LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL 2018

1 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 Table of Contents

Introduction Letter 3 Introduction to the Joint Cabinet Crisis 5 1937: The Crossroads of Diplomacy 8 Introduction: Understanding the Crisis behind 8 The Political Economy of Europe 9 Timeline: The Rise of Nazism in Germany 13 Timeline: The Rise of Fascism in 14 The 15 Economy and Trade 15 Treaties 18 Overview of Early 20th Century British History & Politics 18 Britain in the First World War 21 Italy 23 The Italian peninsula 23 A modern struggle for unity 23 Italy in the 20th century 25 Economy and Trade 26 Role in WWI and Treaties 29 33 History and Politics 33 Economy and Trade 35 Foreign Policy and Treaties 39 The 43 History and Formation 43 The League of Nations in the Interwar Crisis 46 Current Challenges 48 Sources 51

Joint Cabinet Crisis London International Model United Nations 19th Session | 2018 2 LONDONLONDON INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL MODELMODEL UNITEDUNITED NATIONSNATIONS 20182018

Introduction Letter

Dear Delegates,

I would like to warmly welcome you to our Joint Cabinet Crisis committee which will be based on the Appeasement Years from May 1937. This Crisis is designed for both beginner and advanced delegates, whether you are a committed Crisis delegate or someone who prefers General Assembly debate and are interested in a new experience. You are all part of an ambitious project to simulate one of the most critical points of history in the , not only to experience the issues European powers faced comprehensively but also to work towards alternatives which could potentially prevent the Second World War.

The focus of this Crisis committee is to enable bring out the best in the Model United Nations experience through a combination of Crisis and General Assembly procedure; putting the Resolution into practice. While the League of Nations faced struggles and lack of implementation of its beliefs, delegates will face the same challenge the predecessor institution of the United Nations did – war. While

3 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 diplomacy is used as a mechanism to prevent conflict, this Crisis will also evaluate how leaders and ambassadors operate throughout numerous conflicts across Europe, such as that of the .

We ask each and every delegate to challenge themselves in this new experience that is our historical journey, for we will surely challenge every cabinet and the League of Nations in approaching domestic and transnational crises. While it is surely not the inception of global diplomacy despite the first time many smaller countries are represented on such a scale, the consequences of this period will define the 20th century in trade, capabilities and ultimately, the Western historical narrative of the origins of the Second World War.

We look forward to meeting you all at LIMUN 2018 and this Study Guide proves useful in understanding our topic for this simulation.

Yours Sincerely,

Hamzah Sheikh (Crisis Director)

Roberta Maggi and Muqqaddam Malik (Assistant Directors)

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Introduction to the Joint Cabinet Crisis

This crisis is based on the diplomatic crossroads of a continent that struggled with the long-term effects of the global crises of the Great Depression and the First World War. It is also known as the Appeasement Years in which the Great Powers failed to prevent Hitler’s regime from advancing on Eastern Europe, before Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany for invoking their agreement that promised to keep Poland independent from Nazi control. While a century-old debate exists on whether the British should have intervened earlier to prevent the Second World War, the arguments between orthodox and revisionist perspectives as well as numerous counterfactual theories will be put to the test in this Crisis Committee. The starting point in this setting will be the 28th May 1937, the day Chamberlain assumed leadership over a new, National Government of the United Kingdom.

This Crisis will be an opportunity for all delegates to engage with the underlying factors behind the process that began WW2. With the countries of Britain, France and Italy present as Cabinets along with the diplomatic body of the League of Nations, leaders, politicians and ambassadors are tasked to determine the direction of what

5 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 could have happened differently. It is hindsight that will provide the challenge for all delegates in hopes of advancing the interests of their country populations, whether it is Britain’s intention to maintain its global empire, Italy’s aspiration to dominate the Mediterranean, France’s drive to advance its Republic or the League of Nations chance to overcome its history of failure to provide a diplomatic solution to global crisis.

It is strongly recommended both advanced and beginner delegates read the Crisis guides available on the LIMUN website (https://limun.org.uk/help_guides) to become more informed on Rules of Procedure, what to expect in crisis committees and how to engage with all mechanics of the simulation. Messages, news updates and directives will be facilitated by Deus Crisis Platform, a system created by crisis experts that has improved the operation of Crisis Committees and all delegates will be given a tutorial on how to use it on the first day of committee session.

Roles and Responsibilities

Delegates have all been given roles that entail a character’s history, position of power and objectives in the simulation. It is important that every delegate learns and researches their character in order to understand what they are capable of when submitting directives, along with acknowledging the history, allegiances and limitations of that of their character in May 1937. Simply having the ability to take certain action comes with consequences for a character and has to be realistic, especially within the framework of a historical crisis. All characters are not immortal and could possibly endure travel logistics, political scandal and conspiracy and assassination. Death will not be as frequent as it was in the trenches of the First World War, however in the case it will happen, it will be monumental in determining character and country relations, shifts in power and change in public opinion, all variables for each delegate to consider when submitting directives.

The Crisis Team will be responsible for personally responding to your directives by updating the news and simulated countries and characters that are not represented by 6 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018

Chairs or delegates. When engaging with this simulation of historical events, we ask you consider the culture and technology of society at the time when submitting directives and evaluating the effects. This is a particular stage of globalisation where despite rapid development of science and industry radically changing the behaviour of countries within the span of decades, it is still far from the standard of accessibility we have today and therefore this needs to be considered in this ‘alternate reality’ we will provide for you in the committee. The same applies to how government institutions choose to operate and how news is reported and delivered to mass audiences, as well as the numerous advantages of air power and sound technology, practicality correlating with innovation.

Crisis Chairs will assume characters that were leaders of the countries represented as cabinets. Chairs will act with their own interests and that of the Crisis Team, however will be excluded on most information limited to what their character realistically has access to throughout the period. They will assert the agenda on the first day of committee session, assisting you in understanding and engaging the crisis simulation and guiding everyone to reach the objectives of their respective cabinets. Their prime objective is to lead the cabinet and every delegate’s progress, even if it creates clashes with the motives and methods of another character including their own.

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1937: The Crossroads of Diplomacy

Introduction: Understanding the Crisis behind Appeasement

The consolidation of power from both Nazi and Fascist leaders had posed issues for the League of Nations. Not only did Hitler withdraw from the League in October 1933 but he also introduced two-year conscription and the development of the German air force, which was not only a violation of the but also a threat to Chamberlain, who as Chancellor, had always prioritised funding for power in the skies over the Royal Navy. A militaristic Germany was a threat to Central and Eastern Europe and its goals to expand territorial interests in connection to German domination of Jews and Slavs alarmed its neighbours. In March 1936, the Nazis established control and remilitarised the Rhineland while Europe focused on Mussolini’s conquest for the Mediterranean in hopes of reviving Italy’s symbolic history of the with the goal of invading Abyssinia, which he succeeded in doing despite Emperor ’s protest to the League of Nations (Best, 2008, 162-165).

The Appeasement policy was not only limited to the . Italy had entertained diplomatic treaties from the Locarno powers, where Mussolini wanted to prevent Hitler from becoming an enemy in anticipation of German troops in Austria. However, when Mussolini moved towards Abyssinia, he was met with sanctions from the League before he eventually succeeded in securing his invasion in 1936. Hitler

8 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 offered neutrality to Italy, which in turn gave the a free-hand to work with Austrian fascists while both countries supported Franco’s nationalist regime in the Spanish Civil War. While Europe was gripped in crisis, both the British and the French were reluctant to start another war. Appeasement was spearheaded by Britain to benefit its security interests in Europe and to keep its Empire protected from other powers. The Anglo-German naval agreement in was a move to limit Germany’s navy to 35% of that of the Royal Navy and to become a wider set of negotiations for an international armaments treaty, however, Hitler saw this as another free-hand to move further into Eastern Europe (Best, 2008, 164-170).

Delegates are tasked to use this study guide for further research in history, which will be your most powerful weapon in debate and in writing directives, whether you work in a team or independently. The League of Nations in this Crisis will approach all of Europe’s crises throughout the cabinet’s resolve to secure the interests of their country. Each country will also have their Ambassador present in the League Council to be accountable for what happens throughout the Crisis. Even though delegates will have numerous political and strategic differences with each other (between and within cabinets), the League of Nations is the chief instrument of reaching diplomatic resolution and preventing global conflict. The question of the diplomatic crossroads when engaging in Appeasement will not only be determining its success but also its purpose if it were to be successfully implemented.

