Chapter 8

Question 1

Key events in foreign policy,
1924-30

Answer 1

1924
Dawes Plan
1925
Locarno Pact
1926
Germany admitted to the League of Nations
Treaty of Berlin with the USSR
Allied forces withdraw from
Zone 1 of the Rhineland
1929
Young Plan
Allied withdrawal from
Zone 2 of the Rhineland
1930
Allied withdrawal from
Zone 3 of the Rhineland

Question 2

United German foreign policy aim

Answer 2

Germans of all classes and political allegiances agreed on one thing after
1919 - that the Treaty of Versailles was an unjust and dictated peace treaty, which denied Germany its rightful place among the great powers of Europe.
It also placed millions of Germans outside the territory of the Republic.
Whichever government was in power during the years 1919-33, the foreign policy of the Weimar Republic was always based on one clear and simple aim - to revise the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Question 3

Nationalist approach to FP

Answer 3

There were, however, deep divisions between the parties on how this should best be achieved. The nationalist right consistently argued that Germany should reject the treaty and rebuild its military strength in preparation for a time when the country could regain lost territory and become a fully independent great power once again.

Question 4

Stresemann’s approach to FP

Answer 4

A more pragmatic approach, which came to be associated with Gustav Stresemann, was the policy of fulfilment. This involved Germany cooperating with France, Great Britain, the USA and Italy on issues such as reparations payments and removing allied occupation forces from German territory. Such cooperation, it was believed, would lead to more revision of the treaty than a confrontational approach.

Question 5

Who was Stresemann and what was his immediate FP focus?

Answer 5

Gustav Stresemann was Foreign Minister from 1923 to 1929. As seen in Chapter 5, he was responsible for bringing hyperinflation under control, ending the policy of passive resistance to the French occupation of the Ruhr and cooperating with the Allies over the Dawes Plan. As a result, French and Belgian forces left the Ruhr in 1925. Stresemann understood that French suspicion of Germany was the biggest obstacle in the way of securing revisions in the Treaty of Versailles and, therefore, he concentrated on finding ways to reassure France of Germany’s peaceful intentions. This policy bore fruit in the Locarno Pact of 1925.

Question 6

Agreement of Locarno pact

Answer 6

In October 1925, the western European powers met, at Germany’s suggestion, at a conference in the Swiss city of Locarno. Stresemann was anxious to restore Germany’s position internationally and avoid any hostile alliance between Britain and France, particularly as the latter began to feel threatened by Germany’s industrial recovery. France was suspicious of the move, but eventually agreed to attend, along with the USA, Britain and Italy, but not Russia.
The discussions led to the Rhineland Pact and Arbitration Treaties, usually known collectively as the Locarno Pact, although they were finally signed in London on 1 December 1925.

Question 7

What was agreed under Locarno Pact? (6)

Answer 7

• Germany, France and Belgium promised to respect the western frontier, as drawn up at Versailles in 1919. This frontier was to be regarded as fixed and internationally guaranteed.
• Germany agreed to keep its troops out of the Rhineland, as demanded at Versailles.
• Britain and Italy promised to aid Germany, France or Belgium if any of these countries were attacked by its neighbours.
• Germany agreed with France, Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia that any dispute between them should be settled by a conciliation committee to mediate discussions.
• France signed treaties of ‘mutual guarantee’ with Poland and
Czechoslovakia. These said that France would make sure Germany did not break the agreement above.
•It was also agreed that any conflicts regarding the western borders should be referred to the League of Nations. In addition, France would not be permitted to cross into Germany should there be any dispute between Germany and Poland or Czechoslovakia.

Question 8

Significance of Locarno Pact

Answer 8

The Locarno Pact was hailed as a major triumph in many quarters. It was the first time that Germany had recognised the western border imposed at Versailles and accepted the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to France and Eupen-Malmédy to Belgium.

Question 9

Impact of Locarno Pact on France and Rhineland

Answer 9

For the French, there was a guarantee of support from the British should there ever be another German attack, while for the Germans, it meant the 1923 occupation of the Ruhr could never be repeated. The French agreed to withdraw the forces occupying the Rhineland and, although this was initially postponed in January 1925 because of Germany’s refusal to comply with the disarmament obligations imposed at Versailles, it was achieved over the next five years and without Stresemann giving any assurances that Germany would disarm. The city of Cologne, for example, was evacuated by the French in 1926.

Question 10

Unfinished work of Locarno

Answer 10

However, although the Arbitration Treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia offered some guarantees, the eastern borders were not recognised in the same way. For Germany, this left open the possibility of further revision of the eastern borders at some stage in the future.

