''Without the First World War British women would not have gained the right to vote in 1918.'' Do you agree or disagree with this interpretation?

''Without the First World War British women would not have gained the right to vote in 1918.'' Do you agree or disagree with this interpretation? British women over 30 got the vote with the 1918 Representation of the People Act. The law was being changed, to ensure that soldiers coming home from the trenches were able to vote, if they hadn't been changing the law anyway, women were unlikely to have got the vote in 1918. There are many reasons why women got the vote, including: their work during WW1, Lloyd George being a supporter of women's suffrage, the suffragists' campaign of propaganda, the suffragettes' terrorism, the desire of MPs to not alienate potential voters, society's gradually changing attitudes and the fact that Britain did not want to be seen as old-fashioned. During WW1, women undertook jobs that needed doing while men who previously did the jobs were away fighting. They worked in factories making things for the war, like uniforms and shells and took over jobs men had done before the war, like working on farms, driving lorries and delivering coal. This work in factories and other jobs gave women more money and confidence. This confidence meant that women were seen differently, and more able, by many men. This confidence and respect from men helped to gain women the vote in 1918, and was an important contributing factor. The work of women during the war and

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Treaty Of versailles

A) What military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles were imposed on Germany? The Allies imposed many military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles to ensure that Germany would never again pose a military threat. The Treaty of Versailles contained a number of provisions to that end. Among them was the requirement that the Rhineland became demilitarized to ensure Germany couldn't attack France. In addition, no German troops were allowed to enter the Rhineland. Strict limits were placed on the size of Germany's armed forces. It was restricted to 100,000 men. The manufacture of military aircraft, tanks and submarines was prohibited. Furthermore, the navy could only build 6 battle ships. The German government also had to ban conscription- all soldiers had to be on a voluntary basis. This meant that people had the choice to join the army instead of being forced. B) Question: Explain why the 'Big Three' disagree over how to treat Germany. The 'Big Three' disagreed on how Germany should be treated on many occasions. As the talks at Versailles went on it became clear that the objectives and outcomes of the Big Three were very different. This was mainly down to the fact that the Big Three had different aims for the treaty. Clemenceau wanted the treaty to be very harsh. Whereas Wilson, wanted the treaty to be fair and wanted world peace. However Lloyd George was often in

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What does the social welfare legislation pass between 1906 and 1911 reveal about the intentions of Lloyd George and the Liberal government?

What does the social welfare legislation pass between 1906 and 1911 reveal about the intentions of Lloyd George and the Liberal government? The social welfare legislation passed by Lloyd George between 1906 and 1911 reveals a lot of his intentions but also asks questions of what he was really intending. It could be argued that the party had good intentions, to help people who needed it the most. However it could be argued that it was only for personal and political gain for both Lloyd George and the Liberals. Firstly it can be argued that the Liberal government introduced reforms because they felt the need to help people who needed it the most. There was widespread poverty in Britain at the time and little help from government to change this. It was highlighted by the findings of Boothe and Rowntree which cause great humanitarian concern. The reforms were aimed to help all of the population. The Education act and Children's act aimed to keep children health and safe therefore improving their lives and helping their education. There was the National Insurance act aimed to help the sick and unemployed workers therefore hopefully helping the economy and reducing poverty because of workers who were unable to work. There was also the Old Age Pensions act which aimed to help the older population by introducing pensions. It has been said that the Liberals believed a healthy and

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What was the most important factor for Hitler becoming Chancellor in January 1933?

What was the most important factor for Hitler becoming Chancellor in January 1933? There were a number of reasons that Hitler became Chancellor in 1933. One of the most important reasons was the depression in 1929. The depression was good for Hitler and the Nazis. They blamed the Weimar Republic, the Treaty of Versailles, the Communists and the Jews and promised to get rid of the, 'enemy within' who were destroying Germany. Many of the people of Germany felt the same way and followed Germany. Hitler and the Nazis used this time well, and organised it, using teamwork and skills of propaganda in order to get votes. We can see that the Nazis were very successful in this, from the elections of 193, where the Nazis made their first great breakthrough, jumping from 12, to 107 seats in the Reichstag. This point was very significant to Hitler becoming Chancellor. If they had not acquired so many seats in the Reichstag now Hitler and the Nazis would have probably remained a small party. But after the depression the Nazis maintained a high amount of seats in parliament, becoming the biggest party in the Reichstag in 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. However the impact of the depression can only partly explain Hitler becoming Chancellor in 1933. Another factor was the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic. Because of the great depression in 1929, there was a big problem of

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Was any one of these reasons more important than the others in Hitler's rise to power?

Was any one of these reasons more important than the others in Hitler's rise to power? All of the reasons on the list were important for Hitler to rise to power in the way that he did. However, even then some reasons are more important than others. Therefore, it is necessary to see which factors were important not only in the way in which he did rise to dictatorship, but also whether Hitler could have risen to power in any other way either with or without some of the factors on the list. Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles was the most important reason on the list to explain why Hitler rose to absolute power in Germany, when he did, how he did, and above all that without it he would have gone into politics but remained a fringe party. The desire in Hitler and others around him was one of the most important reasons why Hitler joined politics. He felt that his country had been betrayed by the 'November Criminals' and that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh and unfair considering many believed that the German army was still unbeaten. Despite all of this, the Treaty of Versailles was also the most important reason on the list because it was so unfair and because of some of the terms for peace which it stipulated. The main problem was the great loss of German land to other countries and the loss of Germany's industrial heartlands in addition to the great level of reparations.

