The Anglo-Japanese agreement had been designed partly to deter a Franco-Russian combination in Asia. Britain wanted to prevent Russia from threatening its Far Eastern possessions with French support, while Japan wanted protection from facing both European fleets at once. During the Russo-Japanese War, France possessed bases where the Russian fleet might have reorganized but declined to offer full support. British warnings that assistance could activate the alliance helped make deterrence effective without direct British combat. A surviving and more ambitious Imperial Russia would restore this original strategic logic and make abandonment of the alliance less attractive.
Notable Point · 1:11:34-1:13:22
Why Imperial Russia strengthens the Anglo-Japanese alliance
The alliance regains its original strategic logic when Russian naval and territorial power remains active in the Far East.