Locarno, treaties of
Locarno, treaties of, 1925. These treaties (1 December 1925) briefly raised hopes that Europe was at last settling down after the First World War. They confirmed the inviolability of the frontiers between France, Belgium, and Germany, and the demilitarization of the Rhineland. Britain, intent on European peace and security at the lowest cost to herself, refused to make any engagements to reinforce French commitments in eastern Europe. German entry to the League of Nations followed in 1926, while the key negotiators— Briand (France), Stresemann (Germany), and Austen Chamberlain (Britain)—continued to meet at the ‘Geneva tea-parties’ (1926–9). Locarno was at best a form of ‘limited détente’.
C. J. Bartlett
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Locarno, treaties of
