nese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
under the date of February 19th last, the Russian Embassy is
charged with giving the Japanese Government the assurance that it
can entirely count on the support of the Imperial Government of
Russia with regard to its desiderata concerning the eventual
surrender to Japan of the rights belonging to Germany in Shantung
and of the German Islands, occupied by the Japanese forces, in
the Pacific Ocean to the north of the Equator.[74]

It will be observed that, unlike England and France, Russia demands no
_quid pro quo_, doubtless owing to the secret treaty concluded in the
previous year.

After these agreements, Japan saw no further objection to China's
participation in the war. The chief inducement held out to China was the
hope of recovering Shantung; but as there was now no danger of this hope
being realized, Japan was willing that America, in more or less honest
ignorance, should unofficially use this hope for the persuasion of the
Chinese. It is true that Japan had reason to fear America until the last
days of the Peace Conference, but this fear was considerably diminished
by the conclusion of the Lansing-Ishii Agreement in November 1917.

Meanwhile Japan had discovered that the question of China's entry into
the war could be used to increase internal strife in China, which has
been one of the aims of Japanese policy ever since the beginning of the
revolutionary movement.[75] If the Chinese had not been interfered with
at this time, there was some prospect of their succeeding in
establishing a stable democratic government. Yuan was dead, and his
successor in the Presidency, Li Yuan Hung, was a genuine
constitutionalist. He reassembled the Parliament which Yuan had
dismissed, and the work of drafting a permanent constitution was
resumed. The President was opposed to severing diplomatic relations,
and, of course, still more to declaring war. The Prime Minister, Tuan
Chih-jui, a militarist, was strongly in favour of war. He and his
Cabinet persuaded a considerable majority of both Houses of the Chinese
Parliament to side with them on the question of severing diplomatic
relations, and the President, as in duty bound, gave way on this issue.

On the issue of declaring war, however, public opinion was different. It
was President Wilson's summons to the neutrals to follow him in breaking
off diplomatic relations that had given force to the earlier campaign;