Conference of Genoa

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Conference of Genoa

(1922) Post – World War I meeting at Genoa, Italy, to discuss the economic reconstruction of Central and Eastern Europe and to improve relations between Soviet Russia and Western Europe. Representatives of 30 European countries sought ways to enlist foreign capital for the "restoration of Russia." Negotiations broke down when France and Belgium, Russia's main creditors, insisted on repayment of prewar loans and restitution of confiscated foreign-owned property in Russia. Announcement of the German-Soviet Treaty of Rapallo further strained relations.

For more information on Conference of Genoa, visit Britannica.com.

Search unanswered questions...

Browse: Unanswered questions | Most-recent questions | Reference library

5min Related Video: Conference of Genoa

Top

Russian History Encyclopedia: Genoa Conference

Top

The Genoa Conference, convened in April and May 1922, was an international diplomatic meeting of twenty-nine states, including Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Japan, but not the United States. It was summoned to resolve several problems in the postwar restructuring of Europe, including the desire to reintegrate Soviet Russia and Weimar Germany into the political and economic life of Europe on terms favorable to the dominant Anglo-French alliance. The Allies wanted Moscow to repay foreign debts incurred by previous Russian governments, compensate foreign owners of property nationalized by the Bolsheviks, and guarantee that revolutionary propaganda would cease throughout their empires.

The invitation for Soviet participation in the conference facilitated Moscow's drive for peaceful coexistence with the West and for the substantial foreign trade, technology, loans, and investment required by the New Economic Policy. Both sides failed to achieve their objectives. The Anglo-French side pressed for the broadest possible repayment of Russian obligations, but offered little in loans and trade credits. The Soviets pushed for as much Western financed trade and technological assistance as possible, but conditioned limited debt repayment on the recovery of the Soviet economy. Moreover, Foreign Commissar Georgy Chicherin angered the Western representatives by calling for comprehensive disarmament and representation for the colonial peoples in the British and French empires. The impasse between Russia and the West, combined with a similar stalemate between the Anglo-French side and Germany, caused Berlin and Moscow to conclude a political and economic pact, the Rapallo Treaty. Thus, the Genoa Conference ended in failure, though the USSR succeeded in gaining recognition as an integral part of European diplomacy and in bolstering its relationship with Germany.

Bibliography

Fink, Carole. (1984). The Genoa Conference: European Diplomacy, 1921 - 1922. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

White, Stephen. (1985). The Origins of Detente: The Genoa Conference and Soviet-Western Relations, 1921 - 1922. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

—TEDDY J. ULDRICKS

Columbia Encyclopedia: Conference of Genoa

Top

Genoa, Conference of, 1922, at Genoa, Italy. Representatives of 34 nations convened on Apr. 10 to attempt the reconstruction of European finance and commerce. It was the first conference after World War I in which Germany and the Soviet Union were accepted on a par with other nations. The USSR, despite its repudiation of the czarist national debt, had offered to discuss the question at an international assembly. This offer marked the first Soviet attempt to enter the European diplomatic circle after the Russian Revolution. At Genoa the creditor nations-all represented except the United States-demanded recognition of the czarist debt, compensation for confiscated property, and guarantees for future contracts. The Russians, headed by Georgi Chicherin, offered to recognize the debt in return for cancellation of the Russian war debt, compensation for damages inflicted by Allied forces in their intervention after the revolution, and extensive credit for the Soviet government. The divergent purposes of the former Allies and the distrust caused by the announcement of the Treaty of Rapallo (see Rapallo, Treaty of, 1922) between Germany and the USSR made agreement impossible, and the conference adjourned on May 19.

Wikipedia: Genoa Conference (1922)

Top

The Genoa Conference was held in Genoa, Italy in 1922 from April 10 to May 19. At this conference, the representatives of 34 countries convened to speak about monetary economics in the wake of World War I. The purpose was to formulate strategies to rebuild central and eastern Europe after the war, and also to negotiate a relationship between European capitalist economies, and the new Russian Communist economy (Georgy Chicherin).

Among the propositions formulated at the conference was the proposal that central banks make a partial return to the Gold Standard. The Gold Standard had been dropped to print money to pay for the war. Central banks wanted a return to a gold-based economy for easing international trade and facilitating economic stability, but wanted a form of Gold Standard that "conserved" gold stocks - meaning that the gold remained in their vaults and day-to-day transactions were conducted with the representative paper notes.

This partial return to the Gold Standard was done by permitting central banks to keep part of their reserves in currencies that were themselves directly exchangeable for gold coins. However, citizens under this new Gold Exchange Standard (also known as the Gold Bullion Standard or the Inter-war Gold Standard) would not receive gold coins of the realm in exchange for their notes, though this had been an integral part of the original Gold Standard now known as the Gold Coin Standard.

Under the Gold Bullion Standard, citizens of Britain and other European countries could only redeem their banknotes in large gold bars. Such bars were unsuitable for day-to-day transactions, but largely achieved the goal of keeping the gold in the vaults.

References

Encyclopædia Britannica - http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9000832
The Stability of the Inter-war Gold Exchange Standard - http://mauricio.econ.ubc.ca/pdfs/kirsten.pdf
Ludwig Von Mises Institute - http://www.mises.org/money/4s3.asp
PAMP - http://www.pamp.com/gold_c/Info_site/in_glos/in_glos_goldexstd.html

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Donate to Wikimedia

Learn More

	World War I
	Treaty of Rapallo (1922)
	Christian Georgyevich Rakovsky (Russian politician & statesman)

	Genoa during the renaisance? Read answer...
	What is the Name of a hotel in Genoa Italy? Read answer...
	Where is Genoa and Venice located? Read answer...

Help us answer these

	Where is Lake Genoa?
	What is Genoa famous for?
	Who was genoa in war with?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Russian History Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Russian History. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Genoa Conference (1922)". Read more