Year 9 Term 1 History Notes JT

Y9 T1 HIS
1.1A Britain & the world in 1901
1901, Brits: Better clothed, better fed, better health, more educated British empire: Collection
compare to the rest of the world. of countries & colonies
Cities: Full of shops, lots of goods (from factories/ British empire) British ruled over.

British empire: Largest empire in the world-> ¼ of the world was made up of British colonies.

1901 and the world Colonies: a group of

Britain 1901: first country to have industrial evolution – was the world’s people from one country
richest country. But Britain was under threat. who build a settlement in
another country/ land
Factors that made Britain at risk:
USA: made more goods than Britain Effects/ Risk
Bigger army from other nations Might lose its high status

More battleships and rivals from the Rivalry might lead to conflict - war
other side.
JP, DE, USA: Improving

End of an Era
Queen Victoria who ruled for 63 years: died on 22 Jan 1901 -> Her son became King Edward
VII
Through Victoria’s marriage to Albert & the marriages of her children, Britain’s royal family was
directly connected to the rulers of Russia, Germany, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Greece
& Romania.

1901’s Britain

 Population: 40 Million
 80% of the people lives in towns & cities
 130k people from colonies settled in Britain (UK’s London, Liverpool, Cardiff) -> for
work, study
 3% rich, 15% middle class, 82% poor/ working class

Patriotic: Loving and being proud of your country.

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1.1B Developments
Developments in 3 areas of discovery & Invention

Transport
Railways (1901)
Large railway system linked Britain’s major towns & cities.
Road network improved, more roads to more places, better road surfaces
Cars
1885: Karl Benz (DE) – First successful 3-wheeled, petrol-driven vehicle (motor car)
1886: Gottlieb Daimler (DE) – First 4-wheeled, petrol driven car
Early 1900s: Building cars -> big moneymaking industry but pricy to most people
1908: Henry Todd (USA) – Made one of the bestselling cars, the Ford Model T. Made over 1
million by the end of 1915. Ford Motor company in Detroit USA made cars quickly and cheaply.
Car got cheaper over the years as Ford was making them more efficiently.
Planes...?
17 Dec 1903: Orville Wright & Wilbur Wright made the first manned powered flight in NC, USA.
It lasted 12s and flew 37m.
1905: They made over 150 flights that lasted nearly 40min
1909: Louis Bleriot (FR) flew over English Channel
1910: Investigating to attach bombs on planes to drop on enemies

Communications
The telephone (1876) & Radio-> popular after 1901. Most popular household items by 1920s.
Spread news quickly, businesses done faster

Consumer goods
Electricity-> electric irons, vacuum cleaner

Entertainment
Sport: Football, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf -> attracted people to watch and play
Cinemas, going to pubs.

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1.2A Poverty & Public Health

late 1800s and early 1900s:
 Millions were poor
 They couldn’t afford basic needs (food, 2 people submitted reports of
clothes...) poverty
Name Discovery Location

Charles Booth 1 London

3
of Londoners had full-time jobs but still not enough money to eat
properly
Seebohm 28% city workers don’t have enough money to eat healthily York
Rowntree 40% children suffered illness and slower growth from lack of food
People worrying
After the reports came out…

 Famous politicians (David Llyod George & Winston Churchill) felt that the
government should look after these poor people.
 Army leaders were worried too because 1/3 of men failed their medical examination
when volunteering to join the army. They were too small, thin, ill, or with bad eyesight.
How was Britain going to fight wars with such unreliable men?
Children
Early1900s: Many schoolchildren were reported as suffering from diseases or poor diet.
They didn’t have good diets because their parents couldn’t afford it. Many didn’t know about the
benefits of eating healthily. Parents rarely called a doctor when their child was sick, the cost was
too high. Small percentage of children died at the age of 5. Poor children were much smaller
than average children.
1.2B Improvement
Change
1906: Liberal Party won the general election-> Newly elected government-> Brought new laws
-> Changes made known as “Liberal Reforms”
They were committed to introduce measures to fight poverty, improve lives of ordinary people,
improve public health.
David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill were members of the Liberty party.
1906’s School Meals Act: Local Councils to provide free school meals for poor children.
1914: more than 158k children were having free school meals.
Free medical checkups and treatment introduced.

