What makes it all the funnier is for the last 110 years or so our relationship is like siblings. We'll talk shit about each other, complain constantly about the other being insufferably French/British, but if someone else things they can come in and fuck about with the one of them, the other is going to take that real bad. "They're ours to mess with, don't you even dare try it yourself".
@@willbxtneurope is a family of grownup adults who used to fight litterally all the time as kids, but are now all giga-bros beetween themselves and always hang out together.
Eeh. More like "We both have nukes... so let's settle for making jokes about each other 😅" (same thing as with India & Pakistan really, who prior to getting nukes were very much into warring with each other)
Japan and Britain had so much in common: both were islands, had big navies, didn’t like Russia, loved tea, were isolationists. No wonder they got along for so long
@@SirAntoniousBlock ....yet. Japan's military went rogue and took over Manchurian which "declared Independence"...under the Japanese military's not so secret rule. Given enough time and power Japan would absolutely have drawn lines across asia.
Both are currently constitutional monarchies Both are current or former empires Both were nearly invaded by a strong foreign power until they were saved at the last minute by a storm (Mongols for Japan, Spanish for England).
If my memory serves me correctly, it was because the Golden Hoarde chiefs had to go back to Mongolia for a funeral. Otherwise, they were running over pretty much any territory that they encountered. It could be a cool video.
@@vikingspudit is conflicted. This is the reason the Mongols gave, however they had began to withdraw from Hungary before they even knew of their Khans death. The Europeans had more castles and forts , and the Mongols were losing a vast amount of troops for little reward. Combined with infighting, their campaign was never going to actually achieve anything significant
2:16 Probably the biggest operation of in WW1 by the combined Anglo-Japanese allied force (and perhaps the biggest military collaboration steming from this pact ever) was the capture of Tsingtao. The coastal base was paramount to the Kaiser as it was the hub and lifeline of his beloved German Fleet in the East, ("...it would shame me more to surrender Tsingtao to the Japanese than *Berlin* to the Russians...) so it took two months of seige just to take it despite outnumbering them 6:1. (Ironically, they had to invade via China and violate her neutrality in order to do this) But even in triumph, cracks in this strange partnership already showed - During the victory parade, as the small number of British troops began marching forward, the Germans in attendance, disgusted, turned their backs to them. This resulted in the outraged Brits to complain bitterly to the Japanese Commander. To this, their ally (Knowing full well that it was the Japanese infantry that had done the heavy lifting) only replied something like, "Well we can't repeat the whole procession just because of THAT!"
Meanwhile, the Germans were incredibly respectful to the Japanese, as they saw (like you said) that the Japanese were the ones who had done the heavy lifting in capturing Tsingtao.
I find it really funny that the British soldiers cared… you’d think it would be incredibly satisfying in the context, basically admitting to being sore losers
Also interesting was the Japanese destroyer flotilla that served in the Mediterranean in WW1. Not that much for them to do, but they were far from useless, and having them there freed up ships and crew whose North Atlantic experience might have gone to waste. It's amazing how much of naval warfare in the 20th century only happened in planning rooms, because the deterrence value of potential threats could matter so much more than what was actually happening at sea.
3:05 The Washington Naval Treaty was a much bigger factor than you mentioned. While divisions between the British Imperial Dominions about foreign policy may have played a role in ending the alliance, it was the Naval Treaty that definitively ended it. The cornerstone of the WNT was that the two largest naval powers (the US and UK) would maintain equal fleets to each other, but obviously that would be meaningless if the UK continued to maintain an alliance with the next-largest naval power. That would mean the UK and Japan could theoretically combine to overwhelm the US in both oceans, which was unacceptable to the US. So letting the Anglo-Japanese Alliance lapse was an unofficial, but still very clear, condition of the US agreeing to the WNT. Britain needed the treaty in order to avoid another massively expensive arms race, plus the other factors mentioned in the video, so they agreed.
I remember reading that the US newspapers were reporting that the UK & Japan were teaming up to carve up the US between them without any proof and it still managed to spread as a popular opinion Some things never change
Absolutely right, the US really pushed for an end to the Anglo-Japanese Treaty. Much like they arrogantly demanded Australia scuttle HMAS Australia due to the close friendship between Australia and Britain. The Australians should have asked "If we scrap 100% of our Capital ships why aren't you, in the interests of fairness."
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance's Failure also affected the Franco-British Relationship. Japan winning against Russia made France realize Russia was not the power it acted like and thus, France sought for new stronger allies for their war with Germany. Britain saw Russia losing was possibly the best thing for them since now, they realized Russia was no threat to them or their interests in India. Left with no choice and now less focused on Russia and now focused on Germany, Britain and France decided to officially become allies.
Even stranger if you consider Japan were later repulsed by the Soviets and Mongolians prior to WW2, which deterred them to the extent of targeting British and US colonies
@@XXXTENTAClON227 Not really. Japan was a naval power, not a land power. Russia was the opposite. In 1905, Japan defeated Russia in a primarily naval war.
@@mrfreeman2911 actually i do know history. And the history of this "alliance" was nothing but england taking advantage of it. But ill educate you then. The only real help england gave was the 600 archers in the battle of aljubarrota. After that: 1) when the Napoleon tried to invade Portugal, it was because Portugal was the only european country that didnt accept his continental block to england. Everyone else refused to keep trading with England except Portugal, respecting the alliance. So obviously, when Napoleon tried to invade 3 times Portugal, England had to help. And after that, since the portuguese crown had to escape to Brasil, England tried to control the administration of Lisbon. 2) When Portugal got the union with Spain, instead of supporting the portuguese independence, what did the british do? Ah yes, they tried to steal colonies from Brasil and Asia and helped burning part of the portuguese fleet, because they feared a naval invasion of France with the help of the spanish and portuguese fleet. 3)The british ultimatum. Portugal wanted to unite the region between Angola and Moçambique while England wanted to make a railway through that region to link Cairo to Cape town. Instead of reaching an agreement, or at least, be diplomatic and respecting the alliance of centuries of years, what did england do? Threaten war agaist their own ally xD the one that always stood by it side. So yes, Portugal dont have to thank anything to the British. But dont take my word as truth, read some books and educate yourself.
@@Smithiieth exactly, I will even say this whole trivia is more popular in the Anglosphere than in Portugal where they know they were only a junior partner and not an equal in this relationship.
00:48 Portugal is that friend who you really like and enjoyed gaming with in the past but life got in the way and their skill really dropped off so now you can't queue ranked together
For Britain, Portugal is the childhood friend who you used own the sever alongside him back in CS 1.6 but then he stopped gaming to focus ton his degree and career. He still chats with him from time to time and play unranked but that’s it
As influential and skillful James Bissonette has been in shaping world events, one must not forget the invaluable albeit less notable contributions of Kelly Moneymaker
Maybe (and I know this comes dangerously close to heresy) James Bissonette couldn't fund all those world events if Kelly didn't make all that sweet sweet money?
