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  • Essay / Russo-Japanese War - 1713

    The Russo-Japanese War of 1904 was a European conflict that was fought because one country was becoming too strong. The conflict was primarily fought because two separate countries had their own vested interests in Far Eastern countries like Korea and China. Great Britain and Japan recognized the independence of China and Korea, but at the same time authorized themselves to intervene in either territory if their own "special interests" were threatened by another power or by internal disturbances. This power was now Russia. There was already a rivalry between Great Britain and Russia over the Trans-Siberian Railway, but it now took on another dimension. Russia now had access to the Pacific. Its presence in Asia threatened already established British interests. China leased ice-free Port Arthur to Russia and allowed it to store its warships there. The two empires were on a collision course. Britain was very reluctant to commit in the face of a distant threat of war, and so it decided to ally itself with the growing industrial power of Japan. In doing so, Britain found its soldiers in the East. At that time, Russia did not realize how powerful Britain and Japan had become. Russia was unable to take Japan seriously, even though it had numerous reports of the importance of Japanese naval and military forces. Unfortunately, Russia's steady penetration of Korea and Manchuria continued unabated despite the presence of large numbers of Japanese immigrants and traders. Russia had succeeded in replacing the now vanished Chinese influence with its influence. Russia then began to take charge of administrative departments and had its officers train the Korean army to fight alongside it. In April, May and June 1903, the Russians had told the Japanese that they would leave China. They did not do this and continued to occupy the land. In July of the same year, the Japanese ambassador proposed that Russia and Japan recognize the independence of China and Korea. Both nations had to recognize preponderance, with the Japanese in Korea being balanced by the Russians in Manchuria. They had to recall their troops from their respective areas as soon as possible. In return, the Russians would protect the railways in Manchuria and the Japanese would do the same in Korea. The Japanese realized that the Russians were strengthening their naval and military forces in the Far East. They were also moving troops not only into Manchuria, but also into North Korea. It then became clear to the Japanese that the Russians had no intention of relaxing their hold on Manchuria and Korea. Nevertheless, negotiations continued. On February 10, 1904, both nations produced official declarations of war. On February 8, a large part of the Russian Pacific squadron anchored at