İKİ DÜNYA SAVAŞI ARASI DÖNEMDE SİLAHSIZLANMA YOLUNDA ÖNEMLİ BİR ADIM: WASHİNGTON

The Washington Naval Conference was the result of various developments emerged in Far East and Pacific while the First World War was going on and after the end of it. While the First World War was continuing, by benefiting from the fact that great powers engaged with the war, Japan captured the certain parts of the Far East and it attained political and economic influence particularly on China. On exerting this influence, Japan was taking heart from a treaty of alliance signed with England in 1902. Japan’s this expansionist policy led to the fast growing armament rivalry between USA and Japan in Pacific after USA involved into the war in 1917 and this brought considerable burden to the economies of the both parties. Through the suggestion of USA, by holding a conference in Washington that major countries would attend, it was aimed at both putting an end to armament rivalry and clearing up the problems in Far East. At the Washington Naval Conference held between 12 November 1921 and 6 February 1922, two distinct issues; namely “the Restriction of Naval Weapons” and “the Matter of Far East Concerning China” were debated. These issues brought up in different sessions in the manner of one inside the other. While USA, England, France, Italy and Japan participated to the negotiations of the naval weapon detections; USA, England, China, France, Belgium, Italy, Japan, Portuguese and the Netherland attended to the negotiations dealing with the matter of Far East. Thus, Anglo-Japanese Alliance lasting for four years since 1902 was concluded by “FourPower Treaty” and by the treaty gone down in history as “Nine-Power Treaty” territorial and administrative integrity of China were recognized by other countries and it was given as a commitment that every foreign country which had interest in Asia would have equal economic and commercial right. By the signing of “the Washington Naval Conference” on 6 February 1922, the number and the ratio of the navy vessels and aircraft carriers were determined. The main aim of this study is to unveil the reality that the expectations on the Washington Naval Conference could not be reached. Specifically the limitations on the tonnage and quantity of the big warships directed the parties to built smaller ships like cruisers and destroyers and this tendency would caused a new arms race that endangers the world peace. Additionally, in Japan after forming a militarist government, SinoJapan relations entered a new conflict-laden period. Hence it became clear that Washington Naval Conference could not eradicate both the arms race in Pasific and struggle for influence in the Far East. In this study all those developments are analysed by taking into consideration initially with the press in USA and other western sources.