The Locarno treaty is an example of foreign policy at its most successful in ensuring international harmony in Europe. The treaty was crafted by Gustav Streseman, the German Foreign Affairs Minister, and in early 1925 the idea was put to the British. Austin Chamberlain, British Foreign Secretary, was in the midst of trying to create an Alliance with France, but was forced to withdraw these plans and instead accept the treaty of Locarno. The Locarno treaty proposed that the borders of France, Germany and Belgium would be guaranteed by all signatory nations including Britain and Italy, as well as Germany, France and Belgium. This agreement was coupled by arbitration deals in which France, Belgium and Germany renounced the use of violence as a means to resolve political disputes. The Locarno treaty has been referred to as ‘the greatest achievement of British diplomacy between the 2 wars,’ for good reason. Whilst the agreement itself (the guarantee of borders) was far from earth-shattering, the so-called Locarno Spirit which was imbued upon the years after the treaty was highly significant. At the time, it was felt that the Locarno Spirit was the ‘dawn in new international relations,’ in which war would become extinct. In retrospect, obviously this view was rather optimistic, as the treaty of Locarno contained many major omissions. The treaty failed to secure Germany’s eastern borders, and whilst Arbitration agreements were signed with its eastern neighbours, the door was left open to the adjustment of borders, in breach of the Treaty of Versailles.
Also the Locarno agreement helped promote peace in the world, and even attempts such as the Dawes plan , and the young plan relating to Germanys, reparations could be seen as a way to promote peace so in a way Germany wouldn’t feel “hard done by” the governments of the world.
Also the Kellogg-Briand pact was another agreement which promoted international harmony in the wake of the Locarno Spirit. The treaty was initially intended to be a matter between France and the United States; however on the suggestion of the Americans all countries were involved. Whilst the reinstated British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was initially sceptical about the pact, he wished to preserve the tenuous Anglo-American relations and thus accepted the terms of the pact, which once again were centred around the eradication of war. This pact however was far less successful than the Locarno treaty, and as the number of nations involved swelled to 15 the practicality of the agreements became evermore questionable. Whilst the Locarno treaty signatories had pledged to aid one another in the event of a treaty breach, The Kellogg-Briand pact had no such arrangement in place, and for this reason the treaty became nothing more than a statement of intent and goodwill between nations, with no concrete arrangement that prevented or even discouraged the breaking of the agreements. The treaties more positive elements included a massively public signing which acclimatised populations to the extent of the arrangements against war and created a lot of positive publicity for Baldwin’s government.
There were of course, as mentioned earlier many more less successful attempts at treaties which would promote international harmony. Examples of these include the 1922 Treaty of Mutual Guarantee and the 1924 Geneva protocol.
Of course, the principle of International harmony had far less significance in the prevention of war than actual physical disarmament, and this was understood by all British governments in the 1920s. In November 1921, the Washington Naval Conference was convened to discuss a form of naval disarmament. It was proposed that limitations be put upon the building of so-called capital ships which exceeded 10,000 tons according to a ratio. It was also agreed that the guns on these ships must not exceed 16 inches, and their total weight must not exceed 35,000 tons. This agreement eventually encompassed five countries, Britain, U.S.A, France, Italy and Japan, and was known as the Five-Power Treaty for this reason. The conference also discussed a number of other issues and gave rise to two other treaties of significance. The Four Power Treaty (France, U.S.A, Britain, and Japan) ensured that the four would consult one another in times of crisis or instability, and that the colonial assets of each were protected. It also proclaimed that no new naval bases would be built on the Pacific, which was of great comfort to the Japanese. Meeting slightly less Japanese approval was the Nine Power Treaty, which guaranteed the borders of China, forcing the Japanese to abandon their occupation of Shantung in North China. Whilst many products of the Washington Naval Conference were criticised, it cannot be argued that the conference was anything but successful. Whilst the conference was the source of the collapse of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, and of great indignity dealt to the Japanese, and it failed to address smaller ships and submarines, it must be considered that this was a rare and valuable success in disarmament. Very few arms limitation treaties were ever successful at this time and this was one of a scant few occasions in which an agreement was made. The treaty also avoided a costly post-war naval race to establish dominance of the pacific. Overall, the treaty was an extremely positive experience for the government of Lloyd George.
Other Naval treaties were attempted after the success of the Washington treaty. It seemed that navies were one area on which an agreement could be made due to the nature of naval arms. The Geneva Naval conference in 1927 ended in failure due to disputes and ‘bad feeling’ between the Governments of Britain and the U.S.
In conclusion it can be seen that the British governments that held office in the 1920s had a varying record of success when it comes to promoting disarmament and international harmony. It seems that Lloyd George’s only major success in these areas was the Washington naval agreement, whilst Stanley Baldwin’s government had successes in Locarno and the Kellogg Briand Pact.
A main attempt at promoting peace and disarmament was the League of Nations conference.
The first effort at international arms limitation was made at the of and , which had failed in their primary objective. Although many contemporary commentators (and ) had blamed the outbreak of the on the "war guilt" of Germany, historians writing in the began to emphasise the fast-paced arms race preceding . Further, all the major powers except the had committed themselves to disarmament in both the and the . A substantial international non-governmental campaign to promote disarmament also developed in the 1920s and early 1930s.A preparatory commission was initiated by the League in 1925; by 1931, there was sufficient support to hold a conference, which duly began under the chairmanship of former . The motivation behind the talks can be summed up by an extract from the message President sent to the conference: "If all nations will agree wholly to eliminate from possession and use the weapons which make possible a successful attack, defences automatically will become impregnable and the frontiers and independence of every nation will become secure."