Great Britain and the Origins of the Pacific War

This study examines British policy towards the approach of the Pacific war between 1937 and 1941. From July 1937 onwards, Great Britain was faced with the challenge of responding to the growth of Japanese expansion, at first in China and then with the escalating threat of Japanese aggression in south-east Asia and into the Western pacific. The crisis in East Asia coincided with the swift deterioration of the situation in Europe, exemplified in the development of Hitler’s power, the coalescence of Germany and Italy, and the savagery of the Spanish civil war.

This study concentrates upon the immediate origins of the Pacific war, specifically the major impetus of the outbreak and escalation of the undeclared war between Japan in China in 1937.