British Policy Towards Japan in the Shadow of the Outbreak of World War II.

In the summer of 1939, Anglo-Japanese relations were extremely tense. A major change in the situation occurred with the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the outbreak of World War Two. These events completely remodeled the existing system of alliances. Britain and Japan started to seek the possibility of rapprochement. However, due to a conflict of interests in China, the anti-Japanese attitude of the United States and general distrust in both countries towards each other, a reset in Anglo-Japanese relations could not be reached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]