— What were the prerequisites for the beginning and the immediate causes of the Russo-Japanese War?
— The reasons go back to the events of the 19th century, when great powers competed for the division of spheres of influence in China. At that time, China was a rich but very weak country. And this gave rise to certain temptations among the most powerful states of the world. Great Britain was the first to take this path, unleashing the Opium Wars. Then France, the USA, Russia, Japan joined this process at different times...
If we talk about chronologically closer reasons, then we need to remember the results of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, in which Beijing suffered a crushing defeat. But under pressure from Russia, France and Germany, who acted under the slogan of protecting the territorial integrity of China, Japan was forced to partially abandon the terms of the Shimonoseki Treaty, according to which it received the Liaodong Peninsula, a number of islands and a large indemnity. To make their demands more significant, France, Germany and Russia sent military squadrons to the Far East. The Japanese complied with the demands, but harbored a grudge and began to prepare revenge. One of the Japanese diplomats then said offendedly that the territorial integrity of China is inviolable only for Japan.
In 1896, an agreement was signed between Russia and China, one of the provisions of which concerned the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway through Manchuria - with the aim of shortening the route between the European part of the empire and the Russian Far East.
After Russia entered Manchuria, the Minister of Finance of the Empire, Sergei Witte, began, so to speak, to be dizzy with success. The Russian leadership had an idea about the advisability of gaining access to the ports of Southern Manchuria in order to turn the construction of the railway into a large Eurasian project.
China was inclined to sign a lease agreement for the Kwantung Peninsula - this is the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula. Port Arthur located there was to become the main Russian naval base in the Pacific Ocean. Its harbor was ice-free and allowed almost direct access to the open ocean. A huge trading port, Dalny, was to appear near Port Arthur. In general, we strengthened our positions. Nicholas II felt confident in this region and did not want to take into account the opinions of others. It was against this background that Russian-Japanese relations began to rapidly deteriorate.
Japanese diplomats promoted the idea of "Manchuria in exchange for Korea." This means that the Japanese are giving us a free hand in Manchuria, and we are giving them a free hand in Korea. But St. Petersburg did not agree to this.
Nicholas II, strengthening the region militarily, believed that time was on our side. The Japanese thought so too, but drew their own conclusions from it. And so they decided not to wait until we had a new series of squadron battleships ready in 1905, and to seize the time factor - to attack Russia while Japanese forces in the Far East were clearly superior to ours.
The cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" are returning after the battle. Russo-Japanese War
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— What was the ratio of the military forces of Russia and Japan before the start of the war?
— Russia felt quite confident. If in 1895 there were one and a half to two dozen battalions scattered along its border, and there was a small cruising squadron at sea, then in 1904 there were already army corps, military districts were created, the Pacific squadron was provided with squadron battleships and cruisers. Russia made great efforts to create a full-fledged army and navy in the Far East, but did not have time. In St. Petersburg they could not decide which direction was the priority.
Before the start of the war, the army of the Russian Empire as a whole was three times larger than the Japanese, but specifically in the Far East it was inferior to it. A similar situation has developed with the fleet. New ships were laid down and built, but they were built in the Baltic and the Black Sea, and slowly.
The Japanese planned to prevent Russia from transferring and concentrating troops in the required quantities in the Far East. They wanted to create a situation in which the Russian army in Manchuria would be defeated, and every Russian division transferred from the west would be met by five or six Japanese ones.
Emperor Nicholas II tours the formation of infantry regiments heading to Manchuria
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— The war began on the night of February 8–9, 1904. Under what circumstances did this happen? How did the Russian ships “Varyag” and “Koreets” perish on the first day of the war?
— “Varyag” and “Korean” died near the Korean port of Chemulpo (modern Incheon). The fact is that Korea at that time was a formally independent state, so the Russian embassy was located on its territory. And to ensure its safety, it was customary to keep warships with an armed crew at the embassy’s disposal, so that in unforeseen circumstances the ambassador would have someone to turn to for help. That is why in the port of Chemulpo there was a rather old and slow gunboat “Korean”. For a reliably unknown reason, one of the most modern ships of the Russian fleet, the armored cruiser Varyag, was sent here.
His presence in this place, in my opinion, was unnecessary. Its power was too great to solve some tactical problems, and one ship, even such a serious one, would not be enough to conduct full-fledged combat operations. And the Japanese decided to take advantage of this.
