Stresa Front

In March 1935, Adolf Hitler publicly declared his intentions to rearm Germany – an act prohibited explicitly by the Treaty of Versailles. In response, Great Britain, France, and Italy established the Stresa Front – a coalition between the three countries that aimed to oppose Hitler's aggressive foreign policy. The Stresa Front was short-lived; within a matter of months, the coalition had collapsed. The breakdown of the Stresa Front prompted Hitler to flaunt the terms of Versailles and become even more aggressive in his foreign policy.

Stresa Front Meaning

On 16 March 1935, Adolf Hitler declared that Nazi Germany would begin to remilitarise. He announced that Germany had started establishing an air force and proclaimed that he would increase the German Army to half a million men; these actions directly violated the Treaty of Versailles. Consequently, Great Britain, France, and Italy formed a coalition – known as the Stresa Front – to prevent Germany from further altering the terms of Versailles.

Stresa Front 1935

Here is a brief overview of the Stresa Front agreement.

• Name: The Stresa Front
• When: 14 April 1935
• Who:
  • British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald,
  • French Prime Minister Pierre-Etienne Flandin,
  • Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini
• Why it was signed: In response to Hitler's remilitarisation of Germany, an action forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles.
• Its aims:
  • Reaffirm the terms of the Locarno Treaties
  • Declare the independence of Austria
  • Resist future attempts by Nazi Germany to alter the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

The Treaty of Versailles

Before discussing the Stresa Front in more depth, we must get to grips with the Treaty of Versailles. After all, Hitler's disregard for the Treaty led to the establishment of the Stresa Front.

Fig. 1 - The Treaty of Versailles

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

After being defeated in World War One, Germany was forced to sign the restrictive Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty placed severe economic, political, and territorial limitations on Germany:

• The German Army was limited to 100,000 soldiers.

• The territory of Alsace-Lorraine was handed to France.

• German colonies were given to Britain and France.

• The country's navy was limited to six battleships, and the country was not allowed to have an air force.

• The Rhineland – a region of economic and military importance – was demilitarised.

• The Saar – a region rich with coalfields – was given to France for a period of 15 years.

• Germany was not allowed to unite with Austria.

• Germany was ordered to pay reparations in the region of 132 billion gold marks.

Stresa Front Agreement

Let's look at the aims of the Stresa Front agreement.

On 14 April 1935, Ramsay MacDonald, Pierre-Etienne Flandin, and Benito Mussolini met in Stresa, Italy. The leaders of Britain, France, and Italy had grave concerns regarding Nazi Germany and wanted to take action. The meeting culminated with The Final Declaration of the Stresa Conference, more commonly known as the Stresa Front agreement.

The agreement had three primary aims:

• Reaffirm the terms of the Locarno Treaties.

• Declare the independence of Austria.

• Resist future attempts by Nazi Germany to alter the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Weaknesses of the Stresa Front 1935

There were two primary weaknesses of the Stresa Front agreement, which eventually caused its collapse.

1. The terms of the Stresa Front were incredibly vague. While issues were discussed in principle, there was no agreement as to how France, Britain, and Italy would actually support the aims of the Stresa Front.
2. The primary aim of the Stresa Front was to stop Hitler from defying the Treaty of Versailles. However, accomplishing this would require a full-scale invasion of Nazi Germany. Neither Britain, France, nor Italy were prepared to do this.

Stresa Front Collapse

The Stresa Front was very short-lived; after only two months, cracks in the agreement were beginning to appear. Let's look at the reasons why the Stresa Front collapsed.

Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935

In June 1935, Britain and Germany signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. The pact allowed Germany to increase the size of its navy to a third of that of Britain's. Crucially, the Anglo-German Naval Agreement was signed without consulting France or Italy.

The pact angered Italy and France; in essence, Britain was permitting Germany to break the Treaty of Versailles while ensuring it had the superior navy. Furthermore, Britain effectively gave Germany the green light to remilitarise by signing the agreement.

Upon signing the agreement, Hitler continued to expand his military, increasing the size of his army, building up his navy, and developing his air force.

Abyssinian Crisis 1935

In October 1935, Mussolini started the Second Italo-Ethiopian War by invading Abyssinia. Mussolini had always had ambitions to invade Abyssinia; however, he refrained to not upset Britain and France – Ethiopia bordered British Somaliland and French Somaliland.

Fig. 2 - Italian soldiers leave for Abyssinia

After the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, Mussolini saw no reason to refrain from invasion. Mussolini believed France and Britain would not oppose his actions; however, this was not the case. Both his Stresa Front allies supported sanctions against Italy. Furious, Mussolini withdrew from the Stresa Front.

Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935

Although they saw the USSR as untrustworthy, France was becoming increasingly anxious about German remilitarisation. Consequently, France signed The Treaty of Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union on 2 May 1935. The treaty aimed to encircle Nazi Germany, with both countries agreeing to support the other if one was attacked.

Stresa Front Italy

After Britain and France's reaction to the Abyssinian Crisis, Mussolini withdrew from the Stresa Front and became more closely aligned with Hitler's Nazi Germany. On 6 January 1936, Mussolini informed the German ambassador in Rome – Ulrich von Hassell – that he would not object to Germany taking Austria as a satellite state of the Reich. A month later, Mussolini went on to support Hitler's remilitarisation of the Rhineland, declaring that he would not take action if Hitler did remilitarise the territory.

Fig. 3 - Ulrich von Hassell

In October 1936, Italy and Germany signed the Rome-Berlin Axis, which unofficially linked the two countries. This coalition was formalised on 22 May 1939, when Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini signed the Pact of Steel.

The failure of the Stresa Front had not only failed to prevent Hitler but handed him a powerful ally.