One hundred years of the Treaty of Locarno and good Fatherhood

13 October 2025

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Locarno by France and Germany in Locarno on October 16 2025. The treaty was signed in London on December 1, 1925, and entered into force.

Locarno (canton Tessin) was chosen because it was easily accessible for participants, located in neutral Switzerland, Italian-speaking (rather than German- or French-speaking), and a small town, offering a good opportunity for “spontaneous and informal” meetings with few other distractions for the participants.

Locarno, 1925. The participants in the conference hall. Image: Commune of Locarno

The governments of France and Germany had overcome their reservations to guarantee peace, stability, trade, and economic development, despite opposition at home. The hatred, fear and frustration among large sections of the population in Germany and France were still too great for a generally accepted reconciliation after the First World War (1914-1918).

Nevertheless, this treaty led to a period of economic prosperity and relative stability in the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and France. Inflation in Germany subsided, German reparations to France (as outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, 1919) were partially revised, and the “Roaring Twenties” reached their peak in Paris and Berlin, as if the Fin de Siècle had never truly ended.

Locarno, Via della Pace

The great powers of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and America had found common interests, and Germany even joined the League of Nations in 1926. “Locarno” was a sensation at the time: it seemed possible to prevent conflicts in this way and to look forward instead of backwards. Moreover, the countries committed themselves to resolving disputes through arbitration.

The Treaty of Locarno even led to the signing of the Briand-Kellogg Pact in 1928. All signatory countries, including the United States, which was not a member of the League of Nations, committed themselves not to use force in conflicts with other countries.

The United States soon became the largest investor in the new and democratic Germany. Unemployment fell rapidly, a new middle class emerged, and extremist parties (Nazis and communists) did not yet pose a threat to democracy.

Collection: Bernisches Historisches Museum

However, the Wall Street stock market crash on October 24 and 29, 1929, turned this optimistic period into an economic and, therefore, political nightmare. Extreme left-wing and extreme right-wing parties took advantage of the (economic) turmoil, (financial) despair and disappointment among many citizens.

Confidence in the established political, economic and democratic institutions vanished in an instant, not only in Germany but also in other European countries. And citizens’ trust in democratic institutions was and is the glue that holds society together.

After all, the poison of religious, political and nationalist extremism thrives on hungry stomachs, empty bank accounts, a lack of (economic and democratic) perspective and “good fatherhood” (bonus ac diligens pater familias) from politics and government.

This still applies, even in Switzerland, which admittedly has one of the best (or less worst) constitutional, political, and democratic systems in the world, but is not immune to the erosion of this trust and the impact of international and societal developments.

Paul Troxler (1780-1866), a. 1840. Photo: Wikipedia

“Good fatherhood” is impossible to define, but one of the founding fathers of direct democracy in Switzerland aptly put it: listen to your children, in this case, the citizens. They may not always be right, but in the long term, it is precisely because of this mutual bond that the (democratic, economic) system functions best.

(Source: Exhibition ‘100 Years Treaties of Locarno‘)