The focus of this narrative is the era which was ushered in by the rise to world stature of Germany, Japan, and the United States, by the victory of Japan in the war with Russia, and by the concurrent shift in the balance of power out of which there emerged a “diplomatic revolution.” This gave rise to the formation of a Quadruple Entente composed of Britain, France, Russia, and Japan. The immediate object of this coalition was to achieve general stability by creating a counterpoise to the Triple Alliance consisting of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and Italy. While Germany and Japan both had contributed to the deterioration of the existing order, Japan had ultimately found it advantageous to adhere to and support the new international system.

This account is both a parallel and a sequel to my The Diplomacy of the Russo-Japanese War published in 1964 by Princeton University Press. Both deal with aspects of the major political transformation of the era, the “diplomatic revolution.” The rivalry of the two coalitions became one of the primary factors leading to the first world war. Earlier accounts of this mutation have described the new coalition as a “Triple Entente,” i.e., an association of Britain, France, and Russia. This, however, did not adequately take account either of the character of the contemporary international order or of the role in its creation of either Russia or Japan. It is the object of this account to incorporate these aspects of the current conditions and to portray the shifting relationships of the principal participants and the nature of the political environment this created.