The , (french: Traité Franco-Japonais) was a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...

between the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 19 ...

and the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

denoting respective

spheres of influence In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal al ...

in Asia, which was signed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

on 10 June 1907 by Japanese Ambassador Baron Shin’ichiro Kurino and

French Foreign Minister The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs () is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Qua ...

Stéphen Pichon. Relations between France and Japan prior to the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

of 1904-1905 had been chilly. France was a member of the

Triple Intervention The Tripartite Intervention or was a diplomatic intervention by Russia, Germany, and France on 23 April 1895 over the harsh terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki imposed by Japan on the Qing dynasty of China that ended the First Sino-Japanese War. ...

, which Japan had felt humiliatingly limited her gains in the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...

. France was also a vocal supporter of Russia in the recent conflict, although had been constrained by the

Entente cordiale The Entente Cordiale (; ) comprised a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial de ...

with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the foreign policies of

Théophile Delcassé Théophile Delcassé (1 March 185222 February 1923) was a French politician who served as foreign minister from 1898 to 1905. He is best known for his hatred of Germany and efforts to secure alliances with Russia and Great Britain that became t ...

from taking an open role. However, with Japan emerging as victor in the Russo-Japanese War and with France increasingly becoming estranged from an increasingly belligerent Germany, French foreign policy shifted.Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 124. In the Franco-Japanese Treaty of 1907, both parties stated their commitment to the territorial integrity of China, as well as their support of the

Open Door Policy The Open Door Policy () is the United States diplomatic policy established in the late 19th and early 20th century that called for a system of equal trade and investment and to guarantee the territorial integrity of Qing China. The policy wa ...

, but also stated that both parties had a “special interest” in maintaining peace and order in areas of China adjacent to territories where both parties had rights of sovereignty, protection or occupation. The non-public supplement of the agreement defined these areas as

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and the province of Fukien for Japan, and the provinces of

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

, Guangxi and

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

for France. The treaty implicitly recognized France’s position in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

and one of the results of the treaty was a crackdown on the activities of Indochinese independence supporters and Vietnamese exiles in Japan by the Japanese police. However, the wording of the supplemental portions of the treaty were leaked to the French press, causing concern in the United States and in China regarding French and Japanese territorial ambitions in China, and the future of the Open Door Policy. Further negations between in Japan and the United States to clarify their respective positions contributed to the Root–Takahira Agreement of 1908. The treaty was part of building a coalition as France took the lead in creating alliances with Japan, Russia and (informally) with Britain. Japan wanted to raise a loan in Paris, so France made the loan contingent on a Russo-Japanese agreement and a Japanese guaranty for France's strategically vulnerable possessions in Indochina. Britain encouraged the Russo-Japanese rapprochement. Thus was built the

Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...

coalition that fought World War I.Ewen W. Edwards, "The Far Eastern Agreements of 1907." ''Journal of Modern History'' 26.4 (1954): 340-355
online
/ref>

References

* * * * White, John Albert. ''Transition to Global Rivalry: Alliance Diplomacy & the Quadruple Entente, 1895-1907'' (1995) 344 pp. re France, Japan, Russia, Britain

External links

Notes

{{reflist Treaties concluded in 1907 Treaties of the Empire of Japan Bilateral treaties of France 1907 in Japan 1907 in France Treaties entered into force in 1907 Treaties of the French Third Republic