Disarmament: Washington, London, and Geneva Conferences

JOHN D CLARE http://www.johndclare.net/LoN_Disarmament_Brett.htm

Essential Questions Why were the most successful disarmaments achieved outside the League of Nations?

Background: Rising Tension between the US and Japan Japan wanted to expand its territory and wanted to dominate China This could ruin the trade relations China had with other countries The United States was not happy about this as it did not want to lose its trade with China and it had possessions in the Philippines that where threatened by Japan 

Japan was unhappy about the fact that the United States did not recognize Japan's position in Asia and it felt threatened by the increasing US fleet As tension grew there was talk of a possible war between the two The UK was very concerned about this as it had a defensive alliance with Japan For this reason the UK supported the Washington Conference on disarmament

Disarmament A major contributor to the First World War was the arms race Reducing the armaments was mentioned in Wilson's Fourteen Points( point 4) and it was an important target for the League of Nations In doing so the goal was to reduce the threat of a future war A permanent advisory commission on armaments was appointed

Support for Disarmament The belief that the arms race was a major cause of the war and so reducing arms would reduce the treat of a future war A lot of countries where in debt, the costs of the arms where high, countries wanted to focus on rebuilding their economy

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Five Power Treaty and Naval Convention 1922

What? Military conference called by the administration of President Warren G. Harding, from Nov.1921~ Feb. 1922 Three major treaties emerged out of the Washington Conference: the Five-Power Treaty, the Four-Power Treaty, and the Nine-Power Treaty. Primary objective was to inhibit Japanese naval expansion in the waters of the west Pacific It was the most successful of disarmament conferences

Treaty : Its General Success Lasted for 14 years Halted the building of large battleships and battle cruisers Established a ratio of of three for Japan and 1.75 each for Italy and for France to every five in Japan and the USA. Placed limitations on the aircraft carriers it could possess However, there was NO agreement on smaller ships and submarines

Japan asked and received agreements not to build fortifications on island possessions throughout the Pacific. USA was required to scrap 10 old battleships, two new ones and thirteen others that were being built. Result: US- 18 ships, GB 22, Japan 10. Nota Bene: GB was allowed to have more as their ships were not as modern and were less powerful

Why was the conference called? There where two reasons for which the conference was called. First, Japan and the UK could not afford the costs of the arms race and the United States wanted to reduce its own costs. Secondly there was growing tension between Japan and the United States in Asia and the United States wanted to avoid conflict which could involve many countries

Terms of the Treaties Four Power Treaty Five Power Treaty Nine Power Treaty

Four Power Treaty (December 13, 1921). The major Allied powers — Britain, France, Japan and the United States — An agreement to recognize each others possessions in the Pacific and if problems arose there was an agreement to reach a diplomatic solution Ended Anglo-Japanese Alliance and replaced it with an agrrement between USA, Japan, France and Britain to respect each other’s territory.

Five Power Treaty Agreed to maintain a fixed constant ratio of naval armaments  No new naval armaments where to be constructed for the next ten years The United States and Britain where not allowed to build new naval bases in the western Pacific  

Five Power Treaty US 5 (Based on 525,000 tons) Britain 5 Japan 3 France 1.75 Italy 1.75 Limits on tonnage, gun size and number of battleships and aircraft carriers. Major point of contention between Japan and the United States.

Nine Power Treaty Nine-Power Treaty (February 6, 1922). The signatories — the Big Four, plus Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and China — endorsed the Open Door Policy and pledged mutual respect for Chinese territorial integrity and independence. Japan agreed to remove its military from the Shantung peninsula and all nations agreed to respect China’s independence and borders

Open Door Policy The Open Door Policy is a concept in foreign affairs, which usually refers to the policy around 1900 allowing multiple Imperial powers access to China, with none of them in control of that country.

Effects The Washington Naval Treaty led to an effective end to building new battleship fleets and those few ships that were built were limited in size and armament. Numbers of existing capital ships were scrapped. Some ships under construction were turned into aircraft carriers instead.

Effects GB and Japan decided to increase the strength of their navies, submarines and destroyers . By 1926, GB had 54 cruisers in operation and Japan had 25, US had 15 As a result , USA will request a conference in 1927 in Geneva. Switzerland, to adress this new arms race.

