Disarmament in Modern History

In learning unit 01 you have already explored the distinction between Arms Control, NonProliferation and Disarmament. In this unit, we will specifically look at Disarmament, understanding its primary objectives and learning about the efforts of the international community and of the United Nations in promoting it. This learning unit is, in fact, about what is called the United Nations Disarmament Machinery.

But before going into details, let me freshen up your memory a little: We have seen that Arms Control refers to: bilateral or multilateral agreements that limit or reduce the number of certain weapons, such as for instance deployed nuclear weapons or certain activities, such as nuclear tests.

While these agreements might ultimately result in disarmament achievements, you should keep in mind that the primary objective of arms control is the maintenance of international stability, as well as armaments’ costs reduction and damage containment in the event of war.

Examples of arms control efforts are the NewSTART Treaty, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) or the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, the CFE-Treaty. You can find more information on these instruments in learning unit 05 and learning unit 10.

Non-Proliferation, instead, refers to efforts to avoid the spread of certain weapons to countries which do not yet possess them. Non-proliferation is often referred to as a bargain as countries which do not have those weapons usually request possessors to engage in disarmament processes.

Therefore, while stability is still an objective of non-proliferation, it might be a temporary one, in favour of the ultimate elimination of the category of weapons.

The cornerstone of the non-proliferation regime is the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is also explored in learning unit 05.

Differently from arms control and non-proliferation, disarmament consists of a broad spectrum of unilateral, bilateral or multilateral measures and agreements aimed at completely eliminating a category of weapons.

Among the primary goals of disarmament, we find the maintenance of peace and security, the prevention or resolution of armed conflicts, and the protection of civilians.

The rationale behind disarmament is that weapons, particularly weapons of mass destruction, have an indiscriminate destructive power and are the primary cause of instability as resources spent for their military build-up are resources taken away from other pressing issues like education and health. According to the promoters of disarmament, therefore, disarming is a direct way to stability and peace.

Examples of disarmament efforts are the Convention on The Prohibition of The Development, Production and Stockpiling Of Bacteriological (Biological) And Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction, also known as the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention – which is presented in learning unit 03 – and the Convention On The Prohibition Of The Development, Production, Stockpiling And Use Of Chemical Weapons And On Their Destruction, also known as the Chemical Weapons Convention, presented in learning unit 02.

When it comes to the UN, the international organization has chosen to mainly focus its efforts on disarmament and non-proliferation. This is an important element that you should keep in mind throughout this learning unit.

Humankind has always been perturbed by the use of particularly cruel means of war.

As a result, a number of actions have been taken to restrict such use, and the establishment of the UN Disarmament Machinery is definitely one of the greatest achievements in this direction.

Let’s look how we got here:

The very first international attempt in Modern History to contrast the use of cruel warfare methods and promote their abolition dates back to 1675 with the signature, by France and the Holy Roman Empire, of the Strasbourg Agreement. The agreement banned for the first time the use of poisoned bullets — what we could call a primordial example of chemical weapons.

In 1863, the Lieber Code signed by US President Abraham Lincoln, forbade any possible use of poison and shortly after, the 1874 Brussels Declaration – signed by 14 European Countries – set to do the same.

Efforts in arms limitation continued with the Hague Conferences convened by Tsar Nicholas II and the US President Theodor Roosevelt held in 1899 and 1907. The Conferences, attended by twenty-six countries, resulted in the adoption of a number of Conventions, known as the Hague Conventions. Among others, these conventions included declarations prohibiting the use of Asphyxiating Poisonous Gasses, the use of expanding bullets and the discharge of projectiles and explosives from balloons.

Some of these included:

• Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land;
• Declaration concerning the Prohibition of the Discharge of Projectiles and Explosives from Balloons or by Other New Analogous Methods;
• Declaration concerning the Prohibition of the Use of Projectiles with the Sole Object to Spread Asphyxiating Poisonous Gases;
• Declaration concerning the Prohibition of the Use of Bullets which can Easily Expand or Change their Form inside the Human Body such as Bullets with a Hard Covering which does not Completely Cover the Core, or containing Indentations.

International moral restraints, however, began to erode under the pressure of military necessity with the outburst of World War One, which witnessed an extensive use of poisonous gasses.

Nonetheless, the 1919 Treaty of Versailles reaffirmed countries commitment towards arms limitation and disarmament. And in 1925, as a result of the public disdain from the use of mustard gas in World War One and on the footsteps of the Hague Conferences, the Geneva Protocol was adopted. The Protocol was a single article banning the use in war of Asphyxiating, poisonous or other gasses, analogous liquids, materials or devices and of bacteriological methods of warfare.

The Geneva protocol laid the foundations for the Bio-Weapons Convention adopted in 1972 and the Chemical Weapons Convention adopted in 1993, which prohibited also the production and stockpiling of such weapons.

The Geneva protocol was adopted under the auspices of the League of Nations. The League of Nations can be defined as the precursor of the United Nations, and we will learn about it in the next video.

The League of Nations, founded in 1920, was the very first international organization created to achieve world peace. In its charter, signatories committed to reduce armaments “to the lowest point consistent with national safety and security”.

In the years between its creation and the outburst of the Second World War, the League of Nations was particularly active in promoting arms limitation and disarmament, convening international conferences and producing a series of disarmament treaties.

Notably, besides the Geneva Protocol, are the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, the 1927 Geneva Naval Conference and the 1930 and 1935 London Naval Treaty, which all aimed at preventing an arms race by limiting naval construction.

Between 1932 and 1937 the League also convened the first World Disarmament Conference, also known as the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments. This conference, however, failed to meet expectations and ended to be a failed effort due to the delegates’ inability to reach consensus over what constituted “offensive” and “defensive” weapons, among other reasons.

The Second World War, with its large-scale use of poisonous weapons, put a significant strain on arms control and disarmament efforts as well as on the work of the League of Nations, which in 1946 permanently ceased its activities. The failure of the League, however, did not deter UN’s founders from putting disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation as one of the key objectives of the organization and from establishing what will be known as the UN Disarmament Machinery, which we will study in the next chapter.