Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
16 April 1922: The Treaty of Rapallo was signed between Germany & Soviet Russia—The two international pariahs were already engaged in secret military cooperation, unknown to the civilian Wiemar government; the treaty provided for mutual diplomatic recognition, cancellation of debts, & increased trade; France in particular was frustrated, wanting to keep both isolated & impoverished.
Commentary: Rapallo was signed on the sidelines of the Genoa Conference (10 April-19 May 1922), a fiasco for British prime minister David Lloyd George & the new, vehemently anti-German French prime minister Raymond Poincaré, which the isolationist United States had refused to attend. No agreement was reached on the central issues of reparations & the refusal of the Soviet government to address Tsarist debts owed to the victorious Entente Powers.
Lest we forget.
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