levo

Conflict and Tension: The Inter-War Years, 1918–1939

The outbreak of war

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1 section B

Overview

The occupation of Prague and the British guarantee to Poland, Danzig and the Polish Corridor, the failed talks with the USSR, the Nazi-Soviet Pact and its secret protocol, the invasion of Poland in September 1939, and how far Hitler, Stalin and Chamberlain were responsible for the war.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Why did Britain and France court the USSR in 1939, and what did Stalin agree with Germany instead?

Key term

What happened to Czechoslovakia in March 1939?

Key term

Why was the occupation of Prague a turning point?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What happened to Czechoslovakia in March 1939?

    Model answer

    German troops occupied Prague and the Czech lands were made a German protectorate, while Slovakia became a puppet state.

  2. 2

    Why was the occupation of Prague a turning point?

    Model answer

    The people taken over were not German speakers, so Hitler's stated aim collapsed and Britain and France abandoned the policy of giving way to him.

  3. 3

    How did Britain respond in the spring of 1939?

    Model answer

    It guaranteed to defend Poland if it were attacked, made similar promises to Romania and Greece, and introduced conscription in peacetime.

  4. 4

    Why did Hitler want Danzig and the Polish Corridor?

    Model answer

    They had been taken from Germany in 1919, and recovering them would also be the first step towards living space further east.

  5. 5

    Why did Britain and France seek an agreement with the USSR in 1939?

    Model answer

    Only the Soviet Union could threaten Germany from the east, and without it the promise to defend Poland could not be kept.

  6. 6

    Why did the talks with the USSR break down?

    Model answer

    They were slow and low-level, Stalin doubted the West's seriousness, and Poland refused to allow Soviet troops onto its territory.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

America, 1840–1895: Expansion and Consolidation
America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and Inequality
Conflict and Tension Between East and West, 1945–1972
Conflict and Tension in Asia, 1950–1975

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

11 1918.
NovemberOctoberDecember

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

ABlight destroyed the potato crop the poor lived on.
BThe Great Famine drove around a million people to emigrate.
CBritain was the nearest and cheapest place to go.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

James Burbage opened The Theatre at Shoreditch in 1576.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Conflict and Tension: The Inter-War Years, 1918–1939, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.