ABSTRACT
German political and military planners, having a large air potential but no standing air force, thus faced a special strategic problem after Versailles. The stronger a country is in military aviation, personnel and material, the greater the menace to peace. But without any immediate retaliatory bomber threat to deter air attacks, Germany could engage only in passive air defense measures, and in such general pleas to the Allies for renunciatory declarations and matching disarmament. Even if the problem of commercial aviation could be solved, general agreement on the need for military bomber disarmament was not at any time forthcoming. At the World Disarmament Conference the French government still urged the retention and pooling of bombers into a single world air force with which to enforce League decisions. French reluctance to make such a concession deadlocked the conference.
