The first Imperial Defense Policy was promulgated on 4 April 1907 and provided a general basis for Japanese defense planning for the next fifteen years. This secret document listed Russia as first among potential enemies, followed by the United States and France. The concept was based on the technical experiences of the Russo-Japanese War, as welt as on a treatise on defense by Commander Sato Tetsutato, an instructor at the Naval Staff College. The Imperial Defense Policy contained specific force-level goals, directing that the Imperial Navy include a battle fleet centered around "a squadron of eight battleships and a squadron of eight armored cruisers of the most modern design and less than eight years of age." The goal of two eight-ship squadrons in the batde fleet (8—8 fleet) was revised on 31 March 1912 to specify battle cruisers rather than armored cruisers. The concept of the 8-8 fleet can be traced to plans for 4-4 and 6-6 fleets dating from the 1890s. The development of a core of modern capital ships was a central goal of the Imperial Navy throughout the early part of this century. Despite the importance of the 8-8 fleet in naval circles, however, the ambitious project was hampered by financial and political difficulties and encountered numerous restructurings and delays. When these problems seemed at last to have been overcome during World War I, the plan's realization was precluded once and for all when the Washington Treaty of 1922 halted the construction of capital ships.
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