Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

206 • PLAZA ACCORD
PLAZA ACCORD. This was an agreement on foreign exchange rates
concluded by the Group of Five (G5: the United States, Great Britain,
France, West Germany, and Japan) at the Plaza Hotel in New York on
22 September 1985. The accord stipulated the reduction of the dollar’s
value by 10 to 20 percent through cooperation by G5 central
bank intervention. By the end of October 1985, the dollar exchange
rate had declined rapidly and the accord was achieved. The Plaza Accord
was a watershed in the transition from floating rates to managed
rates in which major countries intervene in the exchange market on
appropriate occasions. The accord also stipulated that the United
States would have to reduce its fiscal deficit and both Japan and West
Germany should expand their domestic demand.
The dollar value continued to decline and major advanced countries
did not desire any further decline. Finally, in February 1987, the
Group of Seven (G7: G5 + Canada and Italy) reached the Louvre Accord.
The G7 agreed to stabilize exchange rates at around contemporary
levels while Japan and West Germany pledged to implement
economic stimulation policies.
PORTSMOUTH TREATY (AUGUST 1905). The Portsmouth Treaty
of August 1905 brought a formal end to the Russo–Japanese War.
Sponsored by United States President Theodore Roosevelt, the
treaty transferred to Japan the Russian lease of the Liaotung Peninsula
and the South Manchurian Railroad rights. The southern half of
the island of Sakhalin became Japanese territory. Russia was also
forced to recognize Japan’s paramount interest in the Korean peninsula.
Japan, however, received no indemnities.
The terms of the Portsmouth Treaty quite neatly reflected the
course which the Russo–Japanese War had taken. In February
1904, Japan launched a surprise attack against the Russian Far
Eastern fleet, which lay at anchor outside the defenses of Port
Arthur. Over the ensuing 18 months, Russia’s Far Eastern fleet was
destroyed, and its Baltic fleet was annihilated in the battle of
Tsushima. Port Arthur surrendered to Japanese forces in January
1905, and the main Russian army was utterly defeated by March
1905. These victories left their impression on President Roosevelt,
who wrote to a British friend in June 1905: “What wonderful people
the Japanese are!”