An Emerging Power, 1895-1919 » The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Russo-Japanese War and Korea

The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 1902

After the Boxer Rebellion, Russia kept its troops in Manchuria, the northern region of China. Russia also held a lease on Port Arthur, the port Japan had been forced to give up in 1895, and it was showing interest in Korea. Japan saw Russia as the biggest danger to its safety.

Britain had a different worry. It had the largest empire and trade network in the world, and its navy was spread thin. It was also fighting the Boer War in South Africa (1899-1902). Britain wanted a partner in East Asia to help it keep an eye on Russia.

Key terms:

• Alliance: a formal agreement between countries to help each other if they are attacked.
• Protectorate: a country that keeps its own ruler but whose foreign policy is controlled by a stronger country.
• Annexation: a country taking over another country and making it part of its own territory.

On 30 January 1902 Britain and Japan signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Its main terms were:

The second term mattered most to Japan. If Japan fought Russia, France (Russia's friend) could not join in without Britain joining Japan's side. Japan could now risk a war against Russia, knowing that no other power was likely to help Russia. The alliance was also a sign of how far Japan had come since 1853: a Western great power had agreed to treat it as an equal partner.

The Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05

Talks with Russia about Manchuria and Korea went nowhere. On the night of 8 February 1904 Japanese torpedo boats attacked the Russian fleet at Port Arthur without a warning. War was declared two days later.

• Port Arthur: Japan blockaded the fortress by sea and besieged it by land under General Nogi Maresuke. The fighting was costly, but the Russians surrendered on 2 January 1905.
• Tsushima: Russia sent its Baltic fleet around the world to fight. When it reached the Tsushima Strait, between Japan and Korea, in May 1905, Admiral Togo Heihachiro destroyed most of it in two days. Japan lost very few ships.

Japan had also won a great land battle at Mukden in March 1905. But Japan was running short of money and men, and Russia was facing revolution at home in 1905. Both sides were ready for peace. The American president, Theodore Roosevelt, offered to host talks.

The Treaty of Portsmouth, 1905

The treaty was signed at Portsmouth, in the USA, in September 1905. Russia agreed to:

• recognise Japan's special interests in Korea;
• hand over its lease of Port Arthur and the Liaodong peninsula, and part of the South Manchurian Railway;
• give Japan the southern half of Sakhalin island;
• pull its troops out of Manchuria.

Russia paid no indemnity. Many Japanese had expected a large one, because the war had cost so much and raised taxes so high. When the terms were announced, there were riots in Tokyo (the Hibiya riots). So Japan won the war but its people felt cheated.

The world was stunned. For the first time in modern history an Asian country had defeated a European great power. Japan was now the leading power in East Asia.

Korea: protectorate and annexation

Korea was the heart of Japan's aims. Even before the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan was gaining control. In 1904 it made Korea accept Japanese advisers. In 1905 Britain renewed the alliance and accepted Japan's leading role in Korea, and Russia did the same at Portsmouth.

In August 1910 Japan annexed Korea. It became a Japanese possession, called Chosen, and stayed under Japanese rule until 1945. Korea was Japan's largest and most populous possession so far, bigger than Taiwan (1895) or southern Sakhalin (1905).

Change and continuity

Common mistakes

Exam-style question

Explain TWO causes of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. [8 marks]

Remember: one cause on its own cannot score more than half marks.