We explained what the Genoa Conference was and what were the points that were debated among the signatory countries. In addition, its main consequences.
What was the Genoa conference?
The 1922 Genoa Conference, officially called Second International Monetary Conference, was a meeting between the representatives of 34 countries with the aim of creating a series of agreements to rebuild trade and the European financial system.
This conference was convened by the Nations Society, in the context of the end of the First World War (1914-1918), which had left a structural economic crisis in most European countries.
In addition to the reconstruction of trade, during the conference it was discussed on how to improve diplomatic relations between the newly created Soviet Union (USSR) with its communist regime and the Western Powers of the capitalist regime.
The most important agreement derived from the Genoa conference was the implementation of the gold change pattern For exchange and international financial system. Beyond the agreement and support of the signatory nations, the new system lasted a short time.
When, in 1929 the great depression was triggered, the different countries were abandoning the change system and closing their economies to deal with the deep economic crisis of the interwar period.
Key points
- It was held in 1922, within the framework of the interwar period.
- Representatives from 34 countries participated.
- Its main objective was to generate agreements for the reconstruction of trade and the financial system of Europe.
- A new change pattern for international exchange was established.
- Its effects were limited, since the crisis of the great depression led to European countries closing their economies.
Main agreements of the Genoa Conference
The Conference was convened by the Society of the Nations and was held in the city of Genoa, Italy, between April and May 1922. In it, specialist representatives in economics from more than thirty countries met.
Most countries argued that it was important to reconstitute international trade around the gold standard, which had worked for fifty years before World War I. However, The great deficit of national economies destroyed by war made the process of commercial reintegration difficult.
The gathered economists created a new exchange system called “Gold Change Patron.” Through this system, It was encouraged that governments had a way to regulate monetary exchange nationwidethat will stimulate the commitment of a defined fiscal policy and that independent central banks will be created.
The Genoa Conference was the first conference after the First World War to which both the USSR and Germany attended. These countries were conflict because the USSR refused to pay the international debt that had been taken by the previous government of Tsar Nicolás II.
The Bolshevik government of the USSR saw at the Genoa conference an opportunity to discuss the issue at an international meeting and try an approach to the European plot of nations.
The creditor nations sued the Soviet authorities the recognition of the debt and compensation for confiscated properties. The Soviet representative, Georgi Chicherin, offered to recognize part of the debt in exchange for the cancellation of the compensation claimed by the damages inflicted during the Russian civil war.
However, the differences between the European powers and their distrust of the USSR, reaffirmed after the announcement of the Rapallo Treaty between Germany and the USSR, made any kind of agreement impossible.
Genoa Conference Results
The signatory countries and the majority of international renowned economists supported the agreement and the exchange system proposed at the Genoa Conference. However, Some countries delayed their income in order to protect their own economies.
On the other hand, in 1929 the fall of the Wall Street bag was unleashed and, consequently, the great depression of the 1930s began. The economic crisis expanded throughout the European continent And, between 1930 and 1933, countries abandoned the international exchange system based on the Gold Change pattern.
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References
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2023). “Conference of Genoa”. Britannica Encyclopedia.
https://www.britannica.com/ - Comín Comín, F. (2014). “The economic imbalances of the twenties.” In World Economic History. Editorial Alliance.
- Thomson, D. (1995). “The postwar decade.” In World History from 1914 to 1968. Economic Culture Fund.
