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Flashcards · 9489 · AS Topic 3

International option: International history, 1870–1939 (AS Level) flashcards

19 cards on AS Topic 3, subtopics 7 to 9. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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7 Imperialism and the emergence of world powers, c.1870–1918

What is meant by the "New Imperialism"?
The rapid expansion of European empires, especially in Africa and Asia, from about 1870, driven by economic motives (markets, raw materials, investment) and political ones (prestige, strategy, nationalism).
What was the Berlin Conference of 1884-85?
A meeting of European powers that set rules for claiming African territory, an attempt to manage imperial rivalry during the Scramble for Africa.
What was the Boxer Rebellion?
An anti-foreign, anti-Christian uprising in northern China (1899-1901). The foreign legations in Beijing were besieged in 1900 until an international force relieved them.
How did Japan emerge as a world power by 1918?
Through modernisation after the Meiji Restoration (1868), victory over China (1894-95), the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902), victory over Russia (1904-05) and entry into the First World War on the Allied side in 1914.
What did the USA gain from the Spanish-American War (1898)?
The Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam, with Cuba under US influence. Hawaii was also annexed in 1898. It marked the USA’s arrival as an overseas power.
When did the USA enter the First World War, and why does it matter here?
April 1917. It completed the USA’s emergence as a world power and made it central to the peace settlement.

8 International relations 1919–29: conflict and cooperation

Which treaty was signed with each defeated power in 1919-20?
Versailles: Germany (1919). Saint-Germain: Austria (1919). Neuilly: Bulgaria (1919). Trianon: Hungary (1920). Sèvres: Turkey (1920), later replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923).
Why did Germans call the Treaty of Versailles a "Diktat"?
Because it was a dictated peace: Germany was not allowed to negotiate and had to accept the war-guilt clause (Article 231), reparations, territorial losses and military limits.
What was the Ruhr Crisis of 1923?
France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr in January 1923 after Germany fell behind on reparations. German passive resistance followed and hyperinflation spiralled.
Dawes Plan (1924) vs Young Plan (1929)
Dawes Plan: rescheduled German reparation payments, backed by American loans. Young Plan: reduced the total reparations bill and extended the payment period.
What did the Locarno Treaties (1925) do?
Germany, France and Belgium accepted their western borders, guaranteed by Britain and Italy. Germany joined the League of Nations in 1926. Locarno marked the high point of 1920s cooperation.
What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)?
An agreement, eventually signed by over 60 countries, to renounce war as an instrument of national policy. It had no means of enforcement.
Name three 1920s disputes the League of Nations handled
The Aaland Islands (awarded to Finland, 1921), Vilna (seized by Poland, 1920) and Upper Silesia (divided after a plebiscite, 1921). The Corfu Incident (1923) showed its weakness against a great power.

9 International history 1929–39: the rise of extremism and the road to war

How did the League respond to the Manchurian crisis?
After Japan seized Manchuria (from September 1931), the League sent the Lytton Commission, whose report condemned Japan. Japan simply left the League in 1933. No sanctions were imposed.
Why did the Abyssinian crisis damage the League?
When Italy invaded Abyssinia in October 1935, sanctions excluded oil, and the Hoare-Laval Pact (December 1935) showed Britain and France ready to reward the aggressor. Italy moved closer to Germany.
List Hitler’s main steps of expansion, 1936-39
Remilitarisation of the Rhineland (March 1936), Anschluss with Austria (March 1938), the Sudetenland after Munich (September 1938), the rest of Czechoslovakia (March 1939) and the invasion of Poland (1 September 1939).
What is appeasement, and why did Britain pursue it?
Avoiding war by meeting grievances through concessions. Reasons include economic weakness and the cost of rearmament, Britain not yet being militarily ready, sympathy for some German grievances, and distrust of the USSR.
Why did Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact (23 August 1939)?
To buy time and security after Munich left the USSR isolated, and because Britain and France seemed unwilling to ally seriously. A secret protocol divided Poland and eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
Why did Britain and France declare war on Germany in September 1939?
Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, which Britain and France had guaranteed in March 1939. They declared war on 3 September.

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