Chapter 1358 Navy Proportions
At nine o'clock in the morning, the meeting officially started.
The main point of dispute at this London Naval Conference is not in Europe. Instead, the game between the United Kingdom and East Africa, the United States, and Japan is relatively intense.
In Europe, Germany and Austria-Hungary did not pay much attention to their navies due to their poor performance in World War I.
After all, the development of the German navy before the war was deeply influenced by William II. Before William II, Germany had never been a country that valued sea power. However, during World War I, even though the German navy was the second largest in the world, it was It is also impossible to break through the geographical restrictions. In this way, even if William II is not enlightened, he will no longer blindly pursue the dream of a large navy. This is a cost-effective issue.
As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was never a sea power from the beginning to the end. Even in the latest naval competition, its navy was not taken seriously, and its naval plan was the most conservative among the great powers.
As for France, the United Kingdom supports France to vigorously develop its navy to a certain extent. With the "friendship" forged in World War I, at least the contradiction between Britain and France has been resolved by Germany to a certain extent.
In addition, the United Kingdom also hopes to continue to cooperate with France to confront new maritime powers such as East Africa, the United States, and Japan, and thereby stabilize the old international order. After all, Britain and France are the beneficiaries under the old international order.
Finally, France's national power is no longer able to support France in playing a more active role in maritime policy, so the British know very well that even if they do not impose restrictions on the French navy, France can only play a supporting rather than a leading role in the cooperation between the two countries. .
Therefore, British Prime Minister David spoke at the meeting: "The lessons of the world war tell us that the expansion of the navies of various countries and military competition have caused great harm to Europe and world peace."
"Countries around the world should reduce the size of their navies and stop building new warships to avoid a new round of naval competition. We in the UK are willing to set an example and stop unrestricted and unreasonable competition in the naval field."
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"Countries around the world should also formulate corresponding naval development strategies based on their own national conditions and the needs of international social stability."
"For example, Germany and Austria-Hungary have their main maritime interests in the Baltic Sea and the Adriatic Sea. Therefore, the navies of the two countries should not be built with blind plans that exceed their own needs from the beginning. In this regard, Austria-Hungary The Empire is doing great.”
"As the leader and defender of the world's maritime order, the United Kingdom is itself a maritime country and has a large amount of overseas territory and interests. It should have the largest proportion of the navy."
"The same is true for France. France has always been an important naval power in the world. At the same time, it has rich maritime resources and interests that need to be maintained. It plays an important role in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and other waters, so our two countries should occupy the first and second place in Europe. naval proportions.”
Here, Prime Minister David specifically put the UK in the world and Europe for his argument, which means that the number one in Europe is the number one in the world, and it also refers to the unshakable position of the Royal Navy in the world.
As for France, even if the United Kingdom wants to support the French navy to become the second largest navy in the world, France does not have the ability to do so, so it can only be the second largest navy in Europe.
As Prime Minister David's first speech ended, other countries focused their attention on the representatives of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Unfortunately, we did not see negative emotions such as "anger" and "unwillingness" from the representatives of the two countries, which gave other countries, especially Japan and the United States, a bad feeling.
Countries that had participated in two secret peace conferences before had already made plans for this, and naturally they would not criticize the British plan.
British Prime Minister David was very satisfied with the response of representatives from various countries. He went on to say: "In addition, there is only one big country in Europe, that is, Russia, which cannot be implemented for the time being. However, we all know that the suppression and blockade of Russia are the responsibility of those here. The basic tasks and responsibilities of each country, but this is not the main content of this meeting. We will have a special meeting to discuss the Russian issue later.”
"Next, what we want to focus on is issues related to the development of navies in countries outside Europe."
"Since Europe has expressed its attitude and imposed restrictions on naval development, countries outside Europe should also make positive contributions to world peace and stability."
"So..." Prime Minister David said clearly: "East Africa, the United States, Japan and other countries should also restrict their navies and return them to normal levels. I wonder what you three countries think?"
The United States and Japan are naturally not willing to reduce the size of their navies easily, so the representatives of the two countries naturally want to bargain to obtain a good condition.
However, at this time, the East African representatives began to cooperate tacitly with the British to disrupt the situation.
General Bruce, Commander-in-Chief of the East African Navy and head of the East African delegation, said: “We in East Africa support Prime Minister David’s view. At the current stage, the unrestricted expansion and blind construction of navies around the world have caused serious damage to the world order. .”