The Political Economy of Europe

Europe had been torn apart by the First World War and despite the heavy funding regime enacted by the of America, the deep cracks were only temporarily plastered over by the free market trade of the 1920s. The loss and suffering of the First World War was hard to overcome and created years of uncertainty with little capacity for recovery. France and Germany alone lost about 15% of their male workforce, Austria-Hungary and Italy lost 6-7% and Britain lost 5%. This negatively impacted the age dynamics of the workforces and hurt

9 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 productivity limiting productivity in Europe causing the former global powers to lose their comparative advantages. The USA benefitted from this as they had enough to grow and dominate global trade in the post WWI period to establish themselves as a new hegemonic power overtaking imperialistic Britain.

In the mid-1920s the states chose to cooperate and used their collective wealth and influence to levy deals with the USA and furthered the imperialistic drives into Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Factories, farms and railways were back to full functionality with new optimal capacity levels by 1924 across Europe. Intra- European trade rose 78% between 1920 and 1925 with focus on agricultural and mechanical products. Most states refocused on mining raw materials and value addition processes. This was a shift from the industrial focus on war supplies adopted since the late 1890s as the USA and Japan developed sounder tech at cheaper rates with more stable supply. Central Europe particularly struggled as about 70% of the workforce therein relied on the land to earn a living despite the new American model sharply increasing per capita produce. The struggled significantly more as they stopped from trading with each other, faced hefty reparations and were subject to outside interference such as the French/Belgian Valley. Overall, the European economy was recovering from a sharp down turn and was stagnating in a trough pending market advancements and growth. Inflation was initially a worrying factor across Europe up to 1924 with risks and occurrences of rampant unpredictable inflatory shocks and hyperinflation. Thereafter the inflation was a strong driving force of competition and helped Europe in wealth collection. Most European states employed currency stabilization techniques largely implementing gold standard policies and markers.

The most significant economic impact in the post WWI period was the Wall Street Crash of 1929 which kicked off a global economic recession dubbed ‘The Great Depression. The use of the gold standard tied the European economy to that of the USA, thus when the crash occurred as a result of subtle bubbling factors such as falling prices, diminishing demand and uncontrollable levels of unemployment the world was plunged into economic dismay. The had failed as US Hedge 10 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018

Funds and Banks immediately recalled all their loans to European entities causing a hyperinflation reflex creating global asymmetric shocks. The negotiations of the seemed to be a lifeline but were cut short by the death of Gustav Stresemann and the collapse of the American financial sector. Many blame the Great Depression on the rise of interest rates in the US but the fundamental issue was the unsustainability of American loans in Europe without substantial or moderate returns. By 1931, US investment across Europe amounted 0. Europe responded by shooting up taxation, interest rates and sticking by the gold standard but this played out poorly politically and the people felt returned to the hard times of the post WWI period. This is evident in the rise of the Fascist movements in Germany and Italy. The first European to fall flat into the crisis was Austria with the collapse of the Creditanstalt bank due to the withdrawal of 420 million schillings in a 7-day period in October 1931; this led to the government taking over the bank thus assuming ownership of 64 Austrian companies and 65% of the nominal capital of the business sector. This broke the gold standard rule due to selling of currency based on uncertainty thus resulting in the collapse of the Austrian economy. This model of collapse was mirrored by Bulgaria, , Italy, and Germany. The British Imperial Empire (including her subjects) were faced with similar struggles in 1931 when the commercial banks and the Bank of England saw unprecedented losses of confidence leading to dumping of the pound globally. The interest rates rose rapidly making households unsustainable and triggering rationing in the UK. This brought along the highest levels of budget deficit the empire had ever faced and they could not offset this irrespective of their resources being gathered from across the commonwealth. This coupled with the need for radical change in the new government saw a founder of the gold standard toss it aside in September 1931 changing global economics forever.

Politically, the difficult economic situation gave rise to niche parties bringing them into the spotlight for the first time in a decade and ever for some. The rise of communism and fascism can be attributed to the poor economic performances of European states and the generally low expectancy for wealth therein. Germany and

11 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 the UK had 6 and 3 million unemployed respectively in 1932 with France and Italy following with 2 million apiece. Another major consequence was the abandonment of diplomacy and cross border trade ushering in an era of protectionism and land based economics to cater to the basic necessities of the population. Between 1932 and 1935 the average tariffs for trade between France and Germany rose 55% whereas Italy and the UK rose 32%. This ended a free trade ethos that has stood for close to a century. By 1937, the UK is the only European state in economic recovery with high levels of productivity and a competitive edge. Germany and Italy are dealing with poverty and unemployment through populist policies and conscription. The rest of Europe is struggling to consolidate political and economic power leading to general uncertainty such as in France where the informal sector of the economy has grown over 60% leading to almost a 95% decrease in financial interactions through banks.

Overall, Europe is in a fragile place economically with a dire need for cooperation to survive the possible shocks in the future. The lack of purchasing power is causing major losses against China, Japan and the USA whereas the lack of productivity is hurting jobs and livelihoods in Europe.

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Timeline: The Rise of Nazism in Germany

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Timeline: The Rise of Fascism in Italy

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The United Kingdom

Economy and Trade During the First World War, Britain realigned its production sector to focus on the production of munitions, borrowing heavily from the US to finance this decision (Fisk, 1924). Moreover, given the country’s social economic standing, the shift to a military economy did not bring on unmanageable levels of inflation as increased military spending usually would, leading to relative economic stability within the UK (Broadberry and Harrison, 2017). Additionally, mass imports of food and raw materials from the US on top of the loan allowed for Britain to disregard their own agricultural sector but still maintain a functional population (Fordham, 2003).

It should be noted that trade unions also became a sweeping phenomenon in the UK during WWI with membership numbers growing from a little over 4 million in 1913 to 8.3 million in 1920 before returning to 5.4 million in 1923. Scotland’s shipbuilding industry also flourished during this time enjoying an over 30% growth (Olsen and Mitchell, 1963). All this economic growth can partially be attributed to the introduction of women to the workforce bolstering worker numbers significantly as men were sent out of the UK rallied as troops.

With the end of WWI however, Britain suffered huge losses in resources, both human and material. Despite Germany owing an incredible amount in reparations, the UK now had a bigger debt to repay the US. Economic stagnation plagued Britain for a decade during this time, and a lack of retraining programs left many specialised workers without work. During this time, Britain continued to rely on its coal, cotton, iron and steel industries to sustain its economy.

By 1923, Britain’s economy began to show signs of recovery from the postwar economic downturn that many countries had faced. However, in 1926, the 1926 United Kingdom General Workers Strike once again put Britain in an economic slump. As a result, the UK’s economic growth/stability in the following 3 years were erratic in nature, often met with period of stagnation.

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The Wall Street Stock Market Crash of 1929 crippled the US economy, sparking the worldwide event known as the Great Depression and as a result, created an undeniably negative impact on the UK’s economy. It should be noted that the UK did not face the same level of impact the US did during this global recession, as unlike the US, the UK did not experience a credit boom of the same magnitude leading up to the crash (Kennedy, 1988). However, given how the UK’s economy was relying heavily on trade, the decline in global demand lowered the demand for UK exports significantly, leading to the UK economy falling into a deep recession with real GDP falling by 5% in 1931 alone.

Despite the UK’s attempt from 1923 onwards to solve the issue of mass unemployment, by the end of 1931, unemployment had risen to 2.6 million from the 1.8 million at the end of 1930. By 1933, more than 20% of Britain’s workforce was unemployed, with unemployment hitting South Wales and Northeast England the hardest (some of these areas had over 70% unemployment). As a result, dependency on the dole (payments from local governments for the unemployed) became the primary source of revenue many families had to depend on. To keep the value of the Sterling in the gold standard (where the value of money was tied to gold), the government of this time opted to use fiscal consolidation to reduce the budget deficit and increased bank rates to attract hot money flows, in efforts to keep the pound at its target rate relative to the gold standard.

As a result of this supposed short-term success the public increasingly began to favor the idea of looking to the government for centralized economic planning (Williamson and Ferguson, 1999).

However, success in keeping the pound stabilized was short-lived and was never truly sustainable. Massive budget cuts caused mass social unrest and the pound remained overvalued despite the government’s best efforts. As real interest rates were already at an incredibly high 8%, which could not have been increased given the state of the recession, the chancellor Lord Snowden and Ramsay MacDonald knew drastic

16 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 measures had to be taken to prevent the global financial crisis from spilling into the London market.

