Treaty for the Limitation of Naval Armament

The Treaties for the Limitation of Naval Armament were numerous accords in the 1920s signed variously by the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Italy and France. The treaties were an outgrowth of the Washington Naval Conference, held by the US in 1921–22.

One of the treaties, known as the Four Power Act (1921), provided that the US, UK, Japan and France would help maintain peace in the Pacific Ocean, while another, the Washington Naval Treaty (1922), also known as the Five Power Treaty, stipulated that the US, UK and Japan would build ships in a 5:5:3 ratio. This was originally proposed by American Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, and was rejected by the Japanese. Tokyo agreed, however, when a provision was added forbidding the US and UK to fortify their Pacific island possessions, but allowing Japan to do so. A third treaty, the Nine Power Treaty (1922), emphasized maintaining an Open Door Policy in China.^[1]