Russian-Japanese War 1904 1905 world. The Russo-Japanese War in brief. Reasons for Russia's defeat

One of the largest military conflicts of the early 20th century is the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Its result was the first victory in modern history of an Asian state over a European one in a full-scale armed conflict. The Russian Empire entered the war expecting an easy victory, but the enemy turned out to be underestimated.

In the mid-19th century, Emperor Mutsuhio carried out a series of reforms, after which Japan became a powerful state with a modern army and navy. The country has emerged from self-isolation; its claims to dominance in East Asia intensified. But another colonial power also sought to gain a foothold in this region -.

Causes of the war and the balance of power

The cause of the war was the clash in the Far East of the geopolitical interests of two empires - modernized Japan and Tsarist Russia.

Japan, having established itself in Korea and Manchuria, was forced to make concessions under pressure from the European powers. Russia was given the Liaodong Peninsula, captured by the island empire during the war with China. But both sides understood that a military conflict could not be avoided and were preparing for military action.

By the time hostilities began, the opponents had concentrated significant forces in the conflict zone. Japan could field 375-420 thousand people. and 16 heavy warships. Russia had 150 thousand people located in Eastern Siberia and 18 heavy ships (battleships, armored cruisers, etc.).

Progress of hostilities

The beginning of the war. Defeat of Russian naval forces in the Pacific Ocean

The Japanese attacked before war was declared, on January 27, 1904. The strikes were carried out in various directions, which allowed the fleet to neutralize the threat of opposition from Russian ships on sea lanes, and parts of the Japanese imperial army land in Korea. By February 21, they occupied the capital Pyongyang, and by the beginning of May they blocked the Port Arthur squadron. This allowed the Japanese 2nd Army to land in Manchuria. Thus, the first stage of hostilities ended in Japanese victory. The defeat of the Russian fleet allowed the Asian empire to invade the mainland with land units and ensure their supplies.

Campaign of 1904. Defense of Port Arthur

The Russian command hoped to take revenge on land. However, the very first battles showed the superiority of the Japanese in the land theater of operations. The 2nd Army defeated the Russians opposing it and was divided into two parts. One of them began to advance on the Kwantung Peninsula, the other on Manchuria. Near Liaoyang (Manchuria), the first major battle took place between the ground units of the opposing sides. The Japanese continuously attacked, and the Russian command, previously confident of victory over the Asians, lost control of the battle. The battle was lost.

Having put his army in order, General Kuropatkin went on the offensive and tried to unblock the Kwantung fortified area, which was cut off from his own. A major battle unfolded in the valley of the Shahe River: there were more Russians, but Japanese Marshal Oyama managed to hold back the onslaught. Port Arthur was doomed.

1905 campaign

This sea fortress had a strong garrison and was fortified on land. Under conditions of complete blockade, the fortress garrison repelled four assaults, inflicting significant losses on the enemy; During the defense, various technical innovations were tested. The Japanese kept between 150 and 200 thousand bayonets under the walls of the fortified area. However, after almost a year of siege, the fortress fell. Almost a third of Russian soldiers and officers captured were wounded.

For Russia, the fall of Port Arthur was a severe blow to the prestige of the empire.

The last chance to turn the tide of the war for the Russian army was the battle of Mukden in February 1905. However, the Japanese were no longer opposed by the formidable force of a great power, but by units suppressed by continuous defeats and located far from their native land. After 18 days, the left flank of the Russian army wavered, and the command gave the order to retreat. The forces of both sides were exhausted: a positional war began, the outcome of which could only be changed by the victory of Admiral Rozhdestvensky’s squadron. After long months on the road, she approached the island of Tsushima.

Tsushima. Final Japanese victory

By the time of the Battle of Tsushima, the Japanese fleet had an advantage in ships, experience in defeating Russian admirals and high morale. Having lost only 3 ships, the Japanese completely defeated the enemy fleet, scattering its remnants. Russia's maritime borders were left unprotected; a few weeks later the first amphibious landings landed on Sakhalin and Kamchatka.

Peace treaty. Results of the war

In the summer of 1905, both sides were extremely exhausted. Japan had undeniable military superiority, but its supplies were running low. Russia, on the contrary, could use its advantage in resources, but to do this, it was necessary to rebuild the economy and political life to suit military needs. The outbreak of the 1905 revolution excluded this possibility. Under these conditions, both sides agreed to sign a peace treaty.

According to the Treaty of Portsmouth, Russia lost the southern part of Sakhalin, the Liaodong Peninsula, and the railway to Port Arthur. The Empire was forced to withdraw from Manchuria and Korea, which became de facto protectorates of Japan. The defeat hastened the collapse of the autocracy and the subsequent disintegration of the Russian Empire. Its enemy, Japan, on the contrary, has significantly strengthened its position, becoming one of the leading world powers.

The Land of the Rising Sun consistently increased its expansion, becoming one of the largest geopolitical players, and remained so until 1945.

Table: chronology of events

date	Event	Result
January 1904	Beginning of the Russo-Japanese War	Japanese destroyers attacked the Russian squadron stationed on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur.
January - April 1904	Clashes between the Japanese fleet and the Russian squadron in the Yellow Sea	The Russian fleet is defeated. Japanese land units land in Korea (January) and Manchuria (May), moving deeper into China and towards Port Arthur.
August 1904	Battle of Liaoyang	The Japanese army established itself in Manchuria
October 1904	Battle of the Shahe River	The Russian army failed to release Port Arthur. Positional warfare was established.
May - December 1904	Defense of Port Arthur	Despite repelling four assaults, the fortress capitulated. The Russian fleet lost the opportunity to operate on sea communications. The fall of the fortress had a demoralizing effect on the army and society.
February 1905	Battle of Mukden	Retreat of the Russian army from Mukden.
August 1905	Signing of the Portsmouth Peace	According to the Treaty of Portsmouth, concluded between Russia and Japan in 1905, Russia ceded a small island territory to Japan, but did not pay indemnities. Southern Sakhalin, Port Arthur and the port of Dalniy came into the eternal possession of Japan. Korea and Southern Manchuria entered Japan's sphere of influence. Count S.Yu. Witte received the nickname “Half-Sakhalin” because during peace negotiations with Japan in Portsmouth he signed the text of an agreement according to which Southern Sakhalin would go to Japan.

Strengths and weaknesses of opponents

Japan	Russia
Japan's strengths were its territorial proximity to the conflict zone, modernized armed forces and patriotic sentiments among the population. In addition to new weapons, the Japanese army and navy mastered European combat tactics. However, the officer corps did not have the proven skill of managing large military formations armed with progressive military theory and the latest weapons.	Russia had extensive experience of colonial expansion. The personnel of the army and especially the navy had high moral and volitional qualities if they were provided with the appropriate command. The armament and equipment of the Russian army were at an average level and, if used correctly, could be successfully used against any enemy.

Japan

Russia

Japan's strengths were its territorial proximity to the conflict zone, modernized armed forces and patriotic sentiments among the population.

In addition to new weapons, the Japanese army and navy mastered European combat tactics.

However, the officer corps did not have the proven skill of managing large military formations armed with progressive military theory and the latest weapons.

Russia had extensive experience of colonial expansion. The personnel of the army and especially the navy had high moral and volitional qualities if they were provided with the appropriate command.

The armament and equipment of the Russian army were at an average level and, if used correctly, could be successfully used against any enemy.

Military-political reasons for Russia's defeat

The negative factors that determined the military defeat of the Russian army and navy were: distance from the theater of military operations, serious shortcomings in the supply of troops and ineffective military leadership.

The political leadership of the Russian Empire, with a general understanding of the inevitability of a collision, did not purposefully prepare for war in the Far East.

The defeat hastened the collapse of the autocracy and the subsequent disintegration of the Russian Empire. Its enemy, Japan, on the contrary, has significantly strengthened its position, becoming one of the leading world powers. The Land of the Rising Sun consistently increased its expansion, becoming the largest geopolitical player and remained so until 1945.

Other factors

Economic and military-technical backwardness of Russia.
Imperfection of management structures.
Poor development of the Far Eastern region.
Embezzlement and bribery in the army.
Underestimation of the Japanese Armed Forces.

Results of the Russo-Japanese War

In conclusion, it is worth noting the importance of defeat in the Russo-Japanese War for the continued existence of the autocratic system in Russia. The inept and ill-conceived actions of the government, which caused the death of thousands of soldiers who faithfully defended it, actually led to the beginning of the first revolution in the history of our country. The prisoners and wounded returning from Manchuria could not hide their indignation. Their evidence, combined with visible economic, military and political backwardness, led to a sharp surge of indignation, primarily in the lower and middle strata of Russian society. In fact, the Russo-Japanese War exposed long-hidden contradictions between the people and the government, and this exposure happened so quickly and imperceptibly that it baffled not only the government, but also the participants in the revolution themselves. Many historical publications indicate that Japan managed to win the war due to betrayal on the part of the socialists and the nascent Bolshevik Party, but in fact such statements are far from the truth, since it was the failures of the Japanese War that provoked a surge of revolutionary ideas. Thus, the Russo-Japanese War became a turning point in history, a period that forever changed its further course.

“It was not the Russian people,” Lenin wrote, “but the Russian autocracy that started this colonial war, which turned into a war between the new and old bourgeois world. It was not the Russian people, but the autocracy that came to a shameful defeat. The Russian people benefited from the defeat of the autocracy. The capitulation of Port Arthur is the prologue to the capitulation of tsarism.”

Map: Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905.

Russo-Japanese War. Minimum for the Unified State Exam.

