LAD/Blog #33: Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact

Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact (1928)

• This agreement to outlaw war was signed on August 27th, 1928

• AKA the Pact of Paris (the city where it was signed)

• Another international effort to prevent a future world war

• Nicholas Murray Butler and James T. Shotwell were two peace advocates involved in the
  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace organization

• French Minister of Foreign Affairs Aristide Briand proposed the peace act between the US and France with help from Butler and Shotwell

• President Calvin Coolidge and Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg were more wary towards the peace act, because it could easily turn into an alliance where the US would have to step in to defend France in case of conflict

• Because of this, Kellogg and Coolidge proposed turning the pact into one for all countries, not just between the US and France (which was well-recieved internationally)

• A total of 62 nations ended up signing the pact, including Germany

• It was also ratified by the US Senate with a vote 85-1

• There was ultimately no way to enforce the pact, or even define what "self-defense" meant for each country

• The first major test of this pact was in 1931, with the Mukden Incident, which led to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (even though Japan had signed the pact)

• This incident proved that it was nearly impossible to enforce the act, especially for multiple countries 

• The legacy of the pact remains as a statement of the idealism of the time period

• Kellogg won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 for his work on the pact

Wilson's 14 points were very similar to the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact of 1928.  Both of them were very idealistic, with a goal for world peace with the pact and Article X of the Treaty of Versailles, also known as the League of Nations and Wilson's fourteenth point.  The common problem with these two things was also that there was no real way to enforce the ideas of peace, causing them both to be unsuccessful.