Treaty of Rapallo (1922) - Background

Background

Both Germany and the Soviet Union were left vulnerable in the period following the end of World War I. Germany had lost the war, leaving it diplomatically isolated, and the Treaty of Versailles after the war led to the loss of German territories, German disarmament, and the cession of German territories. The Soviet Union had left the war before its end in 1917, due to the Bolshevik revolution and ceded many of its Western territories to Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; after Germany′s defeat, this territory was transformed into a number of new, independent states, including Poland. Like the Germans, the Soviets were left diplomatically isolated as their transition to communist rule had led to the loss of western allies.

Germany initially hoped to pursue peaceful changes to the Versailles Treaty, and its main territorial goal was to reclaim certain portions of western Poland. An initially conciliatory posture failed in 1919, leading Germany to institute an economic blockade of Poland in January 1920. This effort to force changes also failed, and led to severe losses for German businessmen. These failures led Germany to look for other alternatives, which reached their most extreme form in the proposal of Hans von Seeckt, commander of the Reichswehr (German military), who suggested that Germany and the Soviet Union should conclude an alliance to jointly invade Poland, followed by a war on France. His proposals did not have much impact on official policy, but the general idea of seeking closer cooperation with Russia began to gain currency among a number of groups, including German businessmen who saw market opportunities in Russia.

Like Germany, Russia hoped to make territorial gains at Poland′s expense, but it was left without an effective means of doing so. Early in 1919, the Polish-Soviet War had broken out over border disputes between the two countries. After initial Soviet victories, the Poles counterattacked successfully, and a compromise peace was reached in March 1921, leaving Soviet desires for border revision largely unfulfilled. The war also left the Soviets even further isolated from Britain and France. This common isolation and interest in revision in Poland led to a natural sympathy between Russia and Germany. At the Tenth Party Conference in 1921, the Soviets settled on a policy of pursuing opportunities for trade with the Western powers, which could supply badly needed industrial materials.

The joint German-Soviet concerns first led to signing, in May 1921, of a treaty between the two nations under which Germany recognized the Soviet regime as the only legitimate government of Russia, and agreed to suspend relations with all other groups which still claimed power. This agreement paved the way for future cooperation between the two.