1905 Main events.">
One of the main reasons for the Russo-Japanese War is considered to be the rivalry between the two empires, Russian and Japanese, in the Far East. There was a dispute between these two countries over the division of spheres of influence in China and Korea. Another reason for this war is the desire to distract the rest of the world from revolutionary movement, which was gaining strength in Russia. Nikolay II believed that he would be able to conduct a war that would be beneficial for the country, but from the very beginning of hostilities Japan had the advantage.
The beginning of the war is considered 27 January 1904 g. - Japanese attack on the Russian fleet, the result of the attack was the siege of Port Arthur. As a result of this attack, the Russian army was deprived of two of the best Russian battleships - the Tsarevich and the Retvizan. 27 January a battle also took place in the port of Chemulpo (Korea), during which the cruiser “Varyag” was sunk and the “Korean” was blown up.
Defensive actions of Port Arthur took place with 27 January By 20 December 1904 In the fall, the Japanese made three attempts to storm the fortress, but they suffered huge losses, and the result was never achieved. 22 November Mount Vysokaya, which dominated the fortress, was taken. December 1904 Port Arthur was abandoned by Russian troops led by General Stessel. At that time, the fortress was in a hopeless situation.
11 August 1904 The Battle of Liaoyang began - one of the main events of the Russian-Japanese War. The battle was a psychological blow, as everyone was expecting a final repulse to the Japanese, but the battle turned out to be only bloody. The Liaoyang operation brought another defeat to the Russian troops. Completing the operation – 21 August 1904 G.
22 September 1904 there was a battle on the river. Shahe. Despite the fact that it began with the successful advance of Russian troops, the battle was lost due to large losses (approximately 40 thousand wounded and killed). 17 October an order was given to end the attacks on Japanese troops.
In February 1905 The army suffered a difficult defeat near Mukden. TO 7 Martha The Russians were already deprived of hope of resuming the offensive and fought for Mukden. However, 10 Martha Mukden was abandoned by Russian troops - the Japanese forced them to retreat. The retreat lasted ten days. This land battle was the largest in history until the First World War, as it unfolded on a front of more than a hundred kilometers. And again, the losses of the Russian army exceeded the losses of the Japanese.
14-15 May 1905 The Battle of Tsushima took place. In this battle, the Japanese fleet almost completely neutralized the Russian maneuver units under the leadership of Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky.
7 July 1905 the final one began major operation Russo-Japanese War - Japanese invasion of Sakhalin. 29 July the island stopped resisting the invaders.
The result of the war between the two empires was the Treaty of Portsmouth (peace negotiations took place in Portsmouth, USA; Theodore Roosevelt took part in the negotiations), concluded 23 August 1905 d. It was decided to appoint Sergei Yuryevich Witte as the first commissioner - he conducted negotiations on the Russian side. At the conclusion of peace, Russia lost the southern part of the island. Sakhalin and gave Port Arthur to the Japanese. Witte was able to get the Japanese side to make a decision to waive the demand for payment of indemnity. Korea was recognized as a territory of Japanese influence. Japan was also granted the right to engage in fishing along the Russian coast. The Liaodong Peninsula was given to Japan for temporary use.
The war brought huge losses to both Russia and Japan. All the main events of the Russo-Japanese War did not unfold in favor of the Russian troops. In Russia, after the war, the situation in the country destabilized, and the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War was perceived as a national shame.

About the Russo-Japanese War in brief

Russko-yaponskaya voyna (1904 - 1905)

Russo-Japanese War begins
Russo-Japanese War causes
Russo-Japanese War stages
Russo-Japanese War results

The Russo-Japanese War, briefly summarized, was the result of a complex relationship between the two countries resulting from the expansion of the Russian Empire in the Far East. The country was experiencing economic growth and the opportunity arose to increase its influence, primarily on Korea and China. This, in turn, caused strong dissatisfaction in Japan.

The reasons for the war are Russia's attempt to spread its influence in the Far East. The reason for the war was Russia's lease of the Liaodong Peninsula from China and the occupation of Manchuria, which Japan itself had plans for.

The Japanese government's demands to withdraw from Manchuria meant the loss of the Far East, which was impossible for Russia. In this situation, both sides began preparing for war.
Describing the Russo-Japanese War briefly, it should be noted that in the highest circles of power there was hope that Japan would not decide to take military action with Russia. Nicholas II had a different opinion.

By the beginning of 1903, Japan was completely ready for war and was just waiting for a convenient reason to start it. The Russian authorities acted indecisively, never fully realizing their plans to prepare a military campaign in the Far East. This led to a threatening situation - Russia's military forces were in many ways much inferior to the Japanese. The number of ground troops and military equipment was almost half that of Japan. For example, in terms of the number of destroyers, the Japanese fleet had a threefold superiority over the Russian one.

However, the Russian government, as if not seeing these facts, continued its expansion in relation to the Far East, and decided to use the war with Japan itself as an opportunity to distract the people from serious social problems.

The war began on January 27, 1904. The Japanese fleet suddenly attacked Russian ships near the city of Port Arthur. It was not possible to capture the city itself, but the most combat-ready Russian ships were disabled. Japanese troops were able to land in Korea without hindrance. The railway connection between Russia and Port Arthur was disrupted, and the siege of the city began. In December, the garrison, having suffered several heavy attacks by Japanese troops, was forced to surrender, while scuttling the remnants of the Russian fleet so that it would not fall to Japan. The surrender of Port Arthur actually meant the loss of the Russian army.

On land, Russia was also losing the war. The Battle of Mukden, the largest at that time, Russian troops could not win and retreated. The Battle of Tsushima destroyed the Baltic fleet.

But Japan was so exhausted by the ongoing war that it decided to enter into peace negotiations. She achieved her goals and did not want to waste her resources and strength further. The Russian government agreed to make peace. In Portsmouth, in August 1905, Japan and Russia signed a peace treaty. It cost the Russian side dearly. According to him, Port Arthur, as well as the southern part of the Sakhalin Peninsula, now belonged to Japan, and Korea finally fell under its influence.
In the Russian Empire, the loss of the war increased dissatisfaction with the authorities.

More wars, battles, battles, riots and uprisings in Russia:

Caucasian War

The more a person is able to respond to the historical and universal, the broader his nature, the richer his life and the more capable such a person is of progress and development.

F. M. Dostoevsky

The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, which we will talk briefly about today, is one of the most important pages in the history of the Russian Empire. Russia was defeated in the war, demonstrating a military lag behind the world's leading countries. Another important event of the war was that as a result the Entente was finally formed, and the world began to slowly but steadily slide towards the First World War.

Prerequisites for the war

In 1894-1895, Japan defeated China, as a result of which Japan had to cross the Liaodong (Kwantung) Peninsula along with Port Arthur and Farmosa Island (the current name of Taiwan). Germany, France and Russia intervened in the negotiations and insisted that the Liaodong Peninsula remain in the use of China.

In 1896, the government of Nicholas 2 signed a friendship treaty with China. As a result, China allows Russia to build a railway to Vladivostok through Northern Manchuria (China Eastern Railway).

In 1898, Russia, as part of a friendship agreement with China, leased the Liaodong Peninsula from the latter for 25 years. This move drew sharp criticism from Japan, which also laid claim to these lands. But this did not lead to serious consequences at that time. In 1902 tsarist army enters Manchuria. Formally, Japan was ready to recognize this territory as Russia if the latter recognized Japanese dominance in Korea. But the Russian government made a mistake. They did not take Japan seriously, and did not even think about entering into negotiations with it.

Causes and nature of the war

The reasons for the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 are as follows:

Lease by Russia of the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur.
Economic expansion of Russia in Manchuria.
Distribution of spheres of influence in China and the cortex.

The nature of hostilities can be defined as follows

Russia planned to defend itself and raise reserves. The transfer of troops was planned to be completed in August 1904, after which it was planned to go on the offensive, right up to the landing of troops in Japan.
Japan planned to wage an offensive war. The first strike was planned at sea with the destruction of the Russian fleet, so that nothing would interfere with the transfer of troops. The plans included the capture of Manchuria, Ussuri and Primorsky Territories.

Balance of forces at the beginning of the war

Japan could field about 175 thousand people in the war (another 100 thousand in reserve) and 1140 field guns. The Russian army consisted of 1 million people and 3.5 million in reserve (reserve). But in the Far East, Russia had 100 thousand people and 148 field guns. Also at the disposal of the Russian army were border guards, of whom there were 24 thousand people with 26 guns. The problem was that these forces, inferior in number to the Japanese, were widely scattered geographically: from Chita to Vladivostok and from Blagoveshchensk to Port Arthur. During 1904-1905, Russia carried out 9 mobilizations, calling for military service about 1 million people.

The Russian fleet consisted of 69 warships. 55 of these ships were in Port Arthur, which was very poorly fortified. To demonstrate that Port Arthur was not completed and was ready for war, it is enough to cite the following figures. The fortress was supposed to have 542 guns, but in fact there were only 375, and of these, only 108 guns were usable. That is, the gun supply of Port Arthur at the start of the war was 20%!

It is obvious that the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 began with clear Japanese superiority on land and at sea.

Progress of hostilities

Map of military operations

rice. 1 — Map of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

Events of 1904

In January 1904, Japan broke off diplomatic relations with Russia and on January 27, 1904, attacked warships near Port Arthur. This was the beginning of the war.

Russia began to transfer its army to Far East, but it happened very slowly. A distance of 8 thousand kilometers and an unfinished section of the Siberian Railway - all this interfered with the transfer of the army. The road capacity was 3 trains per day, which is extremely low.

On January 27, 1904, Japan attacked Russian ships located in Port Arthur. At the same time, in the Korean port of Chemulpo, an attack was launched on the cruiser “Varyag” and the escort boat “Koreets”. After an unequal battle, the “Korean” was blown up, and the “Varyag” was scuttled by the Russian sailors themselves so that it would not fall to the enemy. After this, the strategic initiative at sea passed to Japan. The situation at sea worsened after the battleship Petropavlovsk, with the fleet commander S. Makarov on board, was blown up by a Japanese mine on March 31. In addition to the commander, his entire staff, 29 officers and 652 sailors were killed.

In February 1904, Japan landed a 60,000-strong army in Korea, which moved to the Yalu River (the river separated Korea and Manchuria). There were no significant battles at this time, and in mid-April the Japanese army crossed the border of Manchuria.

Fall of Port Arthur

In May, the second Japanese army (50 thousand people) landed on the Liaodong Peninsula and headed towards Port Arthur, creating a springboard for the offensive. By this time, the Russian army had partially completed the transfer of troops and its strength was 160 thousand people. One of major events war - the Battle of Liaoyang in August 1904. This battle still raises many questions among historians. The fact is that in this battle (and it was practically a general battle) the Japanese army was defeated. Moreover, so much so that the command of the Japanese army declared the impossibility of continuing combat operations. The Russo-Japanese War could have ended here if the Russian army had gone on the offensive. But the commander, Koropatkin, gives an absolutely absurd order - to retreat. During the further events of the war, the Russian army would have several opportunities to inflict a decisive defeat on the enemy, but each time Kuropatkin either gave absurd orders or hesitated to act, giving the enemy the necessary time.

After the Battle of Liaoyang, the Russian army retreated to the Shahe River, where a new battle took place in September, which did not reveal a winner. After this there was a lull, and the war moved into a positional phase. In December, General R.I. died. Kondratenko, who commanded the ground defense of the Port Arthur fortress. The new commander of the troops A.M. Stessel, despite the categorical refusal of the soldiers and sailors, decided to surrender the fortress. On December 20, 1904, Stoessel surrendered Port Arthur to the Japanese. At this point, the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 entered a passive phase, continuing active operations in 1905.

Subsequently, under public pressure, General Stoessel was put on trial and sentenced to death. The sentence was not carried out. Nicholas 2 pardoned the general.

