Anglo-Japanese Relations Part 1: 1902-1921

Britain and Japan find common cause against Russian expansion after the Boxer Rebellion exposes the limits of isolation in East Asia.

The Battle of Tsushima strengthened Fisher's case for all-big-gun battleships, but British exercises had already pushed design in that direction.

The treaty paired neutrality in a one-power war with military assistance if another power joined the fight, discouraging French support for Russia.

Japan's destruction of Russia's Port Arthur position showed Britain that its new ally could contain Russian power in East Asia.

A disciplined Japanese fleet crossed the Russian line's T and overwhelmed a poorly assembled force sent around the world to relieve Port Arthur.

After the alliance was renewed, Britain still pictured Japan chiefly as a valuable army power while treating the growth of another navy as a potential threat.

The Taisho Political Crisis revealed how serving-officer rules let the Japanese Army deny a cabinet its minister and force its collapse.

Japanese forces took German Pacific possessions, pioneered naval air attack at Tsingtao, and sent cruisers and destroyers to support Allied shipping.

Saionji's power to recommend prime ministers gave a pro-British elder statesman limited influence over Japan's changing political system.

Rejection of Japan's League of Nations racial equality proposal deepened a sense that military growth had not secured equal respect from Britain and America.

American pressure and British unease about a strong allied navy weakened the treaty even while technical cooperation continued.

Britain shared advanced naval-aviation expertise with a Japan already developing Hosho while using the mission to inspect Japanese facilities as the alliance weakened.

Japanese pressure in China alarmed the United States more than Britain, which still saw Japan as a useful partner for the coming Washington negotiations.