Differences between British and American English may have affected how intent was communicated in prewar relations with Japan. A harder historical distinction is that American warships had forcibly opened Japan, and later pressure could revive that memory. Britain appeared more often through trade and arms sales, although British diplomacy also exploited the resulting situation. Diplomatic language operated inside a longer memory of who had used coercion and who appeared as a possible counterweight.
Notable Point · 1:14:10-1:14:59
Gunboat diplomacy left a different American legacy in Japan
A discussion of language and intent adds the coercive opening of Japan as another reason British and American relations with Japan developed different tones.