Key Events, 1919-1932
18 Jan 1919 | Paris Peace Conference begins. | Consider:Use the list of dates to create timelines for: • Conflict, 1919-1932 • Reparations Turn the timelines into written narratives.
Looking at your narratives, how successful does the League appear to have been in the 1920s at (a) Stopping Wars and (b) Sorting out Reparations? |
14 Apr 1919 |
Reparations provisionally set at £5.4 billion |
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21 Jun 1919 |
Germans scuttle their fleet, at Scapa Flow, rather than hand it over to the Allies. |
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28 Jun 1919 |
Treaty of Versailles signed (reparations provisionally set at £1 billion). |
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12 Sep 1919 |
Gabriele d’Annunzio and an Italian army seize Fiume, against the Treaty, | |
19 Nov 1919 |
US Senate refuses to join the League of Nations. |
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16 Jan 1920 | First meeting of the League of Nations. | |
29 Jan 1920 | Teschen Conflict: Czechoslovakia attacked Poland - the League successful brokered a resolution (1920). | |
5 Feb 1920 | The German government refuses to hand over 890 alleged ‘war criminals’. | |
19 Feb 1920 | US Senate refuses to sign the Treaty of Versailles. | |
17 Mar 1920 | Kapp Putsch (rebellion) in Germany, against the peace treaty, fails. | |
6 Apr 1920 | French troops invade Ruhr in Germany (until 17 May 1920) after the German government had sent troops into the Rhineland to stop rioting. | |
25 April 1920 | Poland invades Russia and Lithuania and takes land east of the ‘Curzon line’ agreed in the Treaty of Versailles. | |
25 April 1920 | The League of Nations suggests reparations of £4.5 billion. | |
22 Jun 1920 |
The League of Nations suggests reparations of £12.5 billion. | |
28 Jul 1920 | The Allies bully Poland into accepting Czech occupation of Teschen. |
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5 Sept 1920 |
Vilna: The Poles had captured Vilna (the capital of Lithuania) in 1919, but had been driven out. Poland thenappealed to the League, which organised negotiations, but in March 1923 the Conference of Ambassadors intervened and gave the land to Poland. |
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28 Jan 1921 | The League of Nations suggests reparations of £10 billion. |
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8 Mar 1921 | French, British and Belgian troops invade the Ruhr in Germany (until 30 Sep 1921) to force Germany to pay reparations. |
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27 April 1921 | Reparations finally fixed at £6.6 billion, to be paid in instalments until 1988. |
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11 May 1921 | Germany agrees to pay reparations. |
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11 Jul 1921 | The ‘Big Three’ agree to hold a disarmament conference. |
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20 Oct 1921 | Åland Islands: The League successfully arbitrated a territorial dispute between Sweden and Finland. |
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15 May 1922 | Upper Silesia, which had voted in a plebiscite to be German, is partitioned and given to Poland after an investigation by the League of Nations. |
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26 Jul 1922 | An economic crisis in Germany (until 1924). Britain and France agree to a 6 months delay in reparations payments. |
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5Jan 1923 | Memel: Lithuania seized Memel, a German port under League control. The League told Lithuania to leave, but the Conference of Ambassadors gave Memel to Lithuania. |
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11 Jan 1923 | French and Belgian troops, against US and Britain’s advice, invade the Ruhr in Germany (until Nov 1924) to force Germany to pay reparations. |
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21 Jan 1923 | The German miners go on strike against the French invasion, which deepens the economic crisis in Germany. |
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31 Aug 1923 |
Corfu: Italy occupied Corfu, after an Italian general was murdered in Greece. Greece appealed to the League, which ordered Italy to leave – but the Conference of Ambassadors overruled the League. |
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21 Oct 1923 | Bavaria and Rhineland declare independence from Germany (Germany is falling apart). |
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8–9 Nov 1923 | Hitler’s Munich Putsch fails. |
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9 Apr 1924 | The Dawes Plan gives Germany longer to pay reparations, and grants huge loans to get the German economy going. |
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2 Dec 1924 | Trade Treaty between Britain and Germany. |
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16 Oct 1925 | Locarno Pact: peace agreement between Fr., Br., Belgium, Italy & Germany. |
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18 Oct 1925 | Stray Dog War: after a border incident, Greece invaded Bulgaria and occupied the town of Petrich. The League ordered Greece to withdraw, which it did (22 October). |
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30 Jan 1926 |
British troops leave the Rhineland. |
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5 June 1926 |
Mosul: After a League investigation, Britain and Turkey signed the Treaty of Ankara to end their territorial dispute |
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5 Aug 1926 | France and Germany sign a trade agreement. |
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8 Sep 1926 | Germany admitted to the League of Nations. |
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16 Sep 1927 | German President Hindenburg denies German War Guilt; nothing is done. |
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27 Aug 1928 | Kellogg-Briand Pact: 65 nations (inc. Fr/Br/USA/Ger) promise to abolish war. |
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5 Dec 1928 | Chaco War: a border dispute between Paraguay and Bolivia - Paraguay appealed to the League, but Bolivia refused to agree. A ceasfire was brokered by the USA, but full-scale war broke out in 1932. |
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7 Jun 1929 | The Young Plan reduces reparations. |
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24 Oct 1929 | Wall Street Crash; USA recalls all loans, causing an economic crisis in Europe. |
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30 Jun 1930 |
Last Allied troops leave the Rhineland. |
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13 Jul 1931 | German economic crisis – all banks have to close (until 5 Aug 1931). USA, France and Britain give Germany a huge loan. |
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9 Jul 1932 | Lausanne Agreement: USA, France and Britain agree to suspend all reparations payments indefinitely. |
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