Foreign policies of Germany and France between 1919 and 1939

Résumé du document

France and Germany were among the key elements of international relations during the interwar era. They were the two powers that were most involved in World War I. This war was however not the last of its kind as many people hoped, the two powers were soon very involved in the Second World War as well. It is therefore essential to analyze and compare the foreign policies of France and Germany in order to understand reasons for the breakout of the war. In this paper we will compare the foreign policies of both countries and highlight the impact of these policies on international relations and international order. We will first consider the differences in the two policies and then highlight the continuity of these policies during the interwar era.

Extraits

[...] Indeed, as we know, security of its boundaries was the final aim of its foreign policy. Great Britain and Italy guaranteed it. Furthermore, Germany accepted the demilitarization of the Rhineland and declared it would not use force to obtain a revision of the Versailles treaty. In return, France accepted to evacuate the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland. In addition Germany entered the League of Nations in 1926. Locarno pact was the master piece of the appeasement between France and Germany and symbolized the victory of collective security. [...]

[...] Fear of Germany and quest for security did not disappear. Stresemann had a plan. He did not abandon the idea of the revision of the treaty. He simply understood that Germany could not economically and politically use resistance and force in the direction of France to obtain what it wanted. The only way to revise the treaty was to cooperate with British and American leaders. Thus the Locarno pact was not an abandon of the traditional foreign policy of Germany. [...]

[...] 4th edition. OUP p.135. Concerning the issue of reparations and inter-Allied debts after 1929 and the Lausanne conference see Keylor, William. The 20th Century World : An International History. 4th edition. OUP p.135-136. Concerning the Nazi foreign policy and its continuity with Weimar foreign policy see Milza, Pierre. Les relations internationales de 1918 à 1939. Paris p.116-120. [...]

[...] International crisis also had deep effects on international relations and foreign policies of Germany and France as well as others powers. Hitler seized control of Germany. The principles of his policy were to increase industrial and military production and to isolate as much as possible. Autarchy includes the idea of strategic autonomy thanks to enough raw materials. As a consequence war became a possible way to escape from crisis by getting new resources. It was collapse of the European security system[9]”. [...]

[...] It was used by both sides to reach the same goals (security for France and revision of the Versailles treaty for Germany) with a different manner; the international economical crisis which started in 1929 in America ended it. German foreign policy became more radical in its revision of the Versailles treaty. But France and Great Britain still believed in a policy of appeasement. This gap between the two policies was one of the factors of the breakout of the Second World War. Bibliography _ Bariety, J. Les relations franco-allemandes après la première guerre mondiale (1918-1924). Paris _ Durosselle, J-B. La décadence, 1932-1939. Paris _ Girault Franck R. [...]