ABSTRACT
Less than ten years after Great Britain agreed to accept Japan as an equal, the Anglo-Japanese treaty was signed. When Japan entered the European war, it became an integral member of the Entente Alliance and signed the pact of London. A closely knit convention with Russia completed the prestige of Japan as a great power. When Japan declared war against Germany, Berlin protested at Peking against the landing of troops outside the leased zone, and also against the seizure by the Japanese army of the German railways in the Shantung Province. Great Britain wanted German influence destroyed in China. Chinese president Yuan-Shih-Kai sent a note to Japan and Great Britain in regard to the violation of Chinese neutrality; but he told Germany that it was impossible to prevent or oppose the action of the Japanese and the British. On December 3, 1914, the Japanese minister at Peking was given the text of twenty-one demands for presentation to the Chinese government.
