DISARMAMENT ATTEMPTS THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE 1921-1922 THE LONDON NAVAL CONFERENCE 1930 GENEVA DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE 1932-1934 LONDON NAVAL TREATY 1936

WASHINGTON CONFERENCE (1921-22) After WWI Great Britain, USA and Japan continued to build up their navies. USA called for the first post-war disarmament conference which was held in Washington DC in 1921-1922. Five Power Treaty – set naval tonnage to 525.000 for Britain and USA, 300.000 for Japan and 175.000 fro France and Italy. Nations would destroy battleships until their quota was reached. Also, no battleships were to be built for 10 years. Four Power Treaty – USA, Japan, Britain and France guaranteed the rights of the signatories to their possessions in Asia, and agreed to come to each other’s defense in case of an attack. Success – limiting the naval armament and serving as an example for future disarmament conferences. Failures – highlighting France’s isolation, and not including USSR or Germany.

LONDON NAVAL CONFERENCE (1930) It revised the agreements made at Washington. Due to the Great Depression European countries were still keen to limit their defense expenditure. The new ratio 10:10:7 France and Italy refused to take part in this agreement, though they did agree to continue the ban on building capital ships for five years. Agreements were reached on the size and numbers of cruisers, destroyers and submarines, and rules were made to control submarine warfare.

MANCHURIAN CRISIS (1931) Japan was the only independent Asian power with its own empire. Japan was also a greatest industrial and trading power, and so it was badly affected by the world depression. Japan thought they would survive by expanding its empire. In September 1931, the Kwantung army in Manchuria claimed that a bomb explosion near Mukden was evidence of growing disorder in China and used it as an excuse to conquer the province. However, it had been the Japanese army who planted the bomb.

China appealed to the League which took the following actions: Condemned Japan’s actions and ordered the withdrawal of Japanese troops. Appointed a commission under Lord Lytton to investigate the crisis but it took too long and the occupation was completed. Accepted the Lytton Report and instructed all of its members not to recognize the new Manchukuo state. Japan was invited to give Manchuria back to China. As a consequence Japan left the League.

THE GENEVA DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE (1932-34) The League began preparations in 1926-1932, during the preparations there were disagreements over what types of armament limitations should take place and how agreements should be enforced. It finally took place in Geneva in 1932. They faced the German threat that if they didn’t bring substantial disarmament, Germany would demand the right to rearm. By that time the Nazi party was the largest in Germany and Hitler's demands were forceful. France was more determined to resist pressure for it to disarm. In October 1933 Hitler led the German delegation out of the conference which finally ended in 1934 failing to secure any of its goals.

ABYSSINIAN INVASION (1935) In 1932 Benito Mussolini started planning for the annexation of Abyssinia as a tactic to distract people from the impact of the depression. Italy believed that the League would not respond to this. Neither the French nor the British wanted to lose Italy as an ally against Nazi Germany. It was the brutality and ferocity of the Italian assault on Abyssinia on October, 3rd 1935 that compromised Britain and France. The Abyssinian Emperor, Haile Selassie appealed to the League and it responded on October 18th.

Italy’s invasion was condemned and the League decided to employ an escalating program of sanctions. Britain and France worked for a settlement outside the League trying to avoid a breakdown in relations with Italy. Hoare-Laval Pact was to allow Italian control of around 2/3 of Abyssinia which never took place because it leaked to the press. The pro-League public in Britain was outraged and Hoare was forced to resign. No embargo was put on oil exports to Italy. By 1936 the Italians were in control of Abyssinia. Italy moved closer to Germany. The League could no longer exert any authority; collective security had failed.

LONDON NAVAL TREATY (1936) The major powers met to re-negotiate the London Treaty of 1930. Japan no longer wished to limit its naval tonnage and be inferior to the USA and Britain, and also walked out of the conference. Italy left the conference too. Britain, America and France signed a treaty on cruiser tonnage, but all disarmament agreements became meaningless. Germany and Japan were rearming.

FAILURE OF THE COLLECTIVE SECURITY The League had completely collapsed by 1939. The USA had become the world dominating economy. The Great Depression (October 1929) ushered in a return to a world dominated by national self-interest and the dominance of military forces. In the USA the income fell by almost 50% between 1929-1932 and there was a high rate of unemployment and popular discontent. Extremist groups grew and the fragile liberal governments of the 1920s found resurgent nationalist and aggressive political goups very difficult to restrict.

Europe was particularly vulnerable to a major collapse, as it was for the newly democratic and liberal Japan. Governments were blamed for the crisis and political divisions became evident. Germany – The Weimar government and liberal democracy lost credibility and ended when Franz Von Papen assumed the role of virtual dictator in May 1932. France – the moderate government was replaced by a radical left-wing one in May 1932. Japan – a series of assassinations ended the era of liberal politics.

WHY DID THE LEAGUE FAIL TO ACHIEVE DISARMAMENT? Economic instability of the 30s – nations concentrated on their own problems rather than in collective security. Some countries used rearmament as a way of providing employment and helping their economies out of the Depression. Political instability in Europe – the fragility of the new states of central Europe and a discontented Germany, countries were reluctant to limit their arms; especially France, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Japan’s invasion of Manchuria undermined the idea of collective security.