The victors of World War 1 believed that keeping their vanquished foes under-armed would guarantee peace. And so as the US and Great Britain began to increase their military holdings, it was at the expense of a humiliated Germany.
After four years of vicious fighting, the survivors of WW1 expected that peace and prosperity would follow. But with so many economies and societies shattered "some maybe beyond repair" this would be far from straightforward.