University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Master's Theses Student Research Spring 5-1998 Laval 1931 : a diplomatic study Sebastian Volcker Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Volcker, Sebastian, "Laval 1931 : a diplomatic study" (1998). Master's Theses. 1110. https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses/1110 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LAVAL 1931, A DIPLOMA TIC STUDY by SEBASTIAN VOLCKER Masters of Arts in Diplomatic History, University of Richmond, May 1998. Thesis Director: JOHN D. TREADWAY, Ph. D. This thesis sheds light on a hitherto neglected chapter in the life of Pierre Laval, one of France's most controversial political figures in the twentieth century. Widely remembered as Vice-Premier (Vice-President du Conseil des Ministres) of the Vichy government during World War II, Laval is less known as the premier (President du Conseil des Ministres) who attempted to solve the grave financial and diplomatic dilemmas dividing France, Great Britain, the United States, and Germany in 1931. In that year, he engaged in one last grand diplomatic effort, before Adolf Hitler came to power, traveling to London, Berlin and Washington, D.C., in order to solve the issues of the international war debt, the world economic crisis, and the rise of nationalism Germany. Uzw...-..~.Y UNlVE~effY Of RtCHMOND VIRGINIA 13173 I certify that I have read this thesis and find that in scope and quality, it satisfies the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. (,. I (, \J , i \.I Erik D. Craft, Ph.D. I' LAVAL 1931 A DIPLOMATIC STUDY BY SEBASTIAN VOLCKER B.A. Longwood College, 1989 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Richmond in Candidacy for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS m History May 1998 Richmond, Virginia UBRJ\RY UNIVERSITY or RICMMONO VmG!NIA 1:;113 ON h ('.ON'TF.NAN'T tA · , BON AVfC· '" "'"".t•o \) ROMAN•n•n iiU.JH~M• • « NE-ETOILE " NOUVEA '""-· u NOTRE "' -m LAVEDAN r..ar HENRI "'f?<h•w .,.. ~l'-"'~'" Pierre. , LavalinNewYork L 'Jllustratwn,, . 7 November 1931 To my Grandmother: Margaretha Eva Havelaar Smidt van Gelder 1911-1992 From Paris to London, from London to Berlin, from Berlin to Washington is a pilgrimage among the capitals which differs from the traditional methods ofdiplomacy. This must be accounted for by the fact that new duties are imposed upon those responsible for government as a result ofthe crisis which unsettles the world and undermines the morale ofnations. Pierre Laval, New York, 1931 1 1 "Address of the President of the Council of Ministers of France," Press Releases, 4 July - 26 December 1931, weekly issues nos. 92-l 17A (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1931), 355-357. lV Table of Contents Acknowledgments . v111 Preface ................................................................ x I. FROM PUPIL TO PRESIDENT ...................................... 1 A. Childhood ..................................................... 2 B. Studies and Political Engagement .................................. 4 C. Jeanne ........................................................ 6 D. Bakunin's Portrait ............................................... 7 E. Bonds ........................................................ 8 F. Depute Socialiste de La Seine ..................................... 9 G. Stockholm, etoile .............................................. 11 H. Party Member? ................................................ 13 I. The Notable .................................................. 15 J. Maire d'Aubervilliers ........................................... 17 K. Depute Independant de La Seine .................................. 18 L. Ministre and Senateur .......................................... 19 M. The Laval Government ......................................... 23 N. France's Economy in 1931 ...................................... 26 II. A TAINTED PEACE .............................................. 28 A. The Versailles Treaty ........................................... 28 B. The United States and the Versailles Treaty ......................... 34 C. Great Britain and France in relation to Germany ...................... 35 D. The implications of a link between war reparations and war debts .................................... 3 8 E. The German economy and the reparations. ......................... 43 F. The Franco-American relations. ................................. 48 G. Franco-German relations ........................................ 50 H. Laval and Briand .............................................. 55 III. THE HOOVER MORATORIUM .................................... 