Question 11

Recognition of Stresemann after Locarno

Answer 11

Stresemann regarded Locarno as his greatest achievement - and he was rewarded by Germany’s acceptance into the League of Nations as a permanent member of the council and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.

Stresemann could take pride in the fact that he had established Germany’s position as an equal partner in diplomatic negotiations with the three major western powers - France, Britain and the USA. Strategically, he had achieved a good deal with very little loss to Germany. The German nationalist right, however, attacked Stresemann for appeasing the Allies and giving too much away.

Question 12

The union with German Austria

Answer 12

The Treaty of Versailles specifically ruled out any union between
Germany and Austria, as this would make Germany an even larger state.
This clause was resented by German nationalists who believed that all Germans should be part of one state.

Question 13

What was the League of Nations?

Answer 13

a permanent forum of states established after the First World War to meet and resolve disputes without resorting to war; most states joined the League but USA declined and Germany and Russia were initially excluded

Question 14

Differences between Germany and USSR

Answer 14

After the revolutions of 1917 in Russia and 1918 in Germany, the two former enemies took very different political paths. Russia, later (1922) the USSR, became the world’s first communist state, in which the rights of the individual were subordinated to those of the state. Germany adopted a democratic system of government, which guaranteed individual freedom. Although there was a large Communist Party, which campaigned for close links with the USSR, most Germans were opposed to the communist political system.

Question 15

Similarities between Germany and USSR (3)

Answer 15

There were, however, some similarities in the post-war situation of each country:

• Both countries had been defeated in the war and had suffered from punitive peace treaties.
• Both countries felt that the existence of an independent Poland, supported by French guarantees, was a threat to their security. Poland also contained large German and Russian minorities.
• Both Germany and Russia/USSR were treated as outcast nations by the victorious powers and were not allowed to join the League of Nations.

Question 16

Terms of Treaty of Rapallo (5)

Answer 16

These similarities led some in Germany to see advantages in a closer working relationship with Russia/USSR. Among these was Walther Rathenau who, in April 1922, had negotiated the Treaty of Rapallo with Russia under the following terms:

• Germany and Russia resumed trade and economic cooperation
• diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored
•all outstanding claims for compensation for war damage were dropped
•Germany was allowed to develop new weapons and train pilots in Russia, away from the scrutiny of the Allied powers.
•Although the treaty did not specify cooperation between Germany and Russia against Poland, this was clearly implied in the existence of the treaty.

Question 17

Significance of Treaty of Rapallo

Answer 17

For Germany, therefore, the Treaty of Rapallo was an important but symbolic step away from its post-war isolation. However the Allies, particularly France, were angered by this treaty, which showed Germany’s intention to get around the disarmament terms of the Treaty of Versailles and its refusal to accept its eastern frontier with Poland.

Question 18

The Treaty of Berlin

Answer 18

In April 1926, Germany and the USSR renewed their earlier treaty in the Treaty of Berlin. This added very little to the original treaty, except for the agreement that Germany would remain neutral if the USSR were to be involved in a war, as long as the USSR was not the aggressor. This treaty was signed a year after the Locarno Pact and showed that, despite his agreement to guarantee Germany’s western frontiers, Stresemann had not abandoned his desire to secure a revision of Germany’s eastern frontiers. In order to achieve this, a close relationship with the USSR was vital because the USSR would resist any border changes it did not agree with.

Question 19

Inter-Allied Control Commission (IMCC)

Answer 19

The IMCC was a commission established under the Treaty of Versailles to ensure that Germany complied with the disarmament clauses. It was staffed largely by French and British army officers.
Its task was primarily to check that existing weapons were destroyed and that no new weapons outside the terms of the treaty were being produced.

Question 20

Terms of disarmament under Treaty of Versailles and how were they enforced?

Answer 20

Under the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany’s army was limited to 100,000 men, it was not allowed to have an air force and its navy Was prevented from having submarines and large battleships. In addition, the Rhineland area was to be demilitarised, meaning that German fortifications had to be dismantled and no German troops were allowed to be based in the area. In order to ensure compliance with the treaty, allied forces occupied the Rhineland and an Inter-Allied Control Commission (IMCC) was established in Germany to monitor Germany’s disarmament. These disarmament daug in cermane of burning resentment in Germany, especially as the Allies were free to maintain their own formidable armed forces.