"East Africa is willing to make concessions for world peace. However, given that East Africa is also a maritime power, our East African navy must occupy a place among the world's navies. However, we will naturally assume corresponding responsibilities."
traitor! This is the inner thought of the United States and Japan. After all, in theory, East Africa, the United States and Japan belong to the "non-European" circle, and the three countries should stick together for warmth.
Now, East Africa has proposed that it is willing to cooperate with Britain's so-called naval restriction idea, which puts the United States and Japan in a quite passive position.
After all, the world's right to speak is divided according to strength, but a very embarrassing point is that the East African Navy happens to be second or third in the world, or tied with Germany.
Since neither of the two largest naval countries in the world opposes the British proposal, other countries will only be more passive. After all, this is equivalent to the world's top three naval powers reaching a unified opinion.
Especially the United States. In fact, the strength of the U.S. Navy is not much worse than that of Germany or East Africa, at least in terms of naval size, but this cannot change the reality that the U.S. Navy currently ranks fourth.
Americans know very well that first of all, Britain will definitely get the largest share of the world's navy. There is no doubt about it. Then the main competitors of the United States are Germany and East Africa. However, Germany has obviously withdrawn from the competition at the naval level. Then America's competitor has become East Africa.
However, the current behavior of the East Africans clearly indicates that they have reached some kind of tacit agreement with the United Kingdom, which makes the American representatives very uneasy.
U.S. Secretary of State Henry had to stand up and say: "Prime Minister David, we in the United States naturally support restraining the blind development and expansion of the navy, but as a two-ocean country and a major world trade power, our interests must be effectively protected."
Obviously, the major European countries, with the exception of Russia, have reached some kind of ulterior agreement with East Africa. The consensus reached between Britain, France, Germany, Austria and East Africa is obviously not what the United States wants. It can compete, at least on the surface.
As a result, the United States cannot stubbornly confront the "international community" and can only safeguard its own interests to the maximum extent.
Prime Minister David said: "This is natural. The United States, like East Africa, plays an important role in international maritime affairs."
By putting the United States and East Africa together, the British naturally hope to balance the naval power of the two countries, thereby reducing the burden and pressure on the British. This has always been the British usual method, and this also means that the British tend to favor the United States in naval power. To achieve a balance between China and East Africa, of course, there is a very important prerequisite for this, that is, it cannot threaten the status of the Royal Navy.
Prime Minister David's words soothed the Americans, causing US Secretary of State Henry to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, although Secretary Henry breathed a sigh of relief, deep down he was very dissatisfied with Britain. After all, the United States and Britain were "brothers" in the trenches. As a result, Britain chose to cooperate secretly with East Africa. Although Secretary Henry has no concrete evidence, we can get a glimpse of it from the performance of European countries and East Africa. These major countries appeared to be too "harmonious" at the meeting.
Fortunately, the result is good. Since Prime Minister David has said that the United States and East Africa are equally important, the United States should have the same division of naval shares.
This is a position that the United States is both satisfied with but not very satisfied with. From an objective point of view, it is true that the size of the East African navy is slightly stronger than that of the United States. Therefore, the United States is allocated the same proportion as East Africa, and the United States even takes a slight advantage.
However, the United States certainly does not see it that way. If East Africa is replaced by France, Germany and the United States will not feel uncomfortable. But what kind of country is East Africa?
The history of East Africa is not even comparable to that of the United States. In front of East Africa, the Americans can even call themselves an "ancient civilization."
Europe uniformly classifies the United States and East Africa as "nouveau riche", but for the United States, East Africa is the real "nouveau riche." Therefore, from a historical perspective, when the United States faces East Africa, European countries face the rest of the world. That kind of mentality, that is, the feeling of being superior to others.
However, now that the United States considers itself "higher than East Africa", the British have downplayed it and placed it on the same level as East Africa. This will naturally cause dissatisfaction in the hearts of Americans.
However, it is undeniable that East Africa is indeed at the same level as the United States in terms of strength, so Secretary Henry is dissatisfied and cannot speak out on the table, which makes him uncomfortable.
However, Japan is even more uncomfortable than the United States.
Prime Minister David said: "On behalf of Japan, you are the only one who has not expressed your position. Whether Japan is willing to make corresponding contributions to world peace and support the recommendations of the international community."
Japanese representative Kato Tomosaburo said with a somewhat embarrassed expression: "Of course, but we, Japan, are an island country like the United Kingdom, and have many practical interests that need to be maintained in the East Asian waters, so the Imperial Navy cannot be abolished too much."
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Japan is naturally the country that least wants to reduce the size of its navy. After all, Japan has embarked on the path of militarism. Without strong ships and artillery, how can it achieve the empire's goal of invading other regions?
