Open Access
American Research Journal of History and Culture
ISSN (Online): 2379-2914
DOI: 10.46568/arjhc
Road to Infamy: Interwar Pacific Under the Washington Naval Treaty
Abstract
As Japanese expansionist policies toward mainland China threatened the “Open Door Policy” in early
20th century, United States’ decade-long determination to defend its overseas economic interests across the
Pacific put the two nations in a trajectory of conflict.
At the dawn of a Pacific arms race, the Washington Naval Conference of 1921 brought nine nations to discuss
interests in the Pacific and naval disarmament. The resulting Washington Naval Treaty was a diplomatic triumph
in that it successfully halted naval buildup and mitigated rising animosity. Yet the treaty did not resolve the root
cause of conflict. Anglo-American reluctance to back the treaty with naval presence in the Pacific failed to check
continued Japanese aggression and ultimately led to the tragedy at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
