We explain what the treaties were to locate. In addition, its causes, consequences and main protagonists.
What were the treaties to Locarno?
Locarno’s treaties were a Set of agreements for which Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Italy sought to guarantee the maintenance of peace In Western Europe. The treaties were negotiated in the Swiss city of Locarno in October 1925 and were signed in London on December 1, 1925.
The most important of Locarno’s treaties was the one who established an agreement on Germany’s borders with France and Belgium. This agreement meant the German recognition of the Western borders arranged in the Treaty of Versailles (1919) and a mutual guarantee of respecting them. Another important point was the commitment to resolve conflicts by peaceful means.
Locarno’s treaties began a known era such as Briand-Stresemann, for the last name of the Foreign Ministers of France and Germany, characterized by distension in relations between both countries. This distension was also called “Locarno Spirit.”
After the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, the Soviet Union and France signed an agreement to which Germany replied with Rhineania’s remilitarization In 1936. This fact was a transgression of the terms of the Treaties of Locarno and inaugurated German expansionism that caused the beginning of World War II in September 1939.
Frequent questions
What were the treaties to Locarno?
Locarno’s treaties were a series of agreements signed by Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Italy to guarantee peace in Western Europe in the interwar period. The main agreement was the mutual recognition of the western borders of Germany.
Who signed Locarno’s treaties?
Locarno’s treaties were signed by the governments of Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Italy.
When were Locarno’s treaties signed?
Locarno’s treaties were agreed in October 1925 in the Swiss city of Locarno and signed on December 1, 1925 in London.
Why was the spirit of Locarno important?
The spirit of Locarno was the climate of political concord among the countries of Western Europe that characterized the period opened by Locarno’s treaties in 1925. It coincided with a moment of economic prosperity after the difficulties of the immediate postwar period. Economic prosperity was interrupted by the crisis initiated in 1929 and the spirit of Locarno concluded after Hitler’s rise to power in Germany in 1933 and the German remilitarization of Renania in 1936.
The historical context
After the German defeat in World War I (1914-1918), The governments of the winning countries imposed a series of conditions on Germany by signing the Versailles Treaty in 1919.
The territorial clauses of the Versailles Treaty meant the loss for Germany of 13 % of their territory. Military clauses led to a strong reduction in weapons and Germany troops as well as the demilitarization of Rhinet (border region with France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) and the allied occupation of the western part of that region.
To these clauses, war repairs were added, that is, the expensive economic compensation that Germany had to pay to the winning countries. Germany’s problems to deal with war repairs caused in 1923 the French and Belgian occupation of the German Ruhr region. This caused an important economic crisis in Germany. The United States and the United Kingdom pressed the French and German governments to negotiate.
In 1924, the parties involved accepted the Dawes Plan, drafted by a commission chaired by US financier Charles Dawes, which facilitated Germany to pay repairs. This situation of economic concord was related to A new era of political cooperation which was reflected in the signing of Locarno’s treaties in 1925.
What were the agreements of Locarno’s treaties?
The negotiations that led to the signing of the Treaties of Locarno began when the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Gustav Stresemann, proposed to his pair of France, Aristide Briand, to deal with the issue of the legal recognition of the German western borders.
In October 1925, Stresemann and Briand met in the Swiss city of Locarno with the Foreign Ministers of Belgium (Émile Vandervelde) and the United Kingdom (Austen Chamberlain). The president of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Benito Mussolini, also participated in the meetings. The signing of Locarno’s treaties took place on December 1, 1925 in London.
The signed agreements were the following:
- A mutual guarantee treaty With respect to the borders of Germany with France and Belgium (signed by Germany, France and Belgium, with the United Kingdom and Italy as guarantors).
- An arbitration treaty between Germany and Belgium, and another between Germany and France.
- An arbitration treaty between Germany and Poland, and another between Germany and Czechoslovakia.
- A Mutual Assistance Treaty between France and Poland, and another between France and Czechoslovakia, in case of German attack.
The Mutual Guarantee Treaty of the borders of Germany with France and Belgium He was the main of the signed agreements. Established the following:
- That the western borders of Germany, with France and Belgium, were inviolable.
- That France, Belgium and Germany would never be attacked each other except in case of legitimate defense or as a consequence of an obligation of the society of nations.
- That would solve their disputes by peaceful means.
- That, in the event that any of the signatories broke these agreements, the other signatories would go to the help of the attacked according to what the Nations Society agreed.
The treaties between France, Czechoslovakia and Poland meant mutual help in case of an unpaved attack.
Consequences of Locarno Treaties
As an indirect result of Locarno’s treaties, Germany entered the Nations Society on September 8, 1926 and the allies evacuated Rhinefive years before the calendar planned in the Versailles Treaty.
However, the big problem of Locarno’s treaties was that neither Stresemann nor No later German government recognized the eastern borders of Germany. The mutual guarantee treaty corresponded to the western borders, while the oriental borders were only subject to an arbitration agreement. It was precisely in the east where, in the long run, World War II originated.
Locarno’s treaties were definitely annulled by Adolf Hitler When, shortly after accessing power in Germany, he promoted the re -reanania re -reilitarization in 1936. Subsequently, Hitler breached the arbitration agreement with Czechoslovakia and Poland and invaded both countries. Poland’s invasion caused the beginning of World War II.
Protagonists of Locarno’s treaties
Aristide Briand (1862-1932)
Aristide Briand It was a French socialist politician who was elected deputy in 1902. During the next thirty years he held key roles in French politics. He was prime minister and occupied charges of the cabinet on several occasions.
Briand was expelled from the socialist ranks in 1906 for accepting the position of Minister of Public Instruction in the “Burgués” Government of Ferdinand Sarrien of the Radical Party. He considered that the socialists had to collaborate with the radicals to implement reforms. In 1911 he joined the Republican-Socialist Party.
Briand served as prime minister A few years before World War I began and during the war. He held the position in 1921 but resigned the following year by not getting the signing of a security pact with the United Kingdom.
In 1925, Briand was appointed Foreign Minister by Prime Minister Paul Painlevé. He held this position for more than five years and under different governments. This was the height of his career.
He accepted the proposition of the German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann, for the signing of the Treaties to Locarno in 1925 and convinced the British Foreign Minister, Austen Chamberlain.
He also promoted the signing of the Briand-Kellog pact in 1928 and proposed in the Nations Society an ambitious European Unity project. He died unexpectedly in 1932.
Gustav Stresemann (1878-1929)
Gustav Stresemann was a German politician who, after triumphing in business, entered politics as a member of the National Liberal Party, a right -wing party from which he supported the imperialist policy of Guillermo II.
During World War, Stresemann was an enthusiastic defender of German expansionism. After the disappointment of defeat, it quickly became a “realistic republican.” Rejected by his rightist ideas in the German Democratic Party of Friedrich Naumann and Max Weber, He founded his own party, the German Popular Party.
In 1919 he opposed the Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar Constitution. Then the crisis precipitated by the Franco-Belga-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, He agreed to the Chancellor’s position at the head of a wide coalition of parties. His first decision was Give up the “Passive Resistance” policy that was ruining the German economy and had precipitated hyperinflation.
Despite stabilizing the currency, he had to give up after losing the vote of confidence. From now on, He served as Foreign Minister until his death In 1929.
Stresemann did not give up his goals to return a great power to Germany, but opted for a negotiation policy. The main fruits of this policy were the Dawes Plan, Locarno’s treaties (which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926, shared with the Frenchman Aristide Briand), Germany’s entry into the society of nations and his adhesion to the Briand-Kellogg pact.
The last two years of his life was suffering from his poor health and the growing internal questioning of his policy. Within their own party, there were important dissensions that led many militants to the extreme right. Stresemann died in October 1929.
Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937)
Austen Chamberlain was the son of the liberal politician Joseph Chamberlain and half brother of Neville Chamberlain (British prime minister between 1937 and 1940). Austen Chamberlain was a member of Parliament between 1892 and 1937 and occupied a wide number of governmental positions. He was leader of the Conservative Party from March 1921 to October 1922.
He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1924 and 1929 and, with that function, It represented the United Kingdom in the negotiations that led to the signing of the Treaties of Locarno in 1925. For his work he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925.
In 1931 he served as the first lord of the admiralty. He died in March 1937.
Émile Vandervelde (1866-1938)
Émile Vandervelde was a Outstanding figure of the Belgian labor movement and of the Socialist International. He was an important fighter for universal suffrage, which was finally introduced in Belgium as a masculine universal suffrage in 1919.
He was several times minister in coalition cabinets, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs he participated in the negotiation of Locarno’s treaties In 1925. He continued in office two more years, but It was harshly criticized by opposition parties in defending that military service lasted less and maintain a pacifist posture.
After performing other ministerial positions between 1935 and 1937, he finished his public career and began to exercise as a law professor at the Free University of Brussels. He died in 1938.
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References
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). PACT OF LOCARNO. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Cabrera, M., Juliá, S. & Martín Aceña, P. (comps.) (1991). Europe in crisis. 1919-1939. Editorial Pablo Iglesias.
- Johnson, G. (2004). LOCARNO REVIEDED: EUROPEAN DIPLOMACY 1920-1929. Routledge.
- Sevillano Calero, F. (2020). The Europe of award. The disrupted order. Synthesis.
