Wedge Politics: The Japanese Factor in Germany's Asian Policy, 1895–1914

Abstract

This article examines Imperial Germany's East Asian aims within the framework of Weltpolitik (world policy) and political-diplomatic activity centred around Japan before the First World War. Archival sources clearly record Germany's attempts to neutralise Japan's alliance with Britain to attain its world-political goals. Attempts to woo Japan even after the outbreak of the First World War aimed to achieve a separate peace arrangement to break Entente unity, prepare the way for a separate peace with Russia and weaken Britain's global strategic position. Germany's Asian strategies become clear within the framework of Eurocentric issues, as well as the need to counteract increasing American presence in Asia. Policy was characterised throughout by a public wooing of Japan and secret attempts to weaken its position and to manipulate the United States in this process. The absence of a consistent and coherent policy meant that by 1914, it was impossible for Germany to achieve any long-term success in Asia.