The Twilight of French Eastern Alliances, 1926-1936

Crises and policy responses within the political trilemma: Europe, 1929–36 and 2008–11

“…There were a number of new states including Poland, the Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, and other successors of the Habsburg Empire, but also the Republic of Irleand whose borders, sovereignty and included national minorities continued to be the subject of international disputes throughout the inter-war years. 17 Also, this political instability was by no means limited to the new democracies. Governments in nearly all European countries were less stable after the war than before.…”

“…The Piłsudski regime that ruled Poland since May 1926 was predominantly concerned with strategies to defend the independence and territorial integrity of the new Polish state against foreign aggression (especially from Germany and the USSR). 64 Similarly to Germany in 1929, it was a debtor country that relied heavily on capital imports. With the crisis of 1929, the Polish government reacted with desperate austerity measures to keep the country on the gold-exchange standard.…”

Peace and Disarmament: Naval Rivalry and Arms Control, 1922-1933.

“…Moreover, many members of Parliament accepted the Admiralty's dictum that national security required cruisers to guard trade routes and shipping on the North Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. 65 Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, whose Conservative government replaced Lloyd George's coalition in 1923, considered limiting the navy but settled for a letter to ministers for the armed services suggesting economic restraint, hi a speech at Plymouth in October 1923, Baldwin announced the building of several cruisers to replace outdated County-class cruisers. He hoped, he said, that construction would ease the serious unemployment problem, and he identified certain hard-hit naval yards where the cruisers might be built.…”

“…64 The invitations went to powers that had attended the Washington Conference. 65 Coolidge wondered if the Japanese would extend the 5-5-3 ratio to auxiliary vessels and if European powers, having signed the Locarno pact, might consider a conference. At a press conference the previous October, Coolidge had hinted that he would like to call a conference on both land and naval disarmament, and European responses had been unenthusiastic.…”

“…Stimson also supported American participation in the World Court, had corresponded with Salmon Levinson, and worked with Senators Swanson and Walsh on the matter of disarmament in early 1929, having no confidence in Borah. 65 Despite his general support of disarmament, however, Stimson had served most recently as governor of the Philippines, and he remained more interested in Far Eastern affairs than in arms control. Nevertheless, he had discussed disarmament with Prime Minister Tanaka and Minister of the Marine Okada in Tokyo on his way from the Philippines to Washington to assume the position of secretary of state.…”