Lyons had no previous experience in international relations or diplomacy, but as prime minister took a keen interest in foreign relations and exerted significant influence over the government's foreign policy. His government pursued what has been called a policy of "appeasement and rearmament". Increases in Australia's defence budget in the years before World War II made him "the greatest peace-time rearmer in Australian history", and saw the military rebuilt after severe funding cuts during the Great Depression. Lyons had pacifist leanings and was keen to avoid a repeat of the First World War. These were rooted in his religious convictions, but also influenced by visits to the battlefields of Europe in which he viewed the graves of Australian soldiers. The appeasement aspect of his foreign policy was primarily directed at Italy and Japan, as it was likely that war between those countries and other major powers would affect the important trade routes in the Mediterranean and the Pacific upon which Australia relied. He was particularly concerned with Anglo-Italian and Anglo-Japanese relations, where his goal was to "influence British policy in a manner conducive to Australian interests".