Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905
|
“Japanese Sailor Kicks Captain off the Russian Ship Steregushii off Port Arthur”
Woodblock print by Migita Toshihide
|
Caption upper right reads: “On March 10 (1904), during a close battle between Russian and Japanese battleships off Port Arthur, our seaman apprentice leaped onto an enemy battleship, drew his sword as he barked at the Captain, thrashed him from the front, and kicked him into the sea.”
|
Introduction
The ultimate cause of the Russo-Japanese War was the coincidence of the two countries’ territorial expansion. Russia viewed Manchuria as her domain by right of military and economic conquest as well as by right of common heritage. In order to protect its interests in Manchuria, Russia wanted to occupy Korea. They found a Japanese military presence in Korea intolerable, and were unwilling to back down on this point.
Japan viewed Korea as its rightful domain, won in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and legitimized by the Treaty of Shimenoseki in 1895. Japan thought that Russian occupation of Manchuria was a threat to Japanese interests in Korea. A Russian presence in Korea was absolutely unthinkable for the Japanese, since Korea was the likely starting point for any invasion of Japan. Korea was traditionally viewed as a “dagger pointing at the heart of Japan.”
|
Russia drifted into war because the tsar was at once enchanted by the Orient and threatened by it. He fell under the sway of one powerful influence after another and so there was no consistent policy. Distance and lack of control from St. Petersburg allowed some of these individuals to act almost as independent agents in the East. Russia first built the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) and inserted an economic presence into Manchuria before occupying it militarily. After promising to withdraw, they reneged on the promise.
Japan attempted to negotiate on the basis of a policy of Mankan Kokan, meaning the exchange of Manchuria for Korea. When these attempts were rebuffed, Japan elected to go to war. While Russia blundered into war, the Japanese oligarchy deliberately chose it as an alternative. It would not be the last time that Japan would make this choice.
|
|
Major Weapons and Tactics of the Russo-Japanese War
|
Yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta.
|
The Major Battles of the Russo-Japanese War
|
“Engagement at Port Arthur, 14 February 1904.”
Woodblock print by Kyoko
|
Caption upper right reads: “A picture of our destroyer advancing quickly like a bird in morning fog, venturing in the turbulent snowstorm, shooting and wrecking the enemy's ship at Lushun (Port Arthur).”
|
Naval Battle of Port Arthur
|
Yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta.
|
Yalu River
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
Dairen
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
Yellow Sea
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
Japanese Sea
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
Siege of Port Arthur
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
Liaoyang
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
Sha-ho
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
Sandepu
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
Mukden
|
Yatta yatta yatta
|
“Private Ueda Attends to a Wounded Russian under Fire”
Woodblock print by Migita Toshihide
|
|
Tsushima
|
|
Tushima was the climactic battle of the six-month-long cruise of the Russian fleet from the Baltic to the Pacific, and the decisive naval battle of the war. On October 17, 1907, the Russian fleet departed from the Baltic, overloaded with coal and live cattle. Four days later, the Russian fleet lost an engagement with a British fishing fleet off Dogger Bank, damaging their own ships in the process of shooting up some innocent fishermen in their boats whom lookouts had identified as attacking Japanese torpedo boats. The Russians left the scene with no attempt at a rescue. They stopped to recoal in the harbor of Vigo, Spain, where they were blockaded by the British Royal Navy until arrangements were made for an investigation into what became known as the “Dogger Bank Incident.” The rest of the voyage went no better.
|
|
Japanese Admiral Togo →
← Russian Admiral Rozhestvenskii
|
|
Lacking the series of coaling stations established by the Royal Navy, the Russian fleet was forced to pile coal on upper and lower decks, bathrooms, engine rooms, workshops, corridors, and any other space not already occupied. (Warner and Warner, p. 451) The Russian sailors were often drunk and rebellious, the officers haughty and aloof. The ship's guns went unfired and became rusty, and the sailors, left undrilled and undisciplined, became bored and restless. They suffered from malnutrition and a wide variety of other ailments including malaria, typhoid, dysentery, and eczema, which they treated with kerosene, vodka, or eau de cologne. The ships swarmed with animals, both food animals and pets such as monkeys, parrots, crocodiles, porcupines, proliferated, not to mention rats, ever-present on shipboard. The coal stored everywhere made the men sick from the fumes and the coal dust made everything filthy as well as posing the risk of an explosion. The ships were covered with barnacles and moss. (Warner and Warner, p. 517) In short, the Russians were in poor condition for battle by they time they arrived in the Pacific.
|
In contrast, Togo's fleet was polished, sharp, and as deadly as a Japanese sword. It was newer, better armed and armored, faster, and in better condition. The sailors were extensively trained, their was high, and they were eager for a decisive engagement with the Russians. The battle was a foregone conclusion. Togo "crossed the T," enabling his ships to bring their full broadsides to bear while only the enemy's forward turrets could reply. A total of 21 Russian ships were sunk and seven other ships were captured. The Japanese lost three torpedo boats.
|
End of the Russo-Japanese War
|
Yatta...
|
The Important Lessons, Events, and Developments of the Russo-Japanese War
|
Yatta...
|
|
Details from the Japanese woodblock print: “Private Ueda
Attends to a Wounded Russian under Fire” by Migita Toshihide
|
The table below contains various military and diplomatic events related to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
The dates are to the nearest day when possible. Those events dated to the nearest year are less certain, naturally, than those dated to the precise day. Dates in this period are sometimes complicated by the fact that Russia still used the Julian Calendar while the rest of the western world had converted to the Gregorian Calendar. Dates given for any particular event sometimes vary by 10 to 12 days, depending on the source and the period, which causes a bit of confusion.
