The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was officially formed on the 30th of January 1902. “Survival of the fittest” was the motto of that era so common interest was the only foundation of this unusual alliance. Let me share some history and international interactions before this alliance with you.
The British Empire defeated Qing China and seized lots of Chinese lands to establish its sphere of influence six decades ago. Hong Kong, the banks of the Yangtze River, Tibet and Guangdong had the British sphere of influence, impacting the British national interest directly. What’s more, “Splendid isolation” was the British diplomatic approach, implying that the British would not ally with other foreign power. However, the German Empire, the Kingdom of Italy and the Austria-Hungary Empire formed the Triple Alliance. In contrast, the Russian Empire and the French Third Republic formed the “French-Russian Alliance” simultaneously. The British had less discursive power so an international ally was desperately needed.
Meanwhile, the Japanese were afraid of the Russian military might and its rapid territorial expansion. They clearly understood the deadly consequence of solely confronting the Russian Empire. Since the British and the Japanese had an enormous national interest in the Far East, it became a catalyst to form an Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
The Japanese had more substantial confidence when they got backed up by the British Empire. Even if the French allied with the Russian, the French was reluctant to declare war on the British. In other words, this French-Russo alliance became an empty and hollow title. Although the Western European powers trembled with fear on hearing of the Russian’s Baltic sea fleet, the British had a naval blockade against the Russian Empire. The Baltic Sea Fleet had to sail to the Far East by choosing a farther route. Even though the Russians owned the Black Sea Fleet, the Ottoman Empire practically controlled the Bosphorus Strait. Thus the Black Sea Fleet became a “paper tiger”.
With diplomatic support from the Germans, French and Americans, the British and the Japanese urged the Russians to retreat their troops from the North-Eastern part of China. Even though the Russians initially fulfilled their promise, their unscrupulous ambition was reluctant to relinquish this vast region in China. The final negotiation between Japan and Russia failed. The Japanese Imperial Navy decided to bombard the Russian Fleet at Port Arthur. This war received worldwide attention because it was “David vs Goliath”. How could the Japanese defeat the Russians with all their might? Stay tuned to the next post!
Reference:
D Steinberg J W Wolff (Eds. (2007). Russo-Japanese War in global perspective ; World War Zero. Vol. 2. (pp. 87–178). Brill.
Esthus, R. A. (1981). Nicholas II and the Russo-Japanese War. Russian Review, 40(4), 396. https://doi.org/10.2307/129919
McKercher, B. J. C. (1989). Diplomatic Equipoise: The Lansdowne Foreign Office the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and the Global Balance of Power. Canadian Journal of History, 24(3), 299–340. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjh.24.3.299
Wurtzburg, S. J. (2006). Choctaw Women in a Chaotic World: The Clash of Cultures in the Colonial Southeast. Ethnohistory, 53(4), 774–776. https://doi.org/10.1215/00141801-2006-027
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