Sarah Paine

starting with diplomacy.

Here you have Sun Tzu, who's China's big guru, art of war, who's talking about it's really important to disrupt alliances.

In modern terminology, that would be isolating the adversary, that that might be a good thing to do.

And that's the purpose of the Anglo-Japanese alliance.

How does that work?

What it says, its terms say that

If more than one European power comes to Asia to fight Japan, that means Russia plus one European buddy, then Britain is going to weigh in on Japan's side.

So Britain is the number one power in Europe.

So why would you ever want to help Russia out?

Because it won't go well with you if Britain is on Japan's side.

This alliance goes into effect from 1902 to 1907.

It's a five-year event, opening a window of opportunity for Japan to sort out its empire in Asia.

But the Trans-Siberian Railway, when it gets completed, is going to threaten to close that window.

And here's why.

The Trans-Siberian Railway in those days, it's not north of the Amur, it's actually straight through Manchuria, this Chinese Eastern Railway.

It's Russia's bid for empire of trying to control Manchuria.

And it was unfinished.

It hadn't been double-tracked, so that means you're always having to push trains off so other trains can pass them in the other direction.

It's missing its Lake Baikal link.

Don't think Lake, think Switzerland.