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Before 1871, Japan was an isolated and self- contained
country, with little to no contact with other countries. The samurai and their
leader, the Shogun, were supreme commanders whose word was law. However, after
the USA sent a fleet of warships in 1854 intending to force Japan to open up
its borders to trade with other countries, this isolated and backward nation
changed enormously. Emperor Mutsuhito and his Meiji government set about
modernising Japan, and by 1894, Japan had defeated China--a country vastly
superior in terms of both size and military—and seized Korea, which was under
China’s sphere of influence. However, Japan was soon forced to hand over control
of Port Arthur in China to Russia. This caused considerable resentment in
Japan, which decided to wait for an opportunity to avenge its humiliation.
The Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902 convinced Japan that it
could now seek a settlement with Russia. The Japanese were prepared to
acknowledge Russian rights in Manchuria in exchange for Japanese rights in
Korea. Convinced of their military superiority, the Russians refused and,
instead, invaded Korea. The Japanese response was rapid, dramatic and devastating,
and brought Japan into a war with one of the world’s great powers.
On 9 February 1904, Japanese warships took out two Russian
battleships and a cruiser by surprise attack. The Russian fleet was widely
dispersed around the globe and Russian soldiers were forced to endure a lengthy
overland trip across Asia to take up arms against the Japanese. Under such
circumstances, Japan clearly had the advantage. It quickly established control
over the local seas, allowing it to move troops around without resistance. Once
Port Arthur was seized, the Japanese occupied Manchuria, forcing the Russians
to retreat to Mukden. At the height of a bitter winter—and after a long, hard
three months—Mukden fell to the Japanese. Russia’s last hope lay with its fleet
in the Baltic Sea, but the ships’ journey to the Far East was long, torturous
and eventful. While steaming through the North Sea, the Russian ships mistook
some British fishing boats for warships and destroyed them. Immediately realising
their mistake, the soldiers issued an apology, but the British were outraged,
and, for a while, the Russian fleet was pursued by a vastly superior British
fleet. As Britain was allied to Japan, it seemed likely that the two rival
fleets would engage in battle. While diplomatic negotiations succeeded in
preventing this, Britain denied the Russians access to the Suez Canal, forcing
them to take the far longer route around Africa.
The final battle took place at the Straits of Tsushima on 27
May, 1905. The slow moving and outdated Russian ships were quickly overwhelmed
by the Japanese. Facing revolution at home and humiliation abroad, Tsar
Nicholas the Second signed the treaty of Portsmouth with Japan. Japan’s rights
in Korea were formally recognised, and Russia’s influence in Manchuria was
effectively ended.
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