International Arms-Control Agreements s & 1930s -

Wilson’s Fourteen Points 1.“Open covenants of peace....” 2.“Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas....” 3.“The removal... of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions....” 4.“... that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.” 5.“... absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims,....”

Fourteen Points (continued) 6. “The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia....” 7. “Belgium... must be evacuated and restored,....” 8. “All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored,....” 9.“A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy....” 10. “The peoples of Austria-Hungary... should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.”

Fourteen Points (continued) 11. “Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored;....” 12. “The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an... unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations....”

Fourteen Points (continued) 13. “An independent Polish state should be erected....” 14. “A general association of nations must be formed... for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity....”

League of Nations

Goals of the League of Nations disarmament preventing war through collective security settling disputes between countries through negotiation diplomacy improving global welfare

The League of Nations was weak: depended on the Great Powers to: enforce its resolutions maintain economic sanctions ordered provide an army, when needed, for the League to use

There were a series of treaties negotiated in 1919 that concluded the hostilities of the Great War: Treaty of Versailles with Germany Treaty of Saint Germain with Austria Treaty of Trianon with Hungary Treaty of Sèvres with Turkey Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria

Treaty of Versailles [Image source:

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The Treaty of Saint Germain, 10 th September 1919, officially registered the breakup of the Habsburg empire, recognizing the independence of... Czechoslovakia Poland Hungary Kingdom of the Serbs* *Yugoslavia

The Treaty of Trianon* divided Hungary among five nations – two of them new. [Image source: *Signed 4 th June 1920

The Treaty of Sèvres, signed 10 th August 1920, dealt with issues of international importance, such as the navigation of the Dardanelles. [Image source:

The Treaty of Neuilly, 27 th November 1919, gave portions of Bulgaria to neighbouring nations. [Image source: Territories ceded by Bulgaria to neighbouring countries after World War I Territory ceded to Bulgaria by Turkey in 1915 and taken from Bulgaria after World War I Boundaries of modern Bulgaria

Senator William E. Borah (R-ID) urged the major Allied nations from the recent war to gather in an effort to slow the arms race.

Washington Naval Conference - November 1921 to February aka International Conference on Naval Limitation – a result of the naval construction rivalry between Great Britain, Japan and the United States portrayed as an alternative to League of Nations convened on Armistice Day* *11 th November

Washington Naval Conference Attendees Major Naval Powers: Great Britain United States Japan France Italy Other nations in attendance: Belgium the Netherlands Portugal China (Had concerns about territories in the Pacific, but were not parties to the disarmament discussions.) Conspicuously absent: Soviet Russia and the defeated Central Powers. (They were not invited.)

Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes proposed scrapping nearly two million tons of warships and a lengthy “holiday” on the construction of new capital ships.

Washington Naval Conference resulted in a number of agreements: Four-Power Pact Shantung Treaty Nine-Power Treaty Five-Power Naval Limitation Treaty Five-Power Supplementary Treaty Six-Power Pact Yap Island Agreement

Four-Power Pact - 13 th December Britain, France, Japan and the United States: agreed to submit disputes among themselves over Pacific issues to a conference for resolution, and pledged mutual respect for the possessions and mandates of other signatories in the Pacific

Shantung (Shandong) Treaty - 4 th February the territory of Kiaochow in Shantung (Shandong) province was returned by Japan to China – the area had been “leased” to Germany in 1898, but was seized by Japan at the outbreak of war in 1914

Nine-Power Treaty - 6 th February “Desiring to adopt a policy designed to... stabilize conditions in the Far East, to... safeguard the rights and interests of China, and to... promote intercourse between China and the other Powers upon the basis of equality of opportunity;....” - Paragraph 2.

Nine-Power Treaty Signatories United States Belgium Great Britain France Kingdom of Italy Empire of Japan The Netherlands Portugal Republic of China

Washington Naval Treaty - 6 th February aka the Five-Powers Act or the Five-Powers Naval Limitation Treaty Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States — pledged adherence to limitations on the tonnage of capital ships and accepted a moratorium on new naval construction

All signatories pledged to maintain a balance in their respective capital* fleets under a predetermined ratio: Great Britain United States Japan France Italy *Capital ships were those vessels exceeding 10,000 tons or bearing guns in excess of an eight-inch caliber, effectively denoting battleships and aircraft carriers.

Five-Power Supplemental Treaty the major Allied naval powers* agreed on a series of rules for the use of submarines in future warfare and also outlawed the use of poisonous gases as a military weapon *Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France, and Italy

Six-Power Pact the Big Five Nations plus China agreed to the allocation among themselves of former German cable routes in the Pacific

Yap Island Agreement the United States and Japan agreed on provisions for U.S. use of the Pacific island as a distribution point for the transpacific cable

In the following months, the U.S. Senate ratified all of the treaties from the Washington Conference. However, a reservation was attached to the Four-Power Pact stating that no agreement had been approved that required the “commitment of armed force” by the United States.

British journalist Hector C. Bywater predicted a war between the United States and Japan in 1925!

Geneva Naval Conference of th June to 4 th August attended by second-rank diplomats (France and Italy did not attend at all) the United States sought to extend the 5:5:3 ratio to lesser vessels - the British and Japanese agreed in principle, but cited special circumstances exempting them from strict adherence the delegates adjourned without reaching any agreement

Kellog-Briand Pact “... condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.” (Article I) “... the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts..., shall never be sought except by pacific means.” (Article II)

Kellog-Briand Pact Signatories United States* Germany Kingdom of Belgium France Great Britain Kingdom of Italy Empire of Japan Poland Czechoslovakia *Ratified by the Senate 16 th January and signed by Calvin Coolidge the next day.

London Naval Conference - 22 nd January 22 nd history.com/pages/h1517.htmlhttp:// history.com/pages/h1517.html

Second London Naval Treaty of 1936

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[Image source: all_things_beautiful/]

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Artist: Talburt in the Washington News [Image source: