Great Britain and the Creation of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance

T HE traditional view of Great Britain's pre-war policy is currently being reshaped. The much-used phrase "splendid isolation" has proved to be a rather misleading guide to the diplomacy of the critical years at the turn of the century. Recent research has suggested that Great Britain's alienation from Germany and her search for new friends and allies were far more gradual and interconnected processes than was once assumed. It has now been established that from the autumn of 1900 to the spring of 1901 a large segment of the Conservative cabinet was anxious to conclude an alliance with Berlin.1 It was only after the failure of these negotiations that England turned elsewhere for support. Lord Lansdowne, who succeeded Lord Salisbury at the foreign office in the autumn of 1900, believed that Great Britain needed allies if she were to maintain her empire. The repeated crises in the Far East convinced the new foreign secretary that his country's resources were being overtaxed and that her world commitments had to be reduced. In turning first to Germany and then to Japan, Lord Lansdowne recognized the changed nature of Great Britain's world strength and was attempting to ease her strained position. The general background for the re-