58 A. The Zollunion ................................................. 59 B. The Credit Anstalt's Crack ....................................... 62 C. Announcement and Reception of the Moratorium ..................... 63 D. Franco-American Negotiations ................................... 69 v Appendix C: Notes on the Third Republic; Constitutional laws, Institutions and the party system ................. 168 Appendix D: Time Magazine's 1931 Man of the Year: Pierre Laval ........... 171 ABBREVIATIONS ................................................... 178 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................... 179 VITA ............................................................... 189 INDEX .............................................................. 190 Vll Acknowledgments I should like to express my gratitude to all the persons who have encouraged or assisted me over the long period it took to write this thesis, including the librarians and staff members I have met or corresponded with at the Bibliotheque Nationale; Archives Nationales; Archives Diplomatiques du Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres; BDIC at Nanterre; Alderman, Clemens and Law Libraries at the University of Virginia; Library of Congress; National Archives; Hoover Institution on Peace, War and Revolution; Green Library at Stanford University; Herbert Hoover Presidential Library (Iowa), and, especially, the helpful and affable staff at the Boatright Library at the University of Richmond. I am grateful to the University of Richmond for the Graduate Research grant so generously bestowed upon me. I am especially grateful to my chief sponsor: my father, Johan A. Volcker van Soelen. I am thankful to the following for sharing with me their recollections of the times of Laval: Monsieur le Comte Rene de Chambrun; Monsieur Clement Boussard, former Sous-Prefet, Gaulliste of the first hour and resistant; Madame Jacqueline Boussard resistante; Monsieur Pierre Daubin; Madame Odile Gautier Mellerio; and my grandmother Madame Havelaar Smidt van Gelder. I would like to thank my mother Margaretha E. Volcker van Soelen Havelaar for the introductions as well as Madame Violette Cointreau who made it possible for me to meet Monsieur de Chambrun. Vlll I would like to thank the faculty of the History department at the University of Richmond for creating such a "user friendly" study atmosphere -- J. Martin Ryle, John Gordon, and Hugh West in particular. I am extremely grateful to my readers, Professors West and Erik Craft (of the Business School), who spontaneously and very generously agreed to give of their personal time. My thanks also go out to the always cheerful Susan Breeden, former keystone of the Graduate School and leveler of administrative bumps. And of course I owe greatly to Professor John D. Treadway, my thesis director, who inspired this thesis and showed treasures of patience and steadfast support. Over the too long a time it took me to complete my thesis my friends have helped me in ways they probably do not suspect. I thank them all, especially Olivier Droopy, Eric Sanders, John Schlesinger, Steve and Keri Wertz, and Derk Wilbrenninck. Thanks to my brother, Jean Volcker, especially supportive since the death of my grandmother. My love to my wonderful wife, Deidre Schubert. My special thanks to my parents for their unending support and unwarranted admiration. ix - ---: Preface In choosing to study a controversial historical figure such as Pierre Laval -- Vice­ Premier (Vice-President du Conseil des Ministres) of the Vichy government during World War II -- one exposes oneself to a great deal of academic probing, eyebrow raising and even hostility. This would be of no consequence if it did not challenge one's historical objectivity. In my defense, my writing this thesis has nothing to do with political affiliations nor sympathies. I have no invested interest in glorifying nor for that matter in degrading Pierre Laval. In all honesty this thesis originated in jest over a moustache I once bore. My professor of diplomatic history, John David Treadway, jokingly remarked that my moustache reminded him of Pierre Laval's. I was somewhat nonplussed, as at the time the name "Laval" only evoked the dark years of the German occupation and French collaboration with the occupant. Nonetheless this witticism was not without consequences. Through a pedagogical twist I do not recall, I wrote a class paper on the role of Laval during the Abyssinian crisis in 1935 and 1936. That study showed me a different Laval, a man who was clearly aware of the German threat and thought to contain Adolf Hitler's ambitions.