Treaty of Rapallo (1922)

We explain what the Treaty of Rapallo was between Germany and Russia. Also, its causes and consequences.

What was the Treaty of Rapallo of 1922?

The Treaty of Rapallo was an agreement between Germany and Bolshevik Russia signed in the Italian town of Rapallo on April 16, 1922. The treaty reestablished diplomatic relations between both States after the German defeat in the First World War (1914-1918), which left the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of 1918 void. .

The Treaty of Rapallo marked German recognition of the Bolshevik regime and the establishment of reciprocal economic relations.yes. Through this treaty, Germany and Russia sought mutual cooperation in a context marked by economic difficulties: Germany had to pay expensive war reparations to the Allied powers that had won the war and Russia had been isolated on the international stage after the Bolshevik revolution of November 1917. The treaty also included secret clauses of military cooperation.

The economic and diplomatic agreement was later extended to Germany's relations with all the republics that became part of the Soviet Union (USSR). The signing of the Treaty of Rapallo was very poorly received by the governments of the United Kingdom and France. The French government increased its pressure on Germany to pay its reparations. In April 1926, the treaty was reaffirmed with the signing of a new German-Soviet treaty.

• See also: Interwar period (first stage)

The historical context

During the first years of World War I, the Russian Empire was part of the Entente. When the February Revolution occurred in 1917, the Tsarist government was overthrown but Russia continued in the war. However, after the October Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power, The new Russian government signed the armistice with Germany in December 1917..

In March 1918, Germany and Bolshevik Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by which Russia definitively abandoned its participation in the First World War and ceded territories to the German Empire. When Germany lost the war in November 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was annulled.

The situation after the end of the war was critical for Germany and Russia:

• The new German regime, the Weimar Republic, was excluded from the peace negotiations by the victors, who imposed very harsh conditions on it in the Treaty of Versailles of 1919.
• Bolshevik Russia was involved in a civil war between the Red Army (Bolshevik) and the “whites” (counterrevolutionary sectors). The Western powers, mainly France and the United Kingdom, supported the White Army. After the Bolshevik victory in the civil war, Russia was isolated from the rest of the nations.

Germany sought to establish economic ties with another country to address post-war economic difficulties and strengthen its position against war reparations imposed by the victors. Russia sought to abandon its isolation and reintegrate into relations with European nations.

• See also: Peace treaties of World War I

The signing of the Treaty of Rapallo and its consequences

In April and May 1922 it was held the Genoa Conferencewhich brought together the countries that had won the First World War as well as Germany and Bolshevik Russia.

The objective was to solve the international economic problems of the moment. The Soviet and German delegations were chaired by their respective Foreign Ministers: Georgi Chicherin (Russia) and Walther Rathenau (Germany).

Germany and Russia sought an agreement that would reduce their international isolation. This isolation was a product of the German defeat in the First World War and the revolution that had installed the Bolsheviks in power in Russia.

The Treaty of Rapallo between Germany and Russia, signed outside the Genoa Conference, was the consequence of these negotiations. Its main agreements were the following:

• Germany legally recognized the Soviet regime (it was the first country to do so).
• Germany and Russia agreed to cancel all mutual debts.
• Both countries agreed to renounce all their war claims, both territorial and financial.
• Both countries committed to maintaining relations of economic collaboration.

Germany especially benefited from the trade agreements. Besides, The treaty established, in secret clauses, the possibility for Germany to produce and perfect weapons in the Soviet Union. This violated what was signed in the Treaty of Versailles, where Germany had been prohibited from developing weapons.

When the treaty signed between Germany and Russia became known, the Western powers showed their discontent. The Genoa Conference concluded and The governments of France and the United Kingdom denounced the treaty.

A few months later, faced with the German request for a new moratorium on the payment of war reparations, the French government decided to occupy the Ruhr, an important mining and industrial region of Germany. Furthermore, the German minister Walther Rathenau was assassinated in June 1922 by a German ultranationalist group.

• Dawes Plan
• Consequences of the First World War
• Interwar period
• Alliances of World War II

References

• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Treaty of Rapallo. 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.