Behind the scenes of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance between the great Britain and the small Japan

Sino-Japanese War As a result, Japan's voice in the Far East region has increased significantly.

On the other hand, due to the weakening of the Qing dynasty, European countries were planning to expand into East Asia.

Japan's policy toward Russia

Treaty of Shimonoseki To Russia, France, Germany Triple Intervention to Japan by The movement was blatant as represented by.

In particular, Russia was looking for a southward policy. Is the central position of Triple Intervention was. 1900 (Meiji 33) North Qing incident in Qing dynasty At that time, the Russian army dispatched to protect its own people in the Qing dynasty was not withdrawn even after the incident ended, and eventually a situation of occupying a part of Manchuria . It was.

In response to these problems, Japan has reconciliation measures and hard-line measures as its policy toward Russia. The administration was divided into two depending on whether it was taken, and it was not possible to decide on a countermeasure. It was the United Kingdom that was becoming more vigilant against these European ambitions for East Asia. Britain, whose interests conflict with those of the three countries, has been in contact with Japan, a leading trading partner in East Asia.

And Britain and Japan just before the start of the Sino-Japanese War Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation Tie. Britain had the intention of wanting Japan to restrain Russia.

GDP of each country

Why did Britain, which had an overwhelming national power over Japan at that time, partner with Japan?

Before that, let's take a look at the GDP of each country at that time.

Looking at this table, Russia and the United Kingdom Economic power is almost competitive You can see that it is doing.

However, at this time, Britain has a huge colony called the Federation, and if you include them, you can see that it is economically dominating the world.

On the other hand, the Qing dynasty, which had the largest land area in East Asia, had a considerable amount of GDP but was not controlled as a nation, so it was impossible to get in touch with the Europeans.

In addition, although the United States at that time was on par with the great powers in terms of GDP, it was basically a principle of not interfering with foreign countries, so it did not threaten other countries with its economic power as a weapon. ..

Anglo-Japanese Alliance signed

1902 (Meiji 35) Anglo-Japanese Alliance Will be concluded.

Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation However, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance also went into military relations.

Regarding military cooperation, when both Japan and the UK are invaded by other countries in their own territory, if there is only one country, they will engage independently and the allies will remain neutral . It was made. Obligation to participate in allies when there are two or more opponents Regarding the Russo-Japanese War, Britain was basically neutral because it was a single country, but it focused on preventing the vastness of the lead while doing work in favor of Japan.

As a concrete behind-the-scenes work, Russia Baltic Fleet dispatched to the Far East At the time of its decision, Britain made obstructions such as delaying replenishment and degrading the quality of replenishment coal in many of its influential ports. In addition, he threatened the Russian army by running a new armored ship as if it were parallel to the Baltic Fleet.

In this way, it can be said that the Anglo-Japanese Alliance has historical significance in that it was concluded on equal terms between large countries with vastly different national powers and emerging countries. It set a precedent that when many interests were united, an alliance beyond national power would be formed.

What are the interests of Japan and the United Kingdom?

At that time, the colonies of Asia were close to the East China Sea and the Indian Ocean was close to British territory, and if Britain could control Japan, it would be difficult for other powerful nations to enter the Pacific Ocean geographically. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance is said to have had such a speculation in Britain.

As you can see from the map of East Asia centered on Japan, the Japanese archipelago exists in the form of a lid on the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese archipelago in such a position is an important area where it is no wonder that conflicts occur at any time.