London and Paris Conferences

"Paris Accords" redirects here. For the pacts ending the Vietnam War, see Paris Peace Accords.

The London and Paris Conferences were two related conferences in London and Paris in September–October 1954, that decided about full sovereignty of West Germany, ending of its occupation, and its admittance to NATO. Furthermore, both West Germany and Italy joined Brussels Treaty. The talks concluded with signing Paris Agreements (Paris Pacts, or Paris Accords) on 23 October 1954. They went into force on 5 May 1955. The participating powers included France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, West Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, and remaining NATO members.

Prelude

Since the end of World War II, West Germany had been occupied by Allied forces and lacked its own means of defense. On 23 July 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community came into existence, bonding the member states economically. By 1951, fear of possible Soviet aggression in Europe led to preparation of an ill-fated European Defense Community (EDC). EDC was a proposed joint Western European military force, at the time favored over admitting Germany to NATO. The General Treaty (German: Deutschlandvertrag) of 1952 formally named the EDC as a predrequisite of the end of Allied occupation of Germany. EDC was, however, rejected by the French National Assembly on August 30, 1954, and a new solution became necessary.

London

At the London Conference, often called the Nine-Power Conference (not to be confused with the Nine Power Treaty), it was agreed that the occupying powers would make every effort to end the occupation. The limits of German re-armament were also very important especially to France, which was still concerned with a powerful Germany. It was agreed that West Germany would be forbidden to build atomic or biological weapons.

Belgium was represented by Paul-Henri Spaak, Canada by Lester B. Pearson, France by Pierre Mendès-France, Germany by Konrad Adenauer, Italy by Gaetano Martino, Luxembourg by Joseph Bech, the Netherlands by Jan Willem Beyen, the United Kingdom by Anthony Eden, and the United States by John Foster Dulles.

Paris

The powers met again in Paris on October 20–23, in an intergovernmental conference followed by a NATO Council meeting, to put the decisions reached in London into formal declarations and protocols to existing treaties. "Protocol No. I Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty" formally added West Germany and Italy to the Brussels Treaty, creating the Western European Union (WEU), which, while not as broad or powerful as the previously proposed EDC, nevertheless was sufficient for the Deutschlandvertrag to come into force and therefore to end the occupation of West Germany and admit it as an ally in the Cold War.

Altogether there were as many as twelve international agreements signed in Paris. A treaty ended the occupation of West Germany and restored^{[citation needed]} its full sovereignty under the name "Federal Republic of Germany". The treaty allowed Allied troops to remain in the country.

An agreement expanded the Brussels Treaty of 1948 to include West Germany and Italy, creating the Western European Union. This agreement allowed West Germany to start a limited rearmament program though it banned development of certain weapons, such as large warships and nuclear devices. It was signed by the Brussels Treaty countries (Belgium, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and by West Germany and Italy.

Another accord accepted West Germany into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The negotiations on Saar status, only between France and West Germany, were held on the night before the conference, on 19 October. The territory had been essentially annexed by France and a referendum was set up to determine the will of its people (surprisingly, outcome was that Saarland rejoined West Germany in 1956-1957).^{[citation needed]} On 27 October 1956^{[citation needed]} the Saar Treaty officially made Saarland a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.

See also

Signed In force Document

1948 1948 Brussels Treaty

1951 1952 Paris Treaty

1954 1955 Modified Brussels Treaty

1957 1958 Rome treaties

1965 1967 Merger Treaty

1975 N/A European Council conclusion

1985 1985 Schengen Treaty

1986 1987 Single European Act

1992 1993 Maastricht Treaty

1997 1999 Amsterdam Treaty

2001 2003 Nice Treaty

2007 2009 Lisbon Treaty

Three pillars of the European Union:

European Communities:

European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

Treaty expired in 2002

European Union (EU)

European Economic Community (EEC)

Schengen Rules

European Community (EC)

TREVI

Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)

Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC)

European Political Cooperation (EPC)

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

Unconsolidated bodies

Western European Union (WEU)

Treaty terminated in 2011

External links

• Final Act of the London Conference Full text.
• Declaration Inviting Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany to Accede to the Brussels Treaty, October 23, 1954 Full text.
• Protocol No. I (and Annex) Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty, October 23, 1954 Full text.
• Protocol No. II on Forces of Western European Union, October 23, 1954 Full text.
• Protocol No. III (and Annexes) on the Control of Armaments, October 23, 1954 Full text.
• Protocol No. IV on the Agency of Western European Union for the Control of Armaments, October 23, 1954 Full text.
• NATO on the Paris Agreements