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Year 9 Term 1 History Notes JT

The Liberal Government later:

 Introduced unemployment benefits

 Introduced sick benefits
 Introduced pensions for elderly
 Opened job centres
 Banned back-to-back housing-> avoid overcrowding and filthy environment to live.
Long-term change
1918: Local councils had to provide health visitors, clinics for pregnant women & day nurseries
1919: Councils built new houses for poor families
1930: Cleared the places where diseases may spread
1950 (first half of 20th C): Public health-> improve
Clean towns & better medical understanding ->Life expectancy rises
Infant mortality (babies dying) -> decreases

1.3 The Titanic disaster

 One of the most famous ships ever built
 Biggest moving object ever made
 4 days in moving from Southampton to New York across the Atlantic Ocean, it sank on
the evening of Sunday, 14 April 1912
 2200 on board, only 704 were rescued

People that might be to blame for the Titanic’s sink:

Captain Smith, Edward Smith – Titanic’s Captain

 Ignored several Iceberg warnings

 Was going too fast
Harland & Wolff – The Shipbuilders

 Used low quality iron rivets to build the ship Distress flares: Bright flames that
shoot up into the sky to ask for help
Thomas Andrews – Architect, Designer of the Titanic

 Made the 16 watertight compartments smaller to make space for more rooms
 If they were bigger, the Titanic might not have sunk
Stanley Lord – Captain of Californian (a ship)

 30km away from the Titanic when the iceberg struck it, but didn’t try to help
 Turned off his radios, no SOS signal could reach
 Despite already aware of the Titanic’s distress flares, he told his crew to ignore it
 Decided not to sail to the lights (exploding of the Titanic)

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Bruce Ismay – Owner of the Titanic, person in-charge of the White Star Line shipping company

 Might have forced Captain Smith to sail faster in order to prove the Titanic was the
biggest, most luxurious and fastest ocean line
 The company removed 12 lifeboats from 32 lifeboats to make room for more first-class
cabins.
1.4A Suffragettes & Suffragists

Suffragette: Campaigner for the right of women to vote, who violently protest
Suffragist: Campaigner for the right of women to vote, who peacefully protest
Early 20th C (1900s): Men and women were treated very differently -> gender inequality

 Many professions (teaching, medical, politics) expected women to stop working when
they got married.
 People think that women should be at home cooking, cleaning, taking care of their kids,
serving their husbands.
 Women get paid lesser even if they work the same job as men.
 Women was not allowed to vote, participate in politics and parliaments.
Some people (both men & women) thought it was unfair. So what did they do?
1800s: There were changes that made women’s life better.
 Women allowed to divorce their husbands
 Women could control their own income
 Women allowed to vote in local council elections
- It was still not enough to be treated as equally as men.
1897: A group of campaigners that campaigned for women’s rights (to vote in nation-wide,
government elections) formed.
They thought life would be better if

 Women are allowed to vote

o Women might be able to elect great politicians, those who can improve lives of
women.
This group of campaigners were known as suffragists. They held meetings, wrote letters to
Parliament, went on protest marches and produced posters. They did it in the most peaceful
way possible.
But protesting peacefully didn’t work really well.
1903: Some members of the suffragists decided to form their own group and change their tactic
(method/ way) of protesting – Suffragettes, led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters

Their motto: ‘Deeds not words’, meaning they put their ideas in action instead of just
speaking out. (action speak louder than words)

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The Pankhursts decided that the most effective way to get attention for their cause was to carry
out actions that would get them on newspapers:
“their cause”: what they
 Disrupted (disturbed/ interrupted) political meetings want (getting treat equally
 Chained themselves to the railings of the Prime’s as men)/ their purpose
Minister’s home in Downing Street
 Pelted (threw) eggs & flour on politicians Hunger strike: refuse to eat to show
 Smashed parliament’s windows with stones they’re upset about something &
 Set fire to churches & Railway Stations wants things to change, a verb
 Poured acid on golf-courses
The suffragettes were arrested & fined-> refused to pay-> sent to prison-> refused food in
prison, (hunger strike)-> starved-> freed them & let them starve-> later on, force-feed the hunger
strikers (someone who starves to show they’re unhappy about something and wants it to change, a noun)
1.4B Rebellion of the Suffragettes
Some politicians supported women’s rights of voting.
1909-1911: Whenever the idea was brought up in Parliament, many politicians were against it
The suffragette campaigns got more violent:

 July 1912: Threw a small axe at Prime Minister Herbert Asquith on a visit to Dublin, but
missed by injuring a politician nearby.
 February 1913: A bomb damaged David Llyod George’s house.
 May 1913: Placed a bomb in St Paul’s Cathedral (didn’t explode)…
The more violent suffragettes get; the more supporters they lose. The supporters did not want to
join violent, dangerous actions.

