Locarno Treaties
Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland
What happened
Leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Belgium and Italy, including Gustav Stresemann, Aristide Briand and Austen Chamberlain, negotiated the treaties. Seven years after World War I, the former enemies met in the Swiss lakeside town of Locarno. Germany agreed to accept its western borders with France and Belgium and to keep the Rhineland free of troops. The treaties were formally signed in London that December.
Why it matters
Why it matters: For a few years they brought hope of lasting peace in western Europe, called 'the spirit of Locarno'. Germany was then allowed to join the League of Nations.
What came next
Chamberlain won the Nobel Peace Prize, and Briand and Stresemann shared it the next year. In 1936 German troops entered the Rhineland, and the treaties collapsed.
Did you know?
Germany's eastern borders were not guaranteed, so Poland saw the treaties as a defeat.
Timeline
- 5–16 October 1925Talks in Locarno.
- 1 December 1925The treaties are signed in London.
- September 1926Germany joins the League of Nations.
- 7 March 1936German troops enter the Rhineland.