Purpose
The Washington Conference, attended by five of the World War I victors (the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan), convened to discuss reductions in naval armament, rules by which submarines and “noxious gases” would be used in warfare, and to formalize protections for noncombatants. Though the economic burden of an increasing naval arms race was the main topic of conversation, the American delegation, so influenced by the debate in the popular press and government/military circles over chemical weapons, suggested examining the question of gas warfare.