3:05 is the ratio of capital ships tonnage by country to anyone wondering (525.000 to the US and Britain, 315.000 to Japan and 175.000 to France and Italy)
I am frankly surprised France had agreed to be third fiddle to Japan's second fiddle, especially during these pretty racist times when French "white honor" would've been at stake. Was it because the French felt they just couldn't afford naval expansion anymore? WWI had utterly exhausted the French, with their economy limping along into recession in 1921, when this treaty was signed. In the meantime, Japan was on the up and up with naval stuff, having just invented and launched the first true aircraft carrier in world history. Its curious that France was so willing to demote itself in a major international treaty and stoop to the level of--gasp!--Italy...
@pdruiz2005 prior to the recession the French government knowingly devalued its currency making it easier to export they're products, so in the case of the US, they bought cheap and paid in gold basically because of the gold standard, however, the Franc was tied to silver, so now, this gold was exchanged for silver in both the UK and Germany As a result it put UK in a position that 1) they couldn't afford to exchange their silver reserves for gold or they would destroy the value of the pound 2) slowed their economy because now, to make up for the fact silver was leaving their reserves, interest rates on loans increased 3) high valued currency let's you buy things for cheap, buy now you can't sell you're own stuff, and when you control 25% of the world its difficult to find someone who's willing to pay your prices While in Germany 1) they had to pay France war damages, however, they too had a Silver Standard and France was fucking them the same way they were screwing over the UK 2) in Germany's case, not only did they allow silver to leave they're reserves 3) but also mass printed currency (inflation) further devaluing the German Franc 4) as a result Hitler ended up implementing a sort of "food stamps" as a wage, basically food specific fiat money to circumvent the fact that money couldn't buy food or basically anything else This is basically the origin of the conspiracy theory of Jewish people running the international banking system since 1) they did in fact run SOME banks in Germany 2) the banking system of things contributed to the German economy being drop on its head So that's part of the reason why they where used as such a massive scapegoat But in all honesty I truly set the blame solely on France for manipulating not only their own currency but "everyone " else's currency And then some how still expect for all parties concerned to be fine Total selfish policy move By the time they realized they fucked up it was too late Initially in the US, they did believe that the stock market bubble was real, but they were running on speculation, however, gold reserves making their way to France was real, and it's this second part that also saw the US increase interest rates, which cases decrease spending (deflating the bubble) but all it did was cause a panic, and the whole thing came crashing down
And I just realized how much of a tangent I went on, prior to the Great Depression is what I meant to say not recession In response to your initial question of not building up their navy For starters they didn't have colonies spread out everywhere, they're furthest major colony was Madagascar and they're biggest one was West Sahara Even if they did want to build up they're navy they couldn't afford to because of the devaluation It was a massive mess No party involved contributes to a war that big and then gets out scot-free
@@pdruiz2005France agreed as it was never a major naval power. It and Italy were confined mostly to the Mediterranean so they didn’t need as large of a navy as Japan which had colonies across the Pacific or the US and UK which both needed the Atlantic and Pacific patrolled by their navies.
@@emberfist8347 France had a massive colonial empire at the time. I'd figure Paris would stand up for itself during these negotiations, making a rather strong case that because it had the second largest colonial empire to patrol and protect, it needed a navy on par with Japan, at the very least. This just tells me that France really was strapped for cash, much more than the British, and that it needed to radically cut back on naval spending. And this was the best way to do it, since it forced other naval powers to also ratchet down their spending to predetermined levels.
the flag of Japan has always been the Hinomaru (i.e. the one without sun rays). The one with sun rays were used by the military, and its variation still used by the self defence force today.
Also keep in mind there was a lot of distrust towards Japan in London and elsewhere after the 21 Demands Japan had given China in February 1915 that would have essentially made it a Japanese Dependency while the European Powers were distracted by the horrific fighting in Europe. This likely convinced several in the British Foreign Office that Japan could not be relied on to act in good faith and would potentially use the Alliance as a cover for further expansion that would drag Britain into another conflict. While Japan was convinced the British would aggressively seek to preserve their own beneficial status quo to keep Japan as the permanent Junior party.
It always amuses me to read how upset the British were at the idea of Germany, Russia, France, or Japan trying to expand when they ruled a quarter of the world.
@@nelsonchereta816 because if they expanded, UK would be forced to spend money to counter the increased power. and 1/4 of the world was a huge expense.
"convinced several in the British Foreign Office that Japan could not be relied on to act in good faith and would potentially use the Alliance as a cover for further expansion" Another thing they had in common 😆
That is highly unlikely. At the end of the day, matters far more pressing took precedence. Because as a good-faith ally, Japanese Imperial forces fought together with British Imperial forces in one of the most instrument Allied offensives against the Germans during the Seige of Tsingtao, China. Furthermore, most of the Allies' casualties were Japanese soldiers who did most of the fighting (773 KIA, 1282 wounded; only 12 British KIA, 53 wounded). If anything it was Britain that was a bad-faith partner by practicing alliance-abandonment at all times.
3:00 Australia was a big advocate for its renewal, as they did not believe they could rely on the United States to come to their aid in any potential conflict Canada said it couldn’t agree because Japan was becoming more hostile with the USA, and in the event of war it knew that it would be screwed in comparison to everyone else declaring war
@@kingace6186 that’s the ironic part. Canada was the main factor in Britains judgement. Australia were merely doubtful, whereas both Britain and Canada KNEW that no one would could provide sufficient protection for Canada if the USA invaded because it would be a lost cause. Australias concerns were more so paranoia due to US passiveness and the whole reluctance to war thing
This is a real interesting topic, and something that's rarely brought up or mentioned (as well as a lot of other obscure but important events). It sucks that most historical books barely mention the alliance considering how important it was for history (as well as the events it helped cause).
There's actually some really adorable postcards from the time celebrating the alliance, showing ruby-cheeked British and Japanese children holding hands. You can find them through a Google image search.
My great grandmother had a Christie's cookie tin that she kept sewing supplies in. On the tin it had a Union Jack, and the Japanese flag. I never knew what it meant, until I learned about the Anglo/Japanese alliance as an adult
Hi Sir, as always, thanks for the excellent content! Small suggestion, next time it's better to wrote "大清"(Great Qing) on the banner of China instead of "中国" which is not only more period correct but "character" correct. Because 中国 is the simplified Chinese (which was officially implemented by Mao) while 中國 is the traditional version. For personal reason, since I'm a Taiwanese, I preferred the traditional one more.
0:26. “So for Context, back in the late 19th century, Britain was, well, Suspicious of basically every other Major Power. Germany was a Rising Threat, Russia was eyeing up India & Central Asia, The USA was asserting itself across the America’s, and France was … *France* 🇫🇷.” The Historic Rivalry between The UK & France is Legendary.
