNTRY PERIOD
Trygvie Lie Norway 1946 – 1952
Dag Hammarskjold Sweden 1952 – 1961
U Thant Burma 1961 – 1971
Kurt Waldhein Austria 1971 – 1981
Perez de Cueller Peru 1981 – 1991
Boutros Boutros Ghali Egypt 1991 – 1996
Kofi Annan Ghana 1996 – 2006
Ban Ki-moon South Korea 2007 –
 INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
• It is based at Hague and consist of
15 judges elected for a nine year
term.
• They are drawn from different
countries.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE COURT
• to settle disputes involving
international law
• To interpret treaties
• To decide on other legal questions
that are brought before it.
 THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL
• It was intended to supervise the
former League of Nations
mandates and colonial possessions
taken from the Axis powers during
the Second World War.
• However it is no longer functional
since all countries are independent.
Notable Commissions and Agencies

United Nations Education,

Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO)
• It supports and organizes research,
conferences and education world
over.
International Labour Organization
• It aims to protect and improve
working conditions world over. E.g
fixing minimum wages and
holidays.

The World Bank

• It provides loans to developing
countries for projects such as
 agriculture and family planning.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• It allows short term loans to
countries in financial difficulties.
 The United Nations Children’s
Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
• It was established in 1946 to assist
homeless children after the Second
World War.
• Its function is to improve the
health and living standards of
children especially in developing
countries.
 Food and agricultural organisation
(FAO)
• Its aim is to encourage
improvements in agricultural
production in developing countries
 STRENGTHS OF UNO
i. All major powers are members
which makes it easy for a
country to comply with its
decision
ii. Its functions are so extensive
since it has specialised agencies
which wok to reduce possible
 causes of conflict.
iii. It has effective application and
enforcement of sanctions.
iv. It has a strong structure in terms
of rules and procedures.
v. It is able to influence in a crisis
despite a veto by a member of
the Security Council. They
vi. It helps to ensure neutrality as
the Secretaries-General come
from lesser powers.
 WEAKNESSES OF UNO
i. Lack of cooperation and
absence of some permanent
members.
ii. During the Cold War, the UNO
had been unsuccessful in
dealing with issues where the
interests of the great powers
iii. The UNO usually fails to deal
with a disputes at an early stage
which allows a problem to
become complicated.
iv. Some member states depend
more on their regional bodies in
settling disputes than on the
UNO.
v. Most member states prefer to
vote by their blocs rather than
on merit.
vi. It has had problem of funding.
 COMPARISON OF UNO AND
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
i. The UNO has an army while the
League did not.
ii. The UNO has a much wider
scope in its activities than the
League of Nations.
iii. The General Assembly of UNO
has more powers than that of
the League. It has been
strengthened by the introduction
of the Uniting for peace
resolution.
iv. The UNO has attempted to limit
impartiality in its work.
• All its Secretary Generals are
drawn from smaller and non-
influential members.
v. The UNO is almost a universal
organisation having about 192
member nations while the
League’s membership did not
exceed fifty.
vi. The UNO safeguards individual
human rights while the League
did not. E.g on 10 December
1948, UNO adopted the
Universal Declaration on
Human Rights.
vii. The UNO has been more
successful in its peace-keeping
operations than the League.
viii. The element of unanimity exists
in both the League and the
UNO. In UNO it applies to the
five permanent memebers while
in the League of Nations all
members had the right to veto.
ix. The aims of both organisations
are similar.
 POST WAR ALLIANCES
• Post-war alliances originated from
suspicion between the capitalist
West and the Communist Russia.
• The alliances date back to 1918
when the Western Allies took part
in the Russian Civil War.
 POLITICAL ALLIANCES
A. NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY
ORGANISATION (NATO)

• The idea of this alliance started in May

1948 by Britain, France, Belgium,
Netherlands and Luxemburg.
• Later USA, Canada, Portugal, Iceland
and Italy joined.
• On 4 April 1949, NATO was
officially set up and Greece and
Turkey joined in 1952.
• West Germany joined in 1955
• Members agreed to interpret an
attack on one of them as an attack
on them all.
• When Russia developed an atomic
 bomb in 1949, the alliance
intervened.

