The Kellogg-Briand Pact, also known as the Pact of Paris was an international agreement to outlaw war. It was signed on August 27, 1928 by 15 nations including the United States, France, Germany, and Japan. The pact was originally proposed as a bilateral agreement between the United States and France to outlaw war between them, but Calvin Coolidge and his secretary Frank B. Kellogg gave it little support. They feared that the agreement could be interpreted as a requirement for the US to intervene if France was ever threatened. So, the pact was expanded and all nations were invited to sign it and join the U.S. and France in outlawing war. Because the language of the pact only related to wars of aggression, not self-defense, many nations had no objection to signing it.
In his 1928 annual address to congress, President Calvin Coolidge announced the treaty as "One of the most important treaties ever laid before the Senate of the United States". Coolidge wrote to congress that the pact promised "more for the peace of the world than any other agreement ever negotiated among the nations."
"One of the most important treaties ever laid before the Senate of the United States will be that which the 15 nations recently signed at Paris, and to which 44 other nations have declared their intention to adhere, renouncing war as a national policy and agreeing to resort only to peaceful means for the adjustment of international differences. It is the most solemn declaration against war, the most positive adherence to peace, that it is possible' for sovereign nations to make. It does not supersede our inalienable sovereign right and duty of national defense or undertake to commit us before the event to any mode of action which the Congress might decide to be wise. it ever the treaty should be broken. But it is a new standard in the world around which can rally the informed and enlightened opinion of nations to prevent their governments from being forced into hostile action by the temporary outbreak of international animosities. The observance of this covenant, so simple and so straightforward, promises more for the peace of the world than any other agreement ever negotiated among the nations."But in 1931, with the pact signed by 62 nations, it was tested by Japan. Japan invaded Manchuria, and due to a worldwide depression as well as an unwillingness to go to war, no actions were taken against Japan. Soon, as other threats to Peace came from other pact nations including Germany, Austria and Italy, it became clear that there was no way to enforce the pact or punish those who broke it. In the end, the pact which promised peace, did very little to preserve world peace or prevent the onset of World War II.
In 1929, Frank B. Kellogg won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on establishing the Peace Pact.
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). Calvin Coolidge: Sixth Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29569 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018].History.state.gov. (2018). Milestones: 1921–1936 - Office of the Historian. [online] Available at: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/kellogg [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018].
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