The Treaty of Shimonoseki, also called the Treaty of Magwan to the Chinese, was a treaty signed on April 17, 1895 in the Japanese city of Shimonoseki between the Empire of Japan, led by Emperor Meiji, and the government of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, ending the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, which ended in Japan's victory.

Under this treaty, China ceded Taiwan Island and its surrounding islands, the Pescadors Archipelago, the Liaodong Peninsula (formerly Liao Tong), as well as the city of Port Artur to Japan.

Under this treaty, China also recognized the independence of Korea, which then came under Japanese protection, in addition to paying financial compensation to Japan for this war, opening 7 ports to Japanese merchants, and other privileges.

Origins and roots

The Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Qing Dynasty of China and the Meiji Emperor of Japan, between 1894 and 1895, with the aim of controlling the Korean Peninsula, which was called Joseon.

China retained sovereignty over Korea for centuries and provided it with protection, in exchange for compensation, but the treaty ended all of this and China recognized Korea's independence.

In addition, China ceded the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan, and the Pescadores Islands to Japan, paying it reparations for the war.

It signed a trade treaty similar to the one China had previously signed with various Western powers following the so-called Opium Wars, as well as opening a number of ports and rivers in China to Japanese trade.

The treaty, signed on April 17, 1895, after four weeks of negotiations, entered into force on May 4, 8, and granted several new economic opportunities to Japan, giving Japanese merchants the right to open factories, rent warehouses, and transport goods without paying any taxes to the Chinese government.

The treaty marked an important turning point and a change in the balance of power in Asia and the world, ending the First Sino-Japanese War, confirming Japan's status as a great power in the Far East.

Compensation amount

Japan's victory in its first war with China cemented its imperial status and established itself as a power to be reckoned with, and the First Sino-Japanese War was seen as evidence of the expansion of the Japanese empire, which sought a more aggressive position in foreign policy and territorial expansion, which lasted until World War II.

According to the terms of the treaty, China paid compensation of 200 million silver yang to Japan (yang was the official currency of the Korean Empire at the time) over a period of 7 years, or about 7.45 million kilograms of silver.

But after Japan was forced to retreat from the Liaodong Peninsula to Russia later, Japan requested an additional compensation of 30 million silver yang (equivalent to 1.12 million kilograms of silver) from China, bringing the total amount of compensation to more than 8 million kilograms of silver, an amount estimated at more than 4 times Japan's total revenue at the time.

Actors

The Shimonoseki Treaty was signed by Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi, Vice President Mutsu Monimitsu, and Li Hongchang and Li Jingfang on the Chinese side. The treaty was drafted in the presence of then-U.S. Secretary of State John W. Foster, who acted as an adviser to the Cheng family.

Before the treaty was signed, Li Hongchang was attacked by a Japanese right-wing extremist on March 24, 1895, when he was shot on his way back to his residence at the Injoji temple.

Public outrage provoked by the assassination attempt caused the Japanese to soften their demands and agree to a temporary truce, and the convention was temporarily postponed before resuming on April 1895, <>.

The signing of the treaty was the first nail in the coffin of the Chinese empire, which was living its last days, due to the state of weakness it became known after the death of Empress Mother Cixi in 1908, especially with the absence of a rational heir to the throne, which opened the way for the revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen and his supporters to establish the new Republic of China in 1911.

Highlights

Sino-Japanese relations have been tense since 1870 over the Korean state between these two countries, and several military confrontations broke out between them between 1882 and 1884, ending with the signing of the Tian-Tin Agreement in 1885, which called for the two countries not to intervene on the Korean Peninsula.

In 1894, King Gojong of Korea asked China for help to suppress a peasant rebellion during the Donghak Peasant Revolt, also known as the Donghak Peasant Movement.

The Japanese used this as a pretext to intervene in the Kingdom of Korea, because the Tian-tin Treaty between China and Japan required the two countries to consult diplomatically in the event of either intervening on the Korean Peninsula.

Although Japan knew of the Chinese intervention, it sent 18,17 people under the pretext of wanting to help Korea, which sparked the two-year Sino-Japanese War, which saw fierce battles between the two countries, especially naval battles that ended with the destruction of the Chinese fleet at the mouth of the Yalu River on September 1894, <>.

