44 J.-A. PEMBERTON
plenipotentiary of the German Reich. Therein Ribbentrop stated that
in contrast with the ‘obvious and regrettable tendencious documen-
tary selections’ appearing in other countries, the documentary selection
that Berber had compiled ‘clearly and irrefutably’ showed how France,
although a signatory of the Locarno Treaty, by which he meant the prin-
cipal treaty negotiated at Locarno in 1925, namely, the Rhineland Pact,
had deliberately set out to undermine the security system established at
Locarno.^141
Ribbentrop observed in the preface to the book that instead of dis-
arming, the armies of France and Europe ‘surrounding a defenceless
and disarmed Germany, equipped with the most modern weapons grew
stronger and stronger’ and that it was ‘not till Germany [had] restored
her own military sovereignty’ that the ‘military equilibrium’ in Europe
had been ‘re-established.’ Although the fabled spirit of Locarno was sup-
posed to result in a ‘general moral disarmament,’ Ribbentrop declared,
this had not happened because France had shown itself hostile and had
pursued a policy of military alliances against Germany, irrespective of
Germany’s ‘friendly approaches’ to France.^142 The culmination of this
policy, Ribbentrop affirmed, was the ‘Franco-Russian military alliance’
by which he meant the Franco-Soviet Pact of Mutual Assistance of May
2, 1935. The terms of this alliance, Ribbentrop stated, saw France and
Russia abrogate to themselves the ‘right to define the aggressor’ in the
case of ‘any disturbance of the peace without a decision by the League of
Nations.’ The conclusion of this alliance, Ribbentrop opined, had com-
pletely destroyed the equilibrium in Europe envisaged by the creators
of the Locarno Treaty. He stated that an exposed Germany confronted
by hostile forces had no choice but to defend its frontiers through
reoccupying the Rhineland on March 7, adding that this was exactly
what Berber’s ‘completely unbiased selection of historical documents’
proved.^143
Appearing to strike a conciliatory note, Ribbentrop stated that with
German sovereignty now restored, the conditions had been established
for the creation of a new system of pacification in Western Europe.
(^141) Joachim von Ribbentrop, preface to Berber, ed., Locarno: A Collection of Documents,
v–vi. See also F. J. Berber, introduction to Berber, ed., Locarno: A Collection of Documents,
xiv. Berber’s introduction to the book is dated July 1936.
(^142) Ibid., v.
(^143) Ibid.