To what extent did the Locarno treaties lead to a revision of the Treaty of Versailles?

To what extent did the Locarno treaties lead to a revision of the

Treaty of Versailles?

The Locarno treaties of 1924 to 1930 to a large extent led to the revision of the Treaty of Versailles; however they were not the sole causes. In the Locarno Era, Germany obtained amendments to the Treaty resulting in her restoration to the status of a great European power. Throughout the essay I will assess how these factors led to the revision of the Treaty of Versailles; Germany’s acceptance into the League of Nations, the recommendations of the Young Plan and Rhineland Pact, also the Dawes Plan which took place before the Locarno treaties.

To a very significant extent, Germany’s acceptance into the League of Nations was her stepping stone to revise the Treaty of Versailles. As Williamson affirmed “Stresemann exploited every opportunity both inside and outside the League to accelerate revision of the Versailles”. As part of the Locarno agreements, Germany was admitted to the League of Nations in September 1926. It was agreed by the Great Powers that Germany would be given a permanent seat on the Council, yet was free from military obligation laid out in Article 16. As White stated Germany’s entry into the League was of “symbolic importance: it showed that Germany was no longer an outcast from the international community” and re-established her position as a great European power. In 1926, Germany proved to Britain and France, the ‘leaders’ of the League, that she wanted to make peace in Europe and not war hence was able to persuade them to allow her into the League of Nations. Germany had promised collective security, meaning that everyone would take common action in order to defend each other, which is what France had longed for. Germany made good use of her membership in the League to revise the Treaty of Versailles. As Stresemann remarked to Crown Prince William, a good German speaker at a plenary session of the League could help the country revise the questions that lie so close to German hearts, for instance, war-guilt, general disarmament, Danzig and the Saar which were all brought by the Treaty of Versailles. The League of Nations became the catalyst for Stresemann to revise the peace settlements and it resulted in further revisions in the Locarno treaties.

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The Young Plan and the resultant Rhineland Pact of the Locarno treaties certainly led to a revision of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1928, the German government proposed to Britain, France and USA to revise the issue of reparations re-emerged after the Dawes Plan in 1929, because under the Plan Germany had to pay higher rate of reparation. Originally, Germany requested France for a prompt evacuation of the Rhineland nevertheless France insisted that the matter of Rhineland be linked to that of reparations, thus resulted in the drawing up of the Young Plan. The Young Plan made few but significant revision of the Treaty of Versailles and the Dawes Plan, including setting the timescale for reparation payment to the next 59 years until 1988, reducing the annual payment from 2,500 million marks to 2,000 million marks as stated in the Dawes Plan. Disbursements could increase slowly and from 1929 to 1932 Germany was to pay 1,700 million RM less than it would have under the Dawes Plan. Undoubtedly as Carr asserted, “the central feature of the Locarno agreements was the Rhineland Pact” because it allowed the Rhineland to quicken the evacuation of the Inter-Allied Commission. If Germany agreed to the Young Plan, the French would evacuate the Rhineland by June 1930. Under the Treaty of Versailles the Rhineland was to become demilitarised, act as a buffer between Germany and France and was to be occupied by the Allies until 1935. After Stresemann’s signed the Young Plan, the Ruhr was evacuated in August 1925 and Zone I of the Rhineland by January 1926 and reduced the number of occupying troops to 60,000. In 1929, they agreed to remove all remaining occupying forces. The Young Plan not only revised the Treaty of Versailles but ensured that Germany and France, and Germany and Belgium would not to attack, invade, or resort to war against each other. Moreover since relations between France and Germany had improved by reassuring France about her eastern borders, it was more likely now to discuss with France Germany’s eastern borders which were taken away from her at Versailles. Although Germany had to abandon any claim to Alsace-Lorraine, I agree with White that “Germany gained more out of the Locarno than it conceded” because France undertook not to repeat its occupation of the Ruhr and besides Alsace-Lorraine as White affirmed was “long way from the top of any German agenda”. The Young Plan and the resulting Rhineland Pact had surely to a large extent revise the Treaty of Versailles.

Apart from the Locarno treaties, the Dawes Plan to a small but important extent also led to a revision of the Treaty of Versailles. Although it did not amend overall reparation total, I agree with Williamson that it did “recommend significant concessions” to the treaty. In 1924, French troops agreed to withdraw from the Ruhr on the basis of the Dawes Plan. When Stresemann signed the Plan, German citizens reacted with extreme discontent and the Plan was attacked by German politicians like Adolf Hitler and Alfred Hugenberg because it did not cut the reparation total. I believe that it brought both good and bad to Germany. Germany could now enjoy reduced annual payments; the Allies agreed to not occupy German cities in the event of non-payment of debts, be given a substantial loan of 200 million dollars to boost Germany’s financial reserves and hence opened way for American investments in Germany. Nonetheless, these benefits came at a price, these payments were secured by the revenues of the German railway and she had to accept a measure of foreign control over its national bank. Moreover a reparations agent was to establish an office in Berlin to oversee the transfer of payments and report to the Allies on German economic and fiscal policies. To an extent the Dawes Plan had caused revisions of the Treaty of Versailles but these alterations were not too significant.

To conclude, the Locarno treaties to a large extent brought numerous revisions to the Treaty of Versailles, yet these treaties were not the only and most important causes. I believe that without Germany’s acceptance into the League of Nations in 1926, it would virtually be impossible for Germany to enjoy from these favourable alterations of the Treaty of Versailles.

Bibliography

War & Peace – International Relations, 1919-39 – David Williamson

Weimar & Nazi Germany – John Hite & Chris Hinton

Germany 1919-45 – Martin Collier & Philip Pedley

A History of Germany 1815-1985 – William Carr

The Course of German History – A.J.P. Taylor

A History of Modern Germany 1871 to Present – Dietrich Orlow

The Weimar Republic – Alan White

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