As early as after the 1927 London Conference, the League of Nations had formed a Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference. This time, it targeted not only naval forces, but also the army and air force.
The reason was very simple: the British had discovered that their army's combat effectiveness had fallen behind the times, so they wanted to use treaties to restrict the development of European armies.
The fighting that took place in Southeast Asia in late 1927 and early 1928 made the British even more apprehensive. The combat power displayed by the Bulgarian army left them worried that a second Germany would emerge.
At this time, there were no Frenchmen to serve as their meat shield. Given geopolitical realities, no matter how they sowed discord, Bulgaria and France could not possibly fight each other to the death.
Ferdinand could not send millions of troops out on the offensive, and the French government was even less likely to send troops to attack them. Several countries lay between the two sides.
As long as Bulgaria did not expand into the European interior, it would not come into conflict with the French over core interests. The struggle for world hegemony had long since ceased to concern either of them.
Before they knew it, the London government suddenly realized that they had been isolated again—and isolated because of their interests!
This was troublesome. Unlike last time, when the world had been divided into two major blocs facing off against one another, with everyone scrambling to court the self-isolated British.
Now, everyone was isolating the British because of interests. The world's principal contradictions were all contradictions between Britain and the great powers.
This made Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin miserable. He could not sow discord, manufacture conflicts, and reap the fisherman's profit while the