Historical reference

Port Arthur defense map

rice. 2 — Map of the defense of Port Arthur

Events of 1905

The Russian command demanded active action from Kuropatkin. The decision was made to launch the offensive in February. But the Japanese forestalled him by launching an attack on Mukden (Shenyang) on February 5, 1905. From 6 to 25 February lasted largest battle Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905. On the Russian side, 280 thousand people took part in it, on the Japanese side - 270 thousand people. There are many interpretations of the Battle of Mukden in terms of who won it. In fact it was a draw. The Russian army lost 90 thousand soldiers, the Japanese - 70 thousand. Fewer losses on the part of Japan is a frequent argument in favor of its victory, but this battle did not give the Japanese army any advantage or gain. Moreover, the losses were so severe that Japan made no further attempts to organize large land battles until the end of the war.

Much more important is the fact that the population of Japan is much smaller than the population of Russia, and after Mukden, the island country has exhausted its human resources. Russia could and should have gone on the offensive in order to win, but 2 factors played against this:

Kuropatkin factor
Factor of the 1905 revolution

On May 14-15, 1905, the Tsushima naval battle took place, in which the Russian squadrons were defeated. The losses of the Russian army amounted to 19 ships and 10 thousand killed and captured.

Kuropatkin factor

Kuropatkin, commanding ground forces, during the entire Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, he did not use a single chance for a favorable offensive to inflict great damage on the enemy. There were several such chances, and we talked about them above. Why did the Russian general and commander refuse active action and not strive to end the war? After all, had he given the order to attack after Liaoyang, and with a high degree of probability the Japanese army would have ceased to exist.

Of course, it is impossible to answer this question directly, but a number of historians put forward the following opinion (I cite it because it is well-reasoned and extremely similar to the truth). Kuropatkin was closely associated with Witte, who, let me remind you, by the time of the war had been removed from the post of prime minister by Nicholas 2. Kuropatkin's plan was to create conditions under which the Tsar would return Witte. The latter was considered an excellent negotiator, so it was necessary to bring the war with Japan to a stage where the parties would sit down at the negotiating table. To achieve this, the war could not be ended with the help of the army (the defeat of Japan was a direct surrender without any negotiations). Therefore, the commander did everything to reduce the war to a draw. He successfully completed this task, and indeed Nicholas 2 called on Witte towards the end of the war.

Revolution factor

There are many sources pointing to Japanese financing of the 1905 revolution. Real facts of money transfer, of course. No. But there are 2 facts that I find extremely interesting:

The peak of the revolution and movement occurred at the Battle of Tsushima. Nicholas 2 needed an army to fight the revolution and he decided to start peace negotiations with Japan.
Immediately after the signing of the Portsmouth Peace, the revolution in Russia began to decline.

Reasons for Russia's defeat

Why was Russia defeated in the war with Japan? The reasons for Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War are as follows:

The weakness of the grouping of Russian troops in the Far East.
The unfinished Trans-Siberian Railway, which did not allow the full transfer of troops.
Mistakes of the army command. I already wrote above about the Kuropatkin factor.
Japan's superiority in military-technical equipment.

The last point is extremely important. He is often forgotten, but undeservedly. In terms of technical equipment, especially in the navy, Japan was far ahead of Russia.

Portsmouth World

To conclude peace between the countries, Japan demanded that Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, act as a mediator. Negotiations began and the Russian delegation was headed by Witte. Nicholas 2 returned him to his post and entrusted him with negotiations, knowing the talents of this man. And Witte really took a very tough position, not allowing Japan to gain significant gains from the war.

The terms of the Portsmouth Peace were as follows:

Russia recognized Japan's right to rule in Korea.
Russia ceded part of the territory of Sakhalin Island (the Japanese wanted to get the entire island, but Witte was against it).
Russia transferred the Kwantung Peninsula to Japan along with Port Arthur.
No one paid indemnities to anyone, but Russia had to pay compensation to the enemy for the maintenance of Russian prisoners of war.

Consequences of the war

During the war, Russia and Japan each lost approximately 300 thousand people, but in view of the population, these were almost catastrophic losses for Japan. The losses were due to the fact that this was the first major war in which automatic weapons were used. At sea there was a big bias towards the use of mines.

An important fact that many people ignore is that it was after the Russo-Japanese War that the Entente (Russia, France and England) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary) were finally formed. The fact of the formation of the Entente is noteworthy. Before the war in Europe there was an alliance between Russia and France. The latter did not want its expansion. But the events of Russia's war against Japan showed that the Russian army had many problems (this really was the case), so France signed agreements with England.

Positions of world powers during the war

During the Russo-Japanese War, world powers occupied the following positions:

England and USA. Traditionally, the interests of these countries were extremely similar. They supported Japan, but mostly financially. Approximately 40% of Japan's war costs were covered by Anglo-Saxon money.
France declared neutrality. Although in fact it had an allied agreement with Russia, it did not fulfill its allied obligations.
From the first days of the war, Germany declared its neutrality.

The Russo-Japanese War was practically not analyzed by tsarist historians, because they simply did not have enough time. After the end of the war, the Russian Empire existed for almost 12 years, which included revolution, economic problems and world war. Therefore, the main study took place already in Soviet time. But it is important to understand that for Soviet historians it was a war against the backdrop of revolution. That is, “the tsarist regime sought aggression, and the people did their best to prevent this.” That is why it is written in Soviet textbooks that, for example, the Liaoyang operation ended in the defeat of Russia. Although formally it was a draw.

The end of the war is also seen as the complete defeat of the Russian army on land and in the navy. If at sea the situation was really close to defeat, then on land Japan stood on the brink of an abyss, since they no longer had the human resources to continue the war. I suggest looking at this question even a little more broadly. How did the wars of that era end after the unconditional defeat (and this is what Soviet historians often talked about) of one of the sides? Large indemnities, large territorial concessions, partial economic and political dependence of the loser on the winner. But in the Portsmouth world there is nothing like it. Russia paid nothing, lost only the southern part of Sakhalin (a small territory) and abandoned the lands leased from China. The argument is often made that Japan won the struggle for dominance in Korea. But Russia never seriously fought for this territory. She was only interested in Manchuria. And if we return to the origins of the war, we will see that the Japanese government would never have started the war if Nicholas 2 had recognized Japan’s dominance in Korea, just as the Japanese government would have recognized Russia’s position in Manchuria. Therefore, at the end of the war, Russia did what it should have done back in 1903, without bringing the matter to war. But this is a question about the personality of Nicholas 2, who today is extremely fashionable to call a martyr and hero of Russia, but it was his actions that provoked the war.

Causes of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

Reasons for the Russian-Japanese confrontation 1904-1905

21.04.2017 14:01

Historians call this war Russia's first major military action in the Far East; it had enormous consequences for the political structure of these territories for many years to come.

After the war between Japan and China (1894-1895) ended, the Land of the Rising Sun planned to take away not only Taiwan, but also the strategically advantageous Liaodong Peninsula from the Chinese. Similar situation alarmed the states of Europe, which have many economic interests in Asia, the joint demarche of Russia, Germany and France forced Japan to abandon its claims to Liaodong.

After the so-called Chinese War of 1900, Russia received the rights to have troops in Manchuria and rented Port Arthur as a military base for 25 years. This situation caused a wave of discontent in Tokyo; the Japanese demanded compensation in Korea, where Russia also had great influence. Nicholas II refused to comply with all the demands of the Japanese side, after which Tokyo began to prepare for war, enlisting the support of England.
The Emperor did not listen to his advisers, who asked him to sign an agreement with the Japanese, according to which Russia remained in Manchuria, but ceased to influence Korea. But Nicholas II trusted the authority of General Alekseev, who was sure that if the Japanese showed weakness, new demands would certainly follow. However, Russia was not ready for the war of 1904: the Great Siberian railway route from the European part of the empire to Vladivostok was not completely completed, the military presence in the region was not large enough to be fully ready to repel Japanese aggression.
1651: Battle of Berestetsky

30.06.2018 21:05

In the mid-16th century, one of the key battles took place during the Cossack uprising against the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth over the region.

Having recovered from a previous defeat in 1649, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth violates the Zboriv Treaty of Armistice between the parties and resumes the military campaign against the Cossack uprising and its ally in the Crimean Khanate.

The Polish king John II Casimir assembled a large army, consisting mainly of the royal army and Polish-Lithuanian recruits, but it also included German and Moldavian mercenary soldiers. The total number of troops exceeded 80 thousand soldiers, but the army of the Cossacks and the Khanate was larger, exceeding 110 thousand soldiers.

The battle began on June 27 and lasted for two weeks. The first days were marked by Tatar provocations of the Poles to fight, as well as local minor battles with the Cossacks.
On June 30, the first massive battle of troops took place, which the Cossacks gradually lost. In addition to the unsuccessful attacks, the situation was complicated by the unexpected flight, the reasons for which have not been established to this day, of the Tatars from the battlefield, who at the same time managed to take Hetman Khmelnytsky with them. The first few days of July after this battle alternately passed either in the rest of the troops, or in small operations of the parties against each other and shelling, or in attempts at negotiations.

The last battle took place on July 10. The Cossacks, exhausted and deprived of part of their command, were demoralized and scattered. Under the pressure of the Polish group, many panicked and died in attempts to retreat. Thus, the Polish army won a victory and achieved a new peace on favorable terms.

Please name the reasons for the Russo-Japanese War

Disagreements in languages! did not understand each other))))
the reason for any war is the problem of the so-called “extra mouths”
Spheres of influence in the east (China, Korea)
ABBREVIATION Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 was fought for dominance in Northeast China and Korea. The war was started by Japan. In 1904, the Japanese fleet attacked Port Arthur, the defense of which continued until the beginning of 1905.
Reasons for the start and defeat of the Russo-Japanese War: briefly

Russia suffered defeats on the Yalu River, near Liaoyang, and on the Shahe River. In 1905, the Japanese defeated the Russian army in the general battle of Mukden, and the Russian fleet at Tsushima. The war ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905, under the terms of which Russia recognized Korea as Japan's sphere of influence and ceded Southern Sakhalin and the rights to the Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Port Arthur and Dalniy to Japan. The defeat of the Russian army in the war accelerated the start of the revolution of 1905-1907.
Russia and Japan could not divide spheres of influence in China (Manchuria area), and Russia also needed a victorious war to show the people what a good government is and to delay the impending revolution
This war arose because of the ambitions of Japan, which simply needed sources of raw materials and the expansion of its empire, and provoked the weakness of Russia in the Far Eastern region.
since Japan was developing rapidly economically, it needed a large territory, which they do not have, hence the aggressive policy towards neighboring countries. in addition, Japan was deprived after the First World War.
PS: history? We’re going through this now, but in general, scour the net, you’ll find a more meaningful answer there
Causes of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905. :
1). The rapid strengthening of Russia in the Far East (in 1898 the Chinese Eastern Railway was built in Manchuria, in 1903 - the end-to-end Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, Russia built naval bases on the Liaodun Peninsula. Russia's position in Korea was strengthened) worried Japan, the USA and England. They began to push Japan to start a war against Russia in order to limit its influence in the region;
2). The tsarist government was striving for war with a seemingly weak and distant country - what was needed was a “small victorious war,” believed V.K. Plehve and others;
3). It was necessary to strengthen Russia's position in the international arena;
4). The desire of the Russian government to distract the people from revolutionary sentiments.
The main result of the war was that, contrary to hopes that the “victorious war” would delay the revolution, it, according to S. Yu. Witte, brought it closer “by decades.”
Just not a blow with a saber on the head of the future emperor))), most likely a territorial issue

The main causes of the Russo-Japanese War were:

- clash of Russian and Japanese interests in the Far East;

— an attempt to capture foreign markets for the developing domestic economy;

- Russian imperial expansion to the East;

- the desire to enrich the wealth of Korea and China, Russia and Japan.

