THE STRESA FRONT, 1935

Causes

Hitler coming to power in Germany alarmed the nations of Europe, because they all knew he was committed to tearing up the Treaty of Versailles and uniting with Austria. 

Italy particularly was alarmed by the threat of Anschluss because it would put an aggressive Germany right on Italy’s northern border … to the extent that, when Austrian Nazis tried to take over Austria in July 1934, Mussolini sent his army to the border and threatened war. 

Germany had had to back down in 1934, but that all changed in March 1935, when Hitler announced his re-armament programme, including his intension to create an airforce. 

The Stresa Front

At this point British diplomat Robert Vansittart stepped in and organised a three-nation Conference, held in the northern Italian town of Stresa in April 1935. 

At the Conference, Britain, France and Italy agreed an alliance – the ‘Stresa Front’ – to resist any attempt by Germany to overturn the Treaty of Versailles. 

It is worth noting that, in organsing a separate alliance in this way, Britain was already undermining the League of Nations and the principle of Collective Security. 

Almost immediately, however, Britain then betrayed the Stresa Front.  Even while the Conference was taking place, British diplomats were meeting with Germany, and in June 1935 Britain made the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (i.e. going behind the Front’s back to help Germany break the Treaty of Versailles) … this was appeasement in action. 

Worse was to follow in October 1935.  Mussolini – who was at that time in conflict with the League over Abyssinia – took the Front as a green light from Britain and France, and he invaded Abyssinia in October 1935.  This brought the Front to an end; it had barely lasted six months. 

Collapse of the Stresa Front – results

  1.    Abyssinia, October 1935 – Mussolini took the Front as a sign that Britain and France supported him in Abyssinia, so he ignored the League and invaded. 

  2.    Hitler saw Britain abandoning of the Front for a policy of appeasement, and he saw the weakness and lack of resolve in the nations of Europe.  Thus encouraged, in March 1936 he remilitarised the Rhineland. 

  3.    The Axis, October 1937 – Mussolini decided that it would be more advantageous to Italy to join Hitler than to try to stop him. 

  4.    Anschluss – instead of being safe from Hitler, Austria was now sandwiched between Italy and Germany, and would be overtaken in March 1938

  5.    Britain’s reputation as a reliable ally was ruined, and became known in Europe as ‘Perfidious Albion’ – (= ‘deceitful Britain’). 

  Vansittart was especially bitter, and wrote:

With this fiasco we lost Abyssinia, we lost Austria, we created the Axis, and we made the coming war with Germany inevitable.  Great Britain – the nickname perfidious Albion, at least in this case, seems well deserved – had a very ambiguous behaviour in those years, thinking it could successfully appease Hitler.