preview

British Governments' Promotion of Disarmament and International Harmony

Decent Essays
Open Document
British Governments' Promotion of Disarmament and International Harmony One of the core aims of British governments throughout the 1920s was the prevention of war. After the First World War it became a widespread opinion that weapons and possession of weapons were the causes of war; without weapons, war would become very difficult. For this reason much energy was devoted to disarmament, or at the very least arms limitation amongst the great military powers of the time. In this regard, there was very limited success by British governments, and for every successful disarmament treaty, there were many failed ones. ‘International Harmony’ is defined as a state in which countries have reached mutual…show more content…
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. 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
Get Access
Related
Get Access