Little Entente

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A conference of the Little Entent representatives 1936. L-R: M.Stoyadinovich (Jugoslavia), M.Antonescu (Romania), Dr. Hodza (Czecho-Slovakia), and M.Tatarescu (Romania).

The Little Entente was a political organisation binding together by treaties the States of Romania, Czecho-Slovakia and Yugoslavia.[1] The latter two of these States were artificial[2][3] and created by the Western Allies in their imposed Treaty of Versailles and Treaty of Trianon of 1919-20, under which all three would greatly extend their land mass at the expense of Hungary, despite Romania's complete defeat, as an aggressor, in The Great War and Serbia's ultimate responsibility for this conflagration.

The alliance was created immediately after The Great War against the common dangers threatening these three States (Habsburg restoration, Hungarian claims). France supported the alliance by signing treaties with each member country. For the purposes, and those of general co-operation, periodical meetings were held between the three Foreign Ministers, it was developed in 1929 by the conclusion of a General Act of Conciliation, Arbitration, and Judicial Settlement, between these countries; and on February 16, 1933, by the adoption of a Statute which set up a Permanent Council, meeting at least three times a year, with an Economic Council, a permanent secretariat, and any other bodies considered desireable. Through these organs, the three States were to act as a single unit in foreign policy, on the basis of the Covenant of the League of Nations, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, the General Act, etc.[4]

In 1937 a Military Advisory Council was set up in Prague on April 28, and regular meetings were held that year. Yugoslavia's agreements with Bulgaria and Italy provoked satisfaction. A more conciliatory attitude was adopted towards Hungary, with whom negotiations were carried on in the Autumn. However, Czechoslovakia had now entered into a defensive alliance with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which was regarded with disfavour by many in Romania and Yugoslavia.[5]

Treaties 1920-1938

  • Alliance between Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, 14 August 1920, aimed at Hungary.[6].
  • Alliance between Poland and Romania, 3 March 1921, mutual military convention.[7]
  • Alliance between Romania and Czechoslovakia, 23 April 1921, aimed at Hungary.[8]
  • Alliance between Yugoslavia and Romania, 7 June 1921, aimed at Hungary and Bulgaria.
  • Treaty of Alliance between France and Czechoslovakia, 25th January 1924.[9] Aimed at Germany and part of the so-called cordon sanitaire encirclement plan.
  • Treaties of Alliance between France, Czechoslovakia and Poland[10]. France, being unable to secure an extension of the status quo in the East at Locarno, signed these on the same day, but they did not fall within the multinational framework of the Locarno Treaty, and were part of France's cordon sanitaire encirclement of Germany.
  • Treaty of Guarantee between Poland and Romania, 26 March 1929, mutual military alliance.[11] Aimed at Hungary.
  • Treaty of Understanding between France and Yugoslavia, 11 November 1927.[12] Part of France's cordon sanitaire against Germany.
  • Protocol concluded between the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Romania giving effect to the Pact of Paris renouncing war, 9th February 1929. Broken by the Soviets in 1939-40.
  • Supplementary Agreement to the Treaties of Friendship and Alliance between the States of the Little Entente, 27 June 1930.[13]
  • Convention concluded between the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Estonia, Latvia, Persia, Poland and Romania regarding the definition of aggression, 3 July 1933.
  • Pact of the Balkan Entente between Turkey, Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia, 9th February 1934. Bulgaria was added on 31 July 1938.[14]
  • Mutual Assistance Treaty between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia 16 May 1935.[15] Aimed at Germany. Broken by the Soviets.
  • Munich Agreement 29 September 1938, negotiated and agreed by Great Britain, Germany, Italy and France, detaching the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, and other issues. (Followed by a 'Declaration' 30 Sept.)[16]
  • First Vienna Award was a revanchist treaty signed on 2 November, 1938, returning to Hungary certain territories from Czechoslovakia as a result of arbitration. On 15 March 1939 The Romanian Foreign Minister, Grigore Gafencu, advised the German Ambassador in Bucharest, Wilhelm Fabricius, that "Romania intends to respect the situation created by the Vienna Award and will not take any steps to alter this situation".[17]

References

  1. Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year 1938, London, 1938, p.383.
  2. The Tragedy of Trianon by Sir Robert Donald, G.B.E., LL.B., London, 1928, pps: 25-6, 57-8.
  3. The Origins of the Second World War by A. J. P. Taylor, London, 1961, p.201.
  4. Britannica, 1938, p.383-4.
  5. Britannica, 1938, p.384.
  6. Grenville, Professor J. A. S., The Major International Treaties 1914-1973, Methuen & Co., Ltd., London, 1974, p.120, ISBN: 416-09070-2.
  7. Grenville, 1974, p.122.
  8. Grenville, 1974, p.120.
  9. Grenville, 1974, p.117-8.
  10. Grenville, 1974, pps:107, 119-120.
  11. Grenville, 1974, p.122.
  12. Grenville, 1974, p.118.
  13. Grenville, 1974, p.124.
  14. Grenville, 1974, p.126-8.
  15. Grenville, 1974, p.154-6.
  16. Grenville, 1974, p.187-9.
  17. Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945 by a large editorial board, Series D, vol.vi, Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1956, p.4.