Summary

By 1924, it was clear that the Treaty of Versailles had failed to secure peace. Germany hated its terms, resisted reparations, and faced French invasions in 1920, 1921, and 1923-24. Europe remained tense.

The League of Nations had twice failed to secure peace: two proposed treaties – one wanting all members to defend any country attacked and another suggesting disputes be settled in the PCIJ – had failed because Britain refused to be bound to military action.

In 1925, therefore, the German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann met with British and French ministers at the Swiss resort of Locarno. The talks were friendly, and for the first time since WWI, Germany was treated as an equal.

The outcome was the Locarno Pact, a series of agreements:
•  Germany, France, Belgium, and Britain pledged to respect their borders as set by the ToV, and to keep the Rhineland demilitarised;
•  France and Germany promised not to go to war and to settle disputes through the League of Nations;
•  Germany made similar agreements with Poland and Czechoslovakia, though without committing to respecting their borders;
•  France promised to defend Poland and Czechoslovakia if Germany attacked.

The Pact was celebrated in the West as the beginning of an era of peace, and Germany was allowed to join the League.

However, it weakened the League’s authority and left Eastern Europe vulnerable. Poland, in particular, felt abandoned, believing Germany now had permission to challenge its borders. France and Britain were committed to war in Europe if the agreement was breached. Thus the Pact set the stage for WWII.

The Locarno Treaties, 1925

Background

It soon became clear that the Treaty of Versailles had not secured the peace of Europe as Germany hated its terms and resisted reparations, and as France three times invaded the Rhineland (in 1920, 1921 and 1923-24).

Europe in 1924 was still bristling with hostility.

Meanwhile, two attempts by the League of Nations to secure peace failed:

1. A Draft Treaty of Mutual Assistance (1923) had suggested binding all member states to assist a victim of aggression;

2. The Geneva Protocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes (1924) had suggested submitting all disputes to the World Court for arbitration.

Both of these initiatives had failed because Britain refused to accept any binding obligation to military intervention or sanctions.

Events

In February 1925, the German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann proposed a treaty to guarantee the Franco-German frontier and the Rhineland demilitarized zone.

The three foreign ministers (Gustav Stresemann for Germany; Austen Chamberlain for Britain; and Aristide Briand for France) met at the luxury resort of Locarno in Switzerland. The ministers took strolls and luncheons, and went a boat cruise to celebrate Mrs Chamberlain’s birthday – they got on well together.

(It was the first time in diplomatic relations since WWI that the Germans had been treated as equals.)

The result was a slew of treaties which together are known as the Locarno Pact:

1. Treaty of mutual guarantee: Germany, France, Belgium and the UK agreed to respect the borders between them as set by the Treaty of Versailles, and to respect the Rhineland demilitarised zone.

2. Arbitration agreements: Germany, France and Belgium agreed in no case to go to war, but to submit any disputes to League of Nations arbitration.

3. Arbitration treaties: Germany agreed with Poland and Czechoslovakia to submit any disputes to arbitration. HOWEVER, the treaties were non-binding, and included no promise to respect the borders as set by the Treaty of Versailles.

4. Treaties of mutual assistance: France promised to support Poland and Czechoslovakia if they were attacked without provocation.

Consequences

1. There was a euphoria in the west, which saw the Pact as “the beginning of an era of trust” (the so-called ‘Spirit of Locarno’).

An American cartoon of the time; the signatories, having overcome a millennium of war, look excitedly to a future of peace.

2. Shortly afterwards, Germany was accepted into the League of Nations.

HOWEVER:

3. The authority of the League of Nations – which had failed to arrange such a peace – was damaged.

4. The Pact was an agreement for western Europe; in eastern Europe it simply set the scene for Hitler’s road to war in the 1930s:

a. The treaties focussed on borders, and said nothing about – and indeed prevented France taking military action – if Germany broke the terms of the ToV regarding reparations or disarmament.

b. The Poles, particularly, were furious, because the treaties gave them (and Czechoslovakia) no guarantee of their borders … indeed, they interpreted the Pact as giving Germany permission to try to redraw its borders with Poland.

c. The Pact committed France to a war with Germany if Germany tried redraw its borders with Poland or Czechoslovakia. Also, to a lesser extent, it committed Britain to a war with Germany if Germany violated its western borders.