THE INTER-WAR PERIOD 1930

The London Naval Treaty was signed in London on the 22nd April 1930. The United Kingdom, United States, France, Italy and Japan agreed to regulate submarine warfare and limiting naval shipbuilding. The terms of the treaty were an extension of the conditions agreed in the Washington Naval Treaty, in an effort to prevent an arms race after the Great War.

France withdrew its remaining troops from the German Rhineland on the 30th June 1930. The German nation was obliged to agree to the terms of the 1918 Armistice, whereby the victorious powers occupied Germany. The purpose of the occupation was to give France security against a renewed German attack, and to serve as a guarantee for German repatriation obligations. The Young Plan of 1929 achieved the re-negotiated repatriation terms, and the occupation of the Rhineland, which began on the 1st December 1918 and ended on the 30th June 1930.

On the 1st September 1930 the Young Plan came into effect over Germany’s repatriation payments for the Great War. However, hardly had the Young Plan started the depression of the 1930’s began and Germany’s ability to pay dwindled to virtually nothing.

In Germany the Great Depression had provided a political opportunity for Adolf Hitler to exploit. The elections on the 14th September 1930 resulted in the break-up of the grand coalition government. The National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP} rose from obscurity to win 18.3% of the vote with 17 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, becoming the second-largest party in parliament.

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