Background
In the aftermath of World War I, the United Kingdom had the world's largest and most powerful navy, followed by the United States and more distantly by Japan. The three nations had been allied in the First World War, but a naval arms race appeared to be beginning in the next few years. This arms race began in the US. The Wilson administration announced successive plans for the expansion of the US Navy in 1916 and 1919 that, if completed, would result in a massive fleet of 50 modern battleships; currently it was engaged in building six battleships and six battlecruisers.
In response, the Japanese parliament finally authorised construction of warships to enable the Japanese Navy to reach its target of an "eight-eight" fleet programme, with total of sixteen modern battleships and battlecruisers. To this end, the Japanese started work on four battleships and four battlecruisers, all much larger and more powerful than the preceding classes.
While the British Royal Navy retained numerical superiority prior to the treaty, most of its ships were old and deteriorated from battle after heavy use in the War; very few matched the new US or Japanese designs. In the 1921 Naval Estimates, the British planned four battleships and four battlecruisers, with another four battleships to follow the subsequent year.
This arms race was widely unwelcome. The US Congress in fact voted down Wilson's 1919 plan, and in the 1920 presidential election, US politics resumed the prewar isolationist tone, with little support for continued naval expansion. Britain could ill afford any resumption of battleship construction, given the £84 million price-tag of naval construction.
In late 1921, the US became aware that Britain was planning to call a conference to discuss the strategic situation in the Pacific and Far East. To forestall this British move and to satisfy domestic pressure for a global disarmament conference, the Harding administration called the Washington Naval Conference in November 1921.
Read more about this topic: Washington Naval Treaty
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