Peaceless Europe

Europe's peace treaties threaten its recovery after the First World War, argues Francesco Saverio Nitti in this 1922 political study. Drawing on his experience as a parliamentarian and head of the Italian government, he challenges the terms imposed on defeated countries and calls for economic cooperation. His preface presents reconstruction as a shared interest of France, Germany and the other European states, while questioning the settlement associated with President Wilson and the League of Nations.

The discussion connects diplomatic decisions with reparations, trade barriers and military spending. Nitti points to the difficulty of demanding payments from Germany while restricting the exports needed to fund them. The middle excerpt examines expanding naval budgets and the borders and political role assigned to Poland. Readers interested in the unsettled years after the war will find a forceful contemporary argument about how financial obligations and rival national ambitions can obstruct peace.