Recognizing the tides of the times was one of the key reasons Japan had succeeded.
Ever since the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese Government had worked hard to cling to the British coattails. Although John Bull did not think much of them and had not taken in this little brother who came knocking at his door, decades of unwavering effort had still earned them some goodwill. Yet in international competition, goodwill alone was not enough. What mattered more was opportunity.
For the Japanese, the present was undoubtedly the best opportunity. The international situation was shifting like wind and clouds, and the isolated British now urgently needed allies.
A hegemon had the bearing of a hegemon. What Britain needed were allies, not pets; it could not take in every stray cat and dog.
In the original timeline, Japan had proven its strength in the First Sino-Japanese War before catching the British eye and becoming the vanguard against Russia in the Far East.
This time was no exception. The strength Japan displayed in the struggle for the Philippine Islands made the British look at it differently, giving it a chance for further contact.
At Downing Street, ever since the Continental War had been decided, Prime Minister Gladstone had not slept well. He looked as though he had aged ten years.
The Vienna Conference, which had just concluded, dealt Britain an even more fatal blow. The once swaggering French Empire had now had its limbs severed; there was no hope of relying on it anytime soon.
Without any surprise, the German-Austrian merger Britain had feared most had still occurred. The revived Holy Roman Empire had become the new hegemon of the European Continent.
And unlike the hollow hegemonies of the past, this one possessed truly overwhelming strength, enough to make challengers balk at