Locarno Treaties (outside the LoN) 1925

Question 1

What were the successes of these treaties?

Answer 1

• Treaties improved relationships of the League countries until 1930 as all the countries in western Europe stated they wouldn’t go to war.
• Countries were led to believe eventually there would be worldwide peace and this stage was called the Locarno honeymoon.
• This point was further enforced when Germany joined the League just after the Locarno treaties were signed, making everything seem like it was being fixed.
• By the permanent demilitarisation of the Rhineland in the treaties, they were hoping to please Germany by removing all foreign troops from their land- this was supposed to ease tension.

Question 2

What were the failures of these treaties?

Answer 2

• Locarno failed in 1936, when Germany denounced the treaties and sent troops into the neutral Rhineland. This then caused Europe to descend into war and the Locarno treaties were abolished.
• Many Germans didn’t like the Locarno treaties as they felt they accepted the Treaty of Versailles terms and many people still hated the original treaty.
  Hitler didn’t stop there- he annexed Austria in March 1938, occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939, and invaded Poland in September 1939. The ‘spirit of Locarno’ had officially ended, and the Second World War began.
• The fact that these treaties were formed outside of the League shows that the League wasn’t powerful enough to handle these situations on their own.