ABSTRACT
In 1905, when Britain withdrew strategically from the Americas to concentrate more on national security and Imperial defence, Anglo-American relations entered a quiescent phase until the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. Within the Royal Navy's security cocoon and recognising benefits from a less confrontational Anglo-American relationship tied to economic and political stability, the small United States expanded its territory to the south and west in wars of conquest against Mexico and aboriginal tribes. Commercial competition suffused Anglo-American relations during the 1920s and into the 1930s. American re-embrace of isolationism in 1920, with no hope of League membership, meant that international security fell largely to the European Great Powers. In the run-up to World Disarmament Conference, which began in February 1932, Anglo-American relations suffered strain over the naval question. Anglo-American naval rivalry ended just as the Great Depression began.
