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The End of Isolation: Britain, Germany and Japan, 1900–1902 (The Alexander Prize Essay)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009
Extract
At the end of the nineteenth century the British Empire was under great pressure. Several factors had combined to produce this: the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894, which had united her two most dangerous antagonists; the growth of powerful new fleets like the Russian, German and American; the decline of ancient non-European monarchies like China, Persia and Morocco, and the appearance in their place of a power vacuum. But none of these new developments would have been so threatening without the novel interest of the great continental nations, and of the United States, in Imperial and naval expansion. Before, Britain had been the only Great Power able or willing to give such issues priority in the formation of her policies. Now she was no longer alone, and the new competition seemed to threaten the very existence of her Empire.
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References
page 104 note 1 Langer, W. L., The Diplomacy of Imperialism, 2nd edn (New York, 1951), p. 508.Google Scholar
page 104 note 2 Ibid., p. 659.
page 104 note 3 Memorandum by Chamberlain, 10 Sept. 1900: Birmingham University Library, Chamberlain MSS, Box JC, 14/4.
page 105 note 1 Ibid.
page 105 note 2 Ibid.
page 105 note 3 ‘The Russian Government seems to me bent on projects where France cannot help her: the Siberian railway, and outlet in the China sea; the impending disruption of the Austrian Empire and the chance of making the Slav elements in it Russian; the Dardanelles outlet and the chance of placing it at the command of die Russian Government. These are things where France cannot greatly help Russia—and Russia has ceased to attach more than a formal value to the French Alliance. France has found diis out; and recognizes diat Russia is not keen to help her against England and in fact is only certainly with her in one contingency—a war between France and Germany. This contingency becomes less likely as year after year passes by; and therefore the sympathy between Russia and France is visibly cooling … I am disposed therefore to think that Russia's designs against England do not furnish as much as diey did the key for deciphering the problem of modern politics, and that France sees no profit in acting as her instrument for that purpose’ (Salisbury to Curzon, 8 Apr. 1899: Kedleston, Curzon MSS, Box 10). I am grateful to Lord Scarsdale and the Kedleston Trustees for allowing me to use the Curzon MSS.
page 106 note 1 ‘It follows that our policy is not to presume the hostility of the Government of France … I fear … that anything like hearty good will between the two nations will not be possible. But I think a mutual temper of apathetic tolerance may be cultivated on both sides, without sacrificing the interests of either‘ (ibid.). On the other hand, ‘a large part of the population-happily the smallest and weakest-wishes to go to war with us’. This party was normally outweighed by ‘an influential section who are peaceful now but would join the war party under the influence of patriotic passion—which in France is a very strong emotion’ (Salisbury to Curzon, Aug. 1900: Kedleston, Curzon MSS, Box S, Part 2). Moreover, ‘the political attractions to them [i.e. French politicians] of a headlong policy are so great that you can never be certain that some French Government will not yield to them and authorize some step which will make war inevitable’ (Salisbury to Curzon, 17 Oct. 1900: ibid.).
page 106 note 2 Salisbury to Curzon, 17 Oct. 1900: ibid.
page 106 note 3 ‘The locking-up of our troops in South Africa has so fettered our power of action that for some months to come we must lie low; unless we can estab lish a reliable alliance with some of the Great Powers’ (Hamilton to Curzon, 15 Mar. 1901: India Office Library, Hamilton MSS, Letters to Curzon, vol. 3). ‘Our South African entanglements make it impossible for us to commit ourselves to a policy which might involve us in war unless we can assure our selves that any obligation which we might incur would be shared by another Power’ (Lansdowne to Lascelles, 18 Mar. 1901: Foreign Office Library, Lansdowne MSS, vol. 12).
page 107 note 1 Telegram of Salisbury to Bertie, 24 Aug. 1900: Oxford, Christ Church, Salisbury MSS, Tel[egrams] from Schlucht. I am grateful to Lord Salisbury for allowing me to quote from this collection.
page 107 note 2 Memorandum by Chamberlain, 10 Sept. 1900: Birmingham University Library, Chamberlain MSS, Box JC, 14/4. By kind permission of the Librarian.3 Goschen to Salisbury, 17 Aug. and 1 Sept. 1900: Oxford, Christ Church, Salisbury MSS, Correspondence with Goschen.
page 107 note 4 Amery, Julian, The Life of Joseph Chamberlain, iv (London, 1951), pp. 138–39Google Scholar; Goschen to Salisbury, tel. of 4 Sept. 1900: Oxford, Christ Church, Salisbury MSS, Tel. to Schlucht.
