London Naval Conference (1930)

Purpose:- Third in the series of meeting after the Washington Conference(1921) and Conference at Geneva(1927) aimed to reduce the naval armaments of major powers. Extension of the Washington Naval Treaty moratorium (freeze) on building capital ships for five years. Regulation of conduct of submarine warfare It was attended by the five major naval powers: USA, France, Britain, Italy and Japan

Treaty agreements The treaty made minor revisions to the ratio of capital ships in Washington, moving from 5:5:3 in USA and UK/Japan to 10:10:7. France and Italy refused to take part in this treaty but agreed to the ban on ship building for five years. Other agreements were based on the number and size of cruisers, destroyers and submarines a nation could possess. Another rule was that submarine warfare was to be tightened and a submarine could only sink a ship when there were no crew or passengers aboard. This treaty only remained in effect till 1936.

Reasons for the Failure of London Naval Conference In 1935, the major powers met to re-negotiate the London Naval Conference of 1930 which was to be dissolved in 1936. The conference of 1930 was a failure as Japan and Italy walked out. Japan wanted no limits on naval construction and demanded parity with UK and US in terms of fleet ratios and walked out of the treaty when USA and Britain refused to concede this.

London Naval Treaty(1936) UK, France and US signed a treaty in 1936 known as the London Naval Treaty after all agreements on limiting the number and size of ships collapsed in 1936 due to German and Japanese disarmament programs and the increase in conflicts in the world.

Geneva Disarmament Conference(1932-34)

The League of Nations set up a disarmament commission in 1926 and spent the next five years preparing for the Disarmament conference which met in Geneva between 1932-34.The obstacle to the agreement was the balance of military forces between France and Germany.

France’s reaction to Conference The French representatives at the conference refused to adhere to any scheme that gave them military parity with Germany unless:- Guarantees over inspection and verification procedures were put in first place to ensure German adherence to any agreement). Additional measures such as establishment of an international peace keeping force were implemented.

Problems for the Geneva Conference In 1932 a number of devastations had occurred as well as increasing demands to revise the Paris peace settlements. The emergence of depression had redces the felling of optimism and international co-operation and increased tension and nationalism. Weak nations didn’t enter into this treaty willingly as they were worried about their security A big problem in this treaty was to differentiate between offensive and defensive weapons. USA called for the allowing of offensive weapons to make nations feel secure.

Another major problem for this agreement was overlooking the fact that nations would not process disarmament unless they fell secure. Hence, France refused this disarmament in fear of Germany. UK and others also disagreed. Germany used the conference as a way to show the hypocrisy of other countries, Germany had been told to disarm as per the treaty of Versailles so Germany claimed that other countries should disarm to German level or Germany should be allowed to re-arm. Germany, in absence of favour of her proposal withdrew from the conference in 1932.

Failure of Conference The disarmament conference broke up without reaching any conclusion due to the increase in tension and conflict in Europe. The nations would need armaments to defend themselves and their vital interests in these unsettled times. What was clear was that disarmament could not be discussed unless the resolution of conflict took place.