Gustav Streseman Research
Gustav Streseman (10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German politician and
statesman who served as Chancellor in 1923 (for a brief period of 102 days)
and Foreign Minister 1923–1929, during the Weimar Republic. He was co-laureate of
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.
His most notable achievement was the reconciliation between Germany and France,
for which he and Aristide Briand received the Nobel Peace Prize. During a period of
political instability and fragile, short-lived governments, he was generally seen as the
most influential cabinet member in most of the Weimar Republic's existence. During
his political career, he represented three successive liberal parties; he was the
dominant figure of the German People's Party during the Weimar Republic.
The Dawes Plan 1924
The Dawes Plan went into effect in September 1924. ... However, the Dawes
Plan was considered by the Germans as a temporary measure and they
expected a revised solution in the future. In 1928, German Foreign
Minister Gustav Stresemann called for a final plan to be established, and the
Young Plan was enacted in 1929.
Locarno Pact 1925
The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland,
on 5–16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which
the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states
of Central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement,
and return normalizing relations with defeated Germany (the Weimar Republic). It
also stated that Germany would never go to war with the other countries. Locarno
divided borders in Europe into two categories: western, which were guaranteed by
Locarno treaties, and eastern borders of Germany with Poland, which were open for
revision.
Germany joining the League of Nations 1926
In 1924, the newly appointed foreign minister of Germany, Gustav Stresemann, adopted a new
policy toward the League of Nations, which governments in Berlin previously had spurned as an
instrument created by the victors of World War I to suppress the defeated Germans. In
December 1924, Stresemann dispatched an application for Germany’s admission to the League,
but on the condition that it also be made a member of the League Council. This request was
denied, but in early 1925 Stresemann made a second attempt. The path to German membership
in the League was cleared by the Locarno Conference of October 1925, which resulted in a series
of treaties that entered into effect on September 14, 1926. In the most important of these
agreements, usually referred to as the Locarno Pact, France, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain,
and Italy guaranteed the western frontier of Germany, which was declared inviolable. The pact
was to come into force only when Germany was admitted to the League of Nations with a seat
on the Council. This letter of February 8, 1926, from Stresemann to Secretary-General Sir Eric
Drummond reviews the record of Germany’s efforts to join the League and, noting that all
conditions for membership had been met, requests Drummond to place the issue of Germany’s
admission on the agenda of the League Assembly as soon as possible.
Germany signing the Kellog-Briand pact 1929
Gustav Streseman Research
The Kellogg–Briand Pact (or Pact of Paris, officially General Treaty for Renunciation of
War as an Instrument of National Policy[1]) is a 1928 international agreement in which
signatory states promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever
nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them".[2] Parties failing
to abide by this promise "should be denied of the benefits furnished by this treaty".
It was signed by Germany, France, and the United States on 27 August 1928, and by
most other nations soon after. Sponsored by France and the U.S., the Pact renounces
the use of war and calls for the peaceful settlement of disputes. Similar provisions were
incorporated into the Charter of the United Nations and other treaties and it became a
stepping-stone to a more activist American policy.
The Young Plan 1929
The Young Plan was formulated in 1929. The Young Plan was an attempt by
former wartime allies to support the government of WeimarGermany. In 1924,
the Dawes Plan had been introduced to bring Weimar out
of hyperinflation and to stabilise its economy. It appeared to have succeeded
as 1924 to mid-1929 are viewed by historians as Weimar’s ‘golden years’.
However, reparation payments remained a major issue and even before the
October 1929 Wall Street Crash, Germany was in no position to fulfil her
financial requirements. After the ‘Crash’, her position became untenable.