PM Asquith (was personally against women’s votes), argued that performing more violence
to bring change is going to encourage others who wants change to be violent too.
Unexpected opportunity
1914: WW1 started, suffragettes stopped their campaign of violence, asked their supporters to
help the war.
Women replaced a lot of men’s jobs as many men were leaving for war.

 Women got to have a chance to show their strength.

They get to do the jobs they had never done before: Bus drivers, Police officers, mechanics,
road menders, nurses & ambulance drivers near battlefields, work in munitions factories (factory
that produces military weapons)

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Go Girlboss!
The work done by women during the war was essential. By the end of the war, more people felt
that women had earned the right to vote, politicians didn’t want suffragettes’ violent campaigning
anymore too.
1918: All men over 21 allowed to vote; All women over 30 with husbands and property allowed
to vote.
1928: All women over 21 allowed to vote. (no husbands & property too)
Women now have the same voting rights as men.

1.5
The mystery:
4 June 1913: Did Emily Davison meant to kill herself in The Derby – a best known horse race,
by getting knocked off by the King’s horse, Anmer, or was it an accident to make a suffragettes’
public stunt?
8 June 1913: Died from her injuries.

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2.1A Why did WW1 start – Reasons that cause war

1914-1918: WW1
Called “The Great War” before WW2 (1939) started because it was a huge war that no one
experienced.

 Millions of men fought it desperate conditions with deadliest weapons.

Both long term causes & short term causes can lead to war.
Long term causes: Causes that happened long ago
Short term causes: Causes that happened recently

Long term causes

Nationalism

 People from a country claiming their country is the best.

 To prove their country is the best, European leaders like to start wars.
- “If they win, they are better than the country that fought with”
Militarism

 People from a country claiming their armies & navies is the best.
 To prove they are the best, countries spend lots of money to build armies, prepared to
use them to defend/attack.
 Arms race: Competing which country has the bigger army.
- “What’s the point of having a big army if you’re not using it?”
 Always feel like they want to use their army anytime.

Imperialism – The desire to build empires

 People from a country taking over lots of land.

 1914: European nations wanted big empires (lots of land)
 European countries compete to gain control of other nations.
 They fought for land so fiercely that they thought each other as rivals.
 They feel threatened that their land might get controlled.
 To remove the threat: war
 People fighting over getting land

Alliances

 Countries: feel threatened, start finding friends to fight for war.

 Triple Entente: British, France, Russia
 Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

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One of the short term causes and started war – The assassination of Austria-Hungary’s Heir.
28 June 1914: Archduke Franz & his wife visited Bosnia, Sarajevo.

 Bosnia – was part of Austria-Hungary Annexed: An area of land/

 Got annexed by another country from 1908 country that got added to
 Bosnians unhappy, wanted to join with Serbia another land/country by force
 Serbians wanted to join with Bosnia too
 ‘Black Hand’ (a Serbian gang) plans to assassinate the heir during his visit to Sarajevo
Story:
1. Archduke Franz Ferdinand & Sophie arrived at Sarajevo. Drove slowly to the town hall.
2. 7 Black Hand assassins were waiting at Cumurja Bridge. They tried to threw a bomb to
the couple, but missed and exploded on the car behind.
3. Archduke cancelled the visit to check on the injured. Went home driving the car faster.
4. Gavrilo Princip shot the couple, coincidentally he was there.

War Timeline
28 July: Assassination of Archduke incident. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia, attacks Serbia.
29 July: Russia getting their army ready to attack Austria-Hungary. (protect Serbia)
1 August: Germany declares war on Russia. (supports Austria-Hungary)
2 August: Britain prepares its warships
3 August: Germany attack France first. Worried about the French army. Hopes to defeat
France fast to fight Russians.
2 August: Germany asks Belgium to let German soldiers march through to attack France.
Belgium says no but Germans still marched anyway.
4 August: Britain declares war on Germany. (protect Belgium)
5 August: France declares war on Germany.
6 August: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
12 August: Britain & France declare war on Austria-Hungary.

