The End in the Pacific

Abstract

Preparations for the London Naval Conference of 1936 were very different from the negotiations which had preceded the previous naval conferences. The date and the agenda of the impending Conference were fixed by treaty, so that governmental attention was focused upon it long in advance. The major difference, though, lay not in the fact or the nature of the preparations, but the political background against which they took place. By 1933-4, it had become clear that the high tide of disarmament was receding. The General Disarmament Conference had failed, and the threats to British and American security had increased. In both countries, the Governments were forced to accept the need for some rearmament; and the economic situation had improved enough to permit a limited increase in defence spending.