Avoiding war: The diplomacy of Sir Robert Craigie and Shigemitsu Mamoru, 1937-1941.

During the years preceding the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 Britain's Ambassador to Japan was Sir Robert Craigie. His period in Tokyo has since been the object of a good deal of controversy, with some observers criticising him for being an abject appeaser while others have praised him for his skilful diplomacy and for his realism. Similarly his counterpart, the Japanese Ambassador to London, Shigemitsu Mamoru, has had his career much scrutinised, and has been variously labelled as an Anglophile liberal and as a puppet of the Japanese military. Apart from the dispute over their reputations, an analysis of the diplomacy of these two Ambassadors during the years 1937-1941 is important because both men were deeply disturbed by the steady deterioration in Anglo-Japanese relations, and sought to alleviate the growing tensions by espousing alternatives, designed to establish the grounds for a new understanding, to the policies pursued by their respective governments. This study analyses both the practicality and the practicability of the policies put forward by Craigie and Shigemitsu, and also shows the influence they exerted on the course of Anglo-Japanese relations. This is done by investigating not only their roles in the major crises that shook relations during this period, such as the Tientsin crisis of 1939, the Burma Road crisis of 1940 and the events immediately prior to the outbreak of war, but also the whole range of issues that led to increased tensions. In particular, emphasis is put on the effect that economic forces had on the relations between the two countries, and how the rivalry arising first from the Depression and second from the outbreak of the war in Europe in 1939 drove London and Tokyo apart; a process which the two Ambassadors were powerless to stop. It is hoped that this will prove to be a useful contribution to the study of the origins of the Pacific War