Final answer:
The primary purpose of the conferences and agreements in the 1920s was to promote peace and disarmament, including reducing naval armaments and making war illegal as a national policy. However, these agreements had limited effectiveness due to lack of enforcement mechanisms and were eventually undermined in the lead-up to World War II.
Step-by-step explanation:
The primary purpose of the conferences and agreements made in the 1920s such as the Washington Naval Conference, Four-Power Treaty, General Disarmament Conference, and the Kellogg-Briand Pact was to promote world peace by reducing military forces and armaments, and to discourage nations from using war as a policy tool. These efforts were part of a broader post-World War I movement towards disarmament and international cooperation to prevent another devastating conflict.
The Washington Naval Conference led to the Five-Power Treaty, restricting naval armament and setting ratios for the number of warships countries could have. The Four-Power Treaty aimed to maintain the status quo in the Far East without territorial expansion, while the Kellogg-Briand Pact sought to make war illegal as a tool of national policy, signed by over 60 countries.
Despite the initial optimism and the grand declarations of these conferences and agreements, they ultimately had limited impact. The Kellogg-Briand Pact lacked a means of enforcement and thus fell short in preventing the aggressive policies that resurfaced in the 1930s, leading to World War II. Similarly, the outcomes of the naval treaties were challenged as international tensions escalated, with nations eventually seeking to expand their military capabilities.