- the desire of the tsarist government to distract the people from revolutionary uprisings.

The nature of this war was aggressive on both sides.

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

Russia, almost simultaneously with the advanced capitalist countries, entered the imperialist stage of capitalist development. Rapid bourgeois development began, Russia was embarking on the path of industrial and market modernization, and industrial production was growing sharply. More favorable conditions have been created for the development of capitalist relations in industry and agriculture. The expansion of domestic trade turnover and strengthening of Russia’s economic ties with the world market contributes to the desire to capture foreign markets for the developing domestic economy. For Russia, one of the attractive markets, in addition to the Balkans and the Middle East, was the Far East.

The Russian Empire is actively participating in the struggle for the final division of the world between the leading world powers. After its final decline, China was soon literally torn to pieces by the largest capitalist powers, and the Russian Empire was not far behind them, having occupied Manchuria. The plans of the tsarist government were to create “Zheltorossiya” in Manchuria.

The increased interest shown by Tsarist Russia in Korea is explained not only by the general aggressive policy of the autocracy, but to some extent also by the personal interests of the Romanovs, who were interested in the adventurist circle of Bezobrazov by the opportunity to seize the enormous “riches” of Korea and turn them into the personal property of the reigning dynasty in Russia. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was used very advantageously by tsarism. Under the guise of helping exhausted China pay indemnities, the tsarist government established the Russian-Chinese Bank, having negotiated concessions for the construction of railways in Manchuria with the right to operate them for 80 years.

In addition to purely banking ones, the Russian-Chinese Bank received a number of functions, such as minting local coins, receiving taxes, etc.

Japan reacted very negatively to Russian penetration into the Chinese and Korean economies. The largest Japanese concerns considered the markets of China and Korea to be the exclusive zone of their own commercial interests. Being a country with strong statehood, a rapidly developing economy and territorially constrained on the islands, it began to show particular activity in the Far East, seeking to seize Korea and Manchuria as markets and sources of raw materials. In addition, in secret and far-reaching plans, Japan considered these territories as a springboard for further aggression against China and the Russian Far East.

The Japanese government finally came to the conclusion that when implementing its expansionist goals in China, Japan would inevitably have to face opposition from Russia, and it could receive assistance in this fight against its Russian rival primarily from the United States and Great Britain. Over the next few years, the Japanese government accelerated the creation of a strong military-industrial base, focusing on the development of military production and the extraction of strategic raw materials, and began a large program of deployment of land and military naval forces, increasing their combat power in the shortest possible time.

The ruling elite of Japan was extremely dissatisfied with the results of the war won against China. Under pressure from Russia, Japan was forced to temporarily abandon the results of its victories. The implementation of Japan's aggressive plans for Korea and China depended not so much on the degree of resistance of these countries, but on the intensity of opposition from competitors, and primarily from Russia.

Russia's diplomatic activity towards China led to the conclusion of an alliance agreement with China, according to which Russia received the right to build the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), which further strengthened Russia's position in the area. In addition, Russia in 1898 leased the Kwantung Peninsula with Port Arthur from China for a period of 25 years, which became the main base of the Russian navy. This sentence was emphasized

In St. Petersburg, concerns were constantly growing regarding Japan's increasing military activity in the Far East. The tsarist government still hoped to neutralize Japanese expansionist plans by firmly rebuffing any attempts by Tokyo to deprive China and Korea of independence. Considerations in favor of an uncompromising struggle for Russia’s national interests in the adjacent Chinese territory took over the Russian government.

So, at the beginning of the 20th century. Russia faced a new aggressive power in the Far East - Japan, which was also fully supported by the USA and Great Britain, but was not ready to give an adequate response to the rapidly growing military-political ambitions of Japan. Japanese-Russian military clash was inevitable, since the dynamism with which Russia developed its Far Eastern lands was in clear dissonance with the ambitions of the business and political elite of Imperial Japan.

War Minister Kuropatkin warned the Tsar that the war would be extremely unpopular. But Interior Minister Plehve voiced the idea of the majority of the nobility that Russia needed a small, victorious war to distract the people from revolutionary uprisings. The fact is that in Russia there are many unresolved conflicts that have long been brewing. The most pressing issues were the agrarian question, the situation of the working class, the national question, and the contradictions between the authorities and the emerging civil society. The reluctance and inability of the autocracy to resolve these conflicts inevitably pushed Russia towards revolution. The authorities understood that the situation was close to critical and hoped to translate popular discontent into the channel of patriotism in a likely war.

Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

The Russo-Japanese War in brief.

Reasons for the outbreak of war with Japan.

During the period of 1904, Russia actively developed the lands of the Far East, developing trade and industry. The Land of the Rising Sun blocked access to these lands; at that time it occupied China and Korea. But the fact is that one of the territories of China, Manchuria, was under Russian jurisdiction. This is one of the main reasons for the start of the war. In addition, by decision of the Triple Alliance, Russia was given the Liaodong Peninsula, which once belonged to Japan. Thus, differences arose between Russia and Japan, and a struggle for dominance in the Far East arose.

The course of events of the Russo-Japanese War.

Using the effect of surprise, Japan attacked Russia at Port Arthur.

Causes of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905

After the landing of Japanese amphibious troops on the Kwantung Peninsula, Port Athrut remained cut off from the outside world, and therefore helpless. Within two months he was forced to resort to capitulation. Next, the Russian army loses the battle of Liaoyang and the battle of Mukden. Before the start of the First World War, these battles were considered the largest in the history of the Russian state.

After the Battle of Tsushima, almost the entire Soviet flotilla was destroyed. The events took place on the Yellow Sea. After another battle, Russia loses the Sakhalin Peninsula in an unequal battle. For some reason, General Kuropatkin, the leader of the Soviet army, used passive fighting tactics. In his opinion, it was necessary to wait until the enemy’s forces and supplies were running out. And the king at that time did not attach any importance to this of great importance, since a revolution began on Russian territory at that time.

When both sides of the hostilities were morally and materially exhausted, they agreed to sign a peace treaty in the American Portsmouth in 1905.

Results of the Russian-Japanese War.

Russia lost the southern part of its Sakhalin Peninsula. Manchuria was now neutral territory and all troops were withdrawn. Oddly enough, but the agreement was conducted on equal terms, and not as a winner with a loser.

Russo-Swedish War 1808-1809


	Manchuria, Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan, Sakhalin
	The clash of zones of influence of the Japanese and Russian empires in Korea and Manchuria
	Victory of the Japanese Empire
Territorial changes:	Annexation by Japan of the Lushun Peninsula and Southern Sakhalin
Opponents


Commanders
	Emperor Nicholas II
Oyama Iwao	Alexey Nikolaevich Kuropatkin
Maresuke's legs	Anatoly Mikhailovich Stessel
Tamemoto Kuroki	Roman Isidorovich Kondratenko
Togo Heihachiro	Admiral General Grand Duke Aleksey Aleksandrovich
Strengths of the parties
300,000 soldiers	500,000 soldiers
Military losses
killed: 47,387; wounded, shell-shocked: 173,425; died from wounds: 11,425; died from disease: 27,192; are common irrecoverable losses: 86 004	killed: 32,904; wounded, shell-shocked: 146,032; died from wounds: 6,614; died from disease: 11,170; captured: 74,369; total deadweight loss: 50,688

(Nichi-ro senso:; February 8, 1904 - August 27, 1905) - war between Russia and Japan for control of Manchuria and Korea. It became - after a break of several decades - the first big war using the latest weapons: long-range artillery, battleships, destroyers.

In the first place in all Russian politics of the first half of the reign of Emperor Nicholas II were the issues of the Far East - the “great Asian program”: during his meeting in Reval with Emperor Wilhelm II, the Russian emperor directly said that he was considering strengthening and increasing Russia’s influence in East Asia as the task of His reign. The main obstacle to Russian dominance in the Far East was Japan, the inevitable clash with which Nicholas II foresaw and prepared for it both diplomatically and militarily (a lot was done: an agreement with Austria and improved relations with Germany ensured the Russian rear; the construction of the Siberian roads and the strengthening of the fleet provided the material possibility of fighting), however, in Russian government circles there was also a strong hope that fear of Russian power would keep Japan from a direct attack.

After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, having carried out a large-scale modernization of the country's economy, Japan by the mid-1890s switched to a policy of external expansion, primarily in geographically close Korea. Encountering resistance from China, Japan inflicted a crushing defeat on China during the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). The Treaty of Shimonoseki, signed following the war, recorded China's renunciation of all rights to Korea and the transfer of a number of territories to Japan, including the Liaodong Peninsula in Manchuria. These achievements of Japan sharply increased its power and influence, which did not meet the interests of the European powers, so Germany, Russia and France achieved a change in these conditions: the Triple Intervention, undertaken with the participation of Russia, led to Japan's abandonment of the Liaodong Peninsula, and then to its transfer in 1898 year of Russia for rental use. The realization that Russia had actually taken the Liaodong Peninsula, captured during the war, from Japan led to a new wave of militarization of Japan, this time directed against Russia.

In 1903, a dispute over Russian timber concessions in Korea and the ongoing Russian occupation of Manchuria led to a sharp deterioration in Russian-Japanese relations. Despite the weakness of the Russian military presence in the Far East, Nicholas II did not make concessions, since for Russia the situation, in his opinion, was fundamental - the issue of access to ice-free seas, Russian dominance over a vast territory, and almost uninhabited expanses of land were being resolved. Manchuria. Japan strove for its complete dominance in Korea and demanded that Russia clear Manchuria, which Russia could not do for any reason. According to Professor S.S. Oldenburg, a researcher of the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, Russia could avoid the fight with Japan only at the cost of capitulation and its self-elimination from the Far East, and no partial concessions, of which many were made (including the delay in sending reinforcements to Manchuria), failed not only to prevent, but even to delay Japan’s decision to start a war with Russia, in which Japan, both in essence and in form, became the attacking party.

