The U.S.-Japanese Alliance—Cornerstone or Trouble Zone?

Throughout the twentieth century, Japan has had a series of alliances with major Western powers, each fashioned to advance central Japanese goals of the era. This century had barely opened when the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1901 was consummated, and for two decades Japan had moved toward modernization at home and expansion abroad under the aegis of close relations with the most powerful Western nation of those years. ¹ On occasion, it should be noted, Great Britain served in the role of a restraining force as well as in the role of supporter. Despite the moral injunctions of the United States against Japan's Twenty-one Demands upon China during World War I, it was British disapproval that gave the Japanese government pause. On balance, however, the ties with England were conducive to advances on many fronts.