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Hitler - Jews

How did Hitler's policy affect the lives of the Jews? Hitler possessed strong anti-Semitic views for many reasons. He and fellow Nazis were strong believers in Social Darwinism, which was survival of the fittest; Hitler called the superior race in his opinion, the "Aryans". He therefore believed that the Jews should be eliminated. Also, anti-Semitism had a long history, so the Jews were an easy scapegoat for Germany's problems that Hitler could use. In addition to that, the Jewish people were often very successful and wealthy, so Germans thought that they were stealing money from them, and in many instances were jealous of them. So, Hitler adopted strong anti-Semitic policies; they were not the most popular of his decisions, but they were carried out with great strength. There were 5 main stages to the persecution of the Jews: * Livelihoods were attacked, * They were singled out, * Nuremburg Laws, * Violence, * Final Solution. At first, the Jews' livelihoods were attacked. Many of them were sacked from their jobs, such as those who were teachers and doctors. They weren't allowed to serve on a jury or work with Aryans. The next stage was more serious, which was when the Jews were singled out. Their passports were stamped with a "J", and in public they were forced to sit on separate yellow benches. Furthermore, their shops had a Star of David painted on them, and Jews

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To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles fair to Germany?

To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles fair to Germany? The Treaty of Versailles was created to cripple Germany so that they could not start another war. One side of the argument is that the Treaty was extremely unfair to Germany, as it took away some of her most valuable assets and fuelled nationalism. However, the other side of the argument is that as Germany caused a lot of damage, she deserved to be punished and prevented from stirring up more trouble. The military clause was the harshest and most damaging clause, and was greatly disapproved of by Germany. The size and power of the German army was one of her greatest assets. By restricting her to an army of only 100,000 volunteers, the Treaty left her defenceless and vulnerable. For such a large country, an army of 100,000 men was just big enough to keep order within Germany, but was not large enough to defend Germany from other invading powers. The army was a symbol of German pride and an important political source of nationalism. Having almost half of it taken away ruined Germany's Great Power status, and made her an easy target for other countries. In addition, the Rhineland became a demilitarised zone, meaning that Germany was open to attack by France. On the other hand, some groups believe that the military clause was fair, as it punished Germany as well as giving the smaller countries of Europe a chance to

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Why was the Treaty of Versailles so in Germany?

"Why was the Treaty of Versaille so in Germany?" The Treaty of Versaille was a document drawn up by the League of Nations, the main influential countries being Britain France and the U.S.A. after the 1st World War. The Treaty restricted what Germany could do with regards to the Economy, the Military, and lands that Germany claimed to own. The Treaty was very strict with the Germans as it was a way of discouraging Germany from attacking and it was also a way for the British, French and American to have a little bit of revenge. One feature of the Treaty that would have made it unpopular was the fact that Germany was made to pay reparations of £6600 million to the countries that they had been at war with and for all the damage caused even that that had been caused by the Allies bombs. This massive bill caused the German economy to go into a stage of Hyper-inflation were the value of one German mark dropped from 4 marks being equivalent to $1 an 1914 to an all time low of 4.2 billion marks being the equivalent to $1 in 1923. This meant that Germany's economical stability was destabilising and Germany couldn't see why they had to pay for all the damage and that the countries that they were forced to give money to were as guilty as they were and therefore should pay as well. The Treaty said that Germany could keep it's army but on the condition that it was restricted to only

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How significant a role did Britain play in the war against Germany, 1939-45?

How significant a role did Britain play in the war against Germany, 1939-45? On the 3rd September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany after they invaded Poland because Britain and France had made an agreement to defend Poland from a German attack. Despite this declaration of war, Britain and France did very little to defend Poland and no combat by the French or British took place for nine months to follow. This period of time was nicknamed the 'Phoney War'. In April 1940, the Germans invaded Norway; Britain attempted to defend Norway but after their defeat, Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister was forced to resign; Winston Spencer Churchill was appointed Prime Minister and formed a National Government. On the 10th June 1940, France was invaded and defeated by Italian-German forces; this resulted in Britain being alone against GermanY. Germany came up with a plan to invade Britain called 'Operation Sealion' because Churchill refused to negotiate with the Germans. For this plan to work the German Luftwaffe would have to have air superiority. The Luftwaffe had an advantage over the RAF of 2300 more aircraft overall, but they had an equal number of fighter planes. Also, the fighter planes from Germany could only spend 30 minutes over South-East England before having to return to refuel, this sometimes resulted in Bombers being left behind and then destroyed by

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Was The Treaty Of Versailles Justified?

Was The Treaty Of Versailles Justified? The Treaty Of Versailles was an agreement between 32 nations deciding the fate of Germany. It was needed badly as war torn Europe was in turmoil. France had been devastated by the effects of war and sought to cripple Germany. The British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, realised the severe implications that this could have and so wanted a more lenient peace treaty. The American public had little interest in Post War Europe but their President, Woodrow Wilson, wanted a Germany that would make a good neighbour in Europe, hence his fourteen points. To reach a compromise a meeting was needed at the small palace of Versailles, not far from the French capital, Paris. Here the leaders of 'The Big Four', Orlando, Clemenceau, Wilson and George, representing Italy, France, Britain and America respectively, tried to find a lasting peace for Europe. This meeting was intended to bring stability ad peace into a crippled Europe. The date set was June 28th, 1919 and the members of 32 nations met up, in a council of 10, to agree on terms of peace for Germany, however none of the defeated nations were present at this meeting including Russia whose Government was not acknowledged by the Allies. The treaty was to last for 12 months and was to be a long and arduous task, even impeding Wilson's health, but what was the outcome and was the treaty justified?

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