Because neither nation was in a strong financial position to continue the war easily, both were forced to compromise in the terms of the peace. Still, the Japanese public felt they had won the war, and they considered the lack of an indemnity to be an affront. There was a brief outbreak of protests and rioting in Tokyo when the terms of the agreement were made public. Similarly, the Russian people were also dissatisfied, angry about giving up half of Sakhalin. Throughout the war and the peace talks, American public opinion largely sided with Japan.
The final decision of the Japanese to forgo an indemnity only served to strengthen U. The anti-treaty and, at times, anti-American demonstrations in Tokyo that followed the ratification of the treaty caught many Americans off-guard. The Treaty of Portsmouth marked the last real event in an era of U. Instead, competition between the two nations in the Pacific grew over the years that followed. Conversely, Japanese relations with Russia improved in the wake of the treaty.
Menu Menu. Milestones: — The Russian Empire already leased a port on the Liaodong Peninsula from China—Port Arthur—but it wanted to have a base of operations firmly under its control. The Japanese, meanwhile, had been concerned about Russian influence in the region since the First Sino-Japanese War of Russia provided military support to the Qing Empire in China during that conflict, which pitted the two Asian powers against each other. Under the terms of the proposal, Japan would have maintained influence over Korea.
As negotiations broke down, the Japanese opted to go to war, staging a surprise attack on the Russian navy at Port Arthur on February 8, Japan formally declared war against Russia on the day of the Port Arthur attack. Czar Nicholas had been told by his advisors that the Japanese would not challenge Russia militarily, even after negotiations between the two powers had collapsed. Notably, international law did not require a formal declaration of war prior to launching an attack until the Second Hague Peace Conference of , two years after fighting between the Russians and Japanese had ended.
Under the leadership of Admiral Togo Heihachiro, the Japanese Imperial Navy sent torpedo boats to attack Russian naval vessels, significantly damaging three of the largest: Tsesarevich , Retvizan , and Pallada. Although the rest of the Russian Far East Fleet was largely protected within the harbor at Port Arthur, the attacks successfully dissuaded the Russians from taking the battle to the open seas, even though attempts to establish a Japanese blockade of the port failed.
However, the Russian ships that evaded the Japanese did not escape unscathed. On April 12, , the Petropavlovsk and Pobeda battleships were able to leave Port Arthur but struck mines just after making it out to sea. Petropavlovsk sank, while Pobeda limped back to port heavily damaged.
While Russia avenged that attack with mines of its own, severely damaging two Japanese battleships, the Asian power retained the upper hand at Port Arthur, continuing to bombard the harbor with heavy shelling.
In late August, forces from northern Russia sent to assist the fleet at Port Arthur were pushed back by the Japanese at the Battle of Liaoyang. And, from newly gained positions on land in the vicinity of the harbor, Japanese guns fired relentlessly on Russian ships moored in the bay. In early January , Russian Major General Anatoly Stessel, commander of the Port Arthur garrison, decided to surrender, much to the surprise of both the Japanese and his bosses in Moscow, believing that the harbor was no longer worth defending in the face of significant losses.
With that, the Japanese had achieved a significant victory in the war. Stessel was later convicted of treason and sentenced to death for his decision, though he was ultimately pardoned. With the Russians distracted and demoralized, Japanese ground forces set about controlling the Korean peninsula after landing at Incheon in modern-day South Korea.
Within two months, they had taken over Seoul and the rest of the peninsula. At the end of April , Japanese ground forces began planning an attack on Russian-controlled Manchuria in northeastern China. During the first major land battle of the war, the Battle of Yalu River, the Japanese mounted a successful attack against the Russian Eastern Detachment in May , forcing them to retreat back toward Port Arthur.
With fighting intermittent during the Manchurian winter, the next notable land battle in the conflict began on February 20, , when the Japanese forces attacked the Russians at Mukden.
Days of harsh fighting ensued. Able to push back the Russians at the flanks, the Japanese eventually forced them into full retreat.
On March 10, after three weeks of fighting, the Russians suffered significant casualties and were pushed back to northern Mukden. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Timeline February 8, Japan launches a surprise attack on the Russians. August 1, The Siege of Port Arthur begins.
January 2, Port Arthur Surrenders. January 22, The " Revolution" breaks out in Russia. May , The Battle of Tsushima. September 5, The Treaty of Portsmouth signed.
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