The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 452: Chapter 360: The US-Japan Alliance_3

Or by possessing a powerful navy, fundamentally eliminate the possibility of an enemy landing on one's territory.

As long as the coast of the United States is not threatened, the mainland of the United States will not be threatened.

Currently, the situation in Europe has clearly been leaning towards the Allies, something the Americans are somewhat reluctant to witness.

If the Germans are defeated, the most threatening country to the British Empire would be the Americans themselves.

By that time, the seemingly very secure geographical location in the United States would not hold up against the naval blockade of the Four Great Powers of the Allies.

Rapidly enhancing the strength of the navy and enabling the US Navy to protect its coastline is the pressing task for the United States at the moment.

It is precisely because of the pressure from the Allies, the passage of the Naval Expansion Act was very smooth, and the corresponding financial appropriations were swiftly approved by the United States Congress.

Keep in mind, anytime before when the US government wanted to achieve any agreements, it needed to lobby Congress for appropriations for a long time.

Now that the United States Congress has agreed to appropriations so swiftly, it is evident that the congressmen are also feeling tremendous pressure from the Allies.

This is actually quite normal. After all, the world's most powerful country with the world's most powerful navy, coupled with two top powers with strong armies and navies, and another power with decent army and navy strength, such a coalition of four countries is unstoppable in this world unless there are four equally strong countries to counter them.

At present, the only Allied Nation with the strength to contend against the Allies is one with the world's first-strongest army and the Austro-Hungarian Empire with a decent army.

In this sense, the island nation appears to be a suitable ally for the United States. Additionally, seeking American support to contend against Russia, the island nation has already had ties with the United States, making it easier to win them over.

As a result, the US government has formulated a plan to win over the island nation, in order to relieve the pressure from the Allies by forging an alliance with the island nation.

On the island nation side, they were naturally overjoyed when the United States extended an olive branch. Bear in mind, since Britain suspended its aid, the island nation seemed to be in dire straits.

The various industries of the island nation were already severely restricted, and there were not enough mineral resources to supply. With Britain cutting off aid, the island nation not only lost its recently acquired status as a powerful nation, but it might even lose the possibility of becoming a strong country.

After all, the enemy of the island nation becoming a strong country is Russia, and Russia is a member of the Allies.

The current strength of the Allies is so mighty that even the Allied Nations cannot compare, let alone the island nation that is not even a great power.

Therefore, when the island nation received an olive branch from the Americans, they agreed without hesitation to the United States' request.

For the island nation, another advantage of having the United States as an ally is that there would be no conflict between them in a short period of time.

The hands of the United States had not yet fully extended to this side of the Pacific Ocean, and the island nation did not have many interests in the Pacific Ocean at the moment.

This also means that if the two countries forge an alliance, their relationship would be close during the honeymoon period in the short term.

On December 7, 1913, the US government announced that it had reached an agreement with the island nation on co-building dreadnoughts, and both parties signed a reciprocal trade agreement, marking the initial establishment of the US-Japanese Alliance.