On September 19, 1931, Britain faced speculative attacks on the pound and historically made the decision to leave the gold standard. Furthermore, Tariff Reforms were adopted in efforts to stabilize the UK economy during the Great Depression, despite the UK in the past having been a strong supporter of a free market economy.

The following expansionary monetary policy measures were taken by the UK treasury in attempts to help the UK economy recover:

• Cutting interest rates • Targeting a higher inflation • Devaluation of the Pound

The cut in interest rates in addition to the raised inflation enabled real interest rates to drop. Short term interest rates fell from 9% in 1931 to 0.6% in 1933 enabling short term loans to once again become reasonably viable, boosting aggregate demand. This further led to a 28% devaluation of the pound between 1930 and 1932, which boosted the demand for UK exports and domestic demand, acting as a positive economic stimulus. By 1934, despite the heavy industry continuously in decline, the UK consumer industry began its recovery, with point production increasing 32% from 1933 to 1937.

In hindsight, the UK made the right decision in leaving the gold standard, as being one of the first to leave it, economic growth rates were higher in the UK during the time compared to many of its neighbouring European states (Pettinger, 2017).

Despite the rates of economic growth however, there was the issue of uneven recovery, where certain parts of the UK were not recovering at similar rates to others, especially in Wales, the north and other industrial areas. It is here where the “Jarrow Crusades” was born . This as a result is one of the main issues the UK government

17 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 must deal with in addition to the challenges the UK government faces in sustaining this recovery and reducing unemployment rates.

Treaties The (1915) – The London Pact alternatively known as the Treaty of London, 1915, was a secret pact between the and Italy signed in London on April 26th, intending to promise large portions of Austria-Hungary in exchange for Italy entering the war within a month’s time.

The Armistice of 11 November 1918 – An armistice to end the fighting on the Western Front signed between the Allies and Germany, also known as the Armistice of Compiègne.

The Treaty of Sèvres (August 1920) – Signed by the after their WWI defeat and signed in France, the treaty marked the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and its demise.

The (5-16 October 1925) – WW1 European Allied Powers and the new states of Central and Eastern Europe securing post-war territorial settlements, in addition to planning the normalizing of relations with the defeated Germany.

The Statute of Westminster of 1931 – Establishing that former Dominions are no longer Commonwealth realms, giving them full legal freedoms of their choosing.

The Second London Naval Treaty (1936) – restricts warship displacement and armament. Not signed by Italy or Japan. Conduct further research if planning naval construction.

Overview of Early 20th Century British History & Politics The early 20th century revolutionised British politics as we perceive it. Numbers of reforms such as Liberal welfare reforms led by , Parliamentary reform, female suffrage and the rise of the Labour Party have made a lasting impact on Britain. 18 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 a. Liberal Reforms

The early 1900s saw Britain realise in the aftermath of the Boer War that its citizens were too malnourished to effectively fight a modern war. It was deemed that up to 40% of the men that volunteered to fight for the British Army in 1899, were classed as unfit to fight after mandatory medical examinations (BBC Guides, “Divided Society, 2017). This was alarming as the root of the issue lay with the fact that working-class families suffered from poverty and that children were not developing properly due to malnourishment and work responsibilities from a very young age. There was growing concern as many started to believe that the British army was not strong enough. If there was such an immense difficulty recruiting for a small-scale war, then it would be impossible to enlist able-bodied soldiers for a large-scale war against a rival industrial power such as Germany (BBC Guides, “Divided Society, 2017).

To address this issue of poverty and malnourishment, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, pushed the Liberal government between 1906 and 1914 to pass several key welfare reforms to try to reduce poverty within young children, the unemployed, the working class, the sick and the elderly. Legislation (House of Commons, 2008) was passed which provided for a non-contributory pension scheme of 1-5 shillings per week for British citizens over the age of 70 – by 1914 over one million people were receiving a pension (BBC Guides, “Liberal Reforms”, 2017). Furthermore, legislation was also passed to help young children. This bolstered the number of children going to school especially and reduced child exploitation.

Moreover, the Liberal government also laid the foundations of the creation of ‘the welfare state’ with the introduction of National Insurance (National Insurance Act, 1911). This entitled workers to receive free healthcare and an income of 7 shillings per week if they became unemployed and an income of 10 shillings for 13 weeks if they became ill in exchange for paying into the program alongside the state and their

19 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 employers. These reforms significantly improved Britain’s capacity to fight the First World War.

b. Parliamentary Reform

After a dispute with the House of Lords, the Liberal government sought to curtail its powers. Under the Parliament Act 1911, any bill passed by the House of Commons without alterations in three successive hearings did not need approval from the House of Lords to be granted royal assent if two years had passed since it was first proposed. This time-period was limited to one month for financial measures such as the budget. Furthermore, this Act also reduced the maximum amount of time the House of Commons could sit from seven years to five years (Parliament Act, 1911).

The Parliament Act is a key step in the democratisation of the United Kingdom as for the first time in history, the House of Commons had primacy over the now subordinate House of Lords.

c. The Rise of the Labour Party and the fall of the Liberals

In 1893, a socialist Scottish miner called Keir Hardie was elected as an MP for West Ham where he set up the Independent Labour Party. In 1900, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) set up the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) to support working-class candidates such as Keir Hardie and its secretary, Ramsay MacDonald, at elections.

In 1903, the LRC even formulated a deal with the Liberal Party where each of them pledged not to have their candidates for MP run against each other in seats against the Conservatives in the upcoming election. In 1906, LRC-backed candidates won 29 seats and called themselves the Labour party and the Labour MP, John Burns, was even invited into the Liberal Government to sit as the first Labour Minister (BBC Guides, “Rise of the Labour Party”, 2014).

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After the war, Labour reorganised itself and adopted a new constitution and published a new manifesto which called for the nationalisation of industry, votes for women and the redistribution of we although in the aftermath of the war and Labour successfully won 63 seats in the 1918 elections; a share which increased to 142 seats in 1922 following the fall of David Lloyd George in the aftermath of agreeing to an Irish Free State.

The Conservatives that took over were a very weakened party embroiled in disputes against trade unions (particularly the of coal, rail and transport unions) threatening a general strike. Eventually the Conservatives failed to deal with this issue and a new election was called in 1924 where Ramsay MacDonald, leading the Labour Party, won 191 seats and formed a coalition government with the Liberals (158 seats) and became the first Labour Prime Minister (BBC Guides, “Rise of the Labour Party”, 2014). However, the Daily Mail reportedly found a letter sent by Grigory Zinoviev said Labour MPs assist the “British proletariat” by pressuring the government in developing and extending a Marxist-Leninist revolution in England and its colonies. Labour’s potential link with the Soviet Union resulted in a swift second election being called that same year where the Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin, returned decisively with 413 seats against Labour’s 151. The Liberals however, lost an incredible 118 seats which left them with only 40 seats.

Britain in the First World War Britain leading up to the First World War had signed a Triple Entente with Russia and France (France and Russia had a defensive pact). This was not a defensive pact but merely an alliance to counter the pact signed by the Central Powers: the , the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the .

Britain was however guaranteeing the integrity of because of the Treaty of London 1839 and saw its entry into the war when Germany declared war on France (as a result of its pact with Austria) and Belgium. Italy however, did not honour its alliance with the Central Powers, choosing instead to ally with the Triple Entente.

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During the war, every able-bodied man was sent to the front-lines in Belgium and France to fight. Over 1 million British men lost their lives in the war at major offensives such as Passchendaele, Ypres and the Somme in Europe whilst offensives were carried out against the Ottomans as well which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem for the first time since it was lost to Saladin in the 12th century.

The war marked innovation in deadly technology as well as it saw the introduction of mustard gas, the founding of the Royal Air Force and the use of armoured tanks which could break through enemy entrenchments.

The conflict proved to be immensely costly for Britain as it resulted in its economy largely being crippled with an immense loss of manpower. The aftermath of the war saw many of Britain’s colonies demand independence or autonomy which started the gradual decline of the British Empire even though new colonies had been carved up from the Ottoman Empire. Britain would economically and militarily not be ready for another war for a considerably long time which is perhaps the main reason why the pro-appeasement Conservative Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, ascended to power in 1937.

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Italy

The Italian peninsula The Italian peninsula has only been united under one flag since 1861, making its institutions and government 76 years old in 1937. There is a key difference, thus, between the history of the Italian peninsula and the history of the Italian state.

