TheConference of Ambassadors of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers was an inter-allied organization of theEntente in the period following the end ofWorld War I. Formed inParis in January 1920[1] it became a successor of theSupreme War Council and was later onde facto incorporated into theLeague of Nations as one of its governing bodies. It became less active after theLocarno Treaties of 1925 and formally ceased to exist in 1931[2] or 1935.[1]
The Conference consisted of ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan accredited in Paris and French minister of foreign affairs. The ambassador of the United States attended as an observer because the United States was not an official party to theTreaty of Versailles.[1] French diplomatRené Massigli was itssecretary-general for its entire existence.[2] It was chaired by theFrench foreign ministers, among themGeorges Clemenceau,Raymond Poincaré andAristide Briand.[2]
Jules Laroche and Massigli were the first two secretaries-general. A series of committees and commissions worked as permanent or sometimesad hoc advisers to the secretaries-general.[3]
It was formed to enforcepeace treaties and to mediate various territorial disputes among European states.[2] Some of the disputed regions handled by the Conference includedCieszyn Silesia (betweenPoland andCzechoslovakia), theVilnius Region (between Poland and Lithuania), theKlaipėda Region (between Germany and Lithuania) and theCorfu Incident (betweenItaly andGreece). One of its major territorial decisions was made on 15 March 1923, in recognizing the eastern borders of Poland created following thePolish–Soviet War of 1920.[4] The Conference also recognized Polish sovereignty over the Vilnius region andEastern Galicia.[5][6]
At its March 1925 meeting held at the French War Ministry (Quai D'Orsay) in Paris, Marshal Foch gave a briefing on the state of German disarmament. He said:
In response, Foch asked that atreaty of security be signed between France and the United Kingdom.Lord Crewe, the British ambassador, blocked further discussion on the subject.[7]
