Diplomatic History of Europe 1500 - 2000 | Interwar Europe (Lecture 28)

Lecture 28: This lecture, which covers the turbulent years from 1919 to 1929, first outlines the new diverse map of Europe and traces the great hopes vested in the League of Nations, its internal dynamics, efforts to protect minorities in the new Europe, and urgings for disarmament. Relations between France and Germany, however, remained tense; eastern Europe was in a state of turmoil as the new states of the region contended over borders, and the United States withdrew from European politics. The 1925 Treaties of Locarno seemed to offer a new beginning, pacifying wartime hatreds in Europe. A key figure of the period was the controversial German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann, who sought a new international role for Germany before his untimely death.

Essential Reading:
Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy, pp. 246–87.

Supplementary Reading:
Carole Fink, Defending the Rights of Others: The Great Powers, the Jews, and International Minority Protection, 1878–1938.
Jonathan Wright, Gustav Stresemann: Weimar’s Greatest Statesman.
League of Nations Photo Archive at Indiana University: www.indiana.edu/~league/