To describe the history of the peninsula is to describe that of much of the European continent; once the epicentre of the Roman Empire, after its collapse Italy went through centuries of occupation and influence by several European and outside powers, stretching from the in the north, to the Arabs and the Spanish in the south. The region’s history is unavoidably tied to wider historical phenomenon, such as that of medieval communes, the holy wars against Islam, and the counter-Reformation. All of this contributed to profound divisions and differences across the peninsula, where as many as 34 languages are spoken, and the mark of foreign occupation, heterogeneous economic development and lack of social cohesion reflects in its 1930s institutions. As Florence-based politician and author Machiavelli theorised in his 16th century work The Prince, the tragedy of the Italian peninsula is precisely its lack of cohesion and attempts at unification. Italy lagged behind other European powers, most of which established some form of national unity early on (Machiavelli and Lotherington, 2017).

A modern struggle for unity Throughout the first half of the 19th century, a phenomenon known as Risorgimento — Italian for “resurgence” — began to take shape, representing the first attempts in history at the unification of the Italian peninsula. The new Italian nationalist movement was able to craft an image of an “Italian Nation” that had never truly taken shape, in the form of a poetic ideal to fight for. The vision of the people finally united

23 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 to form one Nation was successfully planted in the hearts and minds of a large number of people across the region, from many different backgrounds.

To break the spell of unsuccessful revolutionary attempts was a born general by the name of Giuseppe Garibaldi, who in 1860, landed in Sicily and marched on the Bourbon capital Palermo. In a few days’ time, he de facto took over control of all of the . By then, a second war had been fought by the Savoy against Austria-Hungary, this time resulting in a victory, and the of Milan (1859). Garibaldi handed his conquered territory to Savoy king Victor Emmanuel II, who was crowned King of Italy in 1861. A third war against Austria, in 1866, resulted in the annexation of the Veneto region, and a successful campaign against and the State of the Church in 1871 finally completed the puzzle. The Albertine Statute — the Savoy constitution — was then extended to the rest of the country and became the main groundwork for the Italian constitutional system up to the present moment (1937).

This intricate political, military and diplomatic operation, led by a few men — among which was the Savoy’s prime minister Camillo Benso, count of Cavour — was everything but a bottom up process. Most of the people involved in the few military skirmishes, as well as those who voted to join in referendums, by no means had an even minimal understanding of their contribution to a scheme to unify vastly different regions under one King. This rather constructed and lucky process of unification was not at all representative of a true Italian sense of nationality or cohesion. The deep divisions between regions of the peninsula stayed intact. The years that followed the annexation of Rome in 1871, until the turn of the century, were characterised by strong, centralised government actions aimed at integrating every province of the new nation into one State, through public works, educational programs, and serious restructuring of local public administration. Efforts to occupy a role at the colonial table were also made, when the newly formed conducted a series of bloody and successful campaigns in the horn of Africa at the end of the century.

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Italy in the 20th century Despite vast economic and socio-political differences, the Kingdom of Italy established itself as a European power early after its creation, aligning itself with the Second German Reich and Austria-Hungary in 1882, a pact known as the Triple Alliance. This pact survived the turn of the century, and stayed intact through the early years of the First World War. (Coolidge, 2010) In 1911 Italy celebrated its first 50 years with the construction of monuments and statues dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II, as well as with the brutal conquest of Libya, in an attempt to consolidate its colonial rule. In 1915, four years after the decision to not join its allies in the first world war, the Italian government signed the Treaty of London, which broke the triple alliance and formalised Italy’s loyalty to the Triple Entente (an alliance between the United Kingdom, France and Russia) (Sanger, 2010). This was largely due to the country’s irredentist claims to parts of Austria-Hungary’s territory on the north-eastern borders, which many had coveted since the third war against Austria in 1866. After three years of fighting, where the Kingdom’s novice military was tested for the first time against the Germans and the Austrians, Italy came out of the conflict on the side of the Entente, as a victor, securing new territory and expanding its borders.

The years after the war were dark for many. The strong post-unitary military push, both in Africa and in WWI, which the government used to project a sense of national unity and distract from the many internal problems, was over. Profound inequalities across the country, a post-war depression, and the massive number of wounded, displaced veterans gave rise to a large amount of strikes and a general sense of anger, stagnation and divisiveness. It was in this environment that , an activist, political leader and propagandist, began rallying people together forming armed squadrons that would use violence to establish order and suffocate strikes. As the country steered towards chaos under Victor Emmanuel III’s weak leadership and a divided post-1917 political class, Mussolini consolidated his power and reorganised his squads into Fasci — Italian for “bundles,” an ancient Roman symbol of unity — which he then disbanded and replaced with the . Using his

25 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 political influence to amend the constitution in his favour (changing the system of representation in Parliament with the 1923 Acerbo Law), and violent tactics underneath a legitimate façade, he exponentially gained more control over the country’s weak institutions, eventually marching on Rome and becoming Prime Minister in 1922.

In the years that followed, he was able to maintain the support of the people through very powerful rhetoric, inspiring a sense of nationalism in a political and ideological landscape that was otherwise largely occupied by a vacuum. He also employed a series of violent and repressive tactics, quickly wiping out any opposition and impeding freedom of speech and expression. He also put forward and executed a complete restructuring plan of Italy’s economic system, creating a centralised, government controlled corporatist system inspired by the corporations of communes in the middle ages. This propelled the country towards an economic boom, projecting a perceived sense of success and Italian superiority. His desire of placing Italy at the centre of the world, much like it was during Roman times — a period from which Mussolini borrowed many rhetorical and political features — was also reflected in his actions with regard to the consolidation and expansion of colonial rule.

His political philosophy and his rise to power was closely resembled that of in Germany, with whom Mussolini was not formally aligned as of 1937, as well as with Antonio Salazar in Portugal.

Economy and Trade The economy of Italy in the 1920s and first half of 1930s witnessed two important events that would greatly influence it for the next few years: the advent of fascism (along with its economic policies) and the Great Depression of 1929.

Since the unification of Italy, a noticeable gap between the economies of the central- northern provinces and the southern provinces of the country emerged. While several theories exist to explain this, the most commonly accepted factors balancing in the

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Centre-North of the country are superior natural conditions (mineral resources, better climate, more water supply), a better internal market (due to important population centres), and better access to attractive foreign markets (France, Austria, the German Ruhr). This led to the provinces north of Lazio (including Lazio itself) to have a more industrialised economy, and the provinces south of Lazio to have a more agricultural economy. However, this doesn’t mean that agricultural sector was not important in the Centre-North or that industry was non-existent in the South (A'Hearn and Venables, 2013).

In the years leading up to the Great Depression, the Italian economy was growing at a pace of on average 2.2 percent per annum from 1917 to 1929. This was significantly higher than the growth in the United Kingdom, illustrating how Italy and its economy were faring better than most Western European economies. The advent of Benito Mussolini and fascism to Italy did not provoke a radical change in the country's economy until 1925. Indeed, Mussolini pursued pre- economic policies, effectively eliminating the budget deficit by 1925, lowering the GDP-to-debt ratio along with interest rates (Toniolo, 1980). The year 1925, however, was marked by a complete and radical change in the government's economic policy. Coinciding with the formalisation of Mussolini's dictatorship, the government shifted from a laissez-faire strategy to one of great state intervention, pursuing the implementation of fascist ideology in the Italian economy (Toniolo, 2013).

In an August 1926 speech, Benito Mussolini began what he called the “Battle for the Lira”. The goal of this ‘battle’ was to restore Italy's purchasing power by strengthening Italy's national currency, the lira. Mussolini wanted to restore the lira to its 1922 value of 90 liras to the Pound Sterling as it had fallen to 150 at the time of his speech. The sudden revaluation of the lira (via several policies including the return to the gold standard) caused a great reduction in wages and purchasing power, as well as an increase in unemployment. These secondary effects hit certain regions of Italy particularly hard, accentuating the economic disparities between southern provinces and the central-northern province. Despite the contestations of banks and his Minister of Finance Giusseppe Volpi, Mussolini stood by his policy in a move that 27 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 had little economic rationale and was more of a political decision (Neville, 2003). The decision also caused many mergers of companies, leading to fewer than 150 corporations controlling over half of Italian corporate capital (De Grand, 2000). Labour rights were also greatly hampered by the authoritarian policies of the National Fascist Party. As of 1926, for example, the very act of striking was ruled as illegal and could be punished by imprisonment (Bottai, 1929 cited by Giordano, Piga and Trovato, 2013). As explicitly stated by the Vidoni Pact of 1925 and the Labour Charter of 1927, trade unions were to be recognised only if they openly embraced fascism and only one trade union was to exist per firm, much to the discontent of workers (Koff & Koff, 2000).

