Washington Conference (1921-1922)

We explain what Washington’s conference was and what were the main debate issues. In addition, the treaties signed by the participating countries.

What was the Washington conference?

The Washington Conference was an international meeting held between November 1921 and February 1922 for Address the international situation of the territories of East Asia and the Pacific. It was organized in the post -war context of the First World War and was part of a series of meetings that carried out countries to establish postwar agreements and promote an international disarmament policy.

At the Washington conference representatives of the main powers of the time gathered, which had specific interests in the area: United States, France, United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, China and Japan. The initial objective was to make the signatory nations agree border delimitation and limit their own military development to reduce tensions and danger of another war.

The result of the conference was the signing of different treaties. The Treaty of the four powers established the territorial borders of the Pacific possessions and the commitment to maintain peace among the signatory countries. The treaty of the five powers established a limit on the quantity and type of war ships of each country. The treaty of the nine powers guaranteed the territorial integrity of China and its incorporation into international trade.

The historical context of the Washington Conference

The Washington Conference was held in the post -war context of World War I. The “Great War” (as it was known at that time) had been the most destructive military conflict in the history of humanity and the amount of lives it took was an unprecedented fact.

At the end of the war in 1918, The victorious powers (France, the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States) established the bases of the future of Europe During the peace conferences of Paris (1919) and then signed a series of agreements with the different countries involved in the conflict (such as the Treaty of Versailles with Germany).

In those years the idea that If all countries limit the amount of weapons available, a safer international situation would be reached For everyone. This idea was known as “disarmament policy” and is the principle that guided some of the decisions of the Versailles treaty, such as the creation of the Nations Society, an international organization that aimed to improve relations between different countries.

In addition, through specific agreements we sought to resolve the territorial conflicts that involved the different powers. In this context, Nine countries decided to meet in Washington with the objective of agreeing a series of fundamental issues for the maintenance of international peace.

The Washington Conference debates

The Washington conference integrated a series of meetings that were held between 1921 and 1922. The countries that sent representatives were the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, China and the Netherlands. The main objective was to reduce tensions between countries by the control of the Pacific territories and discuss naval disarmament.

During the meeting different ideas were proposed to reduce the war potential of the signatory countries. It was discussed, for examplethe idea of ​​stopping the production of military ships (as battle and battle cruises) or that of destroying the oldest ships. However, there were positions found on this type of measures and some countries refused to destroy their armaments.

Finally, the agreements between the different countries managed to calm the tensions. China, the United Kingdom, France and Japan recognized the limits established in their Pacific possessions and agreed to guarantee the territorial integrity of China, which recovered the Kiaochow region (which was occupied by Japan).

In addition, in the meetings it was specifically discussed how to carry out naval disarmament. The nine countries present agreed to limit their naval squad and stop the production of war ships of more than 10,000 tons for ten years.

The agreements signed at the Washington Conference

During the Washington conference different agreements between powers were signed. The most important were:

• Treaty of the four powers. It was signed by the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Japan. The signatory countries promised to guarantee stability in the Pacific Ocean and respect their possessions in the area without threatening the interests of others. In addition, they proposed that, before a conflict without diplomatic solution between the parties, any country of the treaty could call a mandatory assistance conference to resolve the conflict.
• Treaty of the five powers. It was signed by the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy. Through this treaty, limitations were imposed on the naval armaments and the tonnage of their respective squads was determined.
• Treaty of the nine powers. It was signed by the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and China. With this agreement, the nations promised to respect China’s independence and integrate it into international trade.

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References

• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2019). “Washington Conference”. Britannica Encyclopedia
  https://www.britannica.com/
• Palmowski, J. (2000). “Washington Conference”. To Dictionary of Twentieth-Century World History. Oxford University Press.
• Thomson, D. (1995). “The postwar decade.” In World History from 1914 to 1968. Economic Culture Fund.