By: Alberto Lopez Brandon Alvarado

Alyssa SecretoDemi Caceres

Disarmament: the reduction or limitation of the size, equipment, armament, etc., of the army, navy, or air force of a country.

In 1921, Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes called for a naval conference in Washington to address the armaments race that many had seen as an underlying cause of the First World War

This was the first of many steps taken internationally to try to prevent the outbreak of more wars.

The most important such effort was the he Washington Naval Conference which convened in November 1921.

It was an attempt to prevent what was threatening to become a costly and destabilizing naval armaments race between America, Japan, and Britain.

In the opening address Secretary Hughes gave a candid speech in which he declared that “the way to this arm is to disarm,” and that the time to begin was immediately.

At the meeting, he proposed a 10 year holiday in the construction of capital ships—battleships and heavy cruisers—and he also recommended the scrapping of other ships.

The pressure for disarmament was such that an agreement was finally reached which would limit the ratio of capital ships among the five major powers: the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan.

The Five-Power Pact of February 1922 placed a limitation on the numbers and sizes of major warships, although it did not affect smaller vessels such as destroyers, submarines and cruisers.

It remained effective until 1936. The Washington Conference also produced two other, related

treaties: ∆ The Nine-Power Pact: pledge a continuation of the Open Door

policy in China∆ The Four-Power Pact: the U.S., Japan, Britain, and France promised

to respect one another’s Pacific territories and cooperate to prevent aggression.

The Washington Conference began the New Era effort to protect the peace without accepting active international duties.

Dawes Plan: due to European powers stalemating over German reparations, the

Reparation Commission struck a committee to review the situation. proposed in April 1924 by the committee headed by Chicago banker

Charles G. Dawes a negotiation between Germany and the United States that allowed

Germany’s annual reparation payment reduced, but increasing over time as its economy improved

as a result of this plan, the Reichsmark, a new currency, was adopted due to the economic policy making in Berlin

the Ruhr was evacuated and foreign banks would loan the German government $200 million to encourage economic stabilization

American financier J.P. Morgan floated the loan on the U.S. market so the U.S. banks continued to lend Germany enough money to meet its reparation payments to France and the United Kingdom

France and the United Kingdom used the reparation payments from Germany to service their war debts to the United States.

The Young Plan: to devise a final settlement of the German reparations

problem, a committee of experts was formed in 1928 headed by the head of General Electric and a member of

the Dawes committee Owen D. Young a plan proposed to reduce the total amount of reparations

demanded of Germany to 121 billion gold marks, almost $29 billion, payable over 58 years

it also called for the establishment of a Bank for International Settlements, designed to facilitate the payment of reparations

the advent of the Great Depression doomed the Young Plan from the start as the U.S. loans dried up and Germany’s economy floundered

At the Lausanne Conference, European nations agreed to cancel their reparation claims against Germany but the United States denied their proposal

Mexico: In 1917, Mexico adopted a new constitution that signaled

radical change in relations with other nations especially the US.

During the Harding administration, Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes publicly voiced concern about the instability of Mexico and the threat they posed, due to their rise in social reform.

During the Coolidge Administration, in response to Mexico still honoring foreign ownerships set before their new constitution, the US responded by extending formal diplomatic relations with Mexico.

When Plutarco Calles became Mexico’s President in 1924 he announced his intention to advance Mexico’s interests in land reforms, anticlerical legislation to Catholics, and the governing of the nations natural resources

The US’s reaction was immediate due to the controversy with Catholic officials and many businesses in the oil business and it was the US’s goal to protect American lives and property at all costs.

Due to the US’s reaction to Mexico, they enacted a:∆ Petroleum law that limited foreign “concessions”. ∆ Land Law that placed limitations on foreign land ownership.

After this, Anti-Mexican feelings grew in the US but after the assassination of Obregon in 1928 relations began to curtail due to no more influence from Obregon and his Bolshevik influence.

Also because of Dwight Morrow helping negotiate a new agreement.

Latin America: Around 1924 the US began to deepen its involvement

w/ Latin America by excising a form of financial control in 10 Nations.

Through the Coolidge Administration other than financially supporting nations they also helped settle border disputes between nations.

Coolidge during the 20s ordered American marines to Nicaragua to help prevent revolt from opposition groups and establish a national election in 1928.

During this time American policies in Latin America were in some way similar to those of others elsewhere.

Through the many actions of the US in Latin America, it allowed for them to become more independent.

US troops stayed in Nicaragua until 1933.

Also known as the Pact of Paris Drafted By France and the United States and signed by

fifteen nations on August 27, 1928 By 1933 sixty-five nations had pledged to observe its

provisions Was a message addressed by the French Minister, Aristide

Briand to the U.S. At first message was ignored, but then taken under

consideration after great support from leaders in the peace movement such as Butler.

The agreement was at first only between France and the U.S and the draft written by Briand declared that they both renounced war “as an instrument of their national policy towards each other” and declared that all conflicts between the two nations would be settled by “pacific means”

Secretary of State frank b. Kellogg and other officials in the U.S. State Department did not like this because it could amount to an indirect alliance that would deprive the United States of the freedom to act if France were to go to war with another country.

U.S. officials preferred to expand the agreement into a multilateral treaty involving all the world powers except Russia.

After it was finalized, it was viewed as a great effort to the cause of international peace.

In 1929 Kellogg received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the treaty. 

Unfortunately, the treaty was ineffective because it provided for no means of enforcement or sanctions against parties who violated its provisions. It also did not address the issues of what constituted self-defense and when self-defense could lawfully be claimed.

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