The First SALT Talks

Overview

The forces favoring peace through disarmament clash with the forces for peace through military strength. In 1921, the world's first major disarmament conference limits the post war arms race, and the most important strategic weapon of the times – the battleship. General Billy Mitchell demonstrates the superiority of air power by bombing obsolete battleships in Chesapeake bay. While the American military remains unconvinced, Japanese observers were extremely impressed as they would later demonstrate at Pear Harbor.