The effects of “the new imperialism” of the last quarter of the nineteenth century were felt most acutely by the British. Their relative monopoly in several areas was challenged both in theory (by the setting of new ground rules in 1884 at the Berlin Conference) and in practice. In December 1886 a Royal Commission on the Depression of Trade and Industry reported that in addition to losing her advantage in production (primarily to Germany), Britain was “beginning to feel the effects of competition in quarters where her trade formerly enjoyed a practical monopoly”.

One such area was the Far East. Lord Salisbury had said in 1885 that “the Power that can establish the best footing in China will have the best part of the trade of the world”. This deserves to be known as “the China syndrome” and, of course, it still applies. A decade later, in November 1895, Salisbury told an audience at the Guildhall, “In China there is room for us all”. Several Great Powers took him at his word. In July 1895 a Russian loan had been made to China. This was countered, in March 1896, by a joint Anglo- German loan. These were just preliminaries.

Shortly after matters in the Balkans were put on ice by the agreement to maintain the status quo there arrived at by Russia and Austria-Hungary in May 1897, the Far Eastern question proper was posed.