Prime Minister Hara Takashi had come into power in September 1918 and was determined for Japan to adopt a pro-western foreign policy (欧米協調主義, ōbei kyōchō shugi) at the peace conference.[3] That was largely in consequence of the World War I governments under Prime Ministers Ōkuma Shigenobu and Terauchi Masatake, whose expansionist policies had the effect of alienating Japan from both the United States and Britain.[3] Hara was determined to support the creation of the League of Nations at the peace conference to steer Japan back to the West.[3] However, there was quite a bit of scepticism towards the League.