In March 1895, after several military defeats on the Chinese side, the Chinese Empire was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan.

Effects and reflections

The conditions imposed by Japan on China during this treaty, just 3 days after its signing, led to the tripartite intervention of the Western powers of Russia, France and Germany, which was then very active in China and established its ports and spheres of influence.

European powers demanded that Japan withdraw its claim to the Liaodong Peninsula, fearing that Lushon, then named "Port Arthur", would fall under Japanese control. Because Kaiser Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany were trying to take over the "port city" of Port Arthur.

In addition, Russia believed that control of this city was necessary to strengthen its navy.

In November 1895, Japan ceded control of the territory and withdrew its claim to the Liaotong Peninsula, while the Russian Empire began to control the region.

To calm protests in China, Russia agreed to cede Kwantong to the Chinese Empire, paying a nominal rental fee to China to use the area instead of annexing Manchuria entirely, allowing China to save face while retaining Russia's right to full control of the region.

Within two years, Germany, France, and Great Britain similarly benefited from economic and political opportunities in the weakened Chinese empire, each controlling important local areas.

At the same time, Japan was transforming itself into a modern industrial country and a major military power, which was largely achieved in the Russo-Japanese War less than a decade later.

In Taiwan, pro-Qing officials and elements of the local nobility proclaimed the Formosa Republic in 1895, but failed to gain international recognition.

The Shimonoseki Treaty promised the Chinese a national insult and significantly weakened support for the Qing dynasty, and voices in the country began demanding radical changes in the Chinese political and social system, leading to the so-called "Hundred Days Reform" of 100, followed by a series of uprisings that culminated in the fall of the Qing dynasty itself in 1898.

A number of Japanese historians consider the trilateral intervention to be a decisive historical turning point in Japan's foreign policy, after which its foreign policy began to shift towards economic hegemony.

Both the Republic of China on Taiwan and the Communist People's Republic of China considered that the terms of the treaty under which China ceded Taiwan to Japan had been amended by Japan's Surrender Document, signed on September 1945, <>, to confirm Japan's defeat in World War II.

Another treaty, the Treaty of Taipei on April 28, 1952, was signed between Japan and the Republic of China on Taiwan, which formally abrogated all treaties concluded between China and Japan before December 1941, <>.

Russo-Japanese War

After the tripartite intervention of France, Germany and Russia, the latter began transporting workers and materials to Liaodong to begin the construction of a railway line between the cities of Port Arthur and Harbin, where railway construction works were underway through northern Inner Manchuria to shorten the route to Russia's only naval base in the Pacific Ocean on Sakhalin Island.

Russia also improved port facilities at Port Arthur and established the commercial port city of Dalny.

When China granted de facto rule to Port Arthur and the Liaodong Peninsula to Russia, as well as other rights in Manchuria (particularly those in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces), 550 miles of railway lines were bended in Manchuria.

Russia got what it had hoped for in its quest to become a world power since Peter the Great: the ice-free natural port of Port Arter that would make Russia a great naval power, in addition to the power it was already exercising as the largest land power.

Russia needed this ice-free port to achieve its goal as a world power, as it was fed up with the obstacles to the politics of the balance of power in Europe, as the Ottoman Empire and its allies thwarted Russia's strategic goals in the region to become a world power.

Because of geopolitical realities and the privileges granted to Japan by the Shimonoseki Treaty, Russia had to dominate and control hundreds of additional miles from eastern Manchuria (Fengtian Province of the Empire of China, Jilin and modern Heilongjiang) to Harbin, but Japan considered the entire territory parallel to the Korean border to be part of its strategic sphere of influence.

This was an additional impetus to provoke Japanese anger, which was growing day by day due to the interference of Western powers in Japan's internal affairs, as well as the repercussions of the trilateral intervention of Russia, France, and Germany.

Japanese popular discontent with Russia's cunning and the perceived weakness of its government in yielding to Western foreign pressure led to riots in Tokyo, unrest that nearly brought down the government, and accelerated the strengthening of imperialist and expansionist factions within Japan.

Other events eventually led to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, which Japan began with a modern, renewed army unlike before, which contributed to its victory in this war.

For Japan, this victory was a push it needed to expand further into Asia, and it was only with its defeat in World War II.