The Yellow Peril : The German Kaiser Wilhelm II, His Cartoon and Their Relation to the Triple Intervention

The phrase "Yellow Peril" became popular because it summed up the idea that the rise of the yellow race was a danger to the white race. It was the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, and his cartoon that propagated the Yellow Peril idea around the world and popularized it in the Western political arena. There are, however, some misunderstandings over the Kaiser's role in the Yellow Peril. First, this essay attempts to clarify the genesis of the phrase "Yellow Peril" and its relation to the Kaiser's cartoon embodying his idea of the Yellow Peril. Although the Kaiser seems to have believed himself to be the inventor of the phrase, there is no evidence proving this. There is also no evidence that the Kaiser's cartoon was originally entitled "the Yellow Peril," although this belief has been widely held. Next, this essay considers the effect which the Kaiser's idea of the Yellow Peril had on the decision-making process of the Triple Intervention of 1895, the intervention by the three powers, Russia, Germany and France, which forced Japan to renounce the possession of the Liaotung Peninsula. As the Kaiser sent the cartoon to his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II, and propagated the Yellow Peril idea just after the intervention, it has been argued that the fear aroused by the Yellow Peril played a major role in the intervention. The fact is, however, that the Kaiser used the fear mainly as a means of justifying the intervention. Lastly, this essay examines the contemporary reaction to the cartoon. Admittedly, it caused a mild sensation in the Western political arena. However, it also became a subject of amusement. In fact, some ridiculed the cartoon as much as they did the Kaiser's idea of the Yellow Peril itself