Europe Calmed by a False, Temporary Peace

Though the League of Nations failed to pass any broad measures to achieve a lasting peace, the former Allies and Germany were reconciled on December 1, 1925 with the signing of the Locarno Pacts. The Pacts were intended to assuage French fears of resurgent German aggression. They included guarantees on the French-German and Belgian-German borders, signed by those three nations and with Britain and Italy acting as guarantors, promising to provide military assistance to the victim of any violation of peace along those borders. The Locarno Pacts also included treaties between Germany and Poland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and France, providing for the settlement of potential territorial disputes. Additionally, French-Polish and French-Czechoslovakian mutual assistance treaties were signed in case of German aggression.