Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:54:19-2:55:18

The Washington Treaty as a mixed British bargain

The treaty made limited short-term sense but constrained the shipbuilding and industrial renewal Britain later needed before the Second World War.

Interwar PeriodNaval StrategyRoyal NavyShipbuildingWashington Naval Treaty
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Question

Was signing the Washington Naval Treaty a major strategic mistake for the British Empire?

Short answer

It was a mixed bargain: defensible in the short term, but damaging over time because it restricted fleet replacement and the use of naval construction to sustain industry through recession.

Notes

The Washington Naval Treaty is judged to have made limited strategic sense when signed, while creating longer-term problems for Britain. The criticism focuses on restrictions on replacing the fleet and investing in its supporting infrastructure. Without those restrictions, naval construction could have been used more freely as economic stimulus during recession. A substantially different Royal Navy by 1939 is the counterfactual outcome proposed here.