Mussolini's sudden change in economic policy, however, also affected Italy's international trade, to a certain extent. Although after Italy's unification free trade prevailed for a couple of years, protectionist policies were pushed forward from 1890 onwards as a result of a trade war with France in the 1870s-1880s. In the 1930s, however, the National Fascist Party advocated for almost complete autarky, by putting in place foreign exchange controls, quotas and high tariffs. Tariff rates went from 17 per cent in 1913 to 48 per cent in 1931. Nonetheless, Italy's high tariffs were not unusually high in comparison to other Western European states in the early 1930s (Irwin, 1993, as cited by A'Hearn and Venables, 2013).

One of the most important changes in the Italian economy, however, was the direct intervention of the state as a major shareholder of major economic entities: this is known as state corporatism. Indeed, supporters of fascism in Italy stood by the slogan "Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato" ("Everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state") (Higgs, 2017). The main driver of the policy behind this slogan is the establishment of the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale ("Institute for Industrial Reconstruction", also known as the IRI) in 1933. The purpose of the IRI was formed in response to the Great Depression as the government's investment arm that aimed to rescue major Italian banks and companies from bankruptcy. By the late 1930s, the investments made by the IRI were so massive that the public sector in the economy proportionally outweighed that of 28 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018

Germany's in its economy and was second only to the Soviet Union's in its own (Martin Blinkhorn, 1994). According to James and O'Rourke “By January 1934, IRI held 48.5 percent of the share capital of Italy. Then, in March 1934, IRI acquired the capital of the banks themselves. By 1937, it controlled all the capital of the military steel sector (Terni, Ansaldo, Cogne); 40% of nonmilitary steel; and 30% of the electrical industry.” (Tonniolo, 2013, p.59).

In terms of sectoral focus, Benito Mussolini's economic policy was centred around reinforcing and expanding the “military-industrial complex”. The mass production of ships, planes, tanks, small arms, ammunition, and other war materials proved to be of prime importance as Mussolini was attempting to establish a war economy. His vision was that a skilled workforce needed to be organised in order to optimise production and productivity, justifying (to the fascist mindset) the constraints placed on workers' rights following 1927. The intervention of the state (via the IRI) into the Italian economy, and its politically-motivated readiness to invest mass amounts of initial capital, allowed the rapid growth of heavy industries throughout the 1930s, though agriculture remained the largest part of the Italian economy (Federico, 1996).

Role in WWI and Treaties At the start of the conflict, in 1914, Italy faced a geopolitical conundrum. The pact known as the Triple Alliance, signed in 1882, bound the country to the mutual defense of the Second German Reich and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the same time, the newly formed Kingdom’s goals in the European landscape were not at all aligned with those of its allies; ever since 1866, when Austria-Hungary lost its Italian territories to France — which in turn promptly ceded them to the Savoy — Italy’s irredentist movement was left wanting more. Because the Austrian defeat was largely due to France’s role, and the Italian government did not find itself in the position to ask for more land, those claims were put to the side, in favor of diplomatic relations with Austria. De facto, however, at the start of World War I Italy saw an opportunity to finally complete its acquisition of Austrian territory that the people considered to

29 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 be a natural addition to the Savoy’s reign over the peninsula. When the war broke out, the Italian government thus decided to not side with its allies, and remain neutral. In the meantime, diplomatic efforts were underway for Italy to secretly draft a treaty which would bring the country into the Entente, on the side of France, the United Kingdom and Russia. In 1915, the Treaty of London was signed, according to which Italy would enter the war against Austria, with the assurance from its new allies that at the end of the conflict, should they successfully defeat the enemy, Adriatic Austrian lands would be annexed to the peninsula.

This marked what later would refer to as the “War of ’15-’18,” with the opening of the Italian Front at the border between northern Italy and Austria. The hope was that, counting on a surprise offence, Austria would quickly pull back and the fight would turn out to be another . On the contrary, however, Austrian troops were able to successfully hold their lines, and the front turned into a trench war similar to that of the Western Front, only on much higher and harsher ground; the whole of the front line was in between the Italian and Austrian alps, a rocky and snowy setting that resulted in a very painful war effort for both sides. At the beginning, Italian offensives aimed at capturing the Isonzo region were repeatedly unsuccessful (1915-1916), and culminated with the strengthening of the enemy lines when German troops were sent in to consolidate the defence in 1917. This strengthened position allowed Austria to move on to a counter-offensive operation, known as the , where German and Austrian troops relied heavily on poisonous gas shelling, and infiltration tactics. They managed to successfully push Italian troops back 12 miles in 1917, and later all the way to the Piave river in 1918. Suffering heavy casualties, and pushed back into its own national territory, Italian troops were close to a defeat. Austrian troops were directed towards the Piave river, to inflict a final blow to the Italians, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Fearing a defeat, the Italian government decided not to push their luck, and to keep troops on the Piave river. In the meantime, by the end of 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire began to fall apart, with troops deserting and independence being proclaimed in regions throughout the country. With newfound hope, Italian troops finally organised

30 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 a new offensive, targeted at Vittorio Veneto, across the river, and were able to scatter enemy troops and secure the position. This final victory marked the end of the campaign, and overall the end of Italy’s involvement in the war.

Between the end of the First World War and 1937, Italy signed five major international treaties with foreign powers including different Balkan states, Ethiopia, and the Holy See.

The was signed in 1920 by the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of , , and (which would be renamed 9 years later). The main ail of this treaty was to resolve territorial disputes between the two kingdoms, which were fuelled by Italian territorial claims over parts of the and the (Treaty of Rapallo, 1920). These claims were a direct result of the London Pact of 1915, during which the United Kingdom promised Italy could annex certain territories if it switched sides, which it did. The Pact was eventually nullified by the Treaty of Versailles and the promises made to Italy as part of the Pact of London and the Treaty of Versailles were not kept, causing to rise in Italy. The Treaty resulted in the establishment of the (Hehn,2005).

The Free State would be short-lived as the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes signed the in 1924, resulting in the annexation of Fiume and its surroundings by both parties to the treaty (Treaty of Rome, 1924). The 1925 Treaty of Nettuno between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia granted Italians the right to freely immigrate to the coast of . This greatly angered Croats, and fuelled further tensions between Balkan and Italian populations (Rothschild, 1974).

In 1928, the Kingdom of Italy and the signed the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of Friendship and Arbitration. The main provisions of the treaty included an Ethiopian concession at the Italian port of Asseb (), the construction of a road between Asseb and Dessie (an important Ethiopian city), and an agreement to settle future disputes at the League of Nations. While Ethiopia's main motivations for

31 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 signing the treaty was the arbitration of any possible disputes by the League of Nations, Italy sought to penetrate Ethiopia's economy via the Asseb-Dessie road (Marcus, 1994). The treaty, which was meant to establish a friendship between Italy and Ethiopia that would last 20 years, would later collapse following the Walwal incident of 1930 and the start of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935.

The Lateran Pacts were signed in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See. The treaty in reality consisted of two pacts: the first was a political pact recognising the political sovereignty of the Holy See, the second was a pact defining the relations between the Catholic Church and the Kingdom of Italy (Lateran Pacts, 1929). Interestingly, according to the second pact, the Catholic Church was the only entity allowed to regulate on religious matters of Italian Catholics. This would later cause a problem when the Benito Mussolini took steps to legislate Catholic marriages (Zuccotti, 2002).

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France

History and Politics a. Before the First World War

At the end of the Second French Empire and the birth of the Third French Republic, while the most well-known historical rival of France had always been England (later the United Kingdom), Prussia and its North German Confederation became France’s greatest enemies. It was this growing threat that led the French Empire to declare war on Prussia over a claim of a Prussian Prince on the Spanish Throne (Britannica). Even though France declared war, it suffered great losses which ultimately led to a Prussian victory and a territorial loss of Alsace and half of Lorraine. This defeat only broadened the already existing rivalry between the two nations and the urge for revenge remained until the start of World War 1.

