Conducting Locarno Diplomacy: Britain and the Austro-German Customs Union Crisis, 1931

It has frequently been asserted that following its signing ofthe Treaty of Locarno in 1925 Britain withdrew from Europeanaffairs to concentrate on imperial and domestic concerns. Thisarticle, building upon an argument developed in an earlier volumeof Twentieth Century British History (Vol. 6. (1995), 1–22),seeks to demonstrate, using the example of British policy andthe customs union crisis, that rather than cutting Britain awayfrom European affairs, Locarno had the opposite effect. By signingLocarno, Britain had undertaken commitments it had no desireto honour, i. e. siding with either France or Germany in a renewedEuropean war. The continuing reconciliation between France andGermany was essential to ensure that peace would prevail inEurope and thereby secure a fundamental objective of Britishforeign policy. British policy regarding the customs union crisisprovides an example of how important Britain believed its roleto be in harmonizing Franco-German relations and maintainingthe Locarno system.