Later on…
Italy left the Triple Alliance (DE, ATHU) and joined Britain. 32 countries joined WW1 in total.

Allies: Britain (its empire),

Central Powers: Germany,

VS
France, Belgium, Italy,
Austria-Hungary, Turkey,
Serbia, Romania, Portugal,
Bulgaria
Russia, USA, Japan

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2.2 Joining up
British Government: asked for male volunteers (19-30yo) to join the army
1914 2512: Over 1 mil joined – NOT ENOUGH How, why, what – the
government made more
1. Propaganda campaign (mind control..?)
men to join the army?
 Government controlled information (about how
bad war is?)
 News articles about victories (defeats hardly mentioned?)
 Their soldiers: look like heroes; Germans: look cruel & evil
 Propaganda Posters
Purpose:
o Influence public opinion about war (how positive it is but it actually is not)
o Make men love their country and their king
o Make men feel guilty for not joining the war
o Make men to hate their enemy
Gov: “If people loved Britain and hated Germany, they are likely to join up to fight”
Results: 1916 January – 2.5 mil men joined
2. Pals Battalions
 Fighting with friends, families, neighbours
 Towns competed to prove how patriotic they were
After 1916: Pals Battalions didn’t last long. People that went to war came back injured, dead,
missing. Families, friends, neighbours were worried.
3. Female Pressure
 Women handing out white feathers to men who seemed fit and is not in military
uniform
 White feathers: symbolizes cowardice
Effect: Public humiliation: Pressured men to join the army immediately
4. Conscription
 1916 Summer: Thousands dead & injured after battles – Less men join war
 Government: needs more men – New law introduced: Conscription
 Conscription: men (aged 18-41) may be forced to join the army
Results: 2.5 mil men joined

Conscientious Objectors

 16K men that believed fighting in war was wrong because it was against their morals &
religious believes – they refused to join the fight
 Most still helped the war by working in factories/ mines/ carrying stretchers in battlefields
rather than fighting

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 1.5K men refused to do anything related to war – sent to prison

 69 of them died in prison

2.3A Trenches & WW1 overview

Trenches: Holes that soldiers dug to hide for protection
Fronts: Areas where armies fought each other
No Man’s Land: Waste land between trenches that are full of bomb craters and rotting dead
bodies.
Infantry soldiers: Soldiers that fought on foot.
WW1: Fought mainly in Europe
Western Front: French, Belgian & British stops Germans going to the coastline of Northern
France. (Cross through Belgium & France)
Eastern Front: Russians fought Germans, Austro-Hungarians & Turkish.
Italian Border: Italy fought with Austria-Hungary.
Germany’s colonies attacked by Allied forces in Africa & Pacific.
WW1: Infantry war, few battles at sea & skies.

Trench warfare
Infantry soldiers: in trenches most of the time – protected by sandbags & barbed wire to defend
rifles, machine guns, grenades.
Soldiers try to capture enemy’s trenches. Attackers move across no man’s land to the opposite
trenches. Defenders try to shoot them off.
Stalemate: No progress, not backing down either.
Stalemate happens when one side move forward and backwards again due to the loss of men.

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2.3B Features in Trenches

Duckboards: A board placed on the ground to avoid soldiers sinking in mud
Fire step: A step for soldiers to stand on and fire.
Dugouts: Rooms in trenches
Periscope: To let soldier see things on top without getting shot
Barbed wire: slow down attacking soldiers
Reserve trenches: Where soldiers went to rest/ wait to go front line
Gas bell: Ring to tell soldiers to wear gas masks
Artillery: Huge guns that fired bombs
Sandbags: Used to muffle explosions, soak up moisture
Communication trench: Linked front line trench to reserve trench

Daily work, food, health & living conditions as soldiers:

Daily work

 Guard duty, food collecting, letter writing, cooking, cleaning and repairing trenches &
weapons, attacking
Food

 Basic. Stew, bread, biscuits

Health

 Often ill – ulcers, boils…

Living condition

 Bad, dirty, dusty. Infested with lice, mices all around

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Weapon Appearance/ Properties Use & other

Rifle  Long gun  Accurate up to 600m
 Light weight (carried  Highly trained soldiers: fire 15-
easily). 20 bullets per minute
 40cm knife (bayonet) at
the end.

Able to use from a far, able to damage soldiers.

