Japan's attitude in the Great European War was, of course, influenced chiefly by its alliance with Great Britain. Its general attitude toward Germany had always been a friendly one. For as Germany has played the successful schoolmaster along military and scientific lines for many nations, it has also done for Japan. The efficiency of the Japanese army is due chiefly to what Japanese officers have learned in German regiments and military schools.
Now that we have reviewed the historical development of all the belligerents, it becomes necessary to pay some attention to the few European states which so far have not yet actually become involved. For our purposes it will not be necessary to go into any great detail concerning the political history of these noncombatant nations. We are only interested in those features of their political development which have some bearing on the reasons for their present neutrality and on their attitude toward the various nations at war. In our consideration of the neutral states there will not be included either Greece or Rumania, because they will be covered together with the other Balkan nations in a separate section of this work.
Up to the beginning of 1916 there were two countries in southern Europe which had managed to remain in a condition of neutrality, Spain and Portugal. In the month of March the latter country, however, precipitated a declaration of war on the part of the Central European Powers and their allies by seizing the mercantile steamers of these various countries which at the outbreak of the war had sought refuge in Portuguese ports and had been interned there. Before we determine why Portugal took this step which was sure to provoke a declaration of war, it will be necessary to consider shortly the history of this country in modern times. It is many centuries since Portugal has lost its former importance as a European nation which was based primarily on its extensive colonial possessions. Its last really valuable and important colony, however, Brazil, was not lost until the early part of the nineteenth century, and even now Portugal possesses colonies in Asia and Africa which are twenty times as large in extent as its European territory. Its African possessions are adjoining chiefly British colonies and this close proximity to parts of the British Empire has resulted at times in some difficulties between the two countries, the most recent and important of which occurred in 1890 and in 1894. In spite of these slight disagreements, however, Portugal made an arrangement, quite some time ago, according to which it was under certain conditions to furnish limited subsidiary forces to England, in exchange for which England promised to assume the friendly rôle of a protector in times of need. It is undoubtedly this arrangement with England which finally resulted in the aggressive action on the part of Portugal of which we have just heard. Up to 1910 Portugal was a kingdom. In that year, however, a revolution broke out chiefly on account of oppressive financial measures which the Government had been in the habit of passing and the reigning King, Manuel, was forced to flee the country. Shortly afterward his former subjects exiled him and decided for a republican form of government which in spite of various slight monarchial revolutions has been maintained since. The 1910 revolution was preceded by two years by the murder of King Manuel's father, Carlos I, and his older brother, Luis. After King Manuel had been exiled, England assumed toward Portugal a part very similar to that which England had assumed toward France after the fall of the second empire. It offered a haven of refuge for the exiled king and his relatives, but at the same time acknowledged the establishment of the Portuguese Republic and showed in various ways that it was in sympathy with the liberal movement in Portugal.