The Briand-Kellogg Pact (1928). The adoption of the Brian-Kellogg Pact

In August 1928 in the capital of France, the Brian-Kellogg Pact was adopted, according to which the Allies took upon themselves the obligation not to wage war against each other. Despite the fact that the treaty was largely of a purely formal nature, it largely contributed to the development of interstate law.

Political situation

International relations in the 1920s of the last century were held on two very contradictory concepts. The first of them was based on the dissemination and popularization of pacifist ideas. After the end of the First World War, during which a whole series of deadly novelties in the field of weapons was used, each of the victorious countries, one by one, publicly declared that from now on it was striving only for peace, and put forward proposals for the need for disarmament.

The second concept was exactly the opposite of the first one. Speaking about peace, the leadership of these countries continued to accumulate weapons. At the same time, they tried to convince the public that everything is done just to ensure a security guarantee. They stressed that not only potential rivals, but also their allies, do not want to disarm.

Theory of Collective Security

The earlier Versailles-Washington system of relations between countries has established some disparity in the distribution of armaments, and further negotiations on this matter only aggravated it. But in 1925 the countries still managed to sign a protocol in Geneva on the ban on the use of bacteriological and chemical weapons.

In addition, the Locarno Conference, which took place in the same year, adopted a system of guarantees of state borders and a number of reciprocal arrangements by the powers that all disputable issues between them will be decided only by arbitration. Then it seemed that these obligations open a wide path to the establishment of peaceful relations, as well as the creation of a theory of collective security.

Briand's proposal

At the same time, a new mass movement was spreading all over the world. Its purpose was to declare all wars outlawed. In the Anglo-Saxon countries this movement was especially developed. Therefore, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs of France, Brian, in the direction of broad public opinion, decided to involve the United States in solving the European problems. I must say that this was done in opposition to Great Britain.

In April 1927, Bryan signed an appeal to the American people. In it, he proposed to draw up an agreement between France and the United States, which spoke about the prohibition of the use of military action as a method of implementing national policies. In fact, this call was written by Columbia University Professor James Shotwell. With the help of this treaty, the French government sought to provide its policy with the favorable attitude of the entire world community, which would help significantly strengthen the state's positions in Europe.

Promotion of the project

The idea of the French minister was approved by US Secretary of State Kellogg. But he offered to sign not a bilateral treaty, but a multilateral one, and addressed this proposal to other leaders of European states. Germany was the first to support the American project.

It should be noted that Kellogg's proposal created some legal difficulties for a number of countries that expressed a desire to join the League of Nations. This concerned article 16th. It said that the use of military force is not ruled out as sanctions against the invader country.

The Brian-Kellogg pact caused the greatest dissatisfaction with the British government. It stated that it would not allow even the slightest interference of anyone in the circle of its national interests. So, the British authorities in advance stipulated their right to conduct military operations in territories of special importance for the country.

Also, England was categorically opposed to the fact that the signing was attended by states that have not yet received universal recognition. First of all, it was a question of the young Country of Soviets, since a year earlier their diplomatic relations were broken. That is why England was against the Soviet Union signing the Pact of Brian-Kellogg. The history of Russia, and later of the USSR, has many facts that indicate that many European states treated their northern neighbor with some apprehension and even hostility.

Changes in the contract

Soon the French government presented a new version of the project. Now the Briand-Kellog Pact of 1928 granted the right to self-defense of states, but only within the framework of already existing agreements. The leaders of Italy and Japan were the first to welcome this version of the document and perceive it as the final destruction of the possibility of the outbreak of war.

A month later, the US Secretary of State published his updated draft and sent it to the governments of 14 countries. In it, he specified that the refusal to engage in military operations only concerns relations between the powers that signed the treaty. All other countries were not taken into account. Diplomatic correspondence concerning the treatment of such an expression as "war outlawed" lasted for a month.

Finally, the Brian-Kellog pact was finally approved on August 27, 1928 and signed in Paris by the leadership of 15 states. This list includes the USA, Canada, South Africa, Germany, France, Belgium, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, New Zealand, India, Poland and Japan.

What was in the contract

The document itself consisted of an introduction and two main articles. The first stated that the parties sharply condemn the use of military action to resolve various international differences and resolutely reject them as an instrument for implementing state policy. In the second article, all parties recognized that to resolve interstate conflicts and disputes they would resort exclusively to peaceful methods.

Wide opportunities

In addition to the 15 powers that had already signed the agreement, the 1928 Briand-Kellogg pact allowed the accession to it of both semi-colonial and dependent countries. On August 27, the United States sent out 48 states that did not participate in the negotiations to accept the terms of the treaty.

The USSR was the first of the list of additional invited, which ratified this international agreement. In February 1929, a protocol was adopted in Moscow in which the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia and Romania, and a little later Iran, Lithuania and Turkey announced that the Brian-Kellogg Pact came into force. For other countries, the treaty entered into force on July 24, ie. After six months.

Relevance

First of all, this treaty helped to find mutual understanding for such states as Germany and France. When the German Chancellor Gustav Stresemann came to Paris to sign the Briand-Kellogg Pact, he raised the question of the Rhineland, which was occupied at the time. I must say that in part it was already solved by the Locarno agreements, but was limited to articles contained in the Treaty of Versailles. The last document said that the occupation was to last until 1935. According to the Chancellor, after the ratification of the treaty, the presence of foreign soldiers on German territory no longer made any sense. Therefore, during the Hague Conference , it was decided to withdraw allied forces from the Rhineland.

It should be noted that the adoption of the Brian-Kellogg Pact had a great social and moral significance, and also contributed to the significant development of interstate law. But, nevertheless, this document was only declarative, it was of a formal nature. By signing the agreement, the countries did not back their commitments to abandon military action and did not limit the arms race. The reservations of England and France were not fixed in the treaty, and in fact the countries reserved the right to wage war for self-defense.