ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to the first wave of international change – the transition to the post-First World War international environment – and the government of Hara Takashi’s foreign policy strategy, described in this book as “expansionism within collaboration.” In other words, the Hara government’s efforts to independently expand Japanese interests in China even as it worked to bring about a cooperative framework with Britain and the US. This went beyond responding to the demand of the situations it found itself in and instead reflected the continued influence of sphere of influence thinking within the Japanese government. To illustrate these points, the chapter discusses the Second China Consortium, the expansion of Japanese railways in China, the Paris Peace Conference, the Siberian Expedition, the Korean independence movement, and the beginning of Japan’s support for Fengtian warlord Zhang Zuolin. The chapter argues that Hara’s government saw Japanese relations with the United States and China deteriorate, but that the support of and mediation by Britain ameliorated the effects of this. It also describes how, while Hara Diplomacy became the model for postwar Japanese foreign policy, the “simplified” international environment in which it was formed would severely limit its applicability moving forward.
