The Locarno Treaties and the Transformation of International Politics

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Locarno Treaties of 1925, this episode explores the treaties' place in the "long 20th century," examining how leaders like Gustav Stresemann, Aristide Briand, and Austen Chamberlain sought a new European order in a transformed Atlantic and global setting after the First World War.

Professor Patrick O. Cohrs explains the Treaties’ significance, strengths, weaknesses, and wider global echoes, and considers what the Locarno spirit can teach today’s leaders about diplomacy, learning, and collective security. Patrick O. Cohrs is Professor of International History at the University of Florence. He specialises in the history of modern international politics. His work focuses on war and peace and the transformation of the transatlantic and global order in the long twentieth century. He is the author of The Unfinished Peace after World War I (Cambridge University Press, 2006). His second book, The New Atlantic Order. The Transformation of International Politics, 1860–1933 (Cambridge University Press, 2022) won the 2023 Prose Award in World History.

Resources:

https://archives.ungeneva.org/

Where to listen to this episode

• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/

Content

Guest: Professor Patrick O. Cohrs

Host, production and editing: Amy Smith, UN Library & Archives Geneva

Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva