Washington Naval Conference - Definition and Overview

The Washington Naval Conference was a diplomatic conference held in Washington, D.C. in 1921 and 1922. Held outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations having interests in the Pacific Ocean and East Asia. Soviet Russia was not invited to the conference. It was the first international conference held in the United States and the first disarmament conference in history.

It resulted in the conclusion of the Four-Power Treaty, Five-Power Treaty and the Nine-Power Treaty. These treaties preserved peace during the 1920s but are also credited with establishing the rise of the Japanese Empire as a naval power leading up to World War II.

See also

• Washington Naval Treaty