Stresa Front

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The Stresa Front was an agreement made between French foreign minister Pierre Laval, British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, and Italian leader Benito Mussolini in April 1935. Its aim was to reaffirm the Locarno Treaties, and to declare that the independence of Austria "would continue to inspire their common policy". They also agreed to resist any future attempt by the Germans to change the Treaty of Versailles.

The Stresa Front takes its name from the Stresa Conference in Italy, where it was negotiated. Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist leader, was able to cut a dashing figure by arriving at the conference via speedboat.

The Stresa Front was triggered by Germany's declaration of its intention to build up an air force, to increase the size of its army to 36 divisions, (400,000 men - four times the army allowed by Versailles) and to introduce conscription, in March 1935.

The Stresa Front could be seen as a failure due to its vague terms and the fact that it wasn't clear what its aims were and how they should be upheld. This was designed to be vague and it ignored all references to Germany as Britain was adopting a dual policy. The tough hard line was provided by Mussolini, while Britain 'kept the door open' with Germany in order to obtain agreements. The Front omitted any references to Germany as not to antagonise Hitler and end Anglo-German negotiations. This fact could make the Stresa Front be seen as a mild success. Hitler had used tactics that made Britain and France guess at what his next move would be. However, because of the vague terms, it kept Hitler guessing at what Britain would do. However Britain didn't realize the advantage it had over Germany and this was lost with the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement.

Another reason for its failure was that neither Britain, France or Italy wanted to invade Germany and the only real way in which German rearmament could be ceased was by a full scale invasion of Germany. However the British government was loathe to go with this option as they perceived that the British public opinion was that of anti-war sentiment.

The Front was not successful. Within two months the UK had signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, by which Germany was given the green light to increase the size of its navy to 35% of the Royal Navy and to build submarines. The UK had not discussed this with its Stresa partners and the front was seriously damaged. This highlighted the fact that the countries that made up the Stresa Front were pulling in different directions, and weakened the front. It collapsed completely with Italy's invasion of Abyssinia.

Mussolini had ambitions of controlling Abyssinia for a long time and it was a well known fact. When Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement it ended the Stresa Front as it enraged Mussolini. This was because Britain had signed the agreement without first informing him. This was particularly damaging as Mussolini knew that Italy was a small power when compared to Britain and France and this enraged him so much that it prompted action in Abyssinia. Mussolini had held back on his invasion plans as Abyssinia bordered French and British Somaliland and he didn't want to anger his allies. However he saw that Britain had betrayed him and it removed all doubts about the invasion. He also believed that such a move ended the conditions that were agreed in the Stresa Front.