B. WARSAW PACT
• It was created by the Soviet Union
on 14 May 1955.
• Its members were Russia, Albania,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the
 German Democratic Republic
(East Germany), Hungary, Poland
and Romania.
• It was created as a response to
formation of NATO
• The arrangement allowed Russia
to station troops in Eastern Europe.
 ECONOMIC ALLIANCES
a. COMMUNIST INFORMATION
BUREAU (COMINFORM)
• It was set up by Soviet Union in
September 1947 so as to spread
communism and to promote
cooperation among communist states.
• The alliance was to restrict
communists states’ contact with
the West.
• But the alliance was dissolved in
1955.
b. ORGANISATION OF
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC
COOPERATION (OEEC)
• Was established in 1948 to
administer funds from USA.
• Was also intended to encourage
trade among members by reducing
trade restrictions.
c. COUNCIL OF MUTUAL
ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE
(COMECON)
• Was established by Soviet Union
so as to coordinate the economic
policies of the East.
 BACKGROUND TO THE POST-
WAR ALLIANCES
a. Spread of Communism
• As the defeat of German became
clear, it made Russia to occupy the
Balkans and convert most of the
countries into communist states.
• The west feared that communism
would spread
 throughout the world.
• Soviets were afraid that the west
would overthrow communism.

b. The Iron Curtain Speech

• British Prime Minister, Winston
Churchill, flew to USA in March
1947 where he made a speech
 at Fulton in Missouri that widened
the rift between the two blocs.

c. The Truman Doctrine

• After the war, Truman adopted a
policy of containment (an
American attempt to stop spread
of communism throughout the
• On 12 March 1947, Truman
responded by sending troops and
economic aid to Greece which led
to defeat of the communists.
• However Stalin interpreted this as
the threat to communism.
d. The Marshall Plan
• Since Americans believed that
communism succeeded where
people faced poverty and
hardships, George Marshall
(American Secretary of State)
developed a plan to provide
billions of dollars in aid for four
years from 1947.
• Russia responded by forbidding
the satellites from benefitting from
the aid.
• The aid was able to contain
communist threat in Western
Europe.
e. The Molotov Plan
• This was put in place in June
1947 as a direct response to the
Marshall Aid.
• The plan was trade agreements
between Russia and her
satellites. (Satellites were
communists states which had
certain things in common):
• similar economic, political and
educational system
• similar five year plan
• all had to trade with Russia
• their foreign and military policies
were controlled by Moscow
• Satellite states included Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria,
Romania, Hungary, Albania and
East Germany.
 IMPACT OF POST-WAR
ALLIANCES
a. Technological and scientific
advancement: it led to
development of atomic bombs
b. It increased diplomatic hostility
between the capitalist west and
communist Eastern Europe.
c. The alliances brought the
division of countries into two
blocs: the Western capitalist bloc
(Britain, France and other
countries led by United States)
and the Communist bloc (led by
Russia).
 THE COLD WAR
• Cold war was the state of hostility
that existed between the Soviet
bloc countries and the Western
powers from 1945 to 1990.
• The struggle involved involved
propaganda, economic measures
and policy of non-cooperation.
• It didn’t involve direct military
action but was through economic
and political actions.
WHY NO DIRECT ARMED
CONFLICT
• USA was reluctant to use the
atomic bomb due to memories of
the Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
August 1945.
• Russia was not ready to provoke
USA for fear of fatal results.
• When Russia created its own
atomic bomb in 1949, there was
balance of power. Therefore the
two powers knew how catastrophic
the war could be.
CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR
IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
• The west believed in capitalism
while the Soviets were
communists.
 Why Western Leaders Hated
Communism

• Communist nationalized industries

wherever they came to power.
• They were not happy with the
disappearance of elections in
Eastern Europe.
• The use of purges and terror on
those not loyal to Russia.