3:03 Uncle Sam in Fishnets is an image no one wanted, but you have seen fit to burn it into our retinas without any remorse or any standard of human decency.
i'm a fan of alternate history, so after watching this i absently contemplated how ww2 would've gone had the anglo-japanese alliance remained intact. then i came to a particularly unsettling question: if pearl harbor still happened in this alternate timeline, how would the usa have responded?
For that, Japan would need to be not nearly as militsristic. Which already is a fascinating timeline on its own. And as a result, Britain and Japan are closer allied.
i was thinking of ww1 breaking out in 1904 with britain entering the russo-japanese war on japan's side and then france declaring war on britain, then the other great powers getting involved somehow
It would be near impossible to imagine such a scenario as there would be no way Germany and Italy would never ally themselves with an ally of one of their arch-enemy and Japan wouldn't need to join the Axis as having the biggest colonial empire on their side was more than enough for them. And say it did last, alliances like are formed out of mutual benefits, if Pearl Harbor did happen in this scenario, the US would still happily declare war on Japan and would dare the UK to even respond as at that point in the war the UK was very much semi dependent on lend lease to keep on fighting and would just ditch Japan. While I am not going to say the US was the reason ww2 was won by the allies, with its industrial might and untouched manpower unlike that of the USSR and UK, it would simply be foolish for Britain to even oppose them, and therefore it gives the US free rein to do as they please.
A benefit of a less militaristic Japan means they can better democratize. But on the geopolitical scale, Japan doesn't feel the need to build a Great Pacific "Cooperation Sphere", and is able to avoid the U.S. oil embargo. Thus Japan is firmly an Allied Power alongside Britain.
*Why did the Anglo-Japanese Alliance fail?* "Well to begin we need to go back to Napoleon. Oh, wait no. We actually do not need to go back to Napoleon for once."
@@NIDELLANEUM Well he didnt do it alone and history is full of people changing history "by themselves" more recent examples would be Hitler and Stalin.
I went scuba diving in Yap (Fed States of Micronesia) several years ago. In one dive we saw the telegraph cable at the bottom of the bay that was installed by the German's during their brief occupation of the island before it was handed over to Japan.
It isn’t really the same as America had no intention of doing anything at the time. Of you weren’t named Woodrow Wilson you were wanting to return to isolationism after the war. We never ratified the Treaty of Versailles because of the we wanted to be isolationist again and Wilson put the League of Nations on as a rider to the treaty and wouldn’t budge on the issue even after a stroke effectively made his wife the president.
In the 1905 war Britain closed off the Suez Canal, which delayed the Russian Black Sea fleet. Many wealthy Britons also invested heavily in Japanese Govt Bonds.
@@watchesandcoins.7738 As huge impact as it was but with that navy crew experience I said even if Britain open the Suez Canal for them they will still lose to more experience Japan.
@@thanhhoangnguyen4754probably true, the 2nd Pacific Squadron really was pathetic. Then again, had they not needed to go around Africa, there'd been less morale-draining incidents... Like getting the whole fleet and their lungs covered in coal dust, a whole-ass zoo's worth of exotic and often dangerous animals coming aboard, and a damn STD epidemic. Maybe they'd been curbstomped a little less decisively? 😅
@@mnxs Maybe if they were more experienced they wouldn’t have mistaken one of their own ship as a Japanese ships. Better yet they wouldn’t have mistaken English fishing boat for Japanese torpedo boat. And even better more if they actually hit the freaking target was sitting duck right there?
At 1:52. Oooh, that is wrong. Britain was definitely not neutral. It got deeply involved. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Pacific Fleet had been sunk at Port Arthur by a sneak attack from the Japanese Navy. This forced the Russian tsar to send the Russian Baltic Fleet to crush the Japanese Navy all the way on the other side of the world. The tsar was hoping to use the Suez Canal to radically shorten the Baltic Fleet's long journey to the east. Britain refused passage when the Japanese had asked that the Suez Canal be closed to Russian traffic. The Russian Baltic Fleet was forced to go all the way around Africa, exhausting its crew. By the time this fleet arrived off the coast of Japan at the Straits of Tsushima, it was ripe pickings for the Japanese Navy, which utterly crushed it. And that was mostly because of Britain not remaining neutral in the conflict.
Sorry, but you are incorrect. Britain did not refuse passage of the Russian fleet. After leaving Tangiers on Nov. 3rd, 1904, the Russian fleet split into two groups. They were concerned the draught of the newer battleships would prevent their passage through the Suez Canal. So the newer battleships and some cruisers proceeded around the Cape of Good Hope under command of Admiral Rozhestvensky, while the other group under the command of Admiral von Folkersahm passed through the canal. The part you got right was that the long journey exhausted the Russian crews.
@@richardstephens5570And even if Britain refused that isn’t saying they are picking a side. A neutral nation can decide to not allow another nation at war to use their assets as that can be seen as picking a side.
@@emberfist8347 It also would have had good reason any given said fleet shot up some British fishing trawlers who they thought were Japanese Torpedo boats, which put the home fleet on high alert and could have started a war through sheer incompetence
@@reecewestmoreland6137 And you zeroed in on why the Russian Baltic Fleet suffered the most complete defeat in modern warfare at the Straits of Tsushima. Incompetence up and down the chain of command doomed them to the much more disciplined and better-trained Japanese sailors.
Please do videos on the following subjects: 1. Why did the People's Revolution of 1848 fail in Germany and Spain? 2. Why do people drive on different sides of the road in different countries?
Old British colonies shenanigans, you can match up the maps some what on that one, also non American market cars have the steering wheel on the right which correlates < left wheel, drive on right >< right wheel, drive on left > A lot of island nations in general also drive on the left side like they do in the UK
"Japan is kinda scared of Russia. You'll never guess who's also kinda scared of Russia: Great Britain! So Japan and Great Britain make an alliance together, so they can be a little less scared of Russia".
I really enjoy how much effort you put into making the flags period-accurate, seeing some historical flag in the background always makes me smile! But... why is Uncle Sam wearing fishnets?
I love the little details 0:08 On the British cap tally, the name of the ship isn't the historical "Dreadnaught" ie: fear nothing, its "Dreadabit" ie: fear a (little) bit. 2:16 Alongside the accurate Belgian motto in French "L'union fait la force" (Unity is strength), the Dutch motto is "Stroopwafels zijn heerlijk" meaning "Syrup waffels are delicious"
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance had two ramifications that few people think of regarding the Russo-Japanese War. - Firstly Tsarist Russia had to send its fleet right around the world to get to Port Arthur to relieve the naval squadron there. This is derided in the west as a fiasco but they don't look at the other side; with the Suez closed to them by Britain the Tsarist navy had to view the British as a possible enemy and indeed fired on the Dogger Bank fishing fleet when a horde of lights appeared off the coast of Britain that refused to answer hails from the fleet. Rather than ineptitude it shows just how close Russia and Britain were close to war at that point and what level of tensions there were in Tsarist Russia after decades of British hostility over an imagined threat to India. - Secondly a British spy sold the plans of Port Arthur to Japan, this was the (in)famous Sydney Reilly. It has always been maintained that Reilly did this for his own interest but Russia simply saw Britain selling Japan plans to its naval base that Japan then attacked. Once again to Russia this was simply Britain undermining Russia in every conceivable way. Our western narrative tends to like always see our 'side' acting as innocents that these things just happen around, not active participants in geopolitical bastardry. When Britain went into the Russian Civil War just over ten years later it was seen by Russians as Britain continuing its long-running vendetta over them of its anxiety over India.
