Disarmament: Washington, London, and Geneva Conferences IB 20 th Century Topics

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  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 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

What?  Military conference called by the administration of President Warren G. Harding, from Nov.1921~ Feb  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

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

Five Power Treaty  Agreed to maintain a fixed constant ratio of naval armaments  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  The United States and Britain where not allowed to build new naval bases in the western Pacific

Five Power Treaty  Five Power Treaty  US5 (Based on 525,000 tons)  Britain5  Japan3  France 1.67  Italy1.67  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.

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.

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 ( ), 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.

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