|
| Anglo-Japanese Alliance |
January 30, 1902 |
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902, which was to run for five years before being renewed, was primarily directed against the shared menace posed by France and (most probably) Russia in the Far East. It was renewed in 1905 after Japan's war with Russia. |
| Relations severed between Japan and Russia |
February 6, 1904 |
***** |
| Port Arthur, Naval Battle of |
February 8, 1904 |
***** |
| Che-mul-pho, Naval Battle of |
February 8, 1904 |
February 8, 1904 sea fight of Che-mul-pho |
| Russo-Japanese War |
February 8, 1904 |
***** |
| Chong-ju, Battle of |
April 1904 |
April 1904 fight and conquest of Chong-ju |
| Port Arthur, Naval Battle of |
April 13, 1904 |
***** |
| Yalu River, Battle of the |
April 30 - May 1, 1904 |
May 1, 1904 battle of Kiru-lien-Cheng |
| Port Arthur, Battle of |
May 5-27, 1904 |
***** |
| Nanhan, Battle of |
May 26, 1904 |
May 26, 1904 battle of Nanhan |
| Dairen, Battle of |
May 30, 1904 |
The battle of Dairen took place on May 30, 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War. The battle was won by Japanese forces under the command of general Hikato. |
| Te-li-ssu, Battle of |
June 14-15, 1904 |
June 14-15, 1904 battle of Te-li-ssu |
| Wafangtien, Battle of |
June 14, 1904 |
***** |
| Liaoyang, Battle of |
August 25 - September 4, 1904 |
Between August 25 and September 4, the Battle of Liaoyang was fought. Although the Japanese were outnumbered 130,000 to 180,000, they defeated the Russians, who retreated toward Shenyang (Mukden). |
| Liaoyang, Battle of |
October, 1904 |
Japanese defeat Russians |
| Shaho, Battle of the |
October 9-16, 1904 |
***** |
| Russian Fleet sails for Vladivostok |
October 15, 1904 |
***** |
| 203 Meter Hill, Capture of |
December 5, 1904 |
***** |
| Kin-chau, Battle of |
1905 (?) |
***** |
| Russian fleet anchors off Tamatave |
January 1, 1905 |
***** |
| Port Arthur, Battle of |
January 2, 1905 |
***** |
| Port Arthur, Surrender of |
January 2, 1905 |
***** |
| Sandepu, Battle of |
January 26/27, 1905 |
***** |
| Shenyang, Japanese Offensive at |
February 19 and March 10, 1905 |
***** |
| Mukden, Battle of |
February 21 - March 10, 1905 |
February 21, 1905 battle of Mukden |
| Tsushima, Battle of |
May 27-28, 1905 |
Japanese win a decisive victory over Russian fleet in the Straits of Tshushima, sinking or capturing all of Russian Baltic fleet |
| Roosevelt offers mediation in Russo-Japanese War |
June 8, 1905 |
***** |
| Peace talks open in Russo-Japanese War |
August 10, 1905 |
***** |
| Round Island, Naval Battle of |
August 10, 1905 |
***** |
| Tiensuiten, Battle of |
August 17, 1905 (??) |
***** |
| Portsmouth, Treaty of |
September 5, 1905 |
***** |
| Massive strike in Russia |
October 7-17, 1905 |
***** |
| October Manifesto |
October 17, 1905 |
***** |
Gray, Edwyn, The Devil's Device, Robert Whitehead and the History of the Torpedo, (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991), 310 p.
Hough, Richard, The Fleet That Had to Die (Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 2000), 237 p.
McCully, Newton A., The McCully Report: The Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05, (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1971), 338 p.
Okamoto, Shumpei, The Japanese Oligarchy and the Russo-Japanese War, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1970), 358 p.
Pleshakov, Constantine, The Tsar's Last Armada, (New York: Basic Books, 2002), 396 p.
Van der Oye, Schimmelpennick, Toward the Rising Sun: Russian Ideologies of Empire and the Path to War with Japan, (DeKalb, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 329 p.
Warner, Denis & Peggy, The Tide at Sunrise, A History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, (New York: Charterhouse, 1974), 569 p.
|
|
Warner, Denis & Peggy, The Tide at Sunrise, A History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, (New York: Charterhouse, 1974), 569 p.
|
|
|
This is the classic work on the Russo-Japanese War. Unfortunately, it is out of print (hence the current price for even a used copy).
|
|
Connaughton, Richard, Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: Russia's War with Japan, (New York: Sterling Publishing, 2003), 377 p.
|
|
|
This is an excellent new book on the Russo-Japanese War.
|
|
Edgerton, Richard B., Warriors of the Rising Sun: A History of the Japanese Military, (Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1997), 384 p.
|
|
|
An excellent book on the Japanese Military from the Russo-Japanese War to the end of World War Two. Edgerton gives a short background of the Japanese military through the Boxer Rebellion in China and then the rest of the book is a more in-depth study of the Japanese military during the Russo-Japanese War and the changes it underwent afterward. At this time the Japanese military earned a world-wide respect for the way that Japan had adopted Western European military methods and combined them with traditional Samurai traditions to create an efficient and effective military system. A long and cruel occupation in China corrupted this military machine and made possible the barbarities that earned Japan the disdain of the entire world in World War II
|
About the WarData.net website and database project
Pro Pax Perpetua.
|
|
|
|
Copyright ©2007 WarData.net - All rights reserved.