2025/04/23 by Adam Mordzak · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Japanese History and Culture
paper · doi:10.1080/03086534.2025.2494675
In the summer of 1940, due to the difficult situation in the war with Germany and Italy, it was particularly important for the British Empire to avoid involvement in another conflict. Such a threat existed on the far reaches of the Empire, in East Asia, from an expansionist Japan. This concern extended not only to the British colonial possessions in the Far East but also to the Dominions, especially Australia and New Zealand, located in proximity to Japan. The Dominions held a special status within the British Commonwealth, and the considerable autonomy they enjoyed made the opinions of their authorities crucial to the government in London. The purpose of this article is to examine the perspectives of individual Dominions on Japan and the influence of their authorities on British Far Eastern policy. During the summer of 1940, in the face of various crises, British-Japanese relations remained particularly strained, which in turn influenced the evolution of attitudes among some Dominions towards Tokyo. They represented a wide range of attitudes, and British authorities attached great importance to their opinions due to the Dominion's significance to the Empire's war effort.