Defendable.
Poison gas  Chlorine gas: suffocated  Gas released from cylinders,
lungs carrying it by the wind to
 Mustard gas: rots body, weaken soldiers.
skin blisters, eyes bulged,  1915 April: First used by
coughing Germans
 Later: Less effective weapon;
Weak to use from a far, weak to damage from a gas masks introduced
far, not defensive.

Machine gun  Deadliest weapon  10 bullets per second

 Invented in the mid-1800s
Weak to use from a far, good at damaging
soldiers, good defense.
Grenade  Small, hand-held bombs  Remove pin-> throw-> run->
explode in few secs
Weak to use from a far, able to damage
soldiers. Defendable
Flamethrower  Container filled with fuel  Fuel gets lit up-> create flames
strapped on soldier’s back
 Comes out from a nozzle
 Deadly in small spaces

Weak to use from a far, able to damage

soldiers, not defensive.
Tank  British invention  Can travel over rough ground,
 Bulletproof crush barbed wire, cross
 Slow, Unreliable trenches
 Caused Germans panic – they
Okay to use from a far, able to damage soldier. thought it was water tank
Defendable
 WW2: Battle-winning weapons

Fighter/bomber  Slow, clumsy, unreliable  1903: Planes first appeared

planes  WW1 began: used to spot
Good to use from a far, weak at damaging enemies and their artillery, fired
soldiers, not defensive.
pistols, threw bricks
 Soon…
 Fighter planes: armed
with machine guns
 Bombers planes:
Attacking enemies from
the sky by dropping
bombs

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Artillery  Large, huge, heavy guns  Used to shoot bombs from afar
 Fire shells: shells explode->
Good to use from a far, good at damaging metal splinters cut people
soldiers. Not defensive.

2.5 Shell Shock & the tragedy of Harry Farr – Why was he killed?
Trench warfare was too much for some soldiers to handle.
 Seeing close ones getting killed
 Constantly hearing explosions, shooting noises
 The danger of death
Desertion: Leaving the
More & more men were diagnosed with Shell Shock. army without permission

1915: Shell shock was seen as a type of illness. Cowardice: Being a

coward, being scared
 “Sick with nerves”
 Shook uncontrollably
 Paralyzed
 Panic attacks
 Mute
Doctors had no idea how to treat it. Many men just needed time to recover, away from the front
lines. But shell shock comes back once they get back to the front lines. Many tried running away
and when they got caught, they were often killed for desertion & cowardice.
Desertion & cowardice were seen as crimes. 306 UK soldiers were shot to death because of it.

Private Farr

 14 October 1916: Death sentence confirmed by Sir Douglas Haig

 Charge of Cowardice
 18 October 1916: Shot at dawn
 His name never appeared on graves & war memorials
 1908: Been a soldier ever since
 Fought in France for 2 years
 Sick with his nerves for 3 times. Returned to front lines after staying in the hospital as he
wasn’t physically injured.
Few years after war…

 Shell shock≠Cowardice; shell shock was misunderstood.

 June 2001: Mrs. Gertrude Harris (Farr’s daughter), unveiled a memorial to the 306
British soldiers that was killed for cowardice & desertion. – ‘Shot At Dawn’ at Alrewas.
 2006: The British Government pardoned all men who had been shot at dawn.

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2.6 WW1 & the Improvement of Health Care

 Medicine & medical services develop at a greater time during wartime as countries
spend lots of money on it to keep injured soldiers fit & healthy to keep fighting.
o Good medical services -> more soldiers survive & heal from injuries-> more
soldiers to fight-> greater chance to win the war
o Doctors & soldiers worked hard during war time to develop new medical
techniques.
 The more people injured, the more people doctors & surgeons can try
their new techniques on.

Techniques & How was it used/ properties Others

development
X-rays  Look for broken bones & diseases.  1895: X-ray was first
 Find out where bullets or sharp discovered
objects were in the soldiers’ body.  Marie Curie: helped
create mobile (movable)
x-ray machines –
convenient to use
near battlefields.

Plastic surgery  To fix soldiers’ appearance by  Developed by Harold

attaching a healthy piece of skin to Gillies
an injured place on the body – skin
graft.

