Japan-Russia Agreement

These were four agreements concluded between 1907 (Meiji 40) and 1916 (Taisho 5) between Japan and Russia with the aim of countering the advance of Britain and America into East Asia. Along with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, they stipulated the basic course of Japanese diplomacy from the end of the Russo-Japanese War until the establishment of the Washington System. The first agreement, signed on July 30, 1907, included a secret clause stipulating that both countries would have North and South Manchuria (northeast China) as their spheres of influence, and recognized that Japan and Russia each had special interests in Korea and Outer Mongolia. The second agreement, signed on July 4, 1917, stipulated that both countries would provide mutual assistance in maintaining the status quo in Manchuria and defending their special interests, and the third agreement, signed on July 8, 1912, defined the sphere of influence in Inner Mongolia. The Fourth Agreement, signed on July 3, 1816, expanded its scope of application from Manchuria and Mongolia to all of China, and at its core was a secret alliance treaty which prevented third countries hostile to Japan and Russia from dominating China, and promised assistance in the event of war and not to make peace separately, but it was dissolved by the Russian Revolution. In 1817, the revolutionary government published the Fourth Agreement with an annotation that the third countries referred to the United Kingdom and the United States, which sent a great shock around the world.

[Michio Fujimura]

"The Basic Policies of Imperial Foreign Policy" by Kashima Morinosuke (included in "Historical Considerations of Japanese Foreign Policy", 1938, Kashima Institute) " "On Japan-Russia Entente" by Tanaka Naokichi (included in "Research on the History of Modern Japanese Diplomacy" edited by the Editorial Committee for the 60th Birthday of Professor Kamikawa, 1956, Yuhikaku)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本とロシアが英米の東アジア進出に対抗する目的で、1907年（明治40）から16年（大正5）まで4回にわたり締結した協約。日露戦後からワシントン体制成立までの日本外交の基本路線を日英同盟とともに規定した。07年7月30日調印の第1回協約は、秘密条項で南北満州（中国東北）を相互に勢力範囲とすることを約すとともに、韓国と外蒙古(そともうこ)に日露がそれぞれ特殊利益を有することを承認しあった。10年7月4日調印の第2回協約は、満州の現状維持と特殊権益防衛に相互援助することとし、12年7月8日調印の第3回協約で内蒙古の勢力範囲を画定した。16年7月3日調印の第4回協約は、適用範囲を従来の満蒙から全中国に拡大し、日露両国に敵意をもつ第三国の対華支配を防ぎ、戦争の際の援助と単独不講和を約した秘密同盟条約を中核とするが、ロシア革命により消滅した。17年革命政府が、第三国とは英米両国をさすという注釈付きで第4回協約を公表したため、世界は大きな衝撃を受けた。

［藤村道生］

『鹿島守之助著『帝国外交政策の基本政策』（『日本外交政策の史的考察』所収・1938・鹿島研究所）』▽『田中直吉著『日露協商論』（神川先生還暦記念編集委員会編『近代日本外交史の研究』所収・1956・有斐閣）』

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