Pact of Paris
Paris, Pact of, or Kellogg-Briand Pact, August 27, 1928, a treaty renouncing war. It was mainly the work of Frank B. Kellogg, United States secretary of state, and Aristide Briand, French foreign minister. Fifteen nations signed this renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy in their mutual relations. Every world power, and almost every other independent nation, subsequently ratified it. Kellogg was awarded the 1929 Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the treaty.
The Pact of Paris established no means for dealing with violators, except for a vague phrase providing that they “should be denied the benefits furnished by the treaty.” The pact was shown to be ineffective in 1931 when Japan invaded Manchuria, and again in 1935, when Italy attacked Ethiopia. It had lost all meaning long before the outbreak of World War II.