ANGLO-JAPANESE ALLIANCE. On Jan. 30 1902, owing to the threat of Russian aggression in the Far East, Great Britain and Japan concluded an alliance of a defensive char acter which provided for mutual assistance in the safeguarding of British interests in China and Japanese interests in China and Korea. The agreement was a valuable asset to Japan in the war with Russia which broke out in 1904; but it did not involve Great Britain in active hostilities.
In 1905 the agreement was revised; its scope was extended to India and Eastern Asia generally, and Japan's paramount posi tion in Korea was more definitely emphasized. Later develop ments, notably the annexation of Korea to the Japanese Empire in 1910, led to the renewal of the alliance on July 13, 1911. An important feature of the new agreement was the inclusion of an article exempting either high contracting party from the obliga tion to come to the armed assistance of the other in case of war against a Power with whom either party had concluded a general arbitration treaty (Article 4) . The alliance of 1911 was to last for ten years, but in the absence of a year's notice from either con tracting party to terminate the agreement it would automatically continue in existence, even after July 1921.
Inconsequence of the Anglo Japanese alliance Japan entered readily into the World War on Aug. 23 1914; but the Treaty of Versailles brought forth the League of Nations, and apart from doubts whether the alliance was not inconsistent with the obligations of the Covenant of the League, both Great Britain and Japan were becoming aware that it was increasingly unpopular in the United States and in China. At the Washington Conference (q.v.), therefore, in Dec. 1921, the agreement made for a Four-Power Pacific treaty (United States, France, British Empire, Japan) provided for the conclu sion of the Anglo-Japanese alliance. The alliance, therefore, ceased to exist on the deposition of the ratifications of the above treaty on Aug. 17 1923. For 21 years it had been the most stable influence in the Far Eastern position, and a cardinal factor in British and Japanese policy. (See JAPAN : History.) BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Anglo-Japanese Agreement of Jan. 3o 19o2-Cd. Bibliography.—Anglo-Japanese Agreement of Jan. 3o 19o2-Cd. 911: Japan No. I (1902) ; do. of Aug. 12, 19o5—Cd. 2,735: Treaty No. 25 (1905) ; do. of July 13, 191 I—Cd. 5,735: Treaty No. 18 (191I) . Anglo-Japanese Declaration made to the League of Nations, dated July 8, 1920—State Papers, 1920, vol. cxiii. p. 37o; do. dated July 7, 1921-see The Times (London) of July 12, 1921. For Washing ton Four-Power Treaty, see Conference on Limitation of Armament at Washington—Cmd. 1,627; Misc. No. I (1922).
