Yellow peril

This refers to the largely irrational and unfounded Caucasian fears prevalent during the late 19th/early 20th century for the oriental people of China and Japan, especially following Japan’s defeat of Russia in 1904/5. Some sources maintain that the phrase was coined by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany c.1895, but there is evidence to suggest that it had appeared in print a few years before that time. These fears were of course rekindled in December 1941 following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour.