One Hundred Twelve Years Ago Today . . .
. . . the Russo-Japanese War began. The first hostilities occurred roughly 3 hours prior to the Russian Empire receiving Japan’s declaration of war, when the Japanese attacked the Russian naval base at Port Arthur. (At the time, an attack prior to a declaration of war was not contrary to international conventions or law.)
The war confirmed Japan as the ascendant power in eastern Asia, and also showed that they were militarily competitive with European nations in terms of strategy, tactics, training, and equipment. The war also demonstrated many aspects of early 20th Century warfare – trench warfare and massive casualties due to automatic weapons and artillery among them.
The war was ended by the Treaty of Portsmouth, brokered by US President Theodore Roosevelt. For this, Roosevelt received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.
The long-term effects of the war were substantial. The financial strain imposed by rearmament (Russia lost most of two of its three fleets in the war, and afterwards was in naval terms on a par with Austria-Hungary vice the other major naval powers) played havoc with the late Russian Empire’s finances. This may have contributed indirectly to the abysmal performance of Russia’s armed forces (and government in general) during World War I.
For Japan, their successes may well have encouraged their later Imperial policies in eastern Asia, thus contributing indirectly to their eventual entry into World War II. (Japan fought on the allied side in World War I, but appear to have done so as a matter of convenience and to have used this participation as a convenient excuse to appropriate former German Pacific territories.) Further, the tactically indecisive but strategically successful attack on Port Arthur may have been the intellectual inspiration for the later Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Wikipedia article on the Russo-Japanese War isn’t bad. If you’d like a brief but reasonable overview of this long-ago and largely forgotten – but important – war, it’s worth a read.
Category: Historical
Slightly off topic, but I’ve been watching the BBC mini-series on “War and Peace” on Lifetime. It’s pretty good and shows the decadence and corrup0tion of the Russian nobility leading to Napolean’s invasion. I’m sure those conditions hadn’t changed much by the time that the Japanese got all frisky (see also Doctor Zhivago).
I’m not so sure that anything other than the Russians can be blamed for Russian economic failures or difficulties.
Is there any period of Russian history, regardless of which style of strongman was/is ruling, in which Russia wasn’t an economic mess?
Here’s the way I look at it. Mt wife’s ancestors ate potatoes for hundreds of years. You would think, in all that time, someone would have baked just one of them. Um, yeah, NYET!
I mean, my God, they boil meat!
Dave Hardin, can I get an Amen?
HEY!
There ain’t nothin’ wrong with a boiled dinnah! Ayuh. One of the best Sunday suppahs you can have. 🙂
Don’t forget the mustard.
Directions: Place meat, potatoes, and veggies in the pot. Boil until a lifeless grey mess. Stir, then repeat.
My Momma used to do the same thing with a pressure cooker. I miss her, but not what David describes, excellent summation.
Good read and write Hondo!
I heard you were chillin’ your heels in Alberta this winter working on the pipeline … You must share some stories of ‘Pay-Day’ Friday Nights!
Four strong wins!
//You’re on it Master Chief!
How could he be doing that, when he was helping his Samba school wow the spectators at Rio Carnival last weekend? (And it isn’t even winter down there.)
Shh! Isso é um segredo, meu amigo!
Alberta’s sure cold in de winter, eh? You really need a couple of good, heavyweight toques!
Aye dat, but Banff sure is a mighty place ta see, eh? Grab some donuts and Elsinores and sit back and watch Bob & Doug’s show,eh?
Hondo, as a matter of trivia, one of correspondents sent to cover the war was Jack London working on assignment for William Randolph Hearst at the SF Examiner. I remember reading some of London’s dispatches some years ago and found them to be really good.
And here I was thinking that SGT Pepper told the band to play….
Silly me.
Kidding aside, good write up an history reminder.
The Russians learned their Lessons well. In the skirmish in 1939 The RussiansThumped the Japa pretty hard, but that was nothing compared the way they rolled over them from August Sept 1945.
The Japanese had been dealing with Chinese light infantry with little artillery,air or armor support that had been drained to defend the pacific islands.
The Russians bought troops and gear they had been using against the Nazis.
They rolled the Japs up quick.
Russia got their revenge in WWII, when days prior to the Japanese surrender, they declared war on Japan, so they could get in on the action and get some territory from Japan.