The Evolution of British Disarmament Policy in the 1920's

This study is concerned with the formulation and implementation of disarmament policy under the Baldwin government arising out of the Treaty of Versailles and the Covenant of the League of Nations in 1919. Despite the preoccupation with the problem by world leaders for 15 years until the breakdown of the Geneva Disarmament Conference in 1934, the author suggests that the Conservative government of 1924-1929, and the national government of 1931-1935, despite making public commitment to a policy of disarmament, nevertheless significantly failed to grasp either the intricacies or importance of disarmament and were less than whole-hearted in their commitment to resolving the problem. He suggests Britain's policy was one of procrastination bordering on duplicity. The book is based on extensive material in the public records and the private papers of leading members of the foreign policy-making elite at the time.