Political choices help explain why the escort exemption went unused. American isolationism weakened the League of Nations and other institutions meant to support the treaty order. Japan increasingly saw the postwar settlement as denying it the rewards of victory, while Germany and Italy pursued revisionist ambitions of their own. Governments that assumed the First World War had taught every power the same aversion to conflict underestimated the need for practical maritime readiness.
Notable Point · 27:04-28:58
False security after the First World War
Faith that other states shared the victors' horror of another war discouraged investment even as Japan, Germany, and Italy challenged the postwar settlement.