Romania's policy towards the Kellogg-Briand Pact
Romania's policy towards the Kellogg-Briand Pact

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to present the steps that European diplomacy has undertaken towards signing the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the position of Romania to the signing of the Pact. It emphasizes the role played by Romania, through its diplomats, in designing the Pact that made war of aggression illegal. The Kellogg-Briand Pact sprang from the desire of building a collective security system, but worldwide, marking a critical moment in drive towards peaceful diplomacy. The article emphasizes that the nations which took the initiative of signing the treaty of renunciation of war for the regulation of disputes between states were not as interested in its principles as the small and medium states, Romania included. It also shows that at the origin of the Pact of Paris stood divergent interests, each of the signatory state following their own purposes. Romania’s representative to Geneva and then foreign minister, Nicolae Titulescu, defined quite clearly Romania’s interest in signing this pact, understanding both its advantages and limitations. Being one of the states that had acceded to this Pact from the desire to ensure security and maintain world peace, Romania has reserved, however, the right of self-defense of national territory in case of unprovoked aggression. The article concludes that the lack of requirements to defend the peace against aggression made that the pact remain only a declaratory document.

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