i) In January 1917 the Germans proclaimed that they would sink even neutral ships in certain waters.
ii) Lusitania, an American ship was torpedoed by a German submarine.
iii) There was lot of resentment in the USA and President Wilson declared war against Germany.

(i) Tsar Nicholas II of Russia suggested to the Powers that they meet together to bring about an era of universal peace.
(ii) In response two Peace Conferences were held at The Hague in Holland in 1899 and 1907, but in vain Russia fought on the side of the Allies.

After 1905 Japan took control of Korean domestic and foreign policy. The assassination of a prominent Japanese diplomat provided the excuse in 1910 for Japan's annexation of Korea.

(i) 1914 is a turning point in world history.
(ii) The political and social processes that began in 1789 culminated in the First World War that broke out in that year and decisively shaped the course of the twentieth century.
(iii) Historians therefore call this as 'the long twentieth century'.

i) The League appeared to be an organisation of those who were victorious in the First World War.
ii) Since it lacked the military power of its own, it could not enforce its decisions.
iii) The founders of this peace organisation underestimated the power of nationalism.
iv) The principle of  'collective security' could not be applied in actual practice.

The three militant forms of nationalism in Europe:
i) England's jingoism
ii) France's chauvinism
iii) Germany's Kultur.

(i) One of the major problems confronting the European powers was how to achieve disarmament.
(ii) In 1925 the Council of the League set up a commission to hold a Disarmament Conference to sort out the problem.
(iii) But the proposed conference materialised only in February 1932. In this Conference, Germany's demand of equality of arms with France was rejected. In October Hitler withdrew Germany from the Conference and the League.
(iv) Japan attacked Manchuria in September 1931 and the League condemned Japan.
(v) So Japan also followed the example of Germany and resigned from the League.
(vi) In the context of Italy's attack on Ethiopia, the League applied sanctions.
(vii)  As the sanctions came into effect, Italy resigned from the League in 1937.
(viii) There after the League was a passive witness to events, taking no part in the crises over the Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland.
(ix) The last decisive action it took was in December 1939 when Russia was expelled for her attack on Finland.
(x) The Assembly did not meet again and the League of Nations was finally dissolved in 1946.

(i) The Russian Communist Party could eliminate illiteracy and poverty in Russia within a record time.
(ii) Russian industry and agriculture had developed remarkably.
(iii) Women were given equal rights, including rights to vote.
(iv) Industries and banks were nationalized. Land was announced as social property.
(v) Land was distributed to poor peasants.
(vi) Lenin thought the most important factor for the fall of Provisional government was its failure to withdraw from World War.
(vii) So Lenin immediately appealed for peace.
(viii) Unmindful of the harsh terms dictated by the Central Powers, Lenin opted for withdrawing from the War to concentrate on the formation of new government.
(ix) In March 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed.

(i) The defeated powers were absent from negotiations. The peace settlement, a dictated one, was based on the principle, to the victor belongs the spoils and the allies are the victors.
(ii) Self-determination was the principle, which was one of the fourteen points of Woodrow Wilson for restoring peace, applied to all the peoples except the German.
(iii) Austria was not allowed to unite with Germany, because the combination would be too powerful. Germany was thus left with a sense of injustice.
(iv) The reparation of 6,600 million pounds was well beyond Germany's capacity to pay.
(v) Germany was weakened, politically and economically. But instead of having the large Russian and Austro- Hungarian empires on her eastern frontier, she was now bordered by small weak and new states.

a) The League was called in to settle a number of disputes between 1920 and 1925.
b) The League was successful in three issues.
i) In 1920 a dispute arose between Sweden and Finland over the sovereignty of the Aaland Islands situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's cast coast. The League ruled that the islands should go to Finland.
ii) In the following year the League was asked to settle the frontier between Poland and Germany in Upper Silesia. It was successfully resolved by the League.
iii) The Third dispute was between Greece and Bulgaria in 1925. Greece invaded Bulgaria, and the League ordered a ceasefire. After investigation it blamed Greece and decided that Greece was to pay reparations.
iv) Thus the League had been successful until signing of the Locarno Treaty in 1925.
v) By this treaty, Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain, and Italy mutually guaranteed peace in Western Europe.
vi) Thereafter Germany joined the League and was given a permanent seat on the Council.
Causes of failure:
i) The league appeared to be an organisation of those who were victorious in the First World War.
ii) Since it lacked the military power of its own, it could not enforce its decisions.
iii) The founders of this peace organization underestimated the potential of nationalism.
iv) The principle of "collective security' could not be applied in actual practice.
v) Italy, Japan and Germany, headed by dictators, refused to be bound by the orders of the League.

a) Germany was found guilty of starting the War and therefore was to pay reparations for the losses suffered. All Central Powers were directed to pay war indemnity.
b) The German army was to be limited to 1,00,000 men. A small navy was allowed.
c) The union of Austria and Germany was forbidden.
d) All German colonies became mandated territories under the League of Nations.
e) Germany was forced to revoke the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (with Russia) and Bucharest (Bulgaria).
f) Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France.
g) The former Russian territories of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were to be independent.
h) Northern Schleswig was given to Denmark and some small districts to Belgium.
i) Poland was recreated.
j) The Rhineland was to be occupied by the Allies. The area on the east bank of the Rhine was to be demilitarized.