Question 21

Secret German rearmament measures

Answer 21

As the Treaty of Rapallo with Russia showed, Germany sought and found ways to get around the disarmament clauses. Similar arrangements with other countries allowed Germany to build submarines in Spain and tanks and artillery in Sweden.
This secret rearmament did not provide Germany with a fully operational air
force, or the army with unlimited supplies of modern weapons, but it did ensure that Germany did not fall behind other powers in technological developments. German fortifications along the Rhine were dismantled in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, but new fortifications were built along the Polish frontier.

Question 22

How did Germany get round limits on the size of the army?

Answer 22

Under the Chief of the Army General von
Seeckt’s command, the Reichswehr found other ways of getting round the limit on the size of the army. Most recruits to the army were enlisted for short periods, during which they would receive intensive military training. This ensured that there was a reserve of highly trained men who could be recalled to the army at short notice. The army sponsored a number of paramilitary groups. which also formed a potential military reserve force. Even when the Freikorps was disbanded after the failed Kapp Putsch, there were many
unofficial paramilitary groups that had a close relationship with the army.

Question 23

Role of treaties and alliances in regaining military power

Answer 23

General von Seeckt aimed to restore Germany’s military might and he worked towards a military alliance with Russia/USSR, which aimed to destroy the newly independent Poland. Many of the details of his agreements with the Red Army were kept secret from the politicians to whom he was supposed to be accountable. However, politicians such as Rathenau and Stresemann were involved in negotiating the Treaties of Rapallo (1922) and Berlin (1926), which formalised the relationship with Russia/USSR, and chose to turn a blind eye to the extent of military cooperation. Secret rearmament was a policy driven by army commanders such as von Seeckt, but was tacitly approved by the politicians.

Question 24

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Answer 24

In 1928, Germany also signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact with France and the USA Frank Kellogg, the American Secretary of State, and Aristide Briand, the Foreign Minister of France, drew up an international agreement under which states would agree voluntarily to renounce the use of offensive wars to resolve disputes.
Germany was one of the first states to sign, and was followed by many other countries. The Pact had symbolic importance as an international agreement to avoid war, but its lack of any enforcement mechanism limited its effectiveness.

Question 25

Why was the end of allied occupation significant for France and Germany?

Answer 25

The removal of foreign forces from German soil was an aim shared by Germans of all parties. Stresemann’s policy of fulfilment secured this objective by 1930.
The French, concerned for their own security and suspicious of Germany’s willingness to comply with the Treaty of Versailles, were the most reluctant of all the allied powers to withdraw occupying forces. The withdrawal of forces was, therefore, a step-by-step process, which involved compromise and concession on hoth sides.

Question 26

Withdrawal of allied occupation

Answer 26

After the Dawes Plan of 1924 and the Locarno Pact of 1925 provided evidence of German willingness to cooperate with the Allies, occupation forces were withdrawn from Zone 1 of the Rhineland in 1926. The Allies also withdrew the IMCC from Germany in the same year.
Further progress, however, was dependent on a final settlement of the reparations issue. Once the Young Plan had been agreed by Germany in 1929, the way was clear for the withdrawal of the remaining allied forces. They were withdrawn from Zone 2 in 1929 and from Zone 3 in 1930, five years ahead of the schedule laid down in the Treaty of Versailles. Although Stresemann had died in 1929 before this process was completed, this success was largely due to his policies.

Question 27

Summary

Answer 27

Stresemann was both an able politician and a skilful and influential diplomat.
While he liked to appear as the champion of European cooperation, his long-term aim was a revision of the Versailles Treaty. He had, after all, been an outspoken nationalist during the First World War and he desperately wanted to make Germany a great, and perhaps dominant, power once more.
It could be argued that his commitment to fulfilment was no more than a devious policy to cover up his nationalist agenda. It must be remembered that Stresemann’s policies provided Germany with far more than the country gave up - American money and protection from a French invasion together with hopes of revisions to the eastern borders. What is more, he maintained secret military arrangements with the USSR and so laid the basis for Hitler’s later foreign policy.
However, this judgement may be too harsh. Stresemann certainly chose to follow the route of negotiation and compromise, and was fully aware that Germany’s recovery depended on moderation and on maintaining good relations with the West. He never regarded the Russian alliance as any substitute for that and in his actions he showed courage in the face of opposition, intelligence in the way he set about his tasks and determination in the way he saw them through. In the view of the historian William Carr, Stresemann was one of the ‘few really outstanding political figures of the Weimar period’.

Question 28

What was Krupps?

Answer 28

a large German company, based in Essen in the Ruhr, which had produced much of the weaponry for the German army
Since the nineteenth century