Blood  Transferring blood to a soldier that  Solution of stopping

transfusion lost lots of blood. the clotting of blood
(advances)  Injured soldiers can have blood loss by Albert Hustin in
– blood needs to be replaced. 1914
o Blood couldn’t be stored
properly – it clots quickly
o Solution: Glucose & sodium
citrate stops blood from
clotting
o Blood could be bottled,
packed in ice…

Treating  Cutting away infected flesh and soak  Battlefields: dirty

infections the wound in salty water. places that could get
infections easily.
 Didn’t always work,
but helps save many
lives
Repairing  To repair broken bones  Splint still in use today
broken bones o Army Leg Splint
o Keller-Blake Splint
 To raise and extend the broken leg
‘in traction’ to help bones join back
securely.

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2.7 Soldiers of the Empire

1914: WW1 broke out
Men in Britain and more than 2.5 million of men from the British Empire volunteered to fight
together. Britain’s army contain soldiers from all continents/ around the world.
British Empire: Collection of countries (colonies) Britain ruled.

Men from the British Empire that fought for Britain

15K West Indies
100K
120K
NZ
130K A
SA

400K
Australia
1.4 million
India

600K
Canada

India Canada Australia South Africa Africa New Zealand West Indies (NOT India)

End of WW1: 200K men from the Empire died of war.

2.8 Home Front Civilians: people that are

Home front: Civilians that were engaged in war – not on the not in the armed services or
battlefield. the police force.

Civilians played a part in WW1, not just soldiers…

Bombs
Zeppelins: Huge German inflatable airships that drop bombs.

 Attacked Britain’s towns & cities in the East

 Dropped over 5000 bombs, killing over 500 people, injuring over 1000 people
 German Bomber planes were involved.
Government: Issued posters to let civilians know how to differentiate British & German aircrafts

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Less food & higher taxes

Germans sunk boats that brought food to Britain -> Britain short of food.
Rationing: Limited items (food) equally shared out
 Some items were limited-> expensive
Britain borrowed millions from USA to pay for war-> high taxes to pay back the loans
Men away to fight-> women did men’s jobs.
1915: Women’s Land Army – Women working in farms.
DORA – Defence of Realm Act
Government allowed to do whatever it felt was necessary to win the war.

 Controlled publications of newspapers, radios

 Took over mines, railways, shipyards…
70 mil of men fought in WW1.
Britain & British Empire’s men: over 8 mil fought together – 1 mil of them were killed, 2 mil of
them were injured.

2.9 The End of WW1 and Poppy Day

1917: Russia dropped out from the war (stopped fighting) Poppy day – Remembrance
Sunday: Every 2nd Sunday in
 People rebelled against their leaders – stopped fighting
Nov.
Germans sunk America’s ships – USA joined the war on Britain’s side.
 2-min-silence
Germans were forced to retreat despite fighting desperately.  Giving out poppy
flowers.
 Britain blocked German supply ships – people starving
 German navy refused to follow orders
 Germany’s King (Kaiser Wilhelm II) has lost control of his country, abdicated (gave up
their throne).
Sep & Oct 1918: Germany began to surrender
11 November 1918: End of WW1
Poppy flower: Symbolizes life & hope – upon the destroyed lands after war, the poppy flowers
were the only living thing that seemed to bloom and flourish.
Moina Michael campaigned to make the poppy a symbol of remembrance of the war dead.
1922: Factory opened to make artificial poppies by disabled ex-soldiers.

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2.10 Winners & Losers – The formation of The League of Nations and The Treaty of
Versailles
11 November 1918: End of WW1
1919 January: Paris Peace Conference held at the Palace of Versailles, joined by important
leaders/ politicians from the winning countries to decide on punishments for defeated countries.
The Big Three – The 3 most powerful winning countries: Britain, France, USA.

 Russia was not in the conference since they dropped out from war since 1917.
o Created a new type of government that most European leaders disagree on.
Defeated countries were not allowed to be at the Paris Peace Conference.
June 1919: The Big 3 came up with The Treaty of Versailles after arguing for months.
A huge written document of punishments for Germany.

 28 June 1919: They signed it… or else they would face invasion.
Germany…

 Pay for war with 6.6 billion pounds.

 Sign to agree that they were the ones who started war.
 Hand over colonies to Britain & France.
 No air force, submarines, tanks. Only a tiny army and navy.
 Not allowed to get near the French Border (Rhineland)
 Parts of losing countries: cut off to make new countries and rule by themselves.
o E.g. Austria-Hungary became 2 separated countries up until today – Austria AND
Hungary. They are 2 different countries now.
 1920: League of Nations
o An international club to meet regularly to talk & solve problems.
o Losing countries were allowed to join later.
Other losing countries signed other treaties. They were fined and handed over lands & weapons
The Big Three and Their Opinions
David Lloyd George – Britain’s Prime Minister

 Wanted to keep Germany weak, but also avoid humiliating them.