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Prime Minister David said: "Japan does not need to worry too much. Japan is an important force in East Asian waters, so we in the UK support the Japanese navy in keeping it within a reasonable scale and playing a stabilizing role in East Asia."
The British plan is simple, that is, Japan must have sufficient military power to check the expansion of the United States and East Africa in the Pacific.
Although the interests in the Far East are huge, Britain knows very well that it is now unable to protect Britain's interests in the Far East. At this time, it needs to support an ally that is not too strong and not too weak.
As for these two allies, the British government has already made plans. In addition to France, the second one is Japan. France also has interests in the Far East, and faces the same situation as Britain, which is beyond its reach.
Therefore, Britain and France can definitely stay together in the Far East, but this is not enough. Due to geographical reasons, even Britain and France together cannot compete with East Africa and the United States.
The UK naturally does not want East Africa and the United States to go further in the Far East and gain greater benefits, so it might as well take advantage of Japan, a member of the Far East.
Moreover, Britain itself has a great influence on Japan, which to a certain extent also makes Britain think that it can control Japan.
The reality is that Japan may be dissatisfied with the British, but it does need to rely on British power to deal with pressure from East Africa and the United States, especially the United States.
At this stage, it can be said that Britain and Japan each get what they need and work together. In the presence of the two major enemies in East Africa and the United States, they can be "united" together.
Prime Minister David's promise also made Tomosaburo Kato feel happy, which shows that Britain supports Japan. This is very important. After all, Britain is still the world's most powerful country in terms of overall strength.
Moreover, Japan itself is in a very awkward position participating in this meeting. Among the countries present, except for "skewers" like East Africa, all are white.
This makes Japan stand out from the crowd, so Japan is even more eager for Britain's support for Japan.
After Prime Minister David finished his speech, representatives from various countries began to speak in turn, and the content of the first round of speeches was also very clear, that is, they focused on mentioning their country's maritime rights and interests and the need to maintain the size of its navy. After all, this is what matters next. The basis of "dividing fruits into fruits" does not allow people from various countries to be careless.
Even Germany and Austria-Hungary, which have relatively weak needs in this area, are doing their best to argue with reason. After all, no one is willing to give up these rights if they can retain more naval power.
January 22, 1920.
The second round of meetings began, and the content of this meeting truly determined the shape of the post-war world naval structure.
After paving the way for the previous round of meetings, countries at this meeting launched more intense debates in subdivided areas.
In addition to the proportion of the navy, it is specific to issues such as the construction and dismantling of main battleships, and even specific to a specific warship, but it is mainly concentrated on main battleships, that is, battleships, cruisers and other combat ships.
As a result of the final meeting, the United Kingdom ranked first in the world, followed by East Africa, tied with the United States in the second echelon, France and Japan in the third echelon, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Spain in the fourth echelon.
According to the ratio, it is 6:3:3:2.5:2.5:1.25:1.25:1.25.
In this way, after the war, the size of the British navy was the sum of East Africa and the United States respectively, continuing to maintain the British two-power standard. At the same time, the British would increase the naval ceilings of France and Japan, two potential allies, as much as possible, so that it could cooperate with the Royal Navy. global strategy to counterbalance countries such as East Africa, the United States, Germany and Austria-Hungary.
However, this London Naval Conference only involves the main warships of each country, which is the same as the previous Washington Naval Conference.
Regarding the main battleships, the proportion of aircraft carriers is different from the previous life. Thanks to East Africa's struggle, East Africa has obtained the largest aircraft carrier construction authority. Of course, the same is true for the United Kingdom and the United States. In this way, the United Kingdom, the United States and East Africa have the largest proportion of aircraft carriers. It's tied for first place in the world.
However, the United Kingdom and the United States mainly want to follow up on East African policies to achieve a balance, rather than really attaching too much importance to the role of aircraft carriers. At least at the current stage, the status of battleships certainly cannot be shaken.
In addition to the London Naval Conference, a European Army Conference was also held in Paris at the same time. This conference is not worthy of East Africa's attention.
After all, no matter how many armies there are in East Africa, they cannot affect the military balance in Europe. For the same reason, the United States, Japan and other countries outside Europe do not need to participate in this meeting.
The main focus of the European Army Conference is actually the affairs between the three continental European countries of Germany, France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As an island country, the United Kingdom, although it is also a European country, does not pay much attention to it. As long as a new army can be formed on the European continent, The balance is enough.
(End of chapter)