With the outbreak of the first World War, French fears of a now unified Germany escalated into open war. Nonetheless, France was ready, the French people wanted revenge for their humiliating loss of the previous war and the geopolitical threat of Germany brought former enemies of the United Kingdom and France together to form an alliance and end its century-long conflict. Furthermore, France made great efforts in the interwar period to form an alliance with the tsarist Russia, which was mostly threatened by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This alliance became the basis for the triple entente and ultimately led France into the war after Russia has been attacked by Germany following the July Crisis. b. The First World War

The beginning of the first World War was marked by war plans on both sides. The German and the most famous one was called the “”. Most importantly those plans were created long before the start of the war with the preparations and calculations of troop movements being so thorough that after declaring war on Russia, German leaders were reluctant not to attack France as it was the focus of the

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“Schlieffen Plan”, since it would take tremendous effort and was deemed impossible to alter it. The Plan called for a massive outflanking of the French forces, which was only possible by going north through neutral Belgium. The so far neutral the United Kingdom warned Germany of invading Belgium, however, the plan was followed and as a response to the invasion of neutral Belgium, the United Kingdom decided to enter the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary. As a little interesting side note, the German, British and Russian emperors were all cousins, a fact that would not last the war.

While the Germans had the “Schlieffen Plan”, the French had their own prepared plan for the war, called Plan XVII. However, unlike the German plan, the French plan was a disaster already early on with the Battles of the Frontiers forcing French and British to retreat. This push ended only 70 kilometres before Paris where it was stopped by British and French forces in the First Battle of the Marne, mainly due to a gap between German armies and a lack of German supplies, which could not keep up with the fast advancing offensive (Strachan, 2001, pp. 242–262). After this initial offensive, the war turned into a stalemate and into what we call today . There were numerous casualties on the western front, specifically at the , but overall all was quiet on the western front until the collapse of Russia and the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Now Germany had 33 divisions no longer needed in the east and only one front to focus on (Herwig, 1997, S. 393-401).

The so-called Spring Offensive in 1918, even with the newly found advantage in numbers, was Germany’s last effort to win the war before the United States material superiority, who entered the war in 1917, could become overwhelming. The Germans made great advances and managed to push further than since 1914, however the newly conquered land was of no value, due to the destruction caused by years of Trench Warfare and once again the Germans advanced too fast for the supply lines to catch up and ultimately the advances could not be defended. After the failure of the Spring Offensive, the French, the British and the US troops launched a counteroffensive against the weakened German forces it took not long until the

34 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 collapse of the western front and the surrender of Germany in November 1917 (Herwig, 1997). The French had won and took revenge for the humiliating defeat in the Franco-German war, although the casualties were high.

Economy and Trade a. 1919 and the promise of reparation

The French economy, as most European economies, was in terrible shape after the World War I. Recovery was largely delayed as all funds from German reparations were used on repaying American loans rather than operating in state-rebuilding (Eichengreen 1992).

However, the greatest hit to France’s economy was arguably that of its loss of population. France suffered the greatest total loss of life among the Allies, where civilian and military casualties totalled around 1,357,800 deaths, 4,266,000 wounded, 537,000 prisoners or missing accounting for a total of 6,160,800. This accounted for 73.3% of France’s total mobilised force of 8,410,000 of which of a total French population of 38,600,000, this accounted for around 4.2% of the population as dead and a fluctuating peak of 11.7% of the population as incapacitated for any form of work and or contribution to the production side of society1.

Whereas war damages reached 113% of 1913’s GDP and a national debt increase from 66% to 170% of GDP provided a key characteristic of heavy bond borrow as means for war upkeep (Beaudry and Portier 2002). The result of which saw France fall to nearly half of that of the Pound as due to huge inflation. However, labour deficits during and after the war were also supplemented by that of the resources of the empire.

As such the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, saw then Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, focus on not only securing France’s security through various treaties but

1 These figures consider not that of the whole , but just those of mainland France (Data at Royde-Smith 2017). 35 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 also to crush Germany’s chance of ever attacking France again. This was easiest as categorised as political reasons with economic means.

Economically, France saw major gains from the treaty and corresponding accords. Germany would cede the region of Alsace-Lorraine back to France, where all output from Saar coal mines would be given to France and actual administration of the fields would be overseen by the League of Nations. In addition, Germany would cede its African colonies of Togo and Cameroon to the administrations of the French Empire. France would also gain quads of land in former Ottoman territory in the Middle East (Noble 1968).

Whereas in context of wartime reparations, Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles established the cause that Germany was to accept itself as the aggressor of World War I and as such must accept war guilt. It was based on war guilt where reparation where made and enforced and overseen by the newly created Inter-Allied Reparations Commission (Boemeke, Feldman & Glaser 1998). However, various delays and impatient attitudes from the Allied Nations, quintessentially driven by France, resulted in the total sum of demand from Germany as 266 billion gold marks (Germany’s currency) in January 1921. “102½ billion for material damages and more than 123½ billion for damages to individuals […] were pensions, wartime forced levies by Germany on Allied civilian populations, and similar charges.” (Marks 1978: 236). Though this was later negotiated down to 132 billion marks to the combined Axis consortium, though France in conjunction with Italy both argued for a much higher sum. b. 1923 Occupation of Ruhr Valley German roll out of resources and repayments were delayed and delivered amounts were continuously below set amounts under the commission. In 1923 as due to the failure to pay on time the set repartitions (including coal and timber), the Reparations Commission declared Germany as defaulting their payments that resulted in France and Belgium sending troops into the Ruhr Valley region.

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With the occupation, France and Belgium began the setup of a coal construction committee. However, this was responded with economic repercussions from the Germans with the hyper printing of marks that resulted in runaway inflation, concurrently damaging the Franc and the French economy. Though the occupation was solved with the introduction of the American Dawes Plan in 1924 -where initial German reparation payments were reduced in sized and American loans to be lent to aid in the payment. Additionally, the Saar region was to be retained by France till 1935.

Though immediate French retreat resulted into mass industrialisation by Germany in the region, with aid of American loans, eventually resulted in the German steel industry eclipsing not only France but all other European nations by 1926 (Martin, 1950). c. 1929-34 France in the Great Depression

Where the Great depression was caused by German defaulting on loans and various other factors. The initial impact was limited due to France’s largely self-sufficient production based economy, at the national level, however greater depression was sustained in France as due to the inflexibility of the economy. As such recession lasted longer but at lower rates (Price 1999).

Additionally, France did not have a major banking crisis during this time, in comparison to America or the UK. This was largely due to France’s lack of big business but also an attitude that saw the recession as a necessity to curb on big business and capital surplus. Where unemployment never hit above 5% and production itself only took minor drops (Beaudry and Portier 2002).

However, the French economy, though under rigorous forms of modernization, was still archaic in the nature of its organization. Whereas heavy industry was certainly ahead of neighboring nations, such as iron production, much of the agricultural industry was fractionalized of which ¾ in the whole country where small local farms that had no real nationally centralized institutional network. Nevertheless, at a domestic level economy remained strong and generally made little fluctuations in 37 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 comparison to the rest of the world until 1930, as due to restrictive economic policies to keep the Franc strong (Eichengreen 1992).

Attitude also began to sour due to prolonged effect of the great depression in France, as the local economies began to falter from the overspill of issues from neighboring countries, such as the hyperinflation from Germany and the devaluation of the British pound (Baten, 2016). This is more crucial explained through the government’s desire to maintain the Franc at a high via restrictive policies to keep the currency more attractive and the assumption that self-sufficiency could be maintained without a major crisis -through actual result as catalyzed by devaluations of currencies around France resulted in a standstill in French production growth.

All of which would eventually amount to riots on the 6th of February 1934 that resulted in the rise of the left wing socialist party alliance, Popular Front. d. 1936-1937

France in 1936 gives up on the gold standard and moves to begin the process of allowing devaluation of the Franc (Eichengreen 1992). However, at this point, their global competitiveness has effectively been lost to the UK’s production, who could offer exports at cheaper rates as due to their devaluation of their currency 4 years previous.

The newly elected Popular Front introduced the Matignon Agreements institutionalising a whole list of new labour laws (Wynne, 1937). Of which, the major ones included legal right to strike, 40-hour working week and removal of previous restrictions over labour unions.

Though there were no more strikes after the enshrining of these laws (1936), it has giving Unions and the workforce more channels and reasons to do so (Rossiter 1987).