page 107 note 5 Beach to Salisbury, 2 Sept. 1900: ibid., Correspondence with Hicks Beach.
page 107 note 6 Sanderson believed that ‘the Germans have some agreement with Russia to leave her a free hand in Manchuria as a balance to their own sphere in Shantung’ (Sanderson to Charles Hardinge, 24 Oct. 1900: Cambridge University Library, Hardinge MSS, vol. 3). On Bertie, see British Documents [on the Origins of the War, 1898–1914], ed. Gooch, G. P. and Temperley, H., ii (H.M.S.O., 1927), 12.Google Scholar
page 108 note 1 Chamberlain to Balfour, 21 Oct. 1900: Oxford, Christ Church, Salisbury MSS, Correspondence with Balfour; Hamilton to Curzon, 24 Oct. 1900: India Office Library, Hamilton MSS, Letters to Curzon, vol. 2.
page 108 note 2 Selborne to Beach, 29 Dec. 1900: Williamstrip Park, St Aldwyn MSS, Box PCC/83. My thanks are due to Lord St Aldwyn for allowing me to see these papers.
page 109 note 1 Memoranda by Beach, Sept. and Oct. 1901: Birmingham University Library, Chamberlain MSS, Box JC, 14/4.
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page 110 note 1 E.g. Lascelles to Lansdowne, 17 Nov. 1900 and 5 Jan. 1901: Foreign Office Library, Lansdowne MSS, vol. 12.
page 110 note 2 Bertie to Lascelles, 30 Jan. 1901: ibid., Lascelles MSS, vol. 1, part v.
page 110 note 3 Lansdowne to Lascelles, desp.no. 54, 12 Feb. 1901: P[ublic] R[ecord] O[ffice], F.O. 64/1518.
page 110 note 4 Minute by Campbell on MacDonald to Lansdowne, tel. no. 4, 15 Feb. 1901: ibid., F.O. 46/542; British Documents, ii, 44.
page 110 note 5 Communication by Chinese Minister, 1 Mar. 1901: P.R.O., F.O. Prints (China Series), vol. 7549, no. 2.
page 110 note 6 Lascelles to Lansdowne, tel. no. 14, 7 Mar. 1901: P.R.O., F.O. 64/1524.
page 111 note 1 British Documents, ii, 51.
page 111 note 2 Lascelles to Bertie, 9 Mar. 1901: Foreign Office Library, Bertie MSS, Series A, vol. 2.
page 111 note 3 Memorandum by Lansdowne, 12 Mar. 1901: P.R.O., F.O. 46/547; extracts printed in Grenville, J. A. S., ‘Lansdowne’s Abortive Project of ‘ 12 March 1901 for a Secret Agreement with Germany’, Bulletin ofthelnst.of Hist. Res., xxvii (1954), pp. 201–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
page 111 note 4 ‘Your telegram no. 17, as I anticipated, brought out the fact that Germany was not prepared to “keep a ring” for Russia and Japan …’ (Lansdowne to Lascelles, 18 Mar. 1901: Foreign Office Library, Lansdowne MSS, vol. 12).
page 111 note 5 Monson to Lansdowne, tel. no. 8, 9 Mar. 1901: P.R.O., F.O. 27/3539.
page 111 note 1 ‘Several members of the Cabinet are disposed to agree that England and Germany should join in undertaking to support Japan; but in the absence of any indication that Germany would be willing to take part in such an alliance it was thought better to defer discussion on this point until Sir F. Lascelles' answer had been received’ (Cabinet report, Salisbury to the King, 13 Mar. 1901: Oxford, Christ Church, Salisbury MSS, Royal Correspondence).
page 111 note 2 British Documents, ii, 55.
page 111 note 3 Lascelles to Lansdowne, tel. no. 17,14 Mar. 1901: P.R.O., F.O. 64/1524.
page 111 note 4 Lansdowne to MacDonald, desp. no. 27, 16 Mar. 1901: ibid., F.O. 46/538.
page 111 note 5 Lansdowne to Lascelles, 18 Mar. 1901: Foreign Office Library, Lansdowne MSS, vol. 12.
page 113 note 1 Newton, T. W. Legh Lord, Lord Lansdowne: a Biography (London, 1929), p. 200.Google Scholar
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page 114 note 1 British Documents, ii, 82.
