British Foreign Policy - Between the Wars
In negotiating a treaty with Germany, Clemenceau compromised on his initial demands. He agreed that the Rhineland would remain part of Germany and only be occupied for a limited time, as would the Saar coalfields. The allies were unable to agree on the level of German reparations and the question was referred to a Commission. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany in June 1919 but the Americans rejected the treaty, and signed a separate treaty in August 1921. Germany lost its colonies.
In practice, the terms of the treaties were unsatisfactory. Agreement on a formula for German reparations proved difficult. The US withdrew from the Reparations Commission in February 1921, and France, increasingly insecure without the promise of military assistance, insisted on harsh measures.
Germany defaulted on payments, which were made up in part by confiscated raw materials, leading to continuing renegotiations of terms. Further German defaults led the French and Belgians to occupy the industrial area of the Ruhr. The American Dawes Plan of 1924 provided a loan to Germany, with the idea of enabling payment of modified levels of reparation over a period of 59 years.
Opposed by the US, in November 1920 Italian territorial plans were dashed by the Treaty of Rapallo with Yugoslavia, and Italy was alienated from the settlement. The terms imposed upon Turkey proved impossible to execute, provoking a nationalist war led by Mustafa Kemal. This led to the restoration of Constantinople and Turkish integrity at the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
The peace terms imposed upon Germany and the rejection of Italian claims to territory along the Dalmatian Coast, contributed to the rise of the fascist dictatorships of Hitler and Mussolini. Despite the 'Fourteen Points', in many cases the treaties ignored the principle of self-determination, and many ethnic groups were included in foreign states. The origins of the Second World War to a large extent lie in the inadequacies of the First World War peace settlement.
The last of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points spoke of a general association of nations, which would guarantee the independence and integrity of all members against aggression - a system of 'collective security' to be backed by compulsory arbitration and enforcement. British ambitions were more modest - the Phillimore Commission of January and March 1918 recommended that before going to war nations should submit disputes for arbitration by a council of members. Economic or military sanction would be enforced against those that broke the rules.
The League of Nations was a compromise between the two. It consisted of a Council made up of the Great Powers as permanent members, and six temporary members making up the General Assembly. Countries that defied the League would face the military and economic power of the collective membership. A unanimity clause was part of the League's covenant - recommendations had to be unanimous to come into effect. Article 15, on the peaceful settlement of disputes, was the exception. It specified that in a dispute, parties would not vote on Council or Assembly recommendations. The League was founded in 1919, and in January 1920 the first Council meeting took place in Geneva.
The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. Britain refused to become involved and Italy and Germany gave military support to the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco. Franco's victory meant an ally for the Rome-Berlin Axis. In 1937 Japan began an invasion of China, which threatened British trade and investment. The British government followed a policy of 'appeasement', agreeing to the supposedly more 'reasonable' German demands.
The other wing of British policy sought to resume harmonious relations with Italy. In April 1938 an Anglo-Italian agreement acknowledged Italy's seizure of Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) in exchange for reduction of Italian troops in Spain.
In 1938, despite being forbidden under the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler aimed to unify Austria and Germany. Hitler forced the Austrian Chancellor, Kurt Schuschnigg, into appointing the virulent Nazi, Artur Seiss-Inquart, as Minister of the Interior. In March 1938 Germany annexed Austria without substantial objection from Britain or France.
Hitler now turned his attention to Czechoslovakia. Here the position was more complicated because France and Russia had treaties with Czechoslovakia. On 29 and 30 September 1938 Mussolini brokered a conference of Germany, Britain, France and Italy at Munich. Germany was to occupy Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, and the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, signed an Anglo-German friendship agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned to London apparently convinced that appeasement had satisfied Germany.
In March 1939 Germany invaded Czechoslovakia; the policy of appeasement had failed terribly. Germany seized the city of Memel from Lithuania, and Italy invaded Albania in April 1939. Hitler applied pressure to the Polish Government and strengthened the Italian alliance through the Pact of Steel in May. The situation was now grave.
The Franco-Polish Treaty of Mutual Assistance stated that France and Poland defend each other in the event of unprovoked aggression. Britain and France pledged to defend Poland, and the Anglo-Polish Treaty was signed on 26 August 1939. Hitler secured a non-aggression pact with USSR on 23 August. Despite this, only one week later on 1 September, Germany invaded Poland. On 3 September 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany.
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