Franco-German Declaration of 1938
of the Balkan Entente, in the name of all the Members of the
Balkan Entente, of the other part,
Hereby declare, on behalf of the States which they represent,
that the said States undertake to abstain in their relations with
one another from any resort to force, in accordance with the
agreements to which they have severally subscribed in respect of
non-aggression, and are agreed to waive the application in so
far as they are concerned of the provisions contained in Part IV
(Military, Naval and Air clauses) of the Treaty of Neuilly, as also
of the provisions contained in the Convention respecting the
Thracian Frontier, signed at Lausanne, July 24th, 1923.
Done at Thessalonica, in duplicate, this 31st day of July,
1938.
G. KIOSSÉIVANOV.
J. METAXAS.
4.1295 Franco-German Declaration of 1938
Alliance Members:France and Germany
Signed On:December 6, 1938, in the city of Paris. In force until Sep-
tember 3, 1939.
Alliance Type:Entente (Type III)
Source:British and Foreign State Papers,vol. 142, p. 573.
SUMMARY
This agreement, signed three months after the Munich Agreement
signed by France, Great Britain, and Germany essentially gave Hitler’s
Germany permission to invade the Czechoslovak Sudetenland, was
intended to ensure good-neighborly relations between France and
Germany. It also carried with it an implicit guarantee of French con-
trol over Alsace and Lorraine, a disputed region on the border with
Germany. In exchange for the recognition of French sovereignty in
that region, Hitler sought from France a free hand in eastern Europe
for greater expansion. However, the German general staff, along with
Italy’s general staff, was simultaneously planning the eventual attack
on France as negotiations for this entente were taking place. This
treaty lasted only nine months and ended when France and Britain
declared war on Germany following the German invasion of Poland.
Alliance Text
M. Georges Bonnet, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the French
Republic and M. Joachim Von Ribbentrop, Minister for Foreign
Affairs of the German Reich,
Acting in the name and by order of their respective Govern-
ments, have agreed on the following points at their meeting in
Paris on December 6, 1938:
(1) The French Government and the German Government
fully share the conviction that pacific and neighbourly relations
between France and Germany constitute one of the essential
elements of the consolidation of the situation in Europe and of
the preservation of general peace. Consequently both Govern-
ments will endeavour with all their might to assure the develop-
ment of the relations between their countries in this direction.
(2) Both Governments agree that no question of a territorial
nature remains in suspense between their countries and
solemnly recognize as permanent the frontier between their
countries as it is actually drawn.
(3) Both Governments are resolved, without prejudice to
their special relations with third Powers, to remain in contact
on all questions of importance to both their countries and to
have recourse to mutual consultation in case any complications
arising out of these questions should threaten to lead to inter-
national difficulties.
In witness whereof the Representatives of the two Govern-
ment have signed the present Declaration, which comes into
force immediately.
Executed in duplicate in the French and German languages
at Paris, on December 6, 1938.
Signed: Georges Bonnet,
Joachim Von Ribbentrop.4.1296 Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggres-
sion between Portugal and Spain
Alliance Members:Portugal and Spain
Signed On:March 17, 1939, in the city of Lisbon. In force until
November 22, 1977.
Alliance Type:Neutrality Pact (Type II)
Source:British and Foreign State Papers,vol. 143, p. 673.SUMMARY
Portugal provided logistical and some monetary support to General
Francisco Franco’s Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. Along
with the Axis powers, the Portuguese feared the establishment of a
communist state on the peninsula, and Franco’s strong commitment
to Catholicism only strengthened the attraction of Portugal’s leaders
to the Nationalist cause.
The alliance was signed within days of Franco’s final victory in the
war. The treaty assured both parties that policies of non-aggression
would be pursued across the border, with neither country aiding third
parties in any way. The treaty was amended in July 1940 to include
provisions for consultation in the case of crisis, and the entire alliance
lasted until 1977, when it was replaced by a new treaty of friendship
and cooperation.Alliance Text
Antonio Oscar de Fragoso Carmona, President of the Por-
tuguese Republic, and Francisco Franco Bahamonde, Head of
the Spanish State and Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish
armies;
Desiring to place on record the solemn and sincere friend-
ship between Portugal and Spain which is based on community
of feeling and on the interests that arise from geographical and
historical facts;
Desirous also of surrounding with all possible guarantees the
maintenance of the good relations which exist between the two
countries;