 Wants to reduce German navies – so that it’s no longer a threat to Britain.
Georges Clemenceau – France’s Prime Minister

 Wanted revenge on Germany – 1.4 mil of Frenchmen were killed, huge areas were
destroyed in France.
 Wanted Germany to pay for everything.
 Wanted to weaken German forces.
Woodrow Wilson – USA’s President

 Wanted to prevent Germany becoming aggressive – didn’t want to punish them much.

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 Year 9 Term 1 History Notes JT

Germans and the Treaty of Versailles

By the time the treaty was signed…

 The Big Three were not happy.

o Clemenceau: Wanted to treaty to be tougher and hasher.
o Wilson: Thought that Clemenceau was too harsh on Germany, stopped him.
o Lloyd George: Doesn’t want Germany to feel that they were treated unfairly.
Harsher punishments might cause Germany wanting revenge.

 Germans were not happy.

o They hated the treaty.
o They hated that they were forced to sign it.
o They hated their government and their politicians for signing it without discussing.

The League of Nations

1920: League of Nations was set up by winning countries of WW1 with its headquarters located
in Geneva, Switzerland.

 An international club to…

o Stop wars forever
o Solve problems without fighting
o Help other countries
o Make improvements
o Fight diseases, slavery…etc.
 40 countries joined immediately.
 Losing countries were allowed to join later.
Problems…

 The League of Nations didn’t have an army.

 It seemed to work well at first… But they failed to maintain peace in lots of areas.
Successes: Failures:
 1920: Sorted out a dispute between  1931: Couldn’t stop Japan invading China
Finland & Sweden.
 1935: Couldn’t stop Italy invading Ethiopia.
 1925: Sorted out a dispute between
Greece & Bulgaria.  1933-1939: Couldn’t stop Germany for building
their weapons & expanding their territory in
 1926: Signed the Slavery Europe.
Convention – freed 200K slaves.
 Never had an army.
 Defeat diseases (cholera, smallpox…)  USA was powerful, but they didn’t join – making
 Helped over 400K prisoners of war return the League weak.
home.  Japan & Italy joined… left
 1926: Germany allowed to join… but left in 1933.

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Year 9 Term 1 History Notes JT

3.1 Was the WW1 worth winning? – After Effects of WW1 in Britain
After WW1: Britain was not the same as before.

 Over half a million of Englishmen were killed.

 Over 2 million Englishmen were wounded.
 Women lost their husbands, kids lost their parents/ father/ family.
 Workplaces, communities, sport teams were empty. (no people)
 Men that came back physically fit: still remembers the horrors of war.
 Businesses started failing.
During WW1: Some business did well.
After WW1: Those businesses started failing.

What caused major unemployment & failures of businesses after WW1?

 During WW1: Businesses & factories produced war goods – made lots of money
 After WW1: Business & factories that produced war goods were not needed that much.
 Weapons not needed since there was no war anymore.
Less weapons needed -> less workers needed -> some business failing -> unemployment rises
o After WW1: Some countries (JP, USA) produced better, more popular, new goods
than Britain or goods that Britain don’t produce.
 Other countries started buying goods from those countries instead of
Britain.
1) Less goods getting 2) Less goods 3) Less workers 4) Unemployment
bought needed to produce needed to work rises

1921: 2 million people unemployed (no job)

1922 Remembrance day: Unemployed ex-soldiers marched through London with a banner –
‘From living victims to our dead comrades – you died for nothing.
o Basically means: ‘dead soldiers or living soldiers fought for nothing’

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 Year 9 Term 1 History Notes JT

General Strike
Strike: when a group of workers stop working to protest against working conditions
(wages, work hours…)
1920s summary of striking:

People go on Volunteers tried Strikers

High Goes
protests & strikes to help to keep struggling since if back to
unemployment (stopped the country they dont work, work
working) running theres no income

1926’s nine-day General Strike

People from a range of industries went on strike (stopped working) to support coal miners not
having their pay reduced and work hours increased.

 People included: bus drivers, rail workers, factory workers etc.

4 May 1926: Workers and miners stayed at home – country wasn’t running. Volunteers tried
keeping the country running without getting paid (they drove busses, railways..). Strikers starts
struggling because they don’t get wages if they don’t work. They had no choice but to start
going back to work.
Miners continue protesting until November. They went back to work with pay reduced
and work hours increased.
1927: Government made General Strike illegal.

Improvements?
Government tried to improve the lives of their people after WW1

 1918 Education Act: Minimum school-leaving age – 14, recognition of kids with special
education needs.
 1919: Ministry of Health – improve healthcare across the country
 1925: Old age pensions increased
 Finding work for ex-soldiers with disabilities
 Claiming benefits after getting unemployed
 Teachers, farmers: wage increases
 200K homes built
 New laws to protect tenants from large rent.

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Year 9 Term 1 History Notes JT

Women
Biggest change after war: lives of women
Before war: Women had limited rights – no voting etc.
During war: Took men’s jobs (men went fighting)
After war: Men returned to working, most of the women returned home as housewives – life
goes back to normal. (1930s)

 Even if women still works, they get pay lesser compare to men
New laws for women after war?
1918: Women over 30 yo and owns property – allowed to vote
1928: All women over 21 – allowed to vote, having the same voting rights as men
New law introduced that made jobs illegal to exclude women just because of their gender.
Even with new laws of women, the daily lives of women was still not changed.

3.2 The 20s

Years after war…

 High unemployment, strikes, general unrest

Lots of young people tried to life their life to the fullest to forget about WW1 by having fun.

 Going to cinemas
 Going outdoors
 Camping & walking
 Swimming
 Beach trips
1922: BBC was born

 To educate, inform, entertain

 News, music, drama, kid’s shows, sports events
Flappers

 Women that cut their hair shorter, wore their skirts shorter, wore heavy make-up drove
motorbikes, smokes & drinks openly since they’ve gained confidence and started living
independently after WW1.
USA’s influences

 Britain began copying American entertainment & fashions…

 American jazz in nightclubs
 American cartoons: Mickey Mouse & Betty Boop took over Britain’s cinemas.

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Year 9 Term 1 History Notes JT

3.3 Independence of Ireland

Great Britain and Ireland had been closely linked for centuries.
12th century: English & Scots tried ruling over Ireland.
1 January 1801: Ireland becomes a part of Great Britain -> United Kingdom of Great Britain &
Ireland.
Decisions about Ireland were made by Parliaments in London.
1910s: Their relationship started getting violent. Why?

2 types of Irish
The unionists lived mainly in the Northern
side of Ireland – Ulster

1916: Easter Rising

During WW1, April 1916 (Easter week): A
group of nationalists took control of Ireland’s
capital city - Dublin, and declared
independence.
The British sent troops to deal with the
situation.

15 nationalists were killed by the British army.

Sinn Fein – An Irish nationalist political party

 Popularity increased
 1918: They won 73 seats in British Parliament.
 Refused to go to London’s Parliament.
 Set up their on Parliament in Dublin.
1919: IRA – Irish Republican Army

 Supported by Sinn Fein & Michael Collins

 To force British out of Ireland.
 Attacks on British police & government buildings
British Government: Sent Black and Tans (a group of tough ex-soldiers) to keep order.
The IRA & the Black & Tans attacked each other, killing & hurting innocent people.

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Year 9 Term 1 History Notes JT

1921 December: A treaty was agreed that…

 Northern Ireland: 6 counties in the north of Ireland remains as a part of Britain.

 1922 – Irish Free State: Other 26 counties runs its own affairs, but still part of the
British Empire.
Now Ireland is divided. Some were happy, some were not. Some thinks that Ireland should be
together, some thinks that is better to get divided.

 Lots of political issues & conflicts for years because of the split of Ireland.
3.4 The 30s

Negative comments/ opinions Positive comments/ opinions

 Industries not recovered after WW1.  Industries that made plastic, cars,
 Other countries don’t buy goods from electrical goods were doing well.
Britain anymore – they produce it  New political parties – Labour Party,
BFA…
themselves or buy it from other
 Women attended universities.
nations.
 1932: 1/5 people were unemployed
 Cutting down unemployment benefit
to pay for war.
 Means test: if you have extra income/
savings, government will cut your
unemployment benefits more – to pay
for poorer areas.
 1929: USA stopped buying goods
from UK.
 British factories closed, workers lost
their job.
 Women who got married will lose their
job.

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