page 114 note 2 Hamilton to Curzon, 25 Apr. 1901: India Office Library, Hamilton MSS, Letters to Curzon, vol. 3.
page 114 note 3 See below.
page 114 note 4 British Documents, ii, 86.
page 115 note 1 Lansdowne to Lascelles, 28 Aug. 1901: Foreign Office Library, Lans downe MSS, vol. 12.
page 115 note 2 Sanderson to Lascelles, 3 Apr. 1901: ibid., Lascelles MSS, vol. 1, part v.
page 115 note 3 Memorandum by Bertie, 20 June 1901: P.R.O., F.O. 46/547.
page 115 note 5 The Secret Memoirs of Count Tadasu Hayashi, ed. Pooley, A. M. (London, 1915), pp. 121–24.Google Scholar Hayashi says that MacDonald came from Salisbury. This is doubtful: Salisbury's attitude to the Alliance was later unfriendly (see below) and in 1904 MacDonald himself wrote that Salisbury had been ‘rather against’ it (MacDonald to Campbell, private, 18 Feb. 1904: P.R.O., F.O.46/577).
page 116 note 1 British Documents, 11, 102–03.
page 116 note 2 Lansdowne to Scott, desp. no. 200, 10 July 1901: P.R.O., F.O. 65/1618.
page 116 note 8 Lansdowne to Whitehead, despatches nos 81 and 84, 18 and 23 July 1901: ibid., F.O. 46/538.
page 116 note 4 Printed in Steiner, Zara S., ‘Great Britain and the Creation of the AngloJapanese Alliance’, Journal of Modern Hist., xxxi (1959), pp. 29–31.Google Scholar
page 116 note 5 British Documents, ii, 105; Lansdowne to Salisbury, private, 25 Oct. 1901; P.R.O., F.O. 46/547.
page 117 note 1 Memorandum by Lansdowne, 25 Oct. 1901: ibid., F.O. 17/1510.
page 117 note 2 Lansdowne to Hardinge, despatches nos 287 and 288, 29 Oct. 1901: ibid., F.O. 65/1618.
page 117 note 3 Hardinge to Lansdowne, tel. no. 115, 3 Nov. 1901: ibid., F.O. 60/645.
page 117 note 4 Lansdowne to Salisbury, 31 Dec. 1901: Foreign Office Library, Lansdowne MSS, vol. 18; i Jan. 1902: Oxford, Christ Church, Salisbury MSS, Lansdowne Correspondence.
page 118 note 1 Balfour to Lansdowne, 12 Dec. 1901: B[ritish] M[useum], Add. MS. 49727 (Balfour MSS).
page 118 note 2 Ritchie to Lansdowne, 4 Jan. 1902: Foreign Office Library, Lansdowne MSS, vol. 18.
page 118 note 3 Beach to Lansdowne, 2 Jan. 1902: ibid.
page 118 note 4 Hamilton to Curzon, 13 and 20 Feb. 1902: India Office Library, Hamilton MSS, Letters to Curzon, vol. 4.
page 118 note 5 Chamberlain to Lansdowne, 5 Jan. 1902: Foreign Office Library, Lansdowne MSS, vol. 18.
page 118 note 6 Salisbury to the King, 19 Dec. 1901: Oxford, Christ Church, Salisbury MSS, Royal Correspondence.
page 118 note 7 Selborne to Lansdowne, 2 and 7 Jan. 1902: Foreign Office Library, Lansdowne MSS, vol. 18.
page 119 note 1 Memorandum by Salisbury, 7 Jan. 1902: Oxford, Christ Church, Salis bury MSS, Cabinet Memoranda, Foreign and Imperial.
page 119 note 2 Alleged minor German intrigues at Lisbon he found ‘characteristic’, requiring the use of’strong language’. ‘The Teuton’, he wrote, ‘is a good hand at bluff, but our people can stand no nonsense’ (Chamberlain to Bertie, Jan. 1902: Foreign Office Library, Bertie MSS, Series A, vol. 2).
page 119 note 3 Hamilton to Curzon, 22 Nov. 1901: India Office Library, Hamilton MSS, Letters to Curzon, vol. 3.
page 120 note 1 Lansdowne to Balfour, 12 Dec. 1901: B.M., Add. MS. 49727.
page 120 note 2 British Documents, ii, 92–93.
page 120 note 3 Balfour to Lansdowne, 12 Dec. 1901: B.M., Add. MS. 49727.