In May 1935 Herr Hitler, having already outstripped Great Britain in the Air, repudiated the clauses of the Versailles Treaty which limited the size of the German Army to one hundred thousand long-service soldiers, and instituted universal compulsory military service. The Ministers of Great Britain, France and Italy met at Stresa and discussed common action to prevent the further onesided denunciation of treaties. The Council of the League of Nations was invited to protest, and did so by formal resolution. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald yielded the Premiership to Mr. Baldwin, and Sir Samuel Hoare succeeded Sir John Simon as Foreign Secretary. On June 18 the Anglo-German Naval Agreement was signed which liberated Germany from the Naval stipulations of Versailles. This had the effect of condoning the breach of the Military clauses and was thus inconsistent with the action newly taken by Great Britain both at the Stresa Conference and at Geneva. All attempt to bring collective pressure upon Germany to prevent her rearmament was abandoned, and when, later in the year, a quarrel developed between Great Britain and Italy over the invasion of Abyssinia, the so-called 'Stresa front' was dissolved and the foundation of the Berlin-Rome Axis laid.
In November Mr. Baldwin appealed to the country upon the policy of sanctions against Italy in order to compel Signor Mussolini to relinquish his Abyssinian campaign. The result of the General Election confirmed Mr. Baldwin in power by an overwhelming majority.
On March 7, 1936, Herr Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland, denouncing the Treaties of Versailles and Locarno, but indicating that the occupation was purely symbolic. No steps were taken by the parties to the Treaty of Locarno to join in requiring the military evacuation of the Rhineland; nor was any attempt made to secure that it should not be fortified. The very great dangers resulting from the German occupation and fortification of the Rhineland were partially realised; and Mr. Eden, who had succeeded Sir Samuel Hoare as Foreign Secretary, announced to Parliament that Staff conversations with France would begin in order if necessary to carry out British obligations under the Treaty of Locarno. This step constituted in principle a military alliance between Great Britain and France; but for a long time very little was done to implement it. It is at this point that the story in these pages begins.