If you like phrasings like that you will enjoy the way how Emperor Hirohito described the tides of WW2 in his surrender speech: "But now the war has lasted for nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone - the gallant fighting of the military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of our servants of the state, and the devoted service of our one hundred million people - the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest." The best phrasing for "we're f*cked" I have ever read.
Also, US exerted pressure to end the alliance. US saw Japan as a threat after it seized the Philippines. There was much grumbling from the British that isolationist America wasn't offering to do anything about
2:00 unvictorious is a confusing word that shouldn't be used in educational purposes probably, I got the wrong idea even though I already know who won the war beforehand
Also japan at the time was not under the rule of ultranationalists, but soon would be. And Britain and Japan's interests further diverged when japan invaded china, which Britiain obviously did not like.
I mean we still are kinda. Japan and the UK are now working together on a sixth-gen fighter jet with Italy, and are much closer allied than most nations on two different sides of the world.
Great video and keep up the work, but I did see a minor problem, Russia didn't have Tannu Tuva (1:10) until late 1944, after the Russian Empire had collapsed
@@BreakstuffzMappingAnd internationally only the Soviets and Mongolia recognized the state as being independent. Everyone else say it as part of Russia.
@@BreakstuffzMapping Fair, I don't usually look into this time of the world. I've studied the 1400's better, and thought this because you know ww2, everyone who studies history knows what happened then
At around 3:02 when you are saying that America wanted Britain to have closer relations with Washington you depict the American in fishnet stockings and a sign that reads, "How you doing?" It's funny as hell but admittedly, as an American, it is slightly weirding me out... Granted, I'm not skilled in the arts of Diplomacy, so perhaps that's the way things are done.
Us in the UK and Japan have a lot in common even today. Island states with socially conservative populations with isolationist tendancies. Mostly dislike and are disliked by their neighbours.
@@UnitedStates1997 Yeah that was a blunder on their part. Not the modernizing and absorbing western technology but invading the Asian colonies not as a liberator but as as the new colonist.
Britain holding up a sign that just says, "Ew" when looking at France really breaks down our 1,000 year relationship with them perfectly.
What makes it all the funnier is for the last 110 years or so our relationship is like siblings. We'll talk shit about each other, complain constantly about the other being insufferably French/British, but if someone else things they can come in and fuck about with the one of them, the other is going to take that real bad.
"They're ours to mess with, don't you even dare try it yourself".
@@willbxtneurope is a family of grownup adults who used to fight litterally all the time as kids, but are now all giga-bros beetween themselves and always hang out together.
Eeh. More like "We both have nukes... so let's settle for making jokes about each other 😅"
(same thing as with India & Pakistan really, who prior to getting nukes were very much into warring with each other)
It would be funnier if it said “ew! Garlic breath”
@@ryhrex "ew! frog legs!" ... there is a long list of utterly petty things to go "ew!" at the french for. Just saying "ew!" covers all of them.
i love that basically every video is a question we never asked, but all ended up being super interesting
Facts
I have asked me these questions all the time, but okay.
I can't think of the last time he did a video on a Q I wasn't already asking myself
Yh.
I love that this exact comment is under basically every video
Japan and Britain had so much in common: both were islands, had big navies, didn’t like Russia, loved tea, were isolationists. No wonder they got along for so long
Except Japan didn't go around the world drawing lines through countries.
@@SirAntoniousBlock ....yet. Japan's military went rogue and took over Manchurian which "declared Independence"...under the Japanese military's not so secret rule. Given enough time and power Japan would absolutely have drawn lines across asia.
@@SirAntoniousBlock japan was tottally a colonial power.
Both are currently constitutional monarchies
Both are current or former empires
Both were nearly invaded by a strong foreign power until they were saved at the last minute by a storm (Mongols for Japan, Spanish for England).
These are all clichés. See The Ginger Tree for the differences
“France was… France.”
Has got to be the most relatable words ever spoken
Some things never change
I loved the part when France said "it's Frenching time" and Frenched all over Africa
@@osheridan Truly a French moment
Im starting to believe that the core of the worlds problems is france
Britain did end up allying Francd in 1914 though, and they have been allies ever since
Could you explain why the Mongols didn't invade the Byzantine empire? Or how the Mongols affected the crusades overall
If my memory serves me correctly, it was because the Golden Hoarde chiefs had to go back to Mongolia for a funeral. Otherwise, they were running over pretty much any territory that they encountered. It could be a cool video.
They couldn't. They lost their first war in Egypt and proceed to slowly fall apart after that
@@vikingspudit is conflicted. This is the reason the Mongols gave, however they had began to withdraw from Hungary before they even knew of their Khans death.
The Europeans had more castles and forts , and the Mongols were losing a vast amount of troops for little reward. Combined with infighting, their campaign was never going to actually achieve anything significant
@@adgar912 And with friends I suppose you mean no the next target to conquest.
Hmm
2:16 Probably the biggest operation of in WW1 by the combined Anglo-Japanese allied force (and perhaps the biggest military collaboration steming from this pact ever) was the capture of Tsingtao. The coastal base was paramount to the Kaiser as it was the hub and lifeline of his beloved German Fleet in the East, ("...it would shame me more to surrender Tsingtao to the Japanese than *Berlin* to the Russians...) so it took two months of seige just to take it despite outnumbering them 6:1. (Ironically, they had to invade via China and violate her neutrality in order to do this)
But even in triumph, cracks in this strange partnership already showed - During the victory parade, as the small number of British troops began marching forward, the Germans in attendance, disgusted, turned their backs to them. This resulted in the outraged Brits to complain bitterly to the Japanese Commander. To this, their ally (Knowing full well that it was the Japanese infantry that had done the heavy lifting) only replied something like, "Well we can't repeat the whole procession just because of THAT!"
Meanwhile, the Germans were incredibly respectful to the Japanese, as they saw (like you said) that the Japanese were the ones who had done the heavy lifting in capturing Tsingtao.
Germany Will Remember That . . .
I find it really funny that the British soldiers cared… you’d think it would be incredibly satisfying in the context, basically admitting to being sore losers
It was a truly epic battle in terms of magnitude.
Also interesting was the Japanese destroyer flotilla that served in the Mediterranean in WW1. Not that much for them to do, but they were far from useless, and having them there freed up ships and crew whose North Atlantic experience might have gone to waste. It's amazing how much of naval warfare in the 20th century only happened in planning rooms, because the deterrence value of potential threats could matter so much more than what was actually happening at sea.
