Stresemann & Germany's International Position (AQA A Level History: Component 2: Depth study): Revision Note

Summary

• Gustav Stresemann became German Foreign Minister in 1923 and had several clear aims

  • Improving Germany's reputation and influence

  • Removing the foreign troops that were stationed in Germany

  • Reversing key parts of the Treaty of Versailles

• He went about trying to achieve these aims by diplomatic methods rather than trying to build up Germany's armed forces and using threats

• The Locarno Pact of 1925 greatly improved relations between Germany and the other European nations

  • It settled Germany's western borders and seemed to reduce the possibility of future wars

  • It also led to Germany being admitted to the League of Nations and being viewed as an equal again

• At the same time, Germany was improving relations with the Soviet Union and secretly bypassing the parts of the Treaty of Versailles that limited Germany's military power

  • The Treaty of Berlin led to German aircraft being built and pilots being trained in the USSR

• The extent to which Stresemann achieved his aims is debated by historians

Stresemann's foreign policy aims

• In November 1923, Stresemann had lost his position as chancellor

  • The coalition government he led collapsed when the SPD decided it no longer wanted to work with Stresemann’s party, the DVP

  • Stresemann became Foreign Minister under the new government

• As Foreign Minister, he had a number of foreign policy aims:

  • Restore Germany to the position of being a Great Power

  • Recover some of the lands lost to Poland and Czechoslovakia as part of the Treaty of Versailles

  • Reduce the burden of reparations

  • See foreign troops leave the Rhineland

• He was unable to achieve these aims militarily, so he set about improving relations with other countries

  • He hoped to achieve many of his aims through peaceful cooperation with other nations, especially Britain and France

The Locarno Pact, 1925

• The Locarno Pact was actually a series of agreements between Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Belgium

  • The nations met in Locarno, Switzerland, on 16th October and signed the pacts in London on 1st December 1925

  • All nations entered the agreements as equals

    • This was a contrast to the Treaty of Versailles, which was widely viewed as a diktat in Germany

The terms of the Locarno Pact

• France and Germany promised to keep peace with each other

• Germany accepted its western borders as stated in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles

  • This infuriated the extremist parties in Germany

• All members promised to keep the Rhineland demilitarised

  • The members also promised to explore the possibility of admitting Germany into the League of Nations

Impact of the Locarno Pact

• Stresemann considered the Locarno Pact as his greatest achievement because it:

  • Reduced the possibility of future wars

  • Improved the reputation of the Weimar Republic nationally and internationally

• In 1926, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Stresemann and French foreign minister Aristide Briand

"At the moment of initialling the treaties that have here been drafted will you allow me to say a few words in the name of the Chancellor and in my own. The German delegates agree to the text of the final protocol and its annexes, an agreement to which we have given expression by adding our initials. Joyfully and wholeheartedly we welcome the great development in the European concept of peace that has its origin in this meeting at Locarno, and as the Treaty of Locarno, is destined to be a landmark in the history of the relations of States and peoples to each other. We especially welcome the expressed conviction set forth in this final protocol that our labours will lead to decreased tension among the peoples and to an easier solution of so many political and economic problems."

From a speech by Gustav Stresemann after the initialling of the Locarno Treaty 16th October, 1925

Germany and the League of Nations

What was the League of Nations?

• The League of Nations was a forum where countries could discuss problems before resorting to armed conflict

• Woodrow Wilson, the American President, played a leading role in the creation of the League of Nations

  • It was based on his 14 Points

• Part 1 of the Treaty of Versailles established the League

  • The League came into existence on 10th January 1920

  • The first council meeting was on 16th January

  • The first assembly in November 1920

• For a country to join the League of Nations as a member, it had to receive two-thirds of the members’ votes

  • A country could leave the League if it gave two years' notice

Why was Germany originally not a member of the League of Nations?

• Objections from France had initially prevented Germany from being a member of the League of Nations

  • Clemenceau, the French Prime Minister, believed that Germany had started the First World War

  • He did not believe that Germany deserved a place at the table with the other nations of the world

What caused Germany to join the League of Nations?

• As a result of the Locarno Pact, representatives from the League of Nations Council met with Stresemann to discuss membership

  • The Council settled serious disputes between countries

  • In September 1926, it agreed to accept Germany as a member

    • It was also granted a permanent Council seat

Impacts of joining the League of Nations

• Joining the League had positive and negative impacts on Germany

Positive impacts

• Boosted German citizens’ confidence in the Weimar Republic

• Gained support for moderate parties

Negative impacts

• Some people did not want anything to do with the League of Nations

  • It was associated with the hated Treaty of Versailles

  • Created anger among extremist parties

“On the question of Germany’s entry into the League I would make the following observations:

In my opinion there are three great tasks that confront German foreign policy in the more immediate future. In the first place the solution of the Reparations question in a sense tolerable for Germany, and the assurance of peace, which is an essential premise for the recovery of our strength.

Secondly, the protection of Germans abroad, those 10 to 12 million of our kindred who now live under a foreign yoke in foreign lands.

The third great task is the re-adjustment of our eastern frontiers; the recovery of Danzig, the Polish corridor, and a correction of the frontier in Upper Silesia. In the background stands the union with German Austria, although I am quite clear that this not merely brings no advantages to Germany, but seriously complicates the problems of the German Reich.

If we want to secure these aims, we must concentrate on these tasks… The question of a choice between east and west does not arise as a result of our joining the League. Such a choice can only be made when backed by military force. That, alas we do not possess… German policy will be one of finesse and the avoidance of great decisions.”

In a letter dated September 7th 1925, Gustav Stresemann outlines the interests for Berlin in German admittance to the League of Nations

The Treaty of Berlin, 1926

• Weimar Germany and the Soviet Union were very different countries, but shared some similar circumstances

  • They were both rebuilding from the First World War

  • Both had lost territory to Poland, which they wanted to regain

  • Both were excluded from the League of Nations (at the time the Treaty of Berlin was signed)

• With few other countries willing to do business with them, Weimar Germany and the Soviet Union began to cooperate

  • This began with the Treaty of Rapallo in 1922, but was renewed by the Treaty of Berlin in 1926

• These treaties restored diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries that had been severed since the outbreak of war in 1914

• They were also important for Germany as they enabled it to circumvent some of the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles

  • Germany built aircraft, which it was specifically banned from having, in the USSR

  • It also trained pilots and developed new weapons in the Soviet Union

How successful was Stresemann's foreign policy?

• Historians disagree over whether Stresemann was successful in achieving his foreign policy aims

• Some argue he achieved an enormous amount in a short time and restored Germany's reputation

  • Historians who support this view argue that Stresemann managed to normalise Germany's relations with its wartime enemies, secured the beginning of Allied withdrawal from Rhineland (though it was not fully evacuated until 1930, after his death) and took Germany into the League of Nations

• Others argue he failed in his stated aim to reverse some of the key aspects of the Treaty of Versailles

  • Stresemann failed to achieve his stated aim of regaining land lost to Poland and Czechoslovakia