ABSTRACT
The problem of international disarmament would prove a constant challenge for Anglo-French relations during the post-war decade. The wide variety of political opinion notwithstanding, most French policymakers both supported negotiating with Germany from a position of strength and dismissed any idea that France was seeking hegemony over Europe as a whole. France pursued hopes of peace through a spirit of conciliation and modest compromise, and through recourse to new international institutions such as the League of Nations. French delegates for their part came to the conference with no intention to discuss general disarmament at all as a means to secure the peace. The electoral victory in May of the Cartel des Gauches, a coalition of the centre-left, heralded a shift towards a more conciliatory policy in regard to Germany and a greater alignment with the League of Nations under the new prime minister and foreign minister, Edouard Herriot.