A sudden, without an official declaration of war, attack by the Japanese fleet on the Russian squadron on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur on the night of January 27 (February 9), 1904 led to the disabling of several of the strongest ships of the Russian squadron and ensured the unhindered landing of Japanese troops in Korea in February 1904 of the year. In May 1904, taking advantage of the inaction of the Russian command, the Japanese landed their troops on the Kwantung Peninsula and cut off the railway connection between Port Arthur and Russia. The siege of Port Arthur was begun by Japanese troops by the beginning of August 1904, and on January 2, 1905, the fortress garrison was forced to surrender. The remains of the Russian squadron in Port Arthur were sunk by Japanese siege artillery or blown up by their own crew.

In February 1905, the Japanese forced the Russian army to retreat in the general battle of Mukden, and on May 14 (27) - May 15 (28), 1905, in the Battle of Tsushima they defeated the Russian squadron transferred to the Far East from the Baltic. The reasons for the failures of the Russian armies and navy and their specific defeats were due to many factors, but the main ones were the incompleteness of military-strategic preparation, the colossal distance of the theater of military operations from the main centers of the country and the army, and the extremely limited communication networks. In addition, starting from January 1905, a revolutionary situation arose and developed in Russia.

The war ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth, signed on August 23 (September 5), 1905, which recorded Russia’s cession to Japan of the southern part of Sakhalin and its lease rights to the Liaodong Peninsula and the South Manchurian Railway.

Background

Expansion of the Russian Empire in the Far East

In the mid-1850s, the Crimean War marked the limits of the Russian Empire's territorial expansion in Europe. By 1890, after reaching the borders of Afghanistan and Persia, the potential for expansion in Central Asia- further advancement was fraught with direct conflict with the British Empire. Russia's attention shifted further to the East, where Qing China, weakened in 1840-1860. crushing defeats in the opium wars and the Taiping uprising, could no longer hold the northeastern lands, which in the 17th century, before the Treaty of Nerchinsk, already belonged to Russia (see also Russian Far East). The Aigun Treaty, signed with China in 1858, recorded the transfer to Russia of the modern Primorsky Territory, on the territory of which Vladivostok was founded already in 1860.

The Treaty of Shimoda was concluded with Japan in 1855, according to which the Kuril Islands north of Iturup Island were declared the possessions of Russia, and Sakhalin was declared the joint possession of the two countries. In 1875, the Treaty of St. Petersburg fixed the transfer of Sakhalin to Russia in exchange for the transfer of all 18 Kuril Islands to Japan.

Further strengthening of Russian positions in the Far East was limited by the small size of the Russian population and the distance from the populated parts of the empire - for example, in 1885, Russia had only 18 thousand military contingent beyond Lake Baikal, and, according to calculations of the Amur Military District, the first battalion sent to Transbaikalia from European Russia marching order, could come to the rescue only after 18 months. In order to reduce travel time to 2-3 weeks, in May 1891, construction began on the Trans-Siberian Railway - a railway line between Chelyabinsk and Vladivostok about 7 thousand kilometers long, designed to connect the European part of Russia and the Far East by rail. The Russian government was extremely interested in the agricultural colonization of Primorye, and as a result, in ensuring unhindered trade through the ice-free ports of the Yellow Sea, such as Port Arthur.

Japan's struggle for dominance in Korea

After the Meiji Restoration, which occurred in 1868, the new Japanese government ended its policy of self-isolation and set a course for modernizing the country. Large-scale economic reforms made it possible by the early 1890s to modernize the economy, creating such modern industries as the production of machine tools and electrical equipment, and to begin exporting coal and copper. The army and navy, created and trained according to Western standards, gained strength and allowed Japan to think about external expansion, primarily to Korea and China.

Korea, due to its geographical proximity to Japan, was viewed by the latter as “a knife aimed at the heart of Japan.” Preventing foreign, especially European, control over Korea, and preferably taking it under its own control, was the main goal of the Japanese foreign policy. Already in 1876, Korea, under Japanese military pressure, signed an agreement with Japan, ending Korea's self-isolation and opening its ports to Japanese trade. The ensuing struggle with China for control of Korea led to the Sino-Japanese War of 1895.

On March 30, 1895, at a Special Meeting on the Sino-Japanese War, the Chief of the Main Staff, Adjutant General N. N. Obruchev, said:

The Chinese fleet was defeated at the Battle of the Yalu River, and its remnants, sheltered in the heavily fortified Weihai, were destroyed (partially captured) by the Japanese in February 1895, after a 23-day combined land and sea attack. On land, the Japanese army defeated the Chinese in Korea and Manchuria in a series of battles and occupied Taiwan in March 1895.

On April 17, 1895, China was forced to sign the Shimonoseki Treaty, according to which China renounced all rights to Korea, transferred the island of Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan, and also paid an indemnity of 200 million liang (about 7.4 thousand tons of silver) , which was equivalent to a third of Japan's GDP, or 3 annual budgets of the Japanese government.

Immediate causes of the war

Triple intervention

On April 23, 1895, Russia, France and Germany, concerned about the strengthening of Japan, undertook the Triple Intervention - in the form of an ultimatum they demanded that Japan renounce the annexation of the Liaodong Peninsula. Japan, unable to withstand the combined pressure of the three European powers, yielded.

Russia took advantage of the return of Liaodong to China. On March 15 (27), 1898, a convention was signed between Russia and China, according to which Russia was leased the ice-free ports of the Liaodong Peninsula Port Arthur and Dalniy and was allowed to lay a railway to these ports from one of the points of the Chinese Eastern Railway.

The realization that Russia had actually taken the Liaodong Peninsula from Japan, captured during the war, led to a new wave of militarization of Japan, this time directed against Russia, under the slogan “Gashin-shotan” (“sleeping on a board with nails”), calling on the nation to steadfastly postpone tax increases for the sake of military revenge in the future.

Russian occupation of Manchuria and the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance

In October 1900, Russian troops occupied Manchuria as part of the suppression of the Yihetuan uprising in China by the Eight-Nation Coalition.

In May 1901, the relatively moderate cabinet of Hirobumi Ito fell in Japan and the cabinet of Taro Katsura, more confrontational towards Russia, came to power. In September, Ito, on his own initiative, but with the consent of Katsura, went to Russia to discuss an agreement on the division of spheres of influence in Korea and Manchuria. Ito's minimum program (Korea - entirely to Japan, Manchuria - to Russia), however, did not find understanding in St. Petersburg, as a result of which the Japanese government chose to conclude an alternative agreement with Great Britain.

On January 17 (January 30), 1902, an Anglo-Japanese treaty was signed, article 3 of which, in the event of a war between one of the allies and two or more powers, obligated the other side to provide military assistance. The treaty gave Japan the opportunity to begin the fight with Russia, having the confidence that not a single power (for example, France, with which Russia had been in an alliance since 1891) would provide Russia with armed support for fear of war not only with Japan, but also with England. The Japanese ambassador, answering a question from the British about a possible reason for war with Russia, explained that “if the security of Korea is guaranteed, Japan probably will not go to war over Manchuria or Mongolia or other remote parts of China.”

On March 3 (16), 1902, a Franco-Russian declaration was published, which was a diplomatic response to the Anglo-Japanese alliance: in the event of “hostile actions of third powers” or “unrest in China,” Russia and France reserved the right “to take appropriate measures " This declaration was of a non-binding nature - France did not provide significant assistance to its ally Russia in the Far East.

Growing Russian-Japanese confrontation

On March 26 (April 8), 1902, a Russian-Chinese agreement was signed, according to which Russia agreed to withdraw its troops from Manchuria within 18 months (that is, by October 1903). The withdrawal of troops was to be carried out in 3 stages of 6 months each.

In April 1903 Russian government did not complete the second stage of the withdrawal of its troops from Manchuria. On April 5 (18), a note was sent to the Chinese government, which made the closing of Manchuria to foreign trade a condition for further withdrawal of troops. In response, England, the United States and Japan protested to Russia against the violation of the deadlines for the withdrawal of Russian troops, and advised China not to accept any conditions at all - which the Chinese government did, declaring that it would discuss “any questions about Manchuria” - only “on the evacuation "

In May 1903, about a hundred Russian soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes, were introduced into the village of Yongampo in Korea, located in the concession area on the Yalu River. Under the pretext of building timber warehouses, the construction of military facilities began in the village, which was perceived in Great Britain and Japan as Russia's preparation for creating a permanent military base in northern Korea. The Japanese government was particularly alarmed by the possibility of the situation in Korea developing according to the Port Arthur scenario, when the fortification of Port Arthur was followed by the occupation of all of Manchuria.

On July 1 (14), 1903, traffic along the Trans-Siberian Railway was opened along its entire length. The movement went through Manchuria (along the Chinese Eastern Railway). Under the pretext of checking the capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the transfer of Russian troops to the Far East immediately began. The section around Lake Baikal was not completed (goods were transported across Lake Baikal by ferries), which reduced the capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway to 3-4 pairs of trains per day.

On July 30, the governorship of the Far East was formed, uniting the Amur Governor-General and the Kwantung Region. The purpose of the formation of the governorship was to unite all bodies of Russian power in the Far East to counter the expected Japanese attack. Admiral E.I. Alekseev was appointed governor, to whom the troops, fleet and administration (including the strip of the Chinese Eastern Road) were placed under command.

On August 12, the Japanese government presented the Russian draft of a bilateral treaty, which provided for the recognition of “the predominant interests of Japan in Korea and the special interests of Russia in railway (only railway!) enterprises in Manchuria.”

On October 5, a response draft was sent to Japan, which provided, with reservations, for Russia to recognize Japan's predominant interests in Korea, in exchange for Japan's recognition of Manchuria as lying outside its sphere of interests.

The Japanese government was categorically not happy with the provision to exclude Manchuria from its zone of interests, but further negotiations did not make significant changes in the positions of the parties.

On October 8, 1903, the deadline established by the agreement of April 8, 1902, for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Manchuria, expired. Despite this, the troops were not withdrawn; In response to Japan's demands to comply with the terms of the agreement, the Russian government pointed to China's failure to comply with the evacuation conditions. At the same time, Japan began to protest against Russian events in Korea. According to S.S. Oldenburg, a researcher of the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, Japan was only looking for a reason to start hostilities at a convenient moment.

