The Treaties for the Limitation of Naval Armament were numerous accords in the 1920s signed variously by the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Italy and France. The treaties were an outgrowth of the

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, DC from November 12, 1921 to February 6, 1922. It was conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations. It was attended by nine ...

, held by the US in 1921–22. One of the treaties, known as the

Four Power Act The was a treaty signed by the United States, Great Britain, France and Japan at the Washington Naval Conference on 13 December 1921. It was partly a follow-on to the Lansing-Ishii Treaty, signed between the U.S. and Japan. This was a treaty ...

(1921), provided that the US, UK, Japan and France would help maintain peace in the Pacific Ocean, while another, the

Washington Naval Treaty The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was a treaty signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Washington Nav ...

(1922), also known as the Five Power Treaty, stipulated that the US, UK and Japan would build ships in a 5:5:3 ratio. This was originally proposed by American Secretary of State

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...

, and was rejected by the Japanese. Tokyo agreed, however, when a provision was added forbidding the US and UK to fortify their Pacific island possessions, but allowing Japan to do so. A third treaty, the

Nine Power Treaty The Nine-Power Treaty (Japanese: or Nine-Power Agreement () was a 1922 treaty affirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of China as per the Open Door Policy. The Nine-Power Treaty was signed on 6 February 1922 by all o ...

(1922), emphasized maintaining an

Open Door Policy The Open Door Policy () is the United States diplomatic policy established in the late 19th and early 20th century that called for a system of equal trade and investment and to guarantee the territorial integrity of Qing China. The policy wa ...

in China.

Impetus

Following the unprecedented carnage – and expense – of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the popular mood throughout the globe was peace and disarmament, which reigned throughout the 1920s. At the end of the Great War, Britain still had the largest navy afloat but its big ships were becoming obsolete, and the Americans and Japanese were rapidly building expensive new warships. London and Tokyo were allies in a treaty that was due to expire in 1922 but a developing American-Japanese rivalry for control of the Pacific Ocean was a long-term threat to world peace. London realized it had best cast its lot with Washington rather than Tokyo. To stop a needless, expensive and possibly dangerous arms race, the major countries signed a series of naval disarmament agreements.

Washington Naval Conference

The most important gathering was the

, sponsored by President

Warren Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. ...

and run by Secretary of State

. Harding demanded action in order to gain domestic political credit. It came about in the form of the

Of 1922.

Washington Naval Treaty

To resolve technical disputes about the quality of warships, the conferees adopted a quantitative standard, based on tonnage displacement (a simple measure of the size of a ship). A ten-year agreement fixed the ratio of battleships at 5:5:3—that is 525,000 tons for the USA, 525,000 tons for Britain, and 315,000 tons for Japan. The dominant weapons systems of the era—battleships—could be no larger than 35,000 tons. The major powers allowed themselves 135,000:135,000:81,000 tons for developing aircraft carriers, a new form of warship. The Washington Conference avoided an expensive buildup by each power worrying the other two might be getting too powerful. The agreements forced the US to scrap 15 old battleships and two new ones, along with 13 ships under construction. Britain had to scrap ships too—indeed, more warships were “lost at Washington” than at any battle in history.Christopher Bell, ''The Royal Navy, seapower and strategy between the wars.'' (Springer, 2000).

References

{{reflist

External links

Australian Treaty Series No. 15: Treaty for the Limitation of Naval Armament, Protocol of Signature, and Additional Protocol
Arms control treaties Treaties of the United States Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922) Treaties of the French Third Republic Treaties concluded in 1922 Treaties of the Empire of Japan

Impetus

Washington Naval Conference

Washington Naval Treaty

See also

References

Further reading

External links