Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928

(Pact of Paris), a treaty on the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy, signed Aug. 27, 1928, in Paris. It was named after its initiators, A. Briand, the French minister of foreign affairs, and F. Kellogg, US secretary of state.

According to the terms of the pact, its adherents pledged themselves to settle their disagreements or conflicts solely through peaceful means. Concluded to a certain extent under the pressure of public opinion, it is considered the culminating achievement of pacifist diplomacy. Through the treaty France hoped to strengthen its position in foreign affairs, especially in Europe, whereas the USA sought to become an international arbitrator, having created a new organization under its aegis to counterbalance the League of Nations, where Great Britain and France played the main role. At the same time, in excluding the USSR from negotiations for the pact imperialist circles sought to convert the treaty into a tool for isolating the USSR.

France, the USA, Germany, Great Britain, the British dominions and British India, Italy, Japan, Belgium, Poland, and Czechoslovakia (15 states in all) were the original participants in the pact. The work of Soviet diplomacy compelled the imperialist powers to invite the USSR to join the pact. Despite the shortcomings of the treaty, the Soviet government adhered to the pact on Sept. 6,1928; 48 additional states also joined. The USSR initiated the signing of the Moscow Protocol of 1929, which put the pact into effect (beginning February 13) among the adherents to the protocol. The pact became operative among all adherents on July 24, 1929. However, the pact was unable to deter the aggravation of the international situation and, subsequently, to prevent World War II.