Britain's Retreat from Empire in East Asia, 1905-1980 (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia)

The decline of British power in Asia, from a high point in 1905, when Britain's ally Japan vanquished the Russian Empire, apparently reducing the perceived threat that Russia posed to its influence in India and China, to the end of the twentieth century, when British power had dwindled to virtually nothing, is one of the most important themes in understanding the modern history of East and Southeast Asia. This book considers a range of issues that illustrate the significance and influence of the British Empire in Asia and the nature of Britain's imperial decline. Subjects covered include the challenges posed by Germany and Japan during the First World War, British efforts at international co-operation in the interwar period, the British relationship with Korea and Japan in the wake of the Second World War, and the complicated path of decolonisation in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Chapter 3 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. The decline of British power in Asia, from a high point in 1905, when Britain’s ally Japan vanquished the Russian Empire, apparently reducing the perceived threat that Russia posed to British interests in India and China, to the end of the twentieth century, when its influence had dwindled to virtually nothing, is one of the most important themes in understanding the modern history of East and South-East Asia. This book considers a range of issues that illustrate the significance and influence of the British Empire in Asia and the nature of Britain’s imperial decline. Subjects covered include the challenges posed by Germany and Japan during the First World War, British efforts at international co-operation in the interwar period, the British relationship with Korea and Japan in the wake of the Second World War and the complicated path of decolonization in South-East Asia and Hong Kong. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 List of tables 10 List of contributors 11 Acknowledgement 13 Note 15 Abbreviations 16 Introduction: Peter Lowe and the history of the British presence in East Asia and South-East Asia 18 1. Early retirement: Britain’s retreat from Asia, 1905–23 25 2. Imperial Germany’s strategy in East and South-East Asia: The campaign against British India 38 3. Japan’s Twenty-One Demands and Anglo-Japanese relations 52 4. Britain, intelligence and the Japanese intervention in Siberia, 1918–22 74 5. Britain, the League of Nations and Russian women refugees in China in the interwar period 88 6. Defending the ‘Singapore strategy’: Hankey’s Dominions tour, 1934 104 7. Conquering press: coverage by the New York Times and the Manchester Guardian on the Allied occupation of Japan, 1945–52 117 8. In search of regional authority in South-East Asia: The improbable partnership of Lord Killearn and Malcolm MacDonald, 1946–8 134 9. Anglo-American relations and the making and breaking of the Korean phase of the 1954 Geneva Conference 152 10. A withdrawal from Empire: Hong Kong–UK relations during the European Economic Community enlargement negotiations, 1960–3 169 11. From Vietnam to Hong Kong: Britain, China and the everyday Cold War, 1965–7 188 12. Towards ‘a new Okinawa’ in the Indian Ocean: Diego Garcia and Anglo–American relations in the 1960s 207 Index 221 Introduction; 1 Early retirement; 2 Imperial Germany’s strategy in East and South-East Asia; 3 Japan’s Twenty-One Demands and Anglo–Japanese relations; "4 Britain,intelligence and the Japanese intervention in Siberia,1918–22"; "5 Britain,the League of Nations and Russian women refugees in China in the interwar period"; 6 Defending the ‘Singapore strategy’; "7 Conquering press: coverage by the New York Times and the Manchester Guardian on the Allied occupation of Japan,1945–52"; 8 In search of regional authority in South-East Asia; 9 Anglo–American relations and the making and breaking of the Korean phase of the 1954 Geneva Conference; 10 A withdrawal from Empire; 11 From Vietnam to Hong Kong; 12 Towards ‘a new Okinawa’ in the Indian Ocean Introduction,1 Early retirement,2 Imperial Germany’s strategy in East and South-East Asia,3 Japan’s Twenty-One Demands and Anglo–Japanese relations,4 Britain, intelligence and the Japanese intervention in Siberia, 1918–22,5 Britain, the League of Nations and Russian women refugees in China in the interwar period,6 Defending the ‘Singapore strategy’,7 Conquering press: coverage by the New York Times and the Manchester Guardian on the Allied occupation of Japan, 1945–52,8 In search of regional authority in South-East Asia,9 Anglo–American relations and the making and breaking of the Korean phase of the 1954 Geneva Conference,10 A withdrawal from Empire,11 From Vietnam to Hong Kong,12 Towards ‘a new Okinawa’ in the Indian Ocean "The decline of British power in Asia, from a high point in 1905, when Britain's ally Japan had vanquished the Russian Empire, apparently reducing the perceived threat that Russia posed to British interests in India and China, to the end of the twentieth century, when British power had dwindled to virtually nothing, is one of the most important themes in understanding the modern history of East and Southeast Asia. This book considers a range of issues that illustrate the significance and influence of the British Empire in Asia and the nature of Britain's imperial decline. Subjects covered include the challenges posed by Germany and Japan during the First World War, British efforts at international co-operation in the interwar period, the British relationship with Korea and Japan in the wake of the Second World War, and the complicated path of decolonisation in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong"--Provided by publisher "The decline of British power in Asia, from a high point in 1905, when Britain's ally Japan vanquished the Russian Empire, apparently reducing the perceived threat that Russia posed to its influence in India and China, to the end of the twentieth century, when British power had dwindled to virtually nothing, is one of the most important themes in understanding the modern history of East and Southeast Asia. This book considers a range of issues that illustrate the significance and influence of the British Empire in Asia and the nature of Britain's imperial decline. Subjects covered include the challenges posed by Germany and Japan during the First World War, British efforts at international co-operation in the interwar period, the British relationship with Korea and Japan in the wake of the Second World War, and the complicated path of decolonisation in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong."--Provided by publisher The decline of British power in Asia, from a high point in 1905, when Britain s ally Japan had vanquished the Russian Empire, apparently reducing the perceived threat that Russia posed to British interests in India and China, to the end of the twentieth century, when British power had dwindled to virtually nothing, is one of the most important themes in understanding the modern history of East and Southeast Asia. This book considers a range of issues that illustrate the significance and influence of the British Empire in Asia and the nature of Britain s imperial decline. Subjects covered include the challenges posed by Germany and Japan during the First World War, British efforts at international co-operation in the interwar period, the British relationship with Korea and Japan in the wake of the Second World War, and the complicated path of decolonisation in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong." Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of tables -- List of contributors -- Acknowledgement -- Note -- Abbreviations -- Introduction: Peter Lowe and the history of the British presence in East Asia and South-East Asia -- Notes -- 1. Early retirement: Britain's retreat from Asia, 1905-23 -- Introduction -- Before 1914 -- The alliance and China -- Wartime developments -- Post-war settlement -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 2. Imperial Germany's strategy in East and South-East Asia: The campaign against British India -- Notes