By May 1937, the economy was still stifled with many of the institutional errors as marred right after the World War I and the public saw blame in both domestic governments and foreign ones for economic stagnations before the Great Depression. Though the abolishment of the gold standard has bolstered the economic recovery,

38 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 overall economic fragility is sustained from the current labour laws. Which arguably have still prevented France from reaching full economic recovery and left it in a Limbo of partial economic recovery from the Great Depression. e. Domestic Politics in the Interwar Period until 1937

Throughout the Interwar period, French domestic politics were dominated by coalitions of either right-wing or left-wing parties. In the 1919 elections, the right- wing Bloc National won most of the vote and seats in the parliament. However, it did not last and was replaced by the Cartel des Gauches. This cycle continued throughout the interwar period, for which France is infamous due to its ineffective governments and it is easy to see why if we look at the number of prime ministers that changed office between 1917 and 1937, staggering 31 public servants served in the position (Wikipedia, 2017). This number was, of course, also affected by the Depression, as seen above. Nonetheless, even with the political instability France managed to pass many worker-friendly policies, such as the previously mentioned 40-hour working week and paid vacations (as part of the Matignon Agreements), while at the same time maintaining a large army against potential enemies and construction the infamous Maginot line.

The government currently in power is headed by Léon Blum, a member of the French Section of the Workers' International party, who has assumed his office on the 4th of June 1936 as part of the Popular Front political alliance of French Communist Party (PCF), the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and the Radical and Socialist Party, after currency manipulations by the previous government which proved largely unpopular.

Foreign Policy and Treaties France’s treaties and relations are better categorised in Colonies, League of Nations and select examples of French bilateral relations. a. Colonies

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France had gained vast sections of German colonies and sectors of the former Ottoman Empire after the Treaty of Versailles. However, in reality (as was with expansions in 1950) most French civilians were either not aware or simply did not care (Aldrich 1996). Nevertheless, the colony was pivotal for resources and capital sustainment for France prior, during and certainly after World War I. b. League of Nations

Within its foundation, France sat on the League Council as one of its four permanent members due to its status of the victor in World War I. However, for France, the League of Nations had largely caused more nuisance than an aid.

Though in the case of Ruhr Valley was largely solved through American intervention. The dispute over the Saar region was administrated by the League of Nations, where eventually a referendum was hosted in the region to see if the desire was set on joining France or Germany. In 1935 the Saar region voted to join Germany with 90.3% (Churchill 1986).

On top of that, the League of Nations also began to shine a light on French colonial practise in the international scene. The 1920s and 1930s were often marred by large waves of criticisms directed towards the violence and terror sustained by natives and locals of the French Empire. An aspect the government found hard to legitimise when it vouched for issues at a humanitarian ground back in Europe (Daughton 2011).

However, most crucially, the French dismissal of the League’s main trait of “” was gouged from that of the Abyssinia Crisis in 1935. As the French like the British opted to protect their own security in favour of that of collective security. Though, for the French, this was further galvanised by Hitler’s occupation of the Rhineland in 1936 and France desired Italian support for the matter and as such refrained from imposing any sanctions (Northedge 1986). c. French Bilateral Relations

One of the most crucial alliances signed by the French was that of the Franco-Polish alliance (1921), which assured French protection over Poland in the case of German

40 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 military expansion. However, by 1937, this alliance was extremely outdated and was also undermined by Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance (1935) (Scott 1962). Furthermore, France as a leftist government decided, to the surprise of many, to stay neutral in the Spanish civil war, while Germany and Italy were arming and supporting the fascists.

United Kingdom: After the World War I, the United Kingdom in many cases attempted to dampen the French desire for retribution (Goldstein 1991). However, the two nations were largely seen as co-operating throughout the whole of the 20s and 30s, with joint and multiple signings of defence treaties with other European nations, public mood was not always unified at the domestic front.

In particular, the British desired to see further disarmament throughout Europe a means of solving solutions. Whereas, France who after the War had the largest army, terrified by the prospects of a rising Germany, increased armament of the Nation. In fact, as a Marquand (1977) point that prior to 1933 the French were seen as the main threat in Europe, not the Germans for the British.

However, by 1937, the two nations were fare more aligned with desired outcomes of policies and diplomacy. However, there was still an ideological difference between France’s more aggressive stance on matters concerning its own and the securities of Europe.

Italy: Relations with Italy are best viewed through the lens of the Locarno Treaties and its intended successor the Stresa Front, a set of accords that ensured Austria’s independence and prevention of German . A triple agreement with France, Italy and UK, it affirmed military coordination towards Germany if ever required (Rich 2002 and Marks 2003).

As such, initially, France largely saw Italy as a possible friend through its constant paranoia of Germany. However, with the advent of Italian aggression towards the Ethiopian Empire (Abyssinia) in 1935, the Stresa Front largely collapsed as the UK objected while simultaneously signing the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (Lamb 1999). 41 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018

France later relaxed sanctions on Italy in favour of desired support for the rearmament of the Rhineland. However, by 1937 the Italian, who they felt were betrayed by the UK and France, begin talks with Germany and notifying they would not honour the Locarno Treaties.

The Little Entente: Besides the effort to uphold good relations with the great powers in Europe to prevent another war with Germany, France also put a great amount of effort into preventing any potential restoration of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and the protection of the newly created nations in Eastern Europe. Thus, the alliance of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania received the blessing by France and was called “Little Entente” mimicking the name of the western allies in the first World War ( League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 6,).

Like with the alliance with Poland (and Russia pre-WW1), France pursued the favour of Germany's neighbours. Thus, besides supporting the Little Entente, France also entered an alliance with the newly created country of Czechoslovakia. This very alliance is currently under strain due to the Sudeten issue, where Czechoslovakia is accused of oppressing the German minority living in the border region of the country called Sudetenland (Kárník, 2000).

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The League of Nations

History and Formation The League of Nations (either the LoN or ‘the League’ for the rest of the guide) was created in 1920 under the proposition of former US President with the goal of providing a forum for a “general association of nations…formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike” (United States Department of State, archived). To understand the reasoning behind its creation, it helps to adopt theoretical lenses through which to look at this particular topic. In the history of international relations prior to World War 1, the dominant theory was known as classical realism. The core of the realist argument is that humans are inherently self-interested creatures above anything else. On the international setting, this means that states are inclined to pursue goals regardless of the costs to others, and with no central authority to manage the conduct of states, the world is viewed as being in a state of anarchy in which no one trusts each other and fighting is inevitable as interests clash. This is very much like the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes who believed that without a central authority to govern individuals in a country, the anarchist state would mean people led lives that were “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” (Hobbes, 1614). Realists believe that this explains why World War 1 broke out to begin with due to the mutual hostility between Germany and other European nations. With such hostility, no one knew of the intentions of others and so this made war almost inevitable without an overarching authority to stop them.

Liberal theorists on the other hand, believe that such problems can be avoided through the creation of international institutions which facilitate cooperation, communication between nations and reduce uncertainty about the intentions of others. This was the thinking that was used when the League of Nations was first formed and many European diplomats were in agreement with the need to create an 43 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 international organisation to prevent the scourge of war from breaking out again. In addition to this, prior to the League’s formation the international system had a ‘closet’ approach to making decisions, characterised by the great powers occasionally meeting to discuss matters deemed urgent to them but this would change as part of the philosophy behind the League was that every country, big or small, should have a voice. Furthermore, the idea of the LoN was that the four major problems of the old world system would be replaced with more progressive ideals. In summary, these flaws (and the ideals to replace them) were: a system of competing monarchs to be replaced by a system of nation-states, secret diplomacy to be replaced by open discussion and resolutions to disputes, military alliance blocs to be replaced by collective security, and arms races that led to the tensions pre WW1 to be replaced by mutually agreed disarmament (BBC, 2011). While at this stage in time many nations probably recognise that these kind of ideals are somewhat utopian, delegates should still keep them in mind during committee sessions as they ultimately are the values that the League was founded on.

The Covenant of the League of Nations is the charter that proscribes what is expected of each state and the rules that they must abide by. There are over 25 articles in this Covenant, but in summary they are concerned with promoting peace and resolving disputes between states in a diplomatic way (this is where the international court of justice is referenced). What deserves most attention is Article 10, which states that “The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled” (League of Nations, 1919). This was the article that caused the largest amount of controversy for the American congress as Henry Cabot (the senate leader at the time) did not like the idea of America being contractually obliged to get involved with a conflict involving another member state. It is recommended that

44 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 delegates read through these articles (particularly article 10 onwards) so that they can gain an understanding of the underpinnings of the League.

