Purpose:• Third in the series of meeting after the Washington
Conference(1921) and Conference at Geneva(1927)
aimed to reduce the naval armaments of major
powers.
• Extension of the Washington Naval Treaty
moratorium (freeze) on building capital ships for five
years.
• Regulation of conduct of submarine warfare
It was attended by the five major
naval powers: USA, France, Britain,
Italy and Japan to extend both the
duration and term of the Washington
Naval Treaty(1921-22)
Treaty agreements
• The treaty made minor revisions to the ratio of capital ships in
Washington, moving from 5:5:3 in USA and UK/Japan to
10:10:7. France and Italy refused to take part in this treaty but
agreed to the ban on ship building for five years.
• Other agreements were based on the number and size of
cruisers, destroyers and submarines a nation could possess.
• Another rule was that submarine warfare was to be tightened
and a submarine could only sink a ship when there were no
crew or passengers aboard.
• This treaty only remained in effect till 1936.
Reasons for the Failure of London Naval
Conference
• In 1935, the major powers met to re-negotiate
the London Naval Conference of 1930 which
was to be dissolved in 1936.
• The conference of 1930 was a failure as
Japan and Italy walked out.
• Japan wanted no limits on naval construction
and demanded parity with UK and US in
terms of fleet ratios and walked out of the
treaty when USA and Britain refused to
concede this.
London Naval Treaty(1936)
UK, France and US signed a treaty in 1936
known as the London Naval Treaty after all
agreements on limiting the number and size
of ships collapsed in 1936 due to German
and Japanese disarmament programs and
the increase in conflicts in the world.
The League of Nations set up a disarmament
commission in 1926 and spent the next five
years preparing for the Disarmament
conference which met in Geneva between
1932-34.The obstacle to the agreement was
the balance of military forces between France
and Germany.
France’s reaction to Conference
The French representatives at the
conference refused to adhere to any
scheme that gave them military parity with
Germany unless:- Guarantees over inspection and verification
procedures were put in first place to ensure
German adherence to any agreement).
- Additional measures such as establishment
of an international peace keeping force were
implemented.
Problems for the Geneva Conference
• In 1932 a number of devastations had occurred
as well as increasing demands to revise the
Paris peace settlements. The emergence of
depression had redces the felling of optimism
and international co-operation and increased
tension and nationalism.
• Weak nations didn’t enter into this treaty willingly
as they were worried about their security
• A big problem in this treaty was to differentiate
between offensive and defensive weapons. USA
called for the allowing of offensive weapons to
make nations feel secure.
• Another major problem for this agreement was
overlooking the fact that nations would not process
disarmament unless they fell secure. Hence, France
refused this disarmament in fear of Germany. UK
and others also disagreed.
• Germany used the conference as a way to show the
hypocrisy of other countries, Germany had been told
to disarm as per the treaty of Versailles so Germany
claimed that other countries should disarm to
German level or Germany should be allowed to rearm.
• Germany, in absence of favour of her proposal
withdrew from the conference in 1932.
Failure of Conference
• The disarmament conference broke up
without reaching any conclusion due to the
increase in tension and conflict in Europe.
• The nations would need armaments to
defend themselves and their vital interests in
these unsettled times.
• What was clear was that disarmament could
not be discussed unless the resolution of
conflict took place.