3:05 The Washington Naval Treaty was a much bigger factor than you mentioned. While divisions between the British Imperial Dominions about foreign policy may have played a role in ending the alliance, it was the Naval Treaty that definitively ended it. The cornerstone of the WNT was that the two largest naval powers (the US and UK) would maintain equal fleets to each other, but obviously that would be meaningless if the UK continued to maintain an alliance with the next-largest naval power. That would mean the UK and Japan could theoretically combine to overwhelm the US in both oceans, which was unacceptable to the US. So letting the Anglo-Japanese Alliance lapse was an unofficial, but still very clear, condition of the US agreeing to the WNT. Britain needed the treaty in order to avoid another massively expensive arms race, plus the other factors mentioned in the video, so they agreed.
Agreed, the breakup of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was very much a goal of the United States at the Washington Naval Treaty.
I remember reading that the US newspapers were reporting that the UK & Japan were teaming up to carve up the US between them without any proof and it still managed to spread as a popular opinion
Some things never change
Thank you! 🙏 This was extremely helpful to understanding something I didn’t know much about.
Absolutely right, the US really pushed for an end to the Anglo-Japanese Treaty.
Much like they arrogantly demanded Australia scuttle HMAS Australia due to the close friendship between Australia and Britain.
The Australians should have asked "If we scrap 100% of our Capital ships why aren't you, in the interests of fairness."
Hard to believe the US and Britain were worried they might go to war with each other, guess things were much different back then
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance's Failure also affected the Franco-British Relationship.
Japan winning against Russia made France realize Russia was not the power it acted like and thus, France sought for new stronger allies for their war with Germany. Britain saw Russia losing was possibly the best thing for them since now, they realized Russia was no threat to them or their interests in India.
Left with no choice and now less focused on Russia and now focused on Germany, Britain and France decided to officially become allies.
History rhymes "Russia was not the power it acted like "
Even stranger if you consider Japan were later repulsed by the Soviets and Mongolians prior to WW2, which deterred them to the extent of targeting British and US colonies
@@XXXTENTAClON227 Not really. Japan was a naval power, not a land power. Russia was the opposite. In 1905, Japan defeated Russia in a primarily naval war.
"Russia was not the power it acted like".
Where have I heard that before?
@@ryuuguu01 This was literally never the case
Britain and Portugal having the longest standing alliance is a fun piece of trivia to tell people at parties you aren’t invited to
Ironically a few nations that exist today have Britain to thank.
Portugal being one of them.
@@mrfreeman2911 hahahahahhaha no. just no. quite the opposite
@@Smithiieth I guess you have 0 clue about history.
But that is okay. We can all educate ourselves.
@@mrfreeman2911 actually i do know history. And the history of this "alliance" was nothing but england taking advantage of it. But ill educate you then. The only real help england gave was the 600 archers in the battle of aljubarrota. After that:
1) when the Napoleon tried to invade Portugal, it was because Portugal was the only european country that didnt accept his continental block to england. Everyone else refused to keep trading with England except Portugal, respecting the alliance. So obviously, when Napoleon tried to invade 3 times Portugal, England had to help. And after that, since the portuguese crown had to escape to Brasil, England tried to control the administration of Lisbon.
2) When Portugal got the union with Spain, instead of supporting the portuguese independence, what did the british do? Ah yes, they tried to steal colonies from Brasil and Asia and helped burning part of the portuguese fleet, because they feared a naval invasion of France with the help of the spanish and portuguese fleet.
3)The british ultimatum. Portugal wanted to unite the region between Angola and Moçambique while England wanted to make a railway through that region to link Cairo to Cape town. Instead of reaching an agreement, or at least, be diplomatic and respecting the alliance of centuries of years, what did england do? Threaten war agaist their own ally xD the one that always stood by it side.
So yes, Portugal dont have to thank anything to the British. But dont take my word as truth, read some books and educate yourself.
@@Smithiieth exactly, I will even say this whole trivia is more popular in the Anglosphere than in Portugal where they know they were only a junior partner and not an equal in this relationship.
00:48
Portugal is that friend who you really like and enjoyed gaming with in the past but life got in the way and their skill really dropped off so now you can't queue ranked together
For Britain, Portugal is the childhood friend who you used own the sever alongside him back in CS 1.6 but then he stopped gaming to focus ton his degree and career.
He still chats with him from time to time and play unranked but that’s it
As influential and skillful James Bissonette has been in shaping world events, one must not forget the invaluable albeit less notable contributions of Kelly Moneymaker
Can you please explain who James Bissonette is why is his name mentioned even though he's not even on the list of Patreon supporters?
@@CoolManCoolMan123 3:24, his name is read out.
Maybe (and I know this comes dangerously close to heresy) James Bissonette couldn't fund all those world events if Kelly didn't make all that sweet sweet money?
🤔
@@CoolManCoolMan123read out loud like Kelly as well (to add to the previous reply)
3:05 is the ratio of capital ships tonnage by country to anyone wondering (525.000 to the US and Britain, 315.000 to Japan and 175.000 to France and Italy)
I am frankly surprised France had agreed to be third fiddle to Japan's second fiddle, especially during these pretty racist times when French "white honor" would've been at stake. Was it because the French felt they just couldn't afford naval expansion anymore? WWI had utterly exhausted the French, with their economy limping along into recession in 1921, when this treaty was signed. In the meantime, Japan was on the up and up with naval stuff, having just invented and launched the first true aircraft carrier in world history. Its curious that France was so willing to demote itself in a major international treaty and stoop to the level of--gasp!--Italy...
@pdruiz2005 prior to the recession the French government knowingly devalued its currency making it easier to export they're products, so in the case of the US, they bought cheap and paid in gold basically because of the gold standard, however, the Franc was tied to silver, so now, this gold was exchanged for silver in both the UK and Germany
As a result it put UK in a position that
1) they couldn't afford to exchange their silver reserves for gold or they would destroy the value of the pound
2) slowed their economy because now, to make up for the fact silver was leaving their reserves, interest rates on loans increased
3) high valued currency let's you buy things for cheap, buy now you can't sell you're own stuff, and when you control 25% of the world its difficult to find someone who's willing to pay your prices
While in Germany
1) they had to pay France war damages, however, they too had a Silver Standard and France was fucking them the same way they were screwing over the UK
2) in Germany's case, not only did they allow silver to leave they're reserves
3) but also mass printed currency (inflation) further devaluing the German Franc
4) as a result Hitler ended up implementing a sort of "food stamps" as a wage, basically food specific fiat money to circumvent the fact that money couldn't buy food or basically anything else
This is basically the origin of the conspiracy theory of Jewish people running the international banking system since
1) they did in fact run SOME banks in Germany
2) the banking system of things contributed to the German economy being drop on its head
So that's part of the reason why they where used as such a massive scapegoat
But in all honesty I truly set the blame solely on France for manipulating not only their own currency but "everyone " else's currency
And then some how still expect for all parties concerned to be fine
Total selfish policy move
By the time they realized they fucked up it was too late
Initially in the US, they did believe that the stock market bubble was real, but they were running on speculation, however, gold reserves making their way to France was real, and it's this second part that also saw the US increase interest rates, which cases decrease spending (deflating the bubble) but all it did was cause a panic, and the whole thing came crashing down
And I just realized how much of a tangent I went on, prior to the Great Depression is what I meant to say not recession
In response to your initial question of not building up their navy
For starters they didn't have colonies spread out everywhere, they're furthest major colony was Madagascar and they're biggest one was West Sahara
Even if they did want to build up they're navy they couldn't afford to because of the devaluation
It was a massive mess
No party involved contributes to a war that big and then gets out scot-free
@@pdruiz2005France agreed as it was never a major naval power. It and Italy were confined mostly to the Mediterranean so they didn’t need as large of a navy as Japan which had colonies across the Pacific or the US and UK which both needed the Atlantic and Pacific patrolled by their navies.