On February 5, 1904, Japanese Foreign Minister Jutaro Komura cabled the ambassador in St. Petersburg to “stop the present meaningless negotiations,” “in view of delays that remain largely unexplained,” and to break off diplomatic relations with Russia.

The decision to start a war against Russia was made in Japan at a joint meeting of members of the Privy Council and all ministers on January 22 (February 4), 1904, and on the night of January 23 (February 5) an order was given to land in Korea and attack the Russian squadron in Port Arthur. Following this, on January 24 (February 6), 1904, Japan officially announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Russia.

Japan chose the most advantageous moment for itself with high precision: the armored cruisers Nisshin and Kasuga, which it bought from Argentina in Italy, had just passed Singapore and were nowhere and no one could detain them on the way to Japan; The last Russian reinforcements (Oslyabya, cruisers and destroyers) were still in the Red Sea.

The balance of forces and communications before the war

Armed forces

The Russian Empire, having an almost threefold advantage in population, could field a proportionately larger army. At the same time, the number of Russian armed forces directly in the Far East (beyond Lake Baikal) was no more than 150 thousand people, taking into account the fact that most of These troops were associated with the protection of the Trans-Siberian Railway/state border/fortresses; about 60 thousand people were directly available for active operations.

The distribution of Russian troops in the Far East is shown below:

near Vladivostok - 45 thousand people;
in Manchuria - 28.1 thousand people;
garrison of Port Arthur - 22.5 thousand people;
railway troops (security of the Chinese Eastern Railway) - 35 thousand people;
serf troops (artillery, engineering units and telegraph) - 7.8 thousand people.

By the beginning of the war, the Trans-Siberian Railway was already operating, but its capacity was only 3-4 pairs of trains per day. The bottlenecks were the ferry crossing across Lake Baikal and the Trans-Baikal section of the Trans-Siberian Railway; the throughput of the remaining sections was 2-3 times higher. The low capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway meant a low speed of transfer of troops to the Far East: the transfer of one army corps (about 30 thousand people) took about 1 month.

According to military intelligence calculations, Japan at the time of mobilization could field an army of 375 thousand people. The Japanese army after mobilization numbered about 442 thousand people.

Japan's ability to land troops on the mainland depended on control of the Korea Strait and the southern Yellow Sea. Japan had a sufficient transport fleet to simultaneously transport two divisions with everything necessary equipment, and from the ports of Japan to Korea was less than a day's journey. It should also be noted that the Japanese army, actively modernized by the British, had some technological advantage over the Russian one, in particular, by the end of the war it had significantly more machine guns (at the beginning of the war Japan did not have machine guns), and the artillery had mastered indirect fire.

Fleet

The main theater of military operations was the Yellow Sea, in which the Japanese United Fleet under the command of Admiral Heihachiro Togo blocked the Russian squadron in Port Arthur. In the Sea of Japan, the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers was opposed by the 3rd Japanese squadron, whose task was to counter raider attacks by Russian cruisers on Japanese communications.

The balance of forces of the Russian and Japanese fleets in the Yellow and Seas of Japan, by type of ship
Theaters of war	Yellow Sea		Japanese Sea
Ship types	Russian squadron in Port Arthur	Japanese Combined Fleet (1st and 2nd squadrons)	Vladivostok cruiser detachment	Japanese 3rd Squadron
Squadron battleships
Armored cruisers
Large armored cruisers (over 4000 tons)
Small armored cruisers
Mine cruisers (advice and minelayers)
Seaworthy gunboats
Destroyers
Destroyers

The core of the Japanese United Fleet - including 6 squadron battleships and 6 armored cruisers - was built in Great Britain in 1896-1901. These ships were superior to their Russian counterparts in many respects, such as speed, range, armor coefficient, etc. In particular, Japanese naval artillery was superior to Russian in terms of projectile weight (of the same caliber) and technical rate of fire, as a result of which the broadside (total weight fired shells) of the Japanese United Fleet during the battle in the Yellow Sea was about 12,418 kg versus 9,111 kg for the Russian squadron in Port Arthur, that is, it was 1.36 times more.

It is also worth noting the qualitative difference in the shells used by the Russian and Japanese fleets - the content of explosives in Russian shells of the main calibers (12", 8", 6") was 4-6 times lower. At the same time, the melinite used in Japanese shells was The explosion power was approximately 1.2 times higher than the pyroxylin used in Russian ones.

In the very first battle on January 27, 1904, near Port Arthur, the powerful destructive effect of Japanese heavy high-explosive shells on unarmored or lightly armored structures, which did not depend on the firing range, was clearly demonstrated, as well as the significant armor-piercing ability of Russian light armor-piercing shells at short distances (up to 20 cables) . The Japanese made the necessary conclusions and in subsequent battles, having superior speed, tried to maintain a firing position 35-45 cables away from the Russian squadron.

However, the powerful but unstable shimosa collected its “tribute” - the destruction from the explosions of its own shells in the gun barrels when fired caused almost more damage to the Japanese than hits from Russian armor-piercing shells. It is worth mentioning the appearance in Vladivostok by April 1905 of the first 7 submarines, which, although they did not achieve significant military successes, were still an important deterrent that significantly limited the actions of the Japanese fleet in the area of Vladivostok and the Amur Estuary during the war.

At the end of 1903, Russia sent the battleship Tsarevich and the armored cruiser Bayan, which had just been built in Toulon, to the Far East; followed by the battleship Oslyabya and several cruisers and destroyers. Russia’s strong trump card was the ability to equip and transfer from Europe another squadron, approximately equal in number to that which was in the Pacific at the beginning of the war. It should be noted that the beginning of the war caught a fairly large detachment of Admiral A. A. Virenius halfway to the Far East, moving to reinforce the Russian squadron in Port Arthur. This set strict time limits for the Japanese, both for the beginning of the war (before the arrival of Virenius’s detachment) and for the destruction of the Russian squadron in Port Arthur (before the arrival of help from Europe). The ideal option for the Japanese was the blockade of the Russian squadron in Port Arthur with its subsequent death after the capture of Port Arthur by the Japanese troops besieging it.

The Suez Canal was too shallow for the newest Russian battleships of the Borodino type, the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits were closed to the passage of Russian warships from a fairly powerful Black Sea squadron. The only route for meaningful support for the Pacific fleet was from the Baltic around Europe and Africa.

Progress of the war

1904 Campaign

Beginning of the war

The severance of diplomatic relations made war more than likely. The fleet command was one way or another preparing for a possible war. The landing of a large landing force and the latter's active combat operations on land, requiring constant supplies, are not possible without the dominance of the navy. It was logical to assume that without this superiority, Japan would not initiate ground action. The Pacific squadron, according to pre-war estimates, contrary to popular belief, if it was inferior to the Japanese fleet, it was not significant. It was logical to assume that Japan would not start a war before the arrival of Kasuga and Nishina. The only option left was to paralyze the squadron before they arrived, by blocking it in the harbor of Port Arthur with blockships. To prevent these actions, warships were on duty in the outer roadstead. Moreover, to repel a possible attack by the forces of the entire fleet, and not just blockships, the roadstead was not filled with destroyers, but with the most modern battleships and cruisers. S. O. Makarov warned about the dangers of such tactics on the eve of the war, but at least his words did not reach their recipients.

On the night of January 27 (February 9), 1904, before the official declaration of war, 8 Japanese destroyers conducted a torpedo attack on the ships of the Russian fleet stationed on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur. As a result of the attack, two of the best Russian battleships (Tsesarevich and Retvizan) and the armored cruiser Pallada were disabled for several months.

On January 27 (February 9), 1904, a Japanese squadron consisting of 6 cruisers and 8 destroyers forced the armored cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" located in the Korean port of Chemulpo into battle. After a 50-minute battle, the Varyag, which received heavy damage, was scuttled, and the Koreets was blown up.

After the battle in Chemulpo, the landing of units of the 1st Japanese Army under the command of Baron Kuroki, with a total number of about 42.5 thousand people, continued (began on January 26 (February 8), 1904).

On February 21, 1904, Japanese troops occupied Pyongyang, and by the end of April they reached the Yalu River, along which the Korean-Chinese border ran.

The attitude of the Russian public to the beginning of the war with Japan

The news of the start of the war left few people in Russia indifferent: in the first period of the war, the prevailing mood among the people and the public was that Russia had been attacked and it was necessary to repel the aggressor. In St. Petersburg, as well as others major cities empire, unprecedented street patriotic manifestations spontaneously arose. Even the capital’s student youth, known for their revolutionary sentiments, concluded their university gathering with a procession to the Winter Palace singing “God Save the Tsar!”

Opposition circles to the government were taken by surprise by these sentiments. Thus, the Zemstvo constitutionalists who gathered on February 23 (Old Art.) 1904 for a meeting in Moscow made a collective decision to stop any proclamation of constitutional demands and statements in view of the outbreak of war. This decision was motivated by the patriotic upsurge in the country caused by the war.

Reaction of the world community

The attitude of the leading world powers to the outbreak of war between Russia and Japan split them into two camps. England and the USA immediately and definitely took the side of Japan: an illustrated chronicle of the war that began to be published in London even received the name “Japan’s Struggle for Freedom”; and American President Roosevelt openly warned France against its possible action against Japan, saying that in this case he would “immediately take her side and go as far as necessary.” The tone of the American press was so hostile to Russia that it prompted M. O. Menshikov, one of the leading publicists of Russian nationalism, to exclaim in Novoye Vremya:

France, which even on the eve of the war considered it necessary to clarify that its alliance with Russia related only to European affairs, was nevertheless dissatisfied with the actions of Japan, which started the war, because it was interested in Russia as its ally against Germany; With the exception of the extreme left, the rest of the French press maintained a strictly correct allied tone. Already on March 30 (April 12), a “cordial agreement” was signed, which caused well-known bewilderment in Russia, between France, an ally of Russia, and England, an ally of Japan. This agreement marked the beginning of the Entente, but at that time it remained almost without reaction in Russian society, although Novoe Vremya wrote about this: “Almost everyone felt a breath of cold in the atmosphere of Franco-Russian relations.”

On the eve of the events, Germany assured both sides of friendly neutrality. And now, after the outbreak of the war, the German press was divided into two opposing camps: right-wing newspapers were on the side of Russia, left-wing ones on the side of Japan. The personal reaction of the German emperor to the outbreak of war was of significant importance. Wilhelm II noted on the report of the German envoy to Japan:

Siege of Port Arthur

On the morning of February 24, the Japanese attempted to scuttle 5 old transports at the entrance to Port Arthur harbor in order to trap the Russian squadron inside. The plan was foiled by the Retvizan, which was still in the outer roadstead of the harbor.

On March 2, Virenius’s detachment received an order to return to the Baltic, despite the protests of S. O. Makarov, who believed that he should continue further to the Far East.

