ruuso-japenees war

1
Russo-Japanese War
Irfan Arshad IR Department University of
Sargodha Pakistan
2
Introduction

• Russo-Japanese War, armed conflict between Russia
  and Japan in 1904-5
• The cause of the war was that Russian expansion
  in eastern Asia ran counter to Japanese plans for
  gaining a foothold on the Asian mainland
• In 1898 Russia leased Port Arthur (now Lüshun)
  from China, with the intention of making it a
  great Asiatic port and the headquarters of
  Russian naval power in the Pacific
• Russia had poured troops into Manchuria during
  the Boxer Uprising in 1900 but, faced with the
  Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902, promised to
  leave Chinese territory
• The promise was not kept, however, and in June
  1903 Japan proposed an agreement with Russia
  recognizing Japan's interests in Korea and
  Russia's in Manchuria, and insuring the integrity
  of China and Korea.Russia refused.
• On the night of February 8, 1904, the Japanese
  navy launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur
  and then blockaded the damaged Russian fleet.

3
Early Battles

• In March 1904, the Japanese First Army landed at
  Chemulpo (now Inchon) and at Nampo.
• It faced the Russians on the Yalu River by late
  April.
• The Russian commander in chief, General Aleksey
  Nikolayevich Kuropatkin, decided to hold a
  defensive position on the Liaodong Peninsula
  until enough reinforcements arrived to permit him
  to move to the offensive.
• His forces were spread out over a distance of 24
  km (15 mi).
• The Japanese commander, General Tamemoto Tamesada
  Kuroki, built up a 4-1 troop advantage at the
  town of Uiju and forced a passage across the Yalu
  on May 1.
• Japanese losses were about 1100 out of 40,000
  men. The Russians lost some 2300 out of 7000
  troops

4
Early Battles(2)

• During May the Japanese Second Army under General
  Yasukata Oku landed on the Liaodong Peninsula,
  severed communications between Port Arthur and
  the main Russian forces in Manchuria, captured
  Kinchow (now Jing Xian, or Ching Hsien), won the
  Battle of Nanshan (May 30), and besieged Port
  Arthur.
• The Japanese Third Army under General Maresuke
  Nogi landed on the eastern coast of Korea, and
  the Fourth Army under General Michitsura Nodzu
  landed at Gushan (Kushan) on the Manchurian
  coast.
• Kuropatkin was personally ordered by Nicholas II,
  emperor of Russia, to hold Port Arthur, and he
  moved his main forces to Liaoyang.
• After defeating a Russian force of 25,000 at
  Wafangdian (Wafangtien) on June 14, the Japanese
  began to converge on Liaoyang.
• Kuropatkin attacked Kuroki's forces in late July
  and then fell back to Liaoyang.

5
Early Battles(3)

• Between August 25 and September 4, the Battle of
  Liaoyang was fought.
• Although the Japanese were outnumbered 130,000
  to 180,000, they defeated the Russians, who
  retreated toward Shenyang (Mukden).
• The Japanese campaign had been successful, but
  their reserves of trained men were rapidly being
  exhausted.
• On the other side, Kuropatkin's army was being
  reinforced by about 30,000 men a month via the
  Trans-Siberian Railroad, and the commander in
  chief now decided to attack.
• The first Russian offensive was a river assault
  launched on the Sha He (Sha Ho), lasting from
  October 5 to October 17, and a second attack at
  Sandepu on January 26-27, 1905. Both offensives
  broke down, however, and were indecisive

6
Japanese Victories

• Time favored Russia, and the Japanese, who had
  been besieging Port Arthur since May, once more
  tried to storm it.
• After a bloody assault lasting ten days, in which
  they lost 10,000 men, the Japanese captured the
  key position, called 203 Meter Hill, on December
  5, 1904.
• The Russian general Anatoly Mikhailovich Stësel
  surrendered on January 2, 1905.
• Now both Kuropatkin and the Japanese commander,
  Marshal Iwao Oyama, were able to build up their
  forces around Shenyang.
• Between February 19 and March 10 the Japanese
  took the offensive. Although their forces were
  outnumbered 270,000 to 330,000 and were inferior
  in artillery, the Japanese forced the Russians to
  surrender Shenyang and withdraw northward.
• The Russians lost some 90,000 men and the
  Japanese about 50,000.

7
Japanese Victories

• The battle practically ended hostilities on land,
  but Japan still faced the threat of Russian naval
  power.
• With their Far East naval forces contained by the
  Japanese, the Russians decided to send out the
  Baltic Fleet.
• The fleet, made up of 45 ships, sailed October
  15, 1904, under the command of Admiral Zinovy
  Petrovich Rozhestvensky.
• The fleet reached the China Sea in early May 1905
  and made for Vladivostok.
• The Japanese under Admiral Heihachiro Togo
  intercepted it, May 27 to May 29, in Tsushima
  Strait, between Korea and Japan.
• The Japanese fleet, which was superior in speed
  and armament, sank, captured, or disabled eight
  battleships, nine cruisers, six special-service
  steamers, and several other ships in the Baltic
  Fleet.
• Some 4000 Russians were killed, and three
  admirals and 7300 sailors were captured.
• The Japanese lost three torpedo boats, 116 men
  killed, and 538 wounded

8
Results

• After Port Arthur and the defeats at Shenyang and
  Tsushima, the emperor accepted the offer of
  mediation extended by U.S. President Theodore
  Roosevelt.
• The Japanese, who were victorious but financially
  exhausted, also agreed to negotiate.
• On September 5, 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth
  was signed.
• Russia surrendered its lease to Liaoyang and Port
  Arthur, ceded the southern half of Sakhalin,
  evacuated Manchuria, and recognized Korea as a
  Japanese sphere of influence