The Kellogg-Briand Pact, also called the Pact of Paris, is a 1928 international agreement in which its signatory states renounced war as an instrument of national policy and promised not to use war to settle "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be" that might arise among them. Sponsored jointly by France and the United States and named for its principal authors, U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand, the pact was signed by Germany, France and the United States on 27 August 1928 and was soon joined by most of the world's other states. Concluded outside the framework of the League of Nations, the pact provided no mechanism for enforcement and did not prevent the aggressions that led to the Second World War, but it remains formally in effect and later provided part of the legal basis used at the Nuremberg trials to prosecute wars of aggression as international crimes.
Facts
Document Type Creation Year Origin PlaceParis, French Foreign Ministry 1 Document Type
Document Type (category) Document Type (category) Classification
Medium or Support FAQs
What did the Kellogg-Briand Pact say would happen to a country that went to war after signing?
The preamble says a signatory that resorts to war should be denied the benefits of the treaty.
The treaty text names one consequence, and it appears in the preamble: any signatory power that seeks to promote its national interests by resort to war should be denied the benefits furnished by the treaty. The operative articles are short. Article I condemns recourse to war for the solution of international controversies and renounces it as an instrument of national policy, and Article II says that the settlement of all disputes or conflicts, of whatever nature or origin, shall never be sought except by pacific means. Article III covers ratification. The text lays down no further penalty.
Connections
In Era
Source Wikipedia: Kellogg-Briand Pact
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Also in Law Atlas: the same subject.
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Kellogg-Briand Pact
Infobox, Type
General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy
Infobox, Signed
27 August 1928
Infobox, Location
Paris at the French Foreign Ministry
Infobox, alternative name
Pact of Paris
- Wikipedia lead paragraph, document type/medium described (w-bbfill-history3-0927)
In Era: The Late Modern Period, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: 27 August 1928
In Group: International Agreements and Pacts of the World Wars Era, 1914 to 1945, Lead
The pact was signed by Germany, France, and the United States on 27 August 1928, and by most other states soon after.
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