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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.
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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.
Here is a brief overview of the Stresa Front agreement.
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
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:
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:
Locarno Treaties
Signed in 1925, the Locarno Treaties were an agreement between France, Belgium, and Germany. In this agreement, the countries agreed to respect their post-war borders. While the agreement confirmed Germany's Western border, it all but implied that Germany's Eastern border with Poland and Czechoslovakia was negotiable.
There were two primary weaknesses of the Stresa Front agreement, which eventually caused its 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.
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.
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.
Did you know? Ethiopia and Abyssinia are used interchangeably to refer to the region that Mussolini invaded. The area of Abyssinia covers modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.
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.
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.
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.
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What was the Stresa Front?
The Stresa Front was a coalition between Great Britain, France, and Italy. Signed in March 1935, the agreement aimed to resist future attempts by Nazi Germany to alter the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
Why did Italy sign the Stresa Front agreements?
Italy signed the Stresa Front agreements in a bid to stop German attempts to alter the terms of Versailles.
Why did the Stresa Front fail?
The agreement failed due to its vagueness and the fact that no parties were prepared to stop Germany by force.
Why did Mussolini leave the Stresa Front?
Benito Mussolini left the Stresa Front after Britain and France supported sanctions against Italy in light of their invasions of Ethiopia.
What happened at the Stresa Conference?
The Stresa Conference agreed three main 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
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