@@emberfist8347 France had a massive colonial empire at the time. I'd figure Paris would stand up for itself during these negotiations, making a rather strong case that because it had the second largest colonial empire to patrol and protect, it needed a navy on par with Japan, at the very least. This just tells me that France really was strapped for cash, much more than the British, and that it needed to radically cut back on naval spending. And this was the best way to do it, since it forced other naval powers to also ratchet down their spending to predetermined levels.
I LOVE how all the flags are era appropriate. Not just the Japanese, but the Portuguese and Canadian flags as well. You got yourself a subscriber!
Actually no, Japan's civil flag was not that one, it's one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to this kind of stuff.
The flag for Japan is actually incorrectly assumed.
the flag of Japan has always been the Hinomaru (i.e. the one without sun rays). The one with sun rays were used by the military, and its variation still used by the self defence force today.
Yes, ditto on the American flag
Also keep in mind there was a lot of distrust towards Japan in London and elsewhere after the 21 Demands Japan had given China in February 1915 that would have essentially made it a Japanese Dependency while the European Powers were distracted by the horrific fighting in Europe. This likely convinced several in the British Foreign Office that Japan could not be relied on to act in good faith and would potentially use the Alliance as a cover for further expansion that would drag Britain into another conflict. While Japan was convinced the British would aggressively seek to preserve their own beneficial status quo to keep Japan as the permanent Junior party.
It always amuses me to read how upset the British were at the idea of Germany, Russia, France, or Japan trying to expand when they ruled a quarter of the world.
@@nelsonchereta816 because if they expanded, UK would be forced to spend money to counter the increased power. and 1/4 of the world was a huge expense.
"convinced several in the British Foreign Office that Japan could not be relied on to act in good faith and would potentially use the Alliance as a cover for further expansion"
Another thing they had in common 😆
That is highly unlikely. At the end of the day, matters far more pressing took precedence. Because as a good-faith ally, Japanese Imperial forces fought together with British Imperial forces in one of the most instrument Allied offensives against the Germans during the Seige of Tsingtao, China. Furthermore, most of the Allies' casualties were Japanese soldiers who did most of the fighting (773 KIA, 1282 wounded; only 12 British KIA, 53 wounded).
If anything it was Britain that was a bad-faith partner by practicing alliance-abandonment at all times.
@@secretname4190 Except for the fascism and the Nazi thing.
3:00 Australia was a big advocate for its renewal, as they did not believe they could rely on the United States to come to their aid in any potential conflict
Canada said it couldn’t agree because Japan was becoming more hostile with the USA, and in the event of war it knew that it would be screwed in comparison to everyone else declaring war
ty for this info xxxtentacion i love your music
@@castelia2316 any time ❤️ ❤️
That's the thing with being an imperial subject. The colonial capital always makes decisions that are never based on the realities of where you live.
Big mistake for canada if you ask me.
@@kingace6186 that’s the ironic part. Canada was the main factor in Britains judgement. Australia were merely doubtful, whereas both Britain and Canada KNEW that no one would could provide sufficient protection for Canada if the USA invaded because it would be a lost cause. Australias concerns were more so paranoia due to US passiveness and the whole reluctance to war thing
The details in the animations make this channel great.
At 0:36 you depict the king of Spain (Alfonso XIII) as a baby with a moustache.
This is a real interesting topic, and something that's rarely brought up or mentioned (as well as a lot of other obscure but important events).
It sucks that most historical books barely mention the alliance considering how important it was for history (as well as the events it helped cause).
Excellent work man, keep it up ❤
“The winners (and Belgium)”
Rofl 😂 the inside Belgium jokes are always straight gold
There's actually some really adorable postcards from the time celebrating the alliance, showing ruby-cheeked British and Japanese children holding hands. You can find them through a Google image search.
...my lawyer advised me to refrain from adding "children" to any search engine
@@aaeve5676 I don't get it.
@@aaeve5676You make me sick
@maas1208 The "joke" is pedophilia, or something along those lines
3:00 has got to be the funniest thing I've ever seen on this channel, and that's saying A LOT.
Your videos are the only ones that take me about twice as long to watch as they actually are, because I'm pausing for all the funny details.
My great grandmother had a Christie's cookie tin that she kept sewing supplies in. On the tin it had a Union Jack, and the Japanese flag. I never knew what it meant, until I learned about the Anglo/Japanese alliance as an adult
3:03 did anyone else thought the american symbol figure was wearing fishnets until you realized that it was fdr?
"Russia was soon unvictorious" God I love this channel.
Ain't it the best? 😂
had to skip back for that one as well!
is that even a word?
@@ro.m.6432 It is now.
"Russia was unvictorious" are words I could get used to hearing.
I love learning the answers to questions I didn’t ask but still want to know
@@AjToSkilled East Coast?
Hi Sir, as always, thanks for the excellent content!
Small suggestion, next time it's better to wrote "大清"(Great Qing) on the banner of China instead of "中国" which is not only more period correct but "character" correct.
Because 中国 is the simplified Chinese (which was officially implemented by Mao) while 中國 is the traditional version. For personal reason, since I'm a Taiwanese, I preferred the traditional one more.
I love everything this channel does and I'm always so stoked to see a new video drop.
0:26.
“So for Context, back in the late 19th century, Britain was, well, Suspicious of basically every other Major Power. Germany was a Rising Threat, Russia was eyeing up India & Central Asia, The USA was asserting itself across the America’s, and France was … *France* 🇫🇷.”
The Historic Rivalry between The UK & France is Legendary.
3:03 Uncle Sam in Fishnets is an image no one wanted, but you have seen fit to burn it into our retinas without any remorse or any standard of human decency.
Because James Bissounette needed each country weak to take them over.
o may got
And Kelly Moneymaker wasn't far behind
@@hipp013 Kelly Moneymaker is a fierce Tank General in the History Matters army, led by James Bissounette
spinning three plates and Marvin cassau are humanity's last hope against James bisonette and Kelly moneymaker
Lol
i like how the signs at 1:17 just say "china" and "china china". love the small details in all of these videos, really neat easter eggs!
