The Anglo-Japanese Alliance complemented fleet construction by changing coalition arithmetic. Its trigger for war against more than one power meant that French intervention alongside Russia could bring the much larger Royal Navy into the Russo-Japanese War. Japan's material fleet and formal diplomacy therefore worked together to isolate an opponent and keep an otherwise unmanageable coalition from forming. The prospect of opportunistic German or Italian moves made French intervention still riskier, showing how a bilateral treaty could reshape a wider European balance.
Notable Point · 48:04-49:59
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance as a strategic force multiplier
The alliance deterred another power from joining Japan's enemy by threatening to bring the Royal Navy into the war.