On March 8, 1904, Admiral Makarov and the famous shipbuilder N.E. Kuteynikov arrived in Port Arthur, along with several wagons of spare parts and equipment for repairs. Makarov immediately took energetic measures to restore the combat effectiveness of the Russian squadron, which led to an increase in military spirit in the fleet.

On March 27, the Japanese again tried to block the exit from Port Arthur harbor, this time using 4 old vehicles filled with stones and cement. The transports, however, were sunk too far from the harbor entrance.

On March 31, while going to sea, the battleship Petropavlovsk hit 3 mines and sank within two minutes. 635 sailors and officers were killed. These included Admiral Makarov and the famous battle painter Vereshchagin. The battleship Poltava was blown up and out of action for several weeks.

On May 3, the Japanese made a third and final attempt to block the entrance to Port Arthur harbor, this time using 8 transports. As a result, the Russian fleet was blocked for several days in the harbor of Port Arthur, which cleared the way for the landing of the 2nd Japanese Army in Manchuria.

Of the entire Russian fleet, only the Vladivostok cruiser detachment (“Russia”, “Gromoboy”, “Rurik”) retained freedom of action and during the first 6 months of the war several times went on the offensive against the Japanese fleet, penetrating Pacific Ocean and being off the Japanese coast, then leaving again for the Korean Strait. The detachment sank several Japanese transports with troops and guns, including on May 31, Vladivostok cruisers intercepted the Japanese transport Hi-tatsi Maru (6175 brt), on board which were 18,280-mm mortars for the siege of Port Arthur, which made it possible to tighten the siege of Port Arthur for several months.

Japanese offensive in Manchuria and defense of Port Arthur

On April 18 (May 1), the 1st Japanese Army, numbering about 45 thousand people, crossed the Yalu River and in a battle on the Yalu River defeated the eastern detachment of the Russian Manchurian Army under the command of M. I. Zasulich, numbering about 18 thousand people. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began.

On April 22 (May 5), the 2nd Japanese Army under the command of General Yasukata Oku, numbering about 38.5 thousand people, began landing on the Liaodong Peninsula, about 100 kilometers from Port Arthur. The landing was carried out by 80 Japanese transports and continued until April 30 (May 13). The Russian units, numbering about 17 thousand people, under the command of General Stessel, as well as the Russian squadron in Port Arthur under the command of Vitgeft, did not take active actions to counter the Japanese landing.

On April 27 (May 10), the advancing Japanese units interrupted the railway connection between Port Arthur and Manchuria.

If the 2nd Japanese Army landed without losses, then the Japanese fleet, which supported the landing operation, suffered very significant losses. On May 2 (15), 2 Japanese battleships, the 12,320-ton Yashima and the 15,300-ton Hatsuse, were sunk after hitting a minefield laid by the Russian minelayer Amur. In total, during the period from May 12 to 17, the Japanese fleet lost 7 ships (2 battleships, a light cruiser, a gunboat, a notice, a fighter and a destroyer), and 2 more ships (including the armored cruiser Kasuga) went for repairs in Sasebo.

The 2nd Japanese Army, having completed the landing, began moving south to Port Arthur in order to establish a close blockade of the fortress. The Russian command decided to take the battle to a well-fortified position near the city of Jinzhou, on the isthmus that connected the Kwantung Peninsula with the Liaodong Peninsula.

On May 13 (26), a battle took place near Jinzhou, in which one Russian regiment (3.8 thousand people with 77 guns and 10 machine guns) repelled attacks from three Japanese divisions (35 thousand people with 216 guns and 48 machine guns) for twelve hours. . The defense was broken through only in the evening, after the approaching Japanese gunboats suppressed the Russian left flank. The Japanese losses amounted to 4.3 thousand people, the Russians - about 1.5 thousand people killed and wounded.

As a result of their success during the battle of Jinzhou, the Japanese overcame the main natural barrier on the way to the Port Arthur fortress. On May 29, Japanese troops occupied the port of Dalniy without a fight, and its shipyards, docks and railroad station went to the Japanese practically undamaged, which made it much easier for them to supply the troops besieging Port Arthur.

After the Dalny occupation Japanese forces divided: the formation of the Japanese 3rd Army began under the command of General Maresuke Nogi, which was tasked with capturing Port Arthur, while the Japanese 2nd Army began moving north.

On June 10 (23), the Russian squadron in Port Arthur attempted to break through to Vladivostok, but three hours after going to sea, noticing the Japanese fleet on the horizon, Rear Admiral V.K. Vitgeft ordered to turn back, as he considered the situation unfavorable for battle.

On June 1-2 (14-15), in the battle of Wafangou, the 2nd Japanese Army (38 thousand people with 216 guns) defeated the Russian 1st East Siberian Corps of General G. K. Stackelberg (30 thousand people with 98 guns), sent by the commander of the Russian Manchurian Army Kuropatkin to lift the blockade of Port Arthur.

The Russian units retreating to Port Arthur after the defeat at Jinzhou took up a position “on the passes”, approximately halfway between Port Arthur and Dalny, which the Japanese did not attack for quite a long time, waiting for their 3rd Army to be fully equipped.

On July 13 (26), the 3rd Japanese Army (60 thousand people with 180 guns) broke through the Russian defense “at the passes” (16 thousand people with 70 guns), on July 30 occupied the Wolf Mountains - positions on the far approaches to the fortress itself, and already on August 9 reached its original positions along the entire perimeter of the fortress. The defense of Port Arthur began.

In connection with the start of shelling of Port Arthur harbor by Japanese long-range artillery, the fleet command decided to attempt a breakthrough to Vladivostok.

On July 28 (August 10), the Battle of the Yellow Sea took place, during which the Japanese fleet, due to the death of Vitgeft and the loss of control by the Russian squadron, managed to force the Russian squadron to return to Port Arthur.

On July 30 (August 12), not knowing that the attempt to break into Vladivostok had already failed, 3 cruisers of the Vladivostok detachment entered the Korean Strait, with the goal of meeting there the Port Arthur squadron breaking through to Vladivostok. On the morning of August 14, they were discovered by Kamimura’s squadron consisting of 6 cruisers and, unable to evade, took on the battle, as a result of which the Rurik was sunk.

The defense of the fortress continued until January 2, 1905 and became one of the brightest pages of Russian military history.

In the fortress area, cut off from the Russian units, there was no single undisputed leadership; three authorities existed simultaneously: the commander of the troops, General Stessel, the commandant of the fortress, General Smirnov, and the commander of the fleet, Admiral Vitgeft (due to the absence of Admiral Skrydlov). This circumstance, coupled with difficult communication with outside world, could have had dangerous consequences if among the command staff there had not been General R.I. Kondratenko, who “with rare skill and tact managed to reconcile, in the interests of the common cause, the contradictory views of individual commanders.” Kondratenko became the hero of the Port Arthur epic and died at the end of the siege of the fortress. Through his efforts, the defense of the fortress was organized: fortifications were completed and put into combat readiness. The fortress garrison numbered about 53 thousand people, armed with 646 guns and 62 machine guns. The siege of Port Arthur lasted about 5 months and cost the Japanese army about 91 thousand people killed and wounded. Russian losses amounted to about 28 thousand people killed and wounded; Japanese siege artillery sunk the remains of the 1st Pacific Squadron: the battleships Retvizan, Poltava, Peresvet, Pobeda, the armored cruiser Bayan, and the armored cruiser Pallada. The only remaining battleship "Sevastopol" was withdrawn to the White Wolf Bay, accompanied by 5 destroyers ("Angry", "Statny", "Skory", "Smely", "Vlastny"), the port tug "Silach" and the patrol ship "Brave" " As a result of the attack launched by the Japanese under the cover of darkness, the Sevastopol was seriously damaged, and since in the conditions of a bombed port and the possibility of the internal roadstead being shot by Japanese troops, repairing the ship was impossible, it was decided to sink the ship by the crew after preliminary dismantling of the guns and removal of ammunition .

Liaoyang and Shahe

During the summer of 1904, the Japanese slowly moved towards Liaoyang: from the east - the 1st Army under Tamemoto Kuroki, 45 thousand, and from the south - the 2nd Army under Yasukata Oku, 45 thousand and the 4th Army under Mititsura Nozu, 30 thousand people. The Russian army slowly retreated, while at the same time constantly being replenished by reinforcements arriving along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

On August 11 (24), one of the general battles of the Russian-Japanese War began - the Battle of Liaoyang. Three Japanese armies attacked the positions of the Russian army in a semicircle: the army of Oku and Nozu was advancing from the south, and Kuroki was advancing in the east. In the battles that continued until August 22, Japanese troops under the command of Marshal Iwao Oyama (130 thousand with 400 guns) lost about 23 thousand people, Russian troops under the command of Kuropatkin (170 thousand with 644 guns) - 16 thousand (according to other sources 19 thousand . killed and wounded). The Russians successfully repulsed all Japanese attacks south of Liaoyang for three days, after which A.N. Kuropatkin decided, concentrating his forces, to go on the offensive against Kuroki’s army. The operation did not bring the desired results, and the Russian commander, who overestimated the strength of the Japanese, deciding that they could cut the railway from the north of Liaoyang, ordered a withdrawal to Mukden. The Russians retreated to in perfect order without leaving a single weapon. The overall outcome of the Battle of Liaoyang was uncertain. Nevertheless, the Russian historian Professor S.S. Oldenburg writes that this battle was a heavy moral blow, since everyone was expecting a decisive rebuff to the Japanese in Liaoyang, but in fact, the historian writes, it was another rearguard battle, extremely bloody .

On September 22 (October 5) the battle took place on the Shah River. The battle began with an attack by Russian troops (270 thousand people); On October 10, Japanese troops (170 thousand people) launched a counterattack. The outcome of the battle was uncertain when, on October 17, Kuropatkin gave the order to stop the attacks. The losses of Russian troops amounted to 40 thousand killed and wounded, Japanese - 30 thousand.

After the operation on the Shahe River, a positional lull was established at the front, which lasted until the end of 1904.

1905 campaign

In January 1905, a revolution began in Russia, which complicated the further conduct of the war.

On January 12 (25), the Battle of Sandepu began, in which Russian troops tried to go on the offensive. After occupying 2 villages, the battle was stopped on January 29 by Kuropatkin’s order. The losses of Russian troops amounted to 12 thousand, Japanese - 9 thousand people killed and wounded.

In February 1905, the Japanese forced the Russian army to retreat in the general battle of Mukden, which took place on a more than 100-kilometer front and lasted three weeks. Before the outbreak of World War I, it was the largest land battle in history. In heavy battles, the Russian army lost 90 thousand people (killed, wounded and captured) out of 350 thousand who took part in the battle; The Japanese army lost 75 thousand people (killed, wounded and prisoners) out of 300 thousand. On March 10, Russian troops left Mukden. After this, the war on land began to subside and took on a positional character.

