To what extent did British Foreign Policy towards Germany Change 1919 – 1939
... for vengeance subsided, the majority of the British people adopted a new, more realistic attitude towards Germany, and this is reflected in the modification of foreign policy from 1921 to 1929. Referring to Versailles, Robert Cecil stated that ‘in these negotiations our moral prestige has suffered’ and this indicates the change in attitude. Britain no longer had such thirst for reparations, and no longer felt Germany should remain economically weaker than Britain. Britain opposed French actions in the Ruhr where reparations were taken by force. Indeed, to pressurise France to leave the Ruhr, Britain and the US at the London Conference 1924 devised the Dawes plan, which Germany could afford to repay reparations while recovering her economy in the process. The Young Plan of 1930 reinforced this. To assist recovery, Britain periodically gave money to Germany and put pressure on the French Franc, partially inspired by the economist Maynard Keynes’ publication of ‘the economic consequences of the peace’. In addition to economic assistance, Britain made every effort to include Germany in European affairs and to improve Anglo-German relations. As a result, Germany joined the League of Nations in 1926, signed the Locarno Treaties of 1925, and entered the Kellog Briand Pact of 1930. Peace was no longer to be sustained by punishment, but by strengthening and involving Germany. This, in turn, helped bring stability to the Empire, and Britain prospered through trade with Germany. As regard to disarmament, Britain began to sympathise with Germany but only made half hearted efforts to disarm herself – she was still eager to remain stronger than Germany militarily, thus retaining the current balance of power. Britain’s aims for foreign policy, peace, stability, balance of power had not changed, but the way in which she set about achieving them had altered. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 led Britain, along with many countries, into massive recession and this had a strong impact on foreign policy towards Germany. Britain became self-obsessed and concentrated on the internal problems of herself and her empire, to an extent disregarding Germany’s problems. In 1930 British unemployment reached 2.5 million. As a result, Britain aborted free trade introducing protectionism in the form of trade barriers, tariffs and quotas against Germany. The US demanded payments of war debts from Britain, who in turn demanded a payment of reparations from Germany. This was a sharp contrast to the policy of 1921 to 1929. Britain’s priorities between 1929 and 1933 were the maintaining of the balance of power and the stability of her own empire. Her foreign policy towards Germany became much less important for these years, but some continuity remained, as Germany became involved in the Kellog Briand Pact and, with British help, occupation of the Rhineland was terminated. Hitler’s rise to power, marked by his becoming Chancellor, in 1933 had a strong impact on British foreign policy due to the nature of Hitler’s actions and demands. Britain now put less faith in the league of nations, and felt it her responsibility to deal with an angry Germany. Instead of disarming herself, Britain felt it fair for Germany to rearm to a certain level, and signed the 1935 Anglo-German naval agreement as a result. This maintained the balance of power, since Germany was only allowed 35% of Britain’s number of battlesh...