Speaker at the School of Area Studies, History, Politics & Literature

Description of Activity

Talk entitled "'East' meets 'West':  British and Antipodean reactions to Japanese naval visits in the early 20th century"

Melanie Bassett, Faculty Research Fellow for Port Towns and Urban Cultures, University of Portsmouth, explored the relationship that the British Empire’s citizens had with one of their most controversial allies of the pre-First World War period – the Japanese.

The 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance marked the end of Britain’s ‘splendid isolation’. However, such an alliance presented some interesting complications to the received Edwardian racial hierarchy and challenged the idea of British military supremacy. The alliance with Japan allowed the Royal Navy to concentrate their fleets in European waters. However, this strategy caused resentment due to the underlying fear of ‘Yellow Peril’ and the increasing influence of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific – a direct threat to the security of the British Dominions, Australia and New Zealand.

Period	1 Jul 2020
Degree of Recognition	National