May 14 (27) - May 15 (28), 1905, in the Battle of Tsushima, the Japanese fleet destroyed the Russian squadron transferred to the Far East from the Baltic under the command of Vice Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky.

On July 7, the last major operation of the war began - the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin. The 15th Japanese division, numbering 14 thousand people, was opposed by about 6 thousand Russian people, consisting mainly of exiles and convicts, who joined the troops only to acquire benefits for serving hard labor and exile and were not particularly combat-ready. On July 29, after the main Russian detachment (about 3.2 thousand people) surrendered, resistance on the island was suppressed.

The number of Russian troops in Manchuria continued to increase, and reinforcements arrived. By the time of peace, the Russian armies in Manchuria occupied positions near the village of Sypingai (English) and numbered about 500 thousand soldiers; The troops were not located in a line, as before, but echeloned in depth; the army has strengthened significantly technically - the Russians have howitzer batteries and machine guns, the number of which has increased from 36 to 374; Communication with Russia was no longer maintained by 3 pairs of trains, as at the beginning of the war, but by 12 pairs. Finally, the spirit of the Manchu armies was not broken. However, the Russian command did not take decisive action at the front, which was greatly facilitated by the revolution that had begun in the country, as well as Kuropatkin’s tactics to maximally deplete the Japanese army.

For their part, the Japanese, who suffered huge losses, also did not show activity. The Japanese army facing the Russian numbered about 300 thousand soldiers. The former rise in it was no longer observed. Japan was economically exhausted. Human resources were exhausted; among the prisoners there were old people and children.

Results of the war

In May 1905, a meeting of the military council was held, where Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich reported that, in his opinion, for final victory it was necessary: a billion rubles of expenses, about 200 thousand losses and a year of military operations. After reflection, Nicholas II decided to enter into negotiations with the mediation of American President Roosevelt to conclude peace (which Japan had already proposed twice). S. Yu. Witte was appointed the first authorized Tsar and the very next day he was received by the Emperor and received the appropriate instructions: in no case agree to any form of payment of indemnity, which Russia has never paid in history, and not to give “not an inch Russian land." At the same time, Witte himself was pessimistic (especially in light of the Japanese demands for the alienation of all of Sakhalin, Primorsky Krai, and the transfer of all interned ships): he was sure that “indemnity” and territorial losses were “inevitable.”

On August 9, 1905, peace negotiations began in Portsmouth (USA) through the mediation of Theodore Roosevelt. The peace treaty was signed on August 23 (September 5), 1905. Russia ceded to Japan the southern part of Sakhalin (already occupied by Japanese troops at that time), its lease rights to the Liaodong Peninsula and the South Manchurian Railway, which connected Port Arthur with the Chinese Eastern Railway. Russia also recognized Korea as a Japanese zone of influence. In 1910, despite protests from other countries, Japan formally annexed Korea.

Many in Japan were dissatisfied with the peace treaty: Japan received fewer territories than expected - for example, only part of Sakhalin, and not all of it, and most importantly, did not receive monetary indemnities. During the negotiations, the Japanese delegation put forward a demand for an indemnity of 1.2 billion yen, but the firm and unyielding position of Emperor Nicholas II did not allow Witte to concede on these two fundamental points. He was supported by US President Theodore Roosevelt, telling the Japanese that if they insisted, the American side, which had previously sympathized with the Japanese, would change its position. The Japanese side’s demand for the demilitarization of Vladivostok and a number of other conditions were also rejected. Japanese diplomat Kikujiro Ishii wrote in his memoirs that:

As a result of the peace negotiations, Russia and Japan pledged to withdraw troops from Manchuria, use the railways only for commercial purposes, and not interfere with freedom of trade and navigation. Russian historian A. N. Bokhanov writes that the Portsmouth agreements became an undoubted success of Russian diplomacy: the negotiations were more of an agreement of equal partners, rather than an agreement concluded as a result of an unsuccessful war.

The war cost Japan a huge amount of effort compared to Russia. She had to put 1.8% of the population under arms (Russia - 0.5%), during the war its external public debt increased 4 times (for Russia by a third) and reached 2,400 million yen.

The Japanese army lost killed, according to various sources, from 49 thousand (B. Ts. Urlanis) to 80 thousand (Doctor of Historical Sciences I. Rostunov), while the Russian from 32 thousand (Urlanis) to 50 thousand (Rostunov) or 52,501 people (G. F. Krivosheev). Russian losses in battles on land were half that of the Japanese. In addition, 17,297 Russian and 38,617 Japanese soldiers and officers died from wounds and illnesses (Urlanis). The incidence in both armies was about 25 people. per 1000 per month, however, the mortality rate in Japanese medical institutions was 2.44 times higher than the Russian figure.

According to some representatives of the military elite of that time (for example, Chief of the German General Staff Schlieffen), Russia could well have continued the war if only it had better mobilized the forces of the empire.

In his memoirs, Witte admitted:

Opinions and ratings

General Kuropatkin in his “Results” of the Japanese War wrote about the command staff:

Other facts

The Russo-Japanese War gave rise to several myths about the explosive used by the Japanese, shimose. Shells filled with shimosa exploded upon impact with any obstacle, producing a mushroom-shaped cloud of choking smoke and a large number of fragments, that is, they had a pronounced high-explosive effect. Russian shells filled with pyroxylin did not give such an effect, although they had better armor-piercing properties. Such a noticeable superiority of Japanese shells over Russian ones in terms of high explosiveness has given rise to several common myths:

The explosion power of shimosa is many times stronger than pyroxylin.
The use of shimosa was Japan's technical superiority due to which Russia suffered naval defeats.

Both of these myths are incorrect (discussed in detail in the article on shimoz).

During the transition of the 2nd Pacific Squadron under the command of Z.P. Rozhdestvensky from the Baltic to the Port Arthur area, the so-called Hull incident occurred. Rozhdestvensky received information that Japanese destroyers were waiting for the squadron in the North Sea. On the night of October 22, 1904, the squadron fired at English fishing vessels, mistaking them for Japanese ships. This incident caused a serious Anglo-Russian diplomatic conflict. Subsequently, an arbitration court was created to investigate the circumstances of the incident.

The Russo-Japanese War in art

Painting

On April 13, 1904, the talented Russian battle painter Vasily Vereshchagin died as a result of the explosion of the battleship Petropavlovsk by Japanese mines. Ironically, shortly before the war, Vereshchagin returned from Japan, where he created a number of paintings. In particular, he created one of them, “Japanese Woman,” at the beginning of 1904, that is, just a few months before his death.

Fiction

	Book title	Description
Doroshevich, V. M.	East and war	The main topic is international relations during the war
Novikov-Priboy
Kostenko V. P.	On the "Eagle" in Tsushima	Main topic - Battle of Tsushima
Stepanov A. N.	"Port Arthur" (in 2 parts)	Main topic - Defense of Port Arthur
Pikul V.S.	Cruisers	Operations of the Vladivostok cruiser detachment during the war
Pikul V.S.	Wealth	Defense of the Kamchatka Peninsula
Pikul V.S.		Japanese landing on Sakhalin Island. Defense of Sakhalin.
Pikul V.S.	Three ages of Okini-san	The life story of a naval officer.
Daletsky P. L.	On the hills of Manchuria
Grigoriev S. T.	Stern flag of the Thunderbolt
Boris Akunin	Diamond Chariot (book)	Japanese espionage and sabotage in Russia railway during the war
M. Bozhatkin	The Crab Goes to Sea (novel)
Allen, Willis Boyd	The north Pacific: a story of the Russo-Japanese war	The Russo-Japanese War through the eyes of US Navy sailors

War in music

Waltz by Ilya Shatrov “On the Hills of Manchuria” (1907).
Song by an unknown author “The Sea Spreads Wide” (1900s) about the 2nd Pacific Squadron: L. Utesov, L. Utesov video, E. Dyatlov, DDT
The song “Up, comrades, everyone is in place” (1904), dedicated to the death of the cruiser “Varyag”: footage from the film “Varyag”, M. Troshin
The song “Cold Waves Splashing” (1904), also dedicated to the death of the cruiser “Varyag”: Alexandrov Ensemble, 1942, O. Pogudin
Song based on the verses of Alexander Blok “A girl sang in the church choir” (1905): L. Novoseltseva, A. Kustov and R. Stanskov.
Oleg Mityaev’s song “Alien War” (1998) from the point of view of a sailor of the 2nd Pacific Squadron - a resident of Tobolsk.

Causes of the war and the balance of power

Progress of hostilities

The beginning of the war. Defeat of Russian naval forces in the Pacific Ocean

Campaign of 1904. Defense of Port Arthur

1905 campaign

Tsushima. Final Japanese victory

Peace treaty. Results of the war

Table: chronology of events

Strengths and weaknesses of opponents

Military-political reasons for Russia's defeat

Other factors

Results of the Russo-Japanese War

About the Russo-Japanese War in brief

Prerequisites for the war

Causes and nature of the war

Balance of forces at the beginning of the war

Progress of hostilities

Map of military operations

Events of 1904

Fall of Port Arthur

Port Arthur defense map

Events of 1905

Kuropatkin factor

Revolution factor

Reasons for Russia's defeat

Portsmouth World

Consequences of the war

Positions of world powers during the war

Causes of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

Reasons for the Russian-Japanese confrontation 1904-1905

Historians call this war Russia's first major military action in the Far East; it had enormous consequences for the political structure of these territories for many years to come.

In the mid-16th century, one of the key battles took place during the Cossack uprising against the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth over the region.

Please name the reasons for the Russo-Japanese War

Reasons for the start and defeat of the Russo-Japanese War: briefly

Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

The Russo-Japanese War in brief.

Reasons for the outbreak of war with Japan.

The course of events of the Russo-Japanese War.

Causes of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905

Results of the Russian-Japanese War.

Background

Expansion of the Russian Empire in the Far East

Japan's struggle for dominance in Korea

Immediate causes of the war

Triple intervention

Russian occupation of Manchuria and the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance

Growing Russian-Japanese confrontation

The balance of forces and communications before the war

Armed forces

Fleet

Progress of the war

1904 Campaign

Beginning of the war

The attitude of the Russian public to the beginning of the war with Japan

Reaction of the world community

Siege of Port Arthur

Japanese offensive in Manchuria and defense of Port Arthur

Liaoyang and Shahe

1905 campaign

Results of the war

Opinions and ratings

Other facts

The Russo-Japanese War in art

Painting

Fiction

War in music