On February 8, their fleet blocked Chemulpo, and the next day Russian ships moved to break through. The commander of the “Varyag” was faced with an unpleasant choice: his high-speed ship could probably break through, but then he would have to abandon the “Korean”. But he couldn’t do that.
In the port area there was a very complex bottom topography and a large difference in water level between high and low tides. I had to go out during daylight hours and take the fight in unfavorable conditions. As a result, in an unequal battle with an entire Japanese squadron, the Varyag received heavy damage. It was decided to scuttle it in the hope that it could then be raised and returned to service. But in the end it was picked up and used by the Japanese. The “Korean” was simply blown up.
Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Defense of Port Arthur. Movement of reserves to the third fort
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— Please describe the course of hostilities in the Russo-Japanese War? What main stages can be identified in it?
— The first stage is Japan’s accumulation of forces on the continent and the Japanese blockade of the Port Arthur fortress. Their goal was to defeat the main forces of the Russian army in the mountainous part of Manchuria. In turn, the command of the Russian troops planned to gradually retreat to meet the reserves arriving from the European part of Russia, to the flat territories, where Russian soldiers were much more accustomed to fighting than in the mountains. The plans of the Russian army were to strengthen themselves, force the Japanese to launch an assault, and then launch a counteroffensive. In general, they tried to play the Patriotic War of 1812.
Meanwhile, Port Arthur defended itself staunchly. Japan's plans to quickly take it were thwarted. Plans to destroy the Russian squadron were also not implemented. This is what the first stage of the war looked like.
However, then everything did not go as the Russian command planned. The Japanese began to advance, creating a threat of encirclement of Russian troops and disruption of supply routes. We had to retreat; there was no opportunity to provide assistance to Port Arthur. At the same time, Port Arthur, which was under fire from Japanese heavy artillery, had certain limits of resistance. And these limits have been exhausted.
As a result, Port Arthur fell at the end of 1904 - beginning of 1905, and the Japanese army stationed near Port Arthur moved to the aid of the rest of the Japanese forces. As a result, the 1st Pacific Squadron was killed, and a battle took place near Mukden, which ended in the defeat of the Russian troops. The strategic initiative was firmly held by the Japanese, although for them the war was associated with enormous losses.
Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. A train with Russian army soldiers wounded during the Battle of Mukden, at the railway station in Vladivostok. March 1905
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- Under what circumstances and on what conditions was peace concluded?
— The peace treaty was signed on September 5, 1905 in the American city of Portsmouth in very difficult circumstances for Russia. By this time, the defeat at Mukden, the defeat of the Russian fleet at Tsushima, and the Japanese landing on Sakhalin had already occurred. Russia's finances were not in the best condition either. In addition, the 1905 revolution began in the empire.
Japan demanded a lot. If all its demands were satisfied, Russia specifically in the Far East would be relegated to the status of a second-class state. But we must take into account that the situation in Japan was not rosy either. During the war, it exhausted its resources. The Japanese planned to improve their position through indemnities, but Russia flatly refused to fulfill this demand.
On the Russian side, the negotiations in Portsmouth were led by Sergei Witte, one of the creators of the policy that ended with the Russo-Japanese War. Witte partially made concessions to the Japanese, but did not completely agree with their demands on any issue. In the end, an agreement was signed according to which Russia lost its rights to the Kwantung Peninsula, recognized Japanese interests in Korea and ceded the southern part of Sakhalin to Japan. The last condition was especially important for Tokyo - coal at that time was considered a strategic raw material, and Sakhalin is rich in it. In addition, based on geographical factors, Japan actually gained control over the entry of the Russian fleet into the Pacific Ocean.
On the one hand, we emerged from the current situation with relatively small losses. But on the other hand, Russia suffered a military defeat for the first time in a long period of time and agreed to cede its territories. The reputational costs were enormous. Detractors began to call Witte “Count Polosakhalin.”
Emperor of Russia Nicholas II greets the crews of the cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" on Palace Square during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 - 1905
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— How did the Russo-Japanese War influence the future fate of Russia?
— The Russo-Japanese War played a colossal role in the fate of the Russian monarchy, and it is directly related to the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. This war showed that, despite the heroism of the soldiers, the tsarist commanders commanded them poorly. This inspired our foreign policy opponents, primarily the Germans, to go to war against the Russian Empire. In addition, the results of the Russo-Japanese War forced many inside Russia to think about their future and the fact that the monarchy was unable to ensure the country’s leading position in what seemed to be the most important issue for it - in military affairs. And this had unfavorable long-term consequences for the state - it took Russia years to restore its military reputation.