ternational politics , and also to encourage the formation of new competent elites , with expertise in tackling international issues .
Louise Weiss was committed to the reconstruction of Europe , the League of Nations and projects to build European unity as part of a multi-scale approach that combined universalist and regional views and , very often , coincided with the stances taken by Aristide Briand , the ‘ eternal ’ Minister , who served as the French Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1925 to 1932 .
It was really from 1924 onwards that Weiss , in her role as editorin-chief of L ’ Europe Nouvelle , became a champion of the League of Nations and involved in the mystique of the Geneva organisation ; when she arrived in Geneva in September 1924 she was captivated by the atmosphere that pervaded the banks of Lake Geneva . From that moment on , the magazine began to dedicate substantial space to the debates taking place in Geneva and to the prominent figures that took part in them , and provided its readers with firsthand sources and documents in full . In the wake of the failure of the 1924 Geneva Protocol , which was based on the three pillars of ‘ arbitration , security and disarmament ’ and had been rejected by Great Britain , Louise Weiss placed her hope in Aristide Briand and his policy of détente ; whether she influenced him or the magazine was a sounding box for Briand ’ s ideas , there was , in any case , a complete affinity between the two figures 6 .
Starting with the Locarno Conference in 1925 , Louise Weiss decided to take part in all major international conferences and welcomed Germany ’ s entry into the League of Nations in 1926 . In 1928 , the agreement to renounce war , known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact , cemented her disappointment and made it clear that it would be
6 . C . Manigand , ‘ Louise Weiss , Aristide Briand l ’ Europe Nouvelle ’, in Bariéty , J . ( Ed .), Aristide Briand , l ’ Europe et la Société des Nations , Strasbourg , PUS , 2005 , p . 264-279 .
62