Attached to the Covenant of the League was the Treaty of Versailles, which was agreed upon by the so called “big three” (Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George and Clemenceau) after much fierce negotiating. Initially, all three leaders were divided in what they wanted out of the treaty and how it should treat Germany but the final outcome was satisfactory for them. The main provisions of the treaty included the annexation of territories from Germany, reparations that Germany had to make to the victors and most importantly, Germany had to accept full responsibility for starting the war (hence the reparations) as per the famous clause 231. In terms of annexed territories, Alsace-Lorraine was given to France, Eupen and Malmedy given to Belgium, Northern Schleswig given to Denmark, and West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia were given to Poland. Germany’s armed forces were also limited to 100,000 men and 6 ships and no tanks or air force were allowed. On top of this, the western part of the Rhineland (and 50km east of the river Rhine) became a demilitarised zone and so no German soldiers or weapons could cross into these parts (Trueman, 2016).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was met with massive backlash in Germany, the citizens of whom felt as if their country had been sold out to the Entente. They did not want the treaty to be signed despite the fact that the country did not really have a choice as the alternative was to simply have Germany taken over and continuing to fight was a no go. Anger brewed, the leaders who signed the treaty were viewed as traitorous to Germany and ultimately, this gave Hitler the platform it did through which he was able to whip up German support in classic populist fashion, turning the politics of Germany into a game of “us” (the people) versus “them” (the elites who sold the country out as well as the Entente for breaking Germany through the reparations demanded by clause 231). Blaming Germany for starting the war was the icing on the cake as many citizens did not feel as if it was fair to blame the war on them when it was their rulers who had sought war. 45 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018

Like any international organisation, the LoN was comprised of multiple bodies. In summary, these were: the Council which consisted of Britain, France, and Italy (all of whom had a veto power like the P5 in today’s Security Council), the Assembly which included all other members of the League (and hence was effectively the League's parliament), the International Court of Justice and 4 commissions (refugee, slavery, health and mandate) which oversaw the humanitarian work of the League (The Guardian, 2013). Japan was also a member of the council but departed in 1933. The assembly is the body through which delegates will be debating and deliberating during committee sessions.

The League of Nations in the Interwar Crisis The League of Nations aims to provide an intercontinental global governance framework, an improved successor of the Westphalian System in place since 1648 - at the end of the Thirty Years War, when the Treaty of Westphalia was signed by European powers. With old diplomacy, old systems and old empires that maintained it shattered after World War I, it cleared the way for a more inclusive and open system for cooperation towards a collective peace, which was essentially institutionalised in the League of Nations. During the Interwar period, the League of Nations endeavoured to provide assistance to bankrupt nations, overseeing the mandates placed under its purview and performing conflict resolution between minor powers. a. Attempts to Address International Conflicts

The League of Nations attempted twice to put in place a mechanism through which the containment and resolution of international conflicts could be achieved. Firstly, they introduced the Treaty of Mutual Assistance in 1923, which gave four days for the Council to declare the side of the conflict of the aggressor, which compels them to assist the victim – which failed due to the complexity of the task for four days, and the distasteful compulsion for member nations to participate militarily.

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Secondly, they proposed the Geneva Protocol in 1925, which allowed for mandatory arbitration of international disputes by the League of Nations – the reluctance of any nation to be submitted to which will make the nation to be automatically declared as the aggressor. The British delegation shot down this proposal, due to the fears of British overseas colonial leaders to be dragged into Euro-centric affairs. b. Japanese invasion of Manchuria

Despite its lofty ideals, the League of Nations has been plagued by the several international crises. The earliest of which was the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which resulted in the censure of Japan by the Lytton Commission and it leaving the League of Nations. This effectively demonstrated that the League of Nations is helpless in going against strong nations pursuing aggressive policies, thus allowing them to blatantly commit aggression without dire consequences. c. Abyssinian Crisis

Besides that, the subsequent 1934-36 Abyssinian Crisis also paralysed the League of Nations. In this, Italy – under Benito Mussolini – launched an invasion of Abyssinia, an independent African nation. Upon the invasion, the League of Nations voted in favour of against Italy. However, these sanctions being applied in a limited context, critically allowing the provision of several vital materials (for example, oil). Furthermore, not all member nations complied with the sanctions. For instance, the United States actually increased exports to Italy, being indifferent to the weak sanctions imposed by the League of Nations.

France and the United Kingdom - unwilling to estrange Italy in the fears that it would cease to serve as a counterbalance against Germany under Adolf Hitler – failed to take any serious actions against Italy. Though Italy had used chemical weapons and acted in other ways that violated international norms, the League of Nations passively stuck to the weak sanctions they have imposed. As a result, Italy simply ignored these sanctions, and left the League of Nations. 47 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018

France and the United Kingdom secretly proposed the Hoare-Laval Plan, which would allow Italy to effectively control Abyssinia but bring a resolution to the conflict. Mussolini agreed to the plan, however the leakage of the plan to the press caused it to be dropped immediately due to public outrage. As France and the United Kingdom were seen to not view the League of Nations seriously, this further damaged how the League of Nations was perceived.

However, Mussolini eventually turned to Adolf Hitler, who order for troops to be marched into the Rhineland. This act was prohibited under the Treaty of Versailles, and in fear of German aggression, France caved in to demands by Italy to control the entirety of Abyssinia in return for support from Italy against the German force.

Current Challenges One of the biggest challenges facing the League of Nations is the lack of United States in its membership. Although Woodrow Wilson was very enthusiastic about the creation of the LoN, he was not able to get the USA to join as opposition in Congress (In American politics, a 2/3 senate majority is required for presidents to ratify treaties) remained strong, with many republicans believing that commitment to an international organisation would divert the USA’s attention away from its own national security interests. Many historians believe that one of the reasons that the League was so ineffective was that the United States was not a member. This has left Britain and France to run the LoN but as they were/have been crippled economically by the First World War, their ability to do so is hindered. In addition to this, their levels of altruism/internationalism in comparison to Wilson are questionable.

Delegates from the LoN may still be able to look to the USA for various forms of assistance as crises occur if they wish but they are to be reminded that an isolationist, ‘America first’ mentality is still embedded among many political figures in America. In addition to this, Congress has to approve of many different types of foreign policy 48 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2018 that the president may wish to pursue and so any support desired from the United States should not be taken for granted.

The next problem is that of unanimous agreement being required to pass decisions. The ability for any state to veto resolution proposals will make it difficult for the LoN to do anything without serious compromise but with multiple countries in the League this will not be easy, especially as most if not all states will have national interests that they will look to defend above anything else.

a. Spanish Civil War

Spain has been affected by a civil war since last year, the origins of which can be traced to the great depression of 1929 as well as societal divisions within Spain between the right-wing nationalists who consisted of monarchists, landowners and the army, and the more left-leaning republicans, who were mostly based in urban areas. The war started following republican rule in 1936 which succeeded the monarch who had abdicated following increasing unpopularity.

As of July last year Hitler has been providing support to the nationalists while Stalin to the republicans and in November, Germany and Italy recognised Franco as Spain’s head of government. Most recently, Franco attempted to take Madrid earlier in the year but gave up in March following strong resistance from the international brigade and the defeat of Italian volunteers. Nevertheless, around half of Spain has fallen to the Nationalists since last year. France and Britain are walking a tight rope over this contentious issue. On the one hand, neither of them wish to see Spain fall to the nationalists as this would strengthen the fascist presence in Europe but on the other hand, continued republican rule ran the risk of the spread of communism, which was also recognised as a great threat to world peace (BBC, archived). This means that Spain may end up becoming the ground for a proxy war of sorts, between Germany and Italy versus the USSR.

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Both sides will have a vested interest in intervening in the conflict in some capacity or another to shift the balance in their favour and so it will be in the interest of the LoN to try and find a peaceful solution to the conflict if possible.

b. Hitler remilitarises the Rhineland in 1936

By this point, Hitler’s hostility to the LoN is apparent. He took Germany out of the League in 1933 and began building up Germany’s army and weapons count to levels higher than what were allowed in the Treaty of Versailles, followed by unilaterally cancelling the military clauses of the Treaty in 1935 (History, 2010). Following this, March 7 1936 saw Hitler sent troops into the demilitarised Rhineland, a move which horrified France as this put German forces right on their border. Despite this and despite the fact that German forces in the Rhineland were significantly smaller than France's, no action came from either France or Britain as the former was in the midst of political turmoil and Britain saw the Rhineland occupation merely as Germany placing troops in their own territory.

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