British Governments' Disarmament and International Harmony During the 1920's

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British Governments' Disarmament and International Harmony During the 1920's During the 1920's the British Governments actively sought to promote disarmament and international harmony through their policies and relations with various countries. The different Prime ministers and parties had different approaches but all wanted to reach the same target. They all wished to resolve any problems that had occurred as a result of the First World War and wished to avoid another one and the best way to do this was to promote disarmament and international harmony and relationships. From 1919-1921 David Lloyd George pursued an active foreign policy establishing relations with the USSR and wishing to appease Germany. Lloyd's successor's conduct of foreign policy during the 1920's was far less dynamic and aggressive. The primary aims of Prime ministers Bonar Law (1922-1923), Stanley Baldwin (1923-1924 and 1924-1929) and Ramsey MacDonald (1924-1924 and 1929-1931) were to establish tranquillity. They reflected the British public opinion of being more concerned with financial and economic problems at home and reflecting adventurism abroad. All three hoped for a passive and cheap foreign policy. The main tactics taken to establish international harmony and disarmament were with a variety of diplomatic pacts, agreements and financial plans. The aim of creating international harmony had to be tackled in several ways and with different countries. During the 1920's the British Government made several agreements and pacts with both the USSR and Germany in an attempt to establish better relationships and therefore creating international harmony. In 1919 t... ... middle of paper ... ... diplomatic negotiations throughout the decade resolving issues where possible. Although Britain were involved in a variety of issues throughout the world they were primarily concerned with protecting their own security and improving trade. Most issues that threatened international harmony that Britain resolved also benefited Britain in one way or another. The success of disarmament is also difficult to judge as countries were still very distrustful of each other and were not completely honest. Disarmament would have been the key factor in creating international harmony but was not as successful as the British Government hoped. Throughout the 1920's there was little threat of war or military action throughout the world so to some extent the British Government must have been successful in creating international harmony.

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