Explain Why Disarmament Failed in the 1930s

326 Words2 Pages
A primary reason for disarmament failing in the 1930s was quite simply that disarmament had always been very difficult. In any sort of situation, a country is highly unlikely to abandon their arms and thus be defenceless to a possible attack. However this was not just any situation; the world was in the middle of large depression and political relations between countries were at an all-time low. The Disarmament Conference of February 1932, which was the League’s attempt at dealing with disarmament, was doomed from the start. The Disarmament Conference was also majorly hindered by the disagreements of Britain and France. By 1933 many British people felt that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair. In fact, to the dismay of the French, the British signed an agreement with Germany in 1935 that allowed Germany to build up its navy as long as it stayed under 35 per cent of the size of the British navy. Britain did not consult either its allies or the League about this, although it was in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. This certainly suggests that countries were more concerned with themselves rather than acting in the interests of the League, which thus made the diplomatic struggle of disarmament practically impossible. Another key reason as to why disarmament failed was the installation of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party into power within Germany. As soon as he became Chancellor in February 1933, Hitler immediately started re-arming Germany. While this was mostly kept secret at first, it soon became clear that Germany was once again becoming a major military power. This caused other countries to start re-arming themselves. Against this background the Disarmament Conference struggled on for another year, but in an atmosphere of increasing futility. It finally ended in 1934. This effectively marked the end of all attempts of rearmament in the 1930s; countries
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