The Pact of Locarno of 1925 was an agreement signed on 1 December 1925 between Great Britain, France, Belgium, Italy and Germany. Stresemann believed that by signing the pact, he would strengthen confidence in Germany among his own people, but also among the other European powers. The fact is that the Locarno Accords were less the result of German or French deception than the reflection of profoundly different visions of European security and peace. Both sides felt that they had made the most important concessions in terms of security or sovereignty, but the results did not meet expectations for both. The remilitarization of the Rhineland by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) in March 1936 undoubtedly represented the final rejection of the Locarno Pact, but the ”spirit of Locarno” had long since died by that time. A thoughtful view of the causes of this failure must certainly blame both an unwavering France for its insistence on guarantees and a nationalist segment of German opinion which, in 1925, regarded these agreements as another shameful capitulation. The era of better feelings between the Allies and Germany, initiated by the Dawes Plan and subsequently promoted by Messrs Mac Donald and Herriot, was further reinforced in Locarno by the attitude of Mr Austen Chamberlain and Mr Briand. Germany has always been treated equally and official treaties have been supplemented by numerous informal agreements reached in personal conversations between Mr Chamberlain and Mr Briand, on the one hand, and Chancellor Luther and Mr Stresemann, on the other. It is recognized that the adoption of treaties would not have been possible if informal commitments such as Mr. Herr`s had not been made. Chamberlain will do everything possible to ensure that Cologne is evacuated at least partially before 1 December, the day on which the Locarno Treaties are to be officially signed in London. Between 1923 and 1929, Germany experienced a golden age under the Weimar Republic. Politician Gustav Stresemann helped secure U.S.
loans to rebuild the economy and international agreements that helped restore Germany`s place among the world`s leading nations. Why were the Stresemann years considered a golden age? In the summer of 1925, the subject was hotly debated in Germany because Stresemann`s proposal effectively ceded Alsace-Lorraine to the France. The German minister`s goal was to internationalize the Rhine question in order to avoid future unilateral action by the France that would be comparable to its invasion of the Ruhr region in 1923. The German agreement also aimed to avoid the signing of a Franco-British pact; facilitate the expected withdrawal of the Allies from the Rhineland; and organize their departure from Cologne, which they still occupied, when they should have evacuated the city in January 1925 in principle. The French and British insisted that Belgium be included in the negotiations and that its borders also be recognized by Germany. In the eyes of the France, any pact should respect French commitments to its Czech and Polish allies, in particular the promise of intervention in the event of external aggression (although such a condition goes against Articles 15 and 16 of the League of Nations Pact). If one of the Powers referred to in Article 3 refuses to submit a dispute to a peaceful settlement or to comply with arbitration or a judicial decision without violation of Article 2 of the present Treaty or violation of Articles 42 or 43 of the Treaty of Versailles, the other Party shall refer the matter to the Council of the League of Nations: and the Council proposes the measures to be taken; the High Parties respond to these proposals. A series of international agreements developed in Locarno, a Swiss spa town at the northern end of Lake Maggiore. Their aim was to reduce tensions by guaranteeing the common borders of Germany, Belgium and France, as provided for in the Versailles Peace Settlement of 1919.
Gustav Stresemann, as German foreign minister, refused to accept Germany`s eastern border with Poland and Czechoslovakia as immutable, but agreed that change must be made peacefully. In the spirit of Locarno, Germany was invited to join the League of Nations. .