Mutual Suspicion between Soviet

and Western Leadership
• Since western nations did not
support Russia in her efforts to
stop Hitler’s aggression, Stalin
 suspected that this was western
ploy to allow anti-communist
Nazis to destroy Soviet Russia.
• Russian civil war raised suspicion
among the Soviet authorities. It
convinced Stalin that the West
was ready to crush communism.
• Stalin’s interference in Eastern
Europe convinced the USA and
 Britain that the Soviets wanted to
spread communism westwards.
• FD Roosevelt did not disclose to
Stalin the actual nature of the
bomb that USA developed
therefore this made Stalin to have
suspicion about the motive of
Britain and the United States.
 American and British hostility
towards Soviet Union
• Up to 1945, Americans were the
only possessor of atomic bomb so
after 1949, they felt threatened
when Soviets developed theirs.
• United States was unhappy that
Soviets appeared to oppose their
position as it was the richest nation
• Russia restricted trade among her
satellites hence Americans feared
that it would result to another
monetary crisis as their goods
would not be bought.
• The Kenan report increased US
government’s aggressive attitude
towards the Soviets.
 COLD WAR CONFLICTS
A. The Korean War
• The collapse of Japan in 1945
led to USA and the USSR to
divide Korea into zones along
the 38th parallel.
• Russia troops occupied northern
Korea while the Americans were
 in southern Korea.
• In August 1948, capitalist
government was established in
South Korea while in September
the Soviets set up communist
North Korea.
• On 25 June, North Korea attacked
the South in order to unite Korea
by force.
• The result was deployment of UN
forces to liberate South Korea.
• The United States entered into
treaty with the Republic of Korea
whereby US troops were to remain
in South Korea to guard it from
further communist invasion.
Results of Korean War
• The credibility of UNO suffered as
the forces were more of American
than UNO hence it was viewed as
an instrument of the capitalists.
• Americans had lost a chance to
destroy communism in China.
• China showed itself as a world
 unification of Korea under
capitalist influence.
• American relations with both
communist China and Russia
further deteriorated.
• Millions of Koreans lost lives and
henceforth suspicions engulfed
both sides.
A. Hungarian Rising (1956)
• Hungarian Prime Minister Imry
Nagy introduced reforms by
allowing free elections, allowed
non-communists in government,
withdrew Hungary from the
Warsaw Pact and asked the
Soviets to remove his troops
from Hungary.
• Russia was afraid that other
satellites would emulate the
example of Hungary therefore they
sent tanks into the Budapest on 4
November 1956.
• By mid-November, the Hungarians
had failed to resist.
C. Berlin blockade and airlift 1948-
1949
• Germany was divided into
Soviet, French, American and
British zones.
• Berlin was divided into sectors.
• In 1948, the western allies
emerged their zones into a single
economic unit and this brought
prosperity into Western Germany.
• Since Berlin lay deep into the
Soviet zone, Stalin blockade lines:
all roads, railways and canals from
West Germany and even
interrupted electricity supply.
• Americans began to airlift supplies
such as food, oil, clothing,
construction materials and
charcoal into their sector. (West
Berlin)
• The blockade was lifted on 12
May 1949 however it worsened
the relations between the Soviets
and the West.
D. Nuclear arms race
• When USA developed and
dropped atomic bombs on
Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the
Soviets too tested their in 1949.
• This meant there was balance of
power which USA could not
have allowed hence:
• In 1952, USA tested a more deadly
hydrogen bomb.
• In the following year, the Soviets
also developed theirs.
• Russia then made ICBM (Inter-
Continental Ballistic Missile) and
the Americans produced their own
version.
E. Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962