Enforcement of the Provisions of the Treaty of Versailles

1. Enforcement of the Provisions of the Treaty of Versailles (Problems with it and what not)

2. U.S. Isolationism • After the war it returned to its isolationism and did not want to intervene outside its own areas of interest • The United States never accepted the Treaty of Versailles because the Senate did not agree with Article X • The United States did not approve of the Anglo-American Guarantee which was a measure of protection for France if Germany was to attack again • The United States had partaken in isolationism at many other points in history

3. Retreat from Anglo-American Guarantee • Security was very important to France, who was very afraid of another attack from Germany once Germany regained its strength • The Anglo-French agreement was signed on the 28 of June 1919 • The United States Senate did not accept the Anglo-American Guarantee, causing Britain to withdraw from the agreement also and giving France no guaranteed no military support

4. The Washington Conference-1921-1922 • It was the most successful of the disarmament conferences • Main accomplishment was agreement on 5:5:3 ratio • 525,000 tons for the USA, 525,000 tons for Britain, and 315,000 tons for Japan of battleships • Led to an effective end to building new battleship fleets. Numbers of existing capital ships were scrapped. Some ships under construction were turned into aircraft carriers instead • 1927-1930 race to build cruisers that were limited in size but not number

5. London Naval Conferences-1930/1935 • 1930-Changed ratio to 10:10:7 • 1935-Japan sought naval parity with the U.S. and Britain but was denied • Japan and Italy walked out, but Britain, the U.S., and France reached an agreement • All five powers were constructing vessels violating the agreements by 1938

6. The Geneva Conference-1932 • There was an increased demand to revise the Paris Peace Settlement because a number of crises had occurred in the last few years • The United states wanted the elimination of offensive weapons • France was worried about German regaining its strength and so it did not want to reduce its military spending unless it got a guaranteed agreement with the other major powers to support France • Germany wanted the major powers to either reduce their military spending to Germanys level or Germany should be allowed to increase its military spending to their level • Germany left then rejoined the conference in 1933 by which time Adolf Hitler was chancellor