Disarmament

Question 1

Positive aspects of the Washington Naval Agreements (Nov 1921 to Feb 1922)

Answer 1

1) prevented a financially crippling arms race
2) first significant arms control treaty signed
3) navies of great powers were limited
4) a clash between the major powers in the Far East had been avoided
5) Anglo-Japanese alliance had been replaced with a broader agreement

Question 2

What according to Goldstein brought the end to the Washington agreements?

Answer 2

Japanese bid for hegemony after 10 years

Question 3

What did the British do in order to appease the French because they had been branded as a second rate power with a smaller navy?

Answer 3

Allowed to build some light ships and submarines

Question 4

Reasons for the Washington Naval Agreement

Answer 4

• expensive (Congress, inflation in Japan, Britain had not yet recovered after the war)
• becoming obsolete (air power)
• control the growing influence of Japan and maintain parity with the US

Question 5

Geneva Protocol 1925

Answer 5

Proposed by Ramsey Macdonald (Labour party). Strengthen the powers of the League, after its failure in Corfu and Dawes plan tensions, by having member of the League come to the help of any state on the same continent that was attacked. Vetoes by Austen Chamberlain (Conservative party).

Question 6

Austen Chamberlain vetoes the Geneva Protocol and consequence

Answer 6

March 1925; self-interests of a nation>collective security and greater powers of the League

Question 7

What did Japan continue building after the Washington conference?

Answer 7

Destroyers, submarines and cruisers

Question 8

Result of the 1927 Geneva Naval Conference

Answer 8

Failure; US starts a naval building program (15 cruisers and an aircraft carrier)

Question 9

Kellog-Briand Pact 1928

Answer 9

Signed by 15 states in 1928 and further 50 by 1933
Just a statement of good intentions as already in the 30s 3 countries that had signed it (Italy, Japan and Germany) took to violence and war to solve their disputes
Formally renounced war as an instrument of national policy. Created a climate of security that should have fostered disarmament.
Agreed to allow commissions of enquiry to study international disputes and refer to the Permanent Court of International Justice.