Geneva Disarmament Conference (1927)
The Geneva Disarmament Conference occurred in February 1927 in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the naval arms limitation. The countries that had previously signed the Washington Treaty were invited, but only the United States of America, Britain, and Japan accepted the invitation, not France and Italy. The conference was a failure because the USA did not want Britain the have what she requested, 70 cruisers, a total of 560,000 tons of displacement, and Japan did not want to have a fleet less then 70% the size of the USA.
Facts
- Great Britain and Japan sought to strengthen their navies, concentrating on the construction of cruisers, submarines, destroyers, and smaller vessles
- The participants showed a certain detachment in the conference by sending second-rank diplomats and the talks lacked the initiative that had been put forth by Charles Evans Hughes in Washington in 1921
- The US sought to extend the 5:5:3 ratio by going from capital ships to lesser vessels. The British and Japanese agreed but then stated specific circumstances in which they could be exempted from the proposal. The talks were stretched over nearly six weeks during which tensions rose among the former Allies. In August, the talks were suspended without reaching an agreement.
- The US Navy read the failure in the Geneva as a need to resume the naval construction so that further arms limitation could be accomplished
- The participants showed a certain detachment in the conference by sending second-rank diplomats and the talks lacked the initiative that had been put forth by Charles Evans Hughes in Washington in 1921
- The US sought to extend the 5:5:3 ratio by going from capital ships to lesser vessels. The British and Japanese agreed but then stated specific circumstances in which they could be exempted from the proposal. The talks were stretched over nearly six weeks during which tensions rose among the former Allies. In August, the talks were suspended without reaching an agreement.
- The US Navy read the failure in the Geneva as a need to resume the naval construction so that further arms limitation could be accomplished
Sources
- Evans, David & Peattie, Mark. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1997. ISBN 0-87021-192-7
- Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery. Macmillan, London, 1983. ISBN 0-333-35094-4
- Marriot, Leo. Treaty Cruisers: The First International Warship Building Competition. Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2005. ISBN 1-84415-188-3
- Potter, E (Editor). Sea Power: A Naval History, 2nd Ed. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1981. ISBN 0-87021-607-4