Stresa Front

We explain what the Stresa Front was and what its objectives were. Also, the historical context and its consequences.

What was the Stresa Front?

The Stresa Front was an agreement between the governments of France, the United Kingdom and Italy agreed in the Italian town of Stresa on April 14, 1935. Arose as a reaction against the German rearmament promoted by Adolf Hitlerwhich challenged the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 and endangered European peace.

The “Joint Stresa Conference Resolution” was agreed by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and French Prime Minister Pierre-Étienne Flandin (along with his Foreign Minister Pierre Laval). It was presented as a reaffirmation of the Locarno Treaties of 1925who had sought to guarantee the peace and borders of Europe, and as a defense of the independence and integrity of Austria against any threat (especially from Nazi Germany).

However, in June 1935 the United Kingdom signed a naval agreement with Germany which marked British recognition of German naval development, although within certain limits.

Finally, when Italy began its invasion of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) in October 1935, Franco-British opposition and condemnation by the League of Nations led to the dissolution of the Stresa Front. Soon after, Mussolini refused to condemn German remilitarization of the Rhineland, and Fascist Italy allied itself with Hitler's Germany.

The historical context

After the end of the First World War (1914-1918), the representatives of the winning countries (led by the United Kingdom, France and Italy) signed a series of peace treaties with the defeated countries. Through the Treaty of Versailles (1919) They imposed on Germany the payment of war reparationsvarious territorial clauses, the prohibition of annexing Austria and a significant reduction in its military capacity.

When Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, he began a policy of massive rearmament. that breached the Treaty of Versailles. In October 1933, Nazi Germany left the League of Nations.

In January 1935, Hitler managed, through a plebiscite, to recover the Saarland region in western Germany, which had previously been under the administration of the League of Nations. In March 1935, compulsory military service was declared in Germany..

In this context, representatives of the United Kingdom, France and Italy met in April 1935 in the seaside resort of Stresa, in Italy. At this conference, the three European powers that had been part of the Entente during the First World War decided to send a strong protest to the German government by the introduction of compulsory military service, which defied the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.

The formation of the Stresa Front

At the Stresa Conference in April 1935, the prime ministers of the United Kingdom (Ramsay MacDonald), Italy (Benito Mussolini) and France (Pierre-Étienne Flandin), the latter accompanied by his influential foreign minister (Pierre Laval), They decided to form a front against possible German expansionism.

April 14, 1935 signed the “Joint Resolution of the Stresa Conference” which gave rise to the so-called Stresa Front. This front, presented as a defense of the Locarno Treaties of 1925, was a short-lived effort at unity against Hitler.

Barely Two months later, the United Kingdom negotiated a naval treaty with Germany. which, implicitly, transgressed the Treaty of Versailles. The German-British naval agreement, also known as the Anglo-German or Anglo-German naval agreement, was signed on June 18, 1935.

The German-British naval agreement (1935)

The British government He considered that his navy would not be able to confront both Japan, which had begun an expansionist policy in East Asia, and a strong European navy. Therefore, did not want to embark on a naval race with Germany similar to that which had taken place before the outbreak of the First World War.

For this reason, the British government invited the German government to enter into talks and, On June 18, 1935, the German-British naval agreement was signed. This agreement resolved that Germany could have a navy but that this would not exceed 35% of the total naval strength of the entire British Empire.

In this way, the government of United Kingdom accepted in fact that Germany broke the clauses on German disarmament agreed to in the Treaty of Versailles.

The United Kingdom did not consult either the League of Nations or its partners in the Stresa Front (France and Italy) when signing this agreement, which caused great consternation in Paris and Rome and weakened the newly created Stresa Front.

The dissolution of the Stresa Front

The Stresa Front came to an end with the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (also called then Abyssinia) in October 1935 and the subsequent Franco-British condemnation in the League of Nations. From that moment on, Mussolini chose to get closer to Hitler.

When Germany militarily reoccupied the Rhineland, a territory that was to remain demilitarized under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, Mussolini decided not to oppose it. Finally, the common intervention of Germany and Italy in favor of the “national” side in the Spanish civil war (1936-1939) and the formation of the Rome-Berlin Axis in the autumn of 1936 meant that the dissolution of the Stresa Front was definitive.

References

• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Anglo-German Naval Agreement. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2009). Stresa Front. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
• Cabrera, M., Juliá, S. & Martín Aceña, P. (comps.) (1991). Europe in crisis. 1919-1939. Pablo Iglesias Editorial.
• Sevillano Calero, F. (2020). Europe between the wars. The disrupted order. Synthesis.