Sharkey, John
(1994)
The influence of British business interests on Anglo-Japanese relations, 1933-1937.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine and explain the impact of British business interests, outside of China, on Anglo-Japanese foreign relations and whether these business pressures contributed to the destablisation or amelioration of political tensions. Between 1933 and 1937 there were a series of major commercial disputes between Britain and Japan, in the cotton and shipping industries and over the Japanese treatment of British oil interests in Japan and Manchukuo, which following Japan's pursuit of an aggressive and unilateral policy in East Asia complicated an already strained Anglo-Japanese relationship. Thus the scale of Anglo-Japanese commercial friction offered substantial scope for political repercussions. In order to assess the impact of business pressure this study will focus upon the relationship between business groups and the British government, which provides the basis for determining the impact of business interests upon British policy towards Japan. By detailing the interaction between government and business this study hopes to establish which factors were most prominent in shaping the government's response to the demands of business and the needs of Anglo-Japanese relations. This requires the examination of the economic and political factors that motivated business demands for government support, and the economic, political and foreign policy factors that guided the response of the British government. However, it also requires the examination of relationships within business groups and the government as a means of establishing the constraints upon business and government's response to Anglo-Japanese commercial friction. Conclusions are drawn which indicate that because of an ingrained 'conservatism' to commercial questions both the business community and government avoided exacerbating commercial tensions with Japan, and consequently business interests had only a limited impact upon Anglo-Japanese relations.
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