Treaties on Submarines, gas , bacteria Signed between 1922-1925 USA, GB, France, Italy and Japan agreed in 1922 to outlaw unrestricted submarine warfare. i.e . Crews of merchant ships had to be taken to safety before a submarine was allowed to destroy it. Since it was impossible, it outlawed the use of submarines aganist merchant ships.

Geneva Agreement 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of Poisonous Gases and Bacteriological Methods of Warfare confirmed the outlawing of poisonous gas and the use of biological warfare in the form of bacteria. US Senate failed to ratify this treaty ,but Britain signed it in 1930.

Geneva Naval Conference

Geneva Naval Conference The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927.

Geneva Conference Restraints were applied to the naval arms race by the treaties stemming from the Washington Conference (1921-22), but those agreements were largely confined to limitations on battleships and aircraft carriers. Talks dragged on for nearly six weeks while tensions rose among the former Allies. In early August, the delegates adjourned without reaching any significant agreement.

Kellogg –Briand Pact, 1928 US sustained the pressure not to get involved into any war. It is named after its authors: U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand. ( formerly known as General Treaty for the Renunciation of the War) The Pact was initially signed by fifteen nations that included France, the United States, and Germany. Could be signed by as many countries as possible to outlaw a war A month later in September 1928, the General Act for Pacific Settlement of Independent Disputes was signed. With this agreement, countries agreed to allow commissions to study disputes between nations and if the disputes were not resolved to the nation’s pleasing , they would be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice

Litvinov’s Pact Arranged by the Soviet Union’s Foreign Minister Litvinov and neighbouring countries. USSR was not invited to Kellogg- Briand Pact yet also desired to prevent the war. Pact between USSR, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Lithunia, Turkey and Persia( today’s Iran) Agreed to settle disputes not through a war but through diplomacy

The London Naval Conference 1930

London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding.

It was a revision and an extension of the Washington treaty US, Japan, Britain, Italy and France met in London Ratio of capital ships moved from 5:5:3 for the US, Britain and Japan respectively to 10:10:7 France and Italy did not take part in this agreement however they did agree to continue to not build new naval armaments for the next five years Agreements on the numbers of submarines, cruisers and destroyers that each country could have where made Submarine warfare rules where made more strict The Treaty was to remain valid until 1936

The London Naval Conference 1930 It was a revision and an extension of the Washington treaty US, Japan, Britain, Italy and France met in London Ratio of capital ships moved from 5:5:3 for the US, Britain and Japan respectively to 10:10:7 France and Italy did not take part in this agreement however they did agree to continue to not build new naval armaments for the next five years Agreements on the numbers of submarines, cruisers and destroyers that each country could have where made Submarine warfare rules where made more strict The Treaty was to remain valid until 1936

The London Naval Conference 1935-1936 The major powers met again in 1935 to discuss the treaty of London (1930) as it was to expire the following year Japan wanted equality in terms of ratio of fleets with the US and Britain but this was denied and so Japan walked out of the conference, as did Italy France, Britain and the US did agree on limiting the size and number of their naval armament however this collapsed in 1936 with the Japanese and German rearmament programs and the increasing conflicts arising in the world All in all, the conference was a failure 

The Geneva Conference 1932-1934 There was an increased demand to revise the Paris Peace Settlement A number of crises had occurred in the last few years The Great Depression of 1929 had reduced the optimistic outlook and international co-operation The United states wanted the elimination of offensive weapons, however there where disagreements to what weapons where offensive and which were defensive France was worried about German regaining its strength and so it did not want to reduce its military spending unless it got a guaranteed agreement with the other major powers to support France

The Geneva Conference 1932-1934 The other major powers were not interested in a guaranteed agreement and so France refused to reduce its military spending Germany wanted the major powers to either reduce their military spending to Germanys level or Germany should be allowed to increase its military spending to their level This was not accepted by the major powers and so Germany walked out of the conference in 1932 Germany rejoined the conference in 1933 Adolf Hitler was now chancellor and wanted Germany to have equal treatment to the major powers

The Geneva Conference 1932-1934 Once again this was denied and so Germany walked out of the conference This caused Germany to embark on a rearmament scheme France had no choice but to increase its military spending as it did not gain the military guarantee from either the United States nor the UK. It was well aware of Germany's larger population and industrial capacity. Decreasing its military spending was not an option for France Italy was also not interested in reducing its military spending The conference was a failure as no agreement was reached Tension was rising in Europe and countries where starting to consider what was best for themselves  Disarmament was not possible at this point as tension started to rise and there was a potential source of conflict