Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) was an extremely bloody conflict that grew out of the rival imperialist ambitions of Russia and Japan in Manchuria and Korea. The war was fought principally over possession of the town of Port Arthur (aka Lushun and Ryojun) and the Liaodong Peninsula, plus the railway from the port to Harbin.

Peace

Although Russia still had a far larger army than Japan, these successive defeats had shaken Russian confidence. Throughout 1905, Russia was rocked by the Russian Revolution of 1905, which represented a severe threat to the stability of the government. Russia elected to negotiate peace rather than continue the war so it could concentrate on internal matters.

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An offer of mediation by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt led to the Treaty of Portsmouth, signed in the U.S. Navy facility at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on September 5, 1905. Russia ceded to Japan the southern half of Sakhalin Island, which they had possessed historically, until regaining it in 1952 under the Treaty of San Francisco following the Second World War. They signed over their 25 year leasehold rights as well to the excellent naval base at Port Arthur and the peninsula around it. Russia further agreed to evacuate Manchuria and recognize Korea as a Japanese sphere of influence. Japan would annex Korea in 1910 with scant protest from other powers.

Related Topics:
Theodore Roosevelt - Treaty of Portsmouth - Portsmouth, New Hampshire - September 5 - 1905 - Sakhalin - Treaty of San Francisco - Second World War - 1910

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This was one of the first major victories in the modern era of an Asian country over a Western one, and Japanese prestige rose greatly as they began to be considered a modern Great Power. Concurrently, Russia having lost virtually all her Eastern and Baltic fleets and slipped downward in esteem, particularly in the view of the bellicose Germany, locked in a power struggle with France over Morocco. While the Kaiser was the Tsar's cousin, Russia was France's ally, and that loss of prestige would have a significant effect on German war plans.

Related Topics:
Great Power - Germany - France - Morocco - Kaiser - Tsar

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In the absence of Russian competition and with the distraction of European nations during World War I and the Great Depression, the Japanese military began the efforts to dominate China that would lead to the Pacific War of World War II, and this victory over a Western power began a series of events that would lead to decolonization. In Russia, this defeat led in the short term to a reform of the Russian military that would allow it to face Germany in World War I. However, the revolts at home following the war and military defeat presaged the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Related Topics:
World War I - Great Depression - Pacific War - World War II - Decolonization - Germany - Russian Revolution of 1917

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