Nyon Agreement of 1937

an agreement on collective measures to combat the piratical actions of fascist German and Italian submarines in the Mediterranean Sea.

After the start of the military fascist uprising in Spain (July 17–18, 1936), Germany and Italy initiated a blockade of the Spanish Republic. The agreement was signed on Sept. 14, 1937, in Nyon, Switzerland, by representatives of the USSR, Great Britain, France, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Egypt. The states that signed the agreement obligated themselves to use their naval forces to defend the merchant ships of “all countries not taking part in the Spanish conflict.”

The British and French navies were commissioned to ensure security of navigation in the Mediterranean Sea as far as the Dardanelles. The agreement established a special system for navigation by the submarines and merchant vessels of the signatory countries. The British and French ruling circles participated in the development and implementation of measures aimed at halting the piracy at sea, since the German-Italian submarine fleet was causing harm to British and French shipping companies. Public opinion in Great Britain and France demanded that the piracy be stopped. As a result of the Nyon Agreement, piratical attacks on the merchant vessels of various countries in the Mediterranean Sea were almost completely stopped.