Disarmament was an issue even in the 19th century. A newspaper excerpt from January of 1899 tells us how the Russians were pushing for disarmament but the Americans wanted nothing to do with this.
"A deputation representing 145 denomination churches and 8,000,000 Christians has petitioned President McKinley to support international arbitration as a substitute for war. McKinley received the proposal cordially and said that while supporting the Czar's scheme of international disarmament he regretted that America is unable to reduce her armaments."
This excerpt shows that the Americans did not trust the Russian initiative and were prepared to pretend themselves. It also shows that there had not been a lot of improvement for a century afterwards, which is a sad lesson we learn from history.
Prejevalsky's Exploration in Mongolia
The Third Asiatic Expedition in Mongolia
The Imperial Family of Russia 1
The Imperial Family of Russia 2
The Expulsion of Count Tolstoi
Czar interview Count Tolstoi
The Sinking of the Titanic and Other Great Sea Disasters