I love these videos. Thanks for all of them.
In 0:14 the animation had a few frames of Queen Victoria, first of Her name, before suddenly transitioning to King George, seventh of His name.
Don’t you mean fifth?
i'm a fan of alternate history, so after watching this i absently contemplated how ww2 would've gone had the anglo-japanese alliance remained intact.
then i came to a particularly unsettling question: if pearl harbor still happened in this alternate timeline, how would the usa have responded?
For that, Japan would need to be not nearly as militsristic. Which already is a fascinating timeline on its own. And as a result, Britain and Japan are closer allied.
I don't like the idea that America would join the Axis this way, in my opinion, America would be a third party.
i was thinking of ww1 breaking out in 1904 with britain entering the russo-japanese war on japan's side and then france declaring war on britain, then the other great powers getting involved somehow
It would be near impossible to imagine such a scenario as there would be no way Germany and Italy would never ally themselves with an ally of one of their arch-enemy and Japan wouldn't need to join the Axis as having the biggest colonial empire on their side was more than enough for them.
And say it did last, alliances like are formed out of mutual benefits, if Pearl Harbor did happen in this scenario, the US would still happily declare war on Japan and would dare the UK to even respond as at that point in the war the UK was very much semi dependent on lend lease to keep on fighting and would just ditch Japan. While I am not going to say the US was the reason ww2 was won by the allies, with its industrial might and untouched manpower unlike that of the USSR and UK, it would simply be foolish for Britain to even oppose them, and therefore it gives the US free rein to do as they please.
A benefit of a less militaristic Japan means they can better democratize. But on the geopolitical scale, Japan doesn't feel the need to build a Great Pacific "Cooperation Sphere", and is able to avoid the U.S. oil embargo. Thus Japan is firmly an Allied Power alongside Britain.
The moment when Edward anounces other countries' existence and the shock on people's faces 😂 love your work man 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
*Why did the Anglo-Japanese Alliance fail?*
"Well to begin we need to go back to Napoleon.
Oh, wait no.
We actually do not need to go back to Napoleon for once."
I still find it incredible how Napoleon ALONE changed the course of history so much that many other events can be traced back to him
@@NIDELLANEUM Well he didnt do it alone and history is full of people changing history "by themselves" more recent examples would be Hitler and Stalin.
This channel really makes me think more about WWII, how so many factors had their part in creating it.
I love your channel keep up the great stuff
The London naval treaty also prohibited alliances between the major powers stated in that treaty as to not upset the balance of power
I'm a bit embarrassed to say I knew absolutely nothing about this relationship between Japan and the United Kingdom. I'll have to learn more about it.
Britain: Our alliance is done. We don't want to be friends anymore.
Japan: Oh, okay. Well, we're gonna go find new friends now.
Britain: Wait-
Your videos are so good they have to be rewatched in slomo to catch the usually accurate small details
I went scuba diving in Yap (Fed States of Micronesia) several years ago. In one dive we saw the telegraph cable at the bottom of the bay that was installed by the German's during their brief occupation of the island before it was handed over to Japan.
Appeasement of America. But it was the "right kind" of appeasement, so we just call it diplomacy.
It isn’t really the same as America had no intention of doing anything at the time. Of you weren’t named Woodrow Wilson you were wanting to return to isolationism after the war. We never ratified the Treaty of Versailles because of the we wanted to be isolationist again and Wilson put the League of Nations on as a rider to the treaty and wouldn’t budge on the issue even after a stroke effectively made his wife the president.
In the 1905 war Britain closed off the Suez Canal, which delayed the Russian Black Sea fleet. Many wealthy Britons also invested heavily in Japanese Govt Bonds.
TBF they did it because of the Dogger Bank incident.
@@TyphonJRT Yes, but it still made a huge impact on the war.
@@watchesandcoins.7738 As huge impact as it was but with that navy crew experience I said even if Britain open the Suez Canal for them they will still lose to more experience Japan.
@@thanhhoangnguyen4754probably true, the 2nd Pacific Squadron really was pathetic.
Then again, had they not needed to go around Africa, there'd been less morale-draining incidents... Like getting the whole fleet and their lungs covered in coal dust, a whole-ass zoo's worth of exotic and often dangerous animals coming aboard, and a damn STD epidemic.
Maybe they'd been curbstomped a little less decisively? 😅
@@mnxs Maybe if they were more experienced they wouldn’t have mistaken one of their own ship as a Japanese ships.
Better yet they wouldn’t have mistaken English fishing boat for Japanese torpedo boat. And even better more if they actually hit the freaking target was sitting duck right there?
Whoever does the little signs needs a raise 😂 good stuff! Fav part of the videos
At 1:52. Oooh, that is wrong. Britain was definitely not neutral. It got deeply involved. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Pacific Fleet had been sunk at Port Arthur by a sneak attack from the Japanese Navy. This forced the Russian tsar to send the Russian Baltic Fleet to crush the Japanese Navy all the way on the other side of the world. The tsar was hoping to use the Suez Canal to radically shorten the Baltic Fleet's long journey to the east. Britain refused passage when the Japanese had asked that the Suez Canal be closed to Russian traffic. The Russian Baltic Fleet was forced to go all the way around Africa, exhausting its crew. By the time this fleet arrived off the coast of Japan at the Straits of Tsushima, it was ripe pickings for the Japanese Navy, which utterly crushed it. And that was mostly because of Britain not remaining neutral in the conflict.
Sorry, but you are incorrect. Britain did not refuse passage of the Russian fleet. After leaving Tangiers on Nov. 3rd, 1904, the Russian fleet split into two groups. They were concerned the draught of the newer battleships would prevent their passage through the Suez Canal. So the newer battleships and some cruisers proceeded around the Cape of Good Hope under command of Admiral Rozhestvensky, while the other group under the command of Admiral von Folkersahm passed through the canal. The part you got right was that the long journey exhausted the Russian crews.
@@richardstephens5570And even if Britain refused that isn’t saying they are picking a side. A neutral nation can decide to not allow another nation at war to use their assets as that can be seen as picking a side.
@@emberfist8347 It also would have had good reason any given said fleet shot up some British fishing trawlers who they thought were Japanese Torpedo boats, which put the home fleet on high alert and could have started a war through sheer incompetence
@@reecewestmoreland6137 And you zeroed in on why the Russian Baltic Fleet suffered the most complete defeat in modern warfare at the Straits of Tsushima. Incompetence up and down the chain of command doomed them to the much more disciplined and better-trained Japanese sailors.
TBF given the state of the Russian Navy at the time, it probably would have been sunk regardless. At least this way the sailora got a tour of Africa.
'forcing Japan to find new friends...' beautiful understatement and visual effect.
