REVISION IGCSE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY: TREATY OF RAPALLO

1. TREATY
OF RAPALLO
IGCSE HISTORY
REVISION

2. DEFINITION
Treaty of Rapallo was a peace agreement signed in 1922, between Germany
and the USSR to re-establish diplomatic and economic relations.

3. Question 1
Name the common enemy of Germany
and the USSR at this time.

4. Answer 1
Poland.

5. Question 2
Why did Germany agree to the treaty?

6. Answer 2
It was an opportunity to circumvent the restrictions placed on its
military by Versailles and to establish economic relations.

7. Question 3
What did the USSR gain from signing
the treaty?

8. Answer 3
It offered diplomatic recognition and an opening to European trade for
the isolated communist government.

9. Question 4
Can the signing of the treaty be seen as a
genuine attempt by Germany and the USSR
to strengthen their future relationship?

10. Answer 4
No. Like the 1939 agreement between the same countries, this was a
“marriage of convenience”.

11. Important
Some historians see the treaty as evidence that the two countries had
recovered from the diplomatic isolation caused by their defeats and
revolutions.
Other argue that it was a politically pragmatic arrangement between
two outcast countries.