Locarno Treaties

The Locarno Treaties are the set of agreements concluded at Locarno in October 1925, and this entry is grounded in their central instrument, the Treaty of Mutual Guarantee between Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Italy, dated 16 October 1925 and known as the Locarno Pact. The parties collectively and severally guarantee the territorial status quo of the frontiers between Germany and Belgium and between Germany and France as fixed by the Treaty of Versailles, together with the demilitarised zone provisions of its Articles 42 and 43. Germany and Belgium, and Germany and France, undertake never to attack or invade each other, with exceptions for legitimate defence and for action under the Covenant of the League of Nations. Disputes are to go to judicial decision or to a conciliation commission and then to the League Council, which also receives any alleged violation. The treaty was to enter into force once all ratifications were deposited at Geneva and Germany had become a Member of the League of Nations.