Please do videos on the following subjects:
1. Why did the People's Revolution of 1848 fail in Germany and Spain?
2. Why do people drive on different sides of the road in different countries?
Old British colonies shenanigans, you can match up the maps some what on that one, also non American market cars have the steering wheel on the right which correlates < left wheel, drive on right >< right wheel, drive on left >
A lot of island nations in general also drive on the left side like they do in the UK
Another amazing video
I miss your "Explained" videos (the last was the 1975 Australian Constitution Crisis Explained). Wish there was more of those.
0:35 mustache baby
Second time watching and still 10/10
Yay late night upload!
"Japan is kinda scared of Russia. You'll never guess who's also kinda scared of Russia: Great Britain! So Japan and Great Britain make an alliance together, so they can be a little less scared of Russia".
Not scared but wary or suspicious of
@@ryandanngetich2524didn’t you get the reference?
@@anaverageyoutubeuser No, what gives
love this guy he answers questions i didn’t even know i had
This is a question I never realized I was curious about
I know I’m procrastinating too hard scrolling through Wikipedia when I already know the answer to a question from your videos
I really enjoy how much effort you put into making the flags period-accurate, seeing some historical flag in the background always makes me smile!
But... why is Uncle Sam wearing fishnets?
😂 Because he was trying to entice the Brits.
Sam showing his sexy side...
"and more importantly..."
They both drive on the left side of the road!
"They both had their eyes on russia."
Yeah that too...
Oh boy a History Matters video at 1 AM! Who needs sleep?
Ikr
I love the little details
0:08 On the British cap tally, the name of the ship isn't the historical "Dreadnaught" ie: fear nothing, its "Dreadabit" ie: fear a (little) bit.
2:16 Alongside the accurate Belgian motto in French "L'union fait la force" (Unity is strength), the Dutch motto is "Stroopwafels zijn heerlijk" meaning "Syrup waffels are delicious"
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance had two ramifications that few people think of regarding the Russo-Japanese War.
- Firstly Tsarist Russia had to send its fleet right around the world to get to Port Arthur to relieve the naval squadron there. This is derided in the west as a fiasco but they don't look at the other side; with the Suez closed to them by Britain the Tsarist navy had to view the British as a possible enemy and indeed fired on the Dogger Bank fishing fleet when a horde of lights appeared off the coast of Britain that refused to answer hails from the fleet. Rather than ineptitude it shows just how close Russia and Britain were close to war at that point and what level of tensions there were in Tsarist Russia after decades of British hostility over an imagined threat to India.
- Secondly a British spy sold the plans of Port Arthur to Japan, this was the (in)famous Sydney Reilly. It has always been maintained that Reilly did this for his own interest but Russia simply saw Britain selling Japan plans to its naval base that Japan then attacked. Once again to Russia this was simply Britain undermining Russia in every conceivable way.
Our western narrative tends to like always see our 'side' acting as innocents that these things just happen around, not active participants in geopolitical bastardry. When Britain went into the Russian Civil War just over ten years later it was seen by Russians as Britain continuing its long-running vendetta over them of its anxiety over India.
Are those fishnets at 3:02?
"Unvictorious" is a very diplomatic way of putting things.... I like it.
If you like phrasings like that you will enjoy the way how Emperor Hirohito described the tides of WW2 in his surrender speech:
"But now the war has lasted for nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone - the gallant fighting of the military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of our servants of the state, and the devoted service of our one hundred million people - the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest."
The best phrasing for "we're f*cked" I have ever read.
Love them 2am videos
It's always a lovely day when he uploads 😊
The Anglo-Japanese alliance was definitely a casualty of the Washington Naval Conference. The Americans were pretty insistent that it had to go.
Love the face of David Lloyd George at 3:02
Its always something we didn't ask for but needed it
0:08 HMS Dreadabit made me laugh out loud nice detail
Also, US exerted pressure to end the alliance. US saw Japan as a threat after it seized the Philippines. There was much grumbling from the British that isolationist America wasn't offering to do anything about
Only channel I watch as soon as I get notified that you uploaded a video. Great content.
The real reason why British and Japan got along is because both love their tea very much
2:00 unvictorious is a confusing word that shouldn't be used in educational purposes probably, I got the wrong idea even though I already know who won the war beforehand
Also japan at the time was not under the rule of ultranationalists, but soon would be.
And Britain and Japan's interests further diverged when japan invaded china, which Britiain obviously did not like.
Nice mesh stockings, Uncle Sam.
This alliance was so short and is often forgotten.
Thank you for answering the questions no one asked but everyone was thinking
As someone with heritage to both of these nations, it feels weird to me to think they were once allies.
I mean we still are kinda. Japan and the UK are now working together on a sixth-gen fighter jet with Italy, and are much closer allied than most nations on two different sides of the world.
If you have heritage from both nations there must've been some good alliances up your family tree
@@milobem4458 Haha. Had a relative who fought for Imperial Japan and a few who fought for the Allied Forces
"And France was..France"
Yep, I know that feeling
Me to pal,me to
James bisonette wasnt invited to the negotiations
3:03 Are those fishnet stockings?
What happened to the many Italian monarchs during the Unification of Italy?
What do you guys think would’ve happen if the treaty was renewed?
Always a pleasure to learn more.
At 3:02 is that Warren Harding in fishnet stockings?
No Uncle Sam.
0:02 they also both really like tea
and using slaves from other countries to do their work.
Love the baby having the same disinterested expression at 0:37
Wait the treaty that said Japan must open the country and stop having everything be closed wasnt equal?
I love the little "Stroopwafels zijn heerlijk". Always something to find
Great video and keep up the work, but I did see a minor problem, Russia didn't have Tannu Tuva (1:10) until late 1944, after the Russian Empire had collapsed
Russia did annex tuva, but it did gain independence during the Russian Civil war.
@@BreakstuffzMappingAnd internationally only the Soviets and Mongolia recognized the state as being independent. Everyone else say it as part of Russia.
@@BreakstuffzMapping Fair, I don't usually look into this time of the world. I've studied the 1400's better, and thought this because you know ww2, everyone who studies history knows what happened then
At around 3:02 when you are saying that America wanted Britain to have closer relations with Washington you depict the American in fishnet stockings and a sign that reads, "How you doing?" It's funny as hell but admittedly, as an American, it is slightly weirding me out... Granted, I'm not skilled in the arts of Diplomacy, so perhaps that's the way things are done.
Us in the UK and Japan have a lot in common even today. Island states with socially conservative populations with isolationist tendancies. Mostly dislike and are disliked by their neighbours.
It's always good to see cartoons frolicking through the flowers.
They were fighting over who got the last sip of tea.
Is it just me, or does that Skating Minister on the endplate keep getting faster?
Japan was a rising power that wanted its place in the big leagues. The big leagues didn't want an Asian member.
Japan is trying too hard by copying the Europeans (bullying their fellow Asians)
@@UnitedStates1997 Yeah that was a blunder on their part. Not the modernizing and absorbing western technology but invading the Asian colonies not as a liberator but as as the new colonist.
Best channel, srsly.