Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902

Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 

a military and political alliance, concluded on Jan. 30, 1902, under a treaty between Great Britain and Japan against Russia, with the additional aim of strengthening the domination of the allies in China and Korea. The treaty of alliance provided that each ally would remain neutral in the event that the other was engaged in a war against another power; each would provide military assistance to its embattled ally in the event that one or more states joined with the ally’s enemy. The treaty guaranteed the “special interests” of Britain in China and of Japan in Korea and China. It gave the allies the right to intervene if their “special interests” were threatened by some danger resulting from “disorders” within these countries or by danger from foreign powers. Relying on the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and on the aid of the USA, Japan prepared and unleashed the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was renewed, with certain modifications, twice—on Aug. 12, 1905, and July 13, 1911. At the Washington Conference of 1921–22, the USA succeeded in liquidating the treaty and replaced it with a four-power agreement between Britain, the USA, France, and Japan on Dec. 13, 1921.

REFERENCE

Gal’perin, A. Anglo-iaponskii soiuz, 1902–1921 gody. [Moscow], 1947. (Appendixes contain a bibliography and texts of treaties on the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in English and in Russian translation.)