View source for Russo-Japanese War

{{Infobox Military Conflict
| conflict    = Russo-Japanese War
| partof      = 
| image       = RUSSOJAPANESEWARIMAGE.jpg
| caption     = Pictures of the war 1904-1905
| date        = 8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905
1 March 1932-16 September 1939 (Soviet-Japanese Border War : 1932-1939)
9 August-3 September 1945 (Soviet-Japanese War : 1945)
| place       = [[Manchuria]], [[Yellow Sea]]
| casus       = Rival ambitions over [[Manchuria]] and the [[Korean peninsula]]
| territory   = 
| result      = Japanese victory; [[Treaty of Portsmouth]]
| combatant1  = {{flag|Russian Empire}}
| combatant2  = {{flag|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1  = {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar Nicholas II]]<br/>{{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Aleksey Kuropatkin]]<br/>{{flagicon|Russian Empire|naval}} [[Stepan Makarov]]{{KIA}}<br/>{{flagicon|Russian Empire|naval}} [[Zinovy Rozhestvensky]]
| commander2  = {{flagicon|Empire of Japan}} [[Emperor Meiji]]<br/>{{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Ōyama Iwao]]<br/>{{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Nogi Maresuke]]<br>{{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} [[Tōgō Heihachirō]]
| strength1   = 1,365,000  {{citation needed|date=December 2010}}
| strength2   = 1,200,000  {{citation needed|date=December 2010}}
| casualties1 = 34,000 – 52,623  killed and died of wounds <br>9,300 – 18,830 died of disease<br>'''overall 43,300 – 71,453'''<ref name=Dumas>Samuel Dumas, Losses of Life Caused By War (1923)</ref><ref name=site />
| casualties2 = 47,400 – 47,152 killed <br>11,424 – 11,500 died of wounds<br>21,802 – 27,200 died of disease<br>'''overall 80,378 – 86,100'''<ref name=Dumas /><ref name=site>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat3.htm#RJW Erols.com], Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls and Casualty Statistics for Wars, Dictatorships and Genocides.</ref>
| примечание  = {{reflist}}
}}

The '''Russo-Japanese War''' was a war between the [[Japanese Empire]] and the [[Russian Empire]]. It started in 1904 and ended in 1905. The Japanese won the war, and the Russians lost.

The war happened because the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire disagreed over who should get parts of [[Manchuria]] and [[Korea]]. It was fought mostly on the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, the seas around Korea, Japan, and the [[Yellow Sea]]. The politics of the two countries in the war were very complicated, but both wanted to gain land and economic benefits.

The Chinese Empire of the [[Qing Dynasty]] was large but weak, and it was Qing land and possessions they fought over. For example Korea was under Qing rule, but was seized by Japan. The Russians wanted a 'warm-water [[port]]' on the [[Pacific Ocean]] for their navy and trade. The harbour at [[Vladivostok]] freezes over in the winter, but [[Port Arthur]] (now part of [[Dalian]] on the [[Liaodong Peninsula]] in [[China]]) can be used all the time. Russia had already rented the port from the Qing and had got their permission to build a [[Trans-Siberian railway]] from [[St Petersburg]] to [[Lushunkou District|Port Arthur]].

== Causes of the Russo-Japanese War ==
Russia wanted a warm-water [[Pacific Ocean]] [[port]] for trade and its navy. Japan wanted to expand her empire into [[Korea]] and [[China]]. Japan thought that when Russia completed its railway in 1906, it would be able to beat Japan in a war by being able to supply large numbers of troops there.  

To avoid war, Japan wanted to compromise with Russia even if it got the better deal.  Japan wanted more of Korea and China than it thought Russia would offer.  Japan decided to attack before the railway was ready to help Russia fight a war.

The war started with a Japanese [[surprise attack]] on Port Arthur and continued with Japanese victories in Manchuria and elsewhere. The last major battle was at [[Tsushima Strait]] and destroyed the Russian Navy.

== Peace treaty and aftermath ==
[[United States]] President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] helped Russia and Japan make [[Treaty of Portsmouth|peace after the war]]. He won a [[Nobel Prize]] for this. Russia had to give up all influence in the Far East. The Russian people were very angry at the government and at [[czar]] [[Nicholas II]] for not continuing the war because everyone was sure that Russia could have won. This is true because Japan was completely broke and she would have suffered an economic crisis after just a few more months of fighting.  Russia's army was also much stronger than Japan's and had very large reserves to replace the soldiers it lost.  Japan had no more men with military training to replace her losses and no money to give new men training.

The Japanese got Port Arthur and the Russian railway in [[Manchuria]]. Five years later, in 1910, Japan took over Korea.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy|last=Paine|first=Sarah|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2003|pages=332}}</ref> Japan would continue to grow its empire in Asia until [[World War II]]. The Russian defeat was one of the reasons for the Russian Army's great improvement after 1904, which helped start the European arms race that was a cause of [[World War I]]. The war also contributed to the [[Russian Revolution]] and to the [[Russian Civil War]] in 1917. [[Vladimir Lenin]], who helped start the revolution, wanted Russia to lose the war since that showed that the tsar was losing power.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War|last=Krowner|first=Rotem|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|pages=211}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Commons category|Russo-Japanese War}}
{{reflist}}
 
==Further reading==
* [[Kan'ichi Asakawa|Asakawa, Kanichi]]. (1905). ''The Russo-Japanese Conflict: Its Causes and Issues.'' Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2418247 OCLC 2418247]; reprinted by Kennikat Press, Port Washington, New York, 1970.
* [[Yoji Koda|Koda, Yoji]]. [http://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/41943426-2ee1-45d3-8c6d-79f640fc3464/The-Russo-Japanese-War--Primary-Causes-of-Japanese  "The Russo-Japanese War: Primary Causes of Japanese Success,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118233455/http://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/41943426-2ee1-45d3-8c6d-79f640fc3464/The-Russo-Japanese-War--Primary-Causes-of-Japanese |date=2011-11-18 }} ''Naval War College Review'' (Spring 2005)
* Mutsu, Munemitsu. (1982). ''Kenkenroku'' (trans. Gordon Mark Berger). Tokyo: University of Toyko Press. {{ISBN|9780860083061}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/252084846  OCLC 252084846]
* [[Ian Nish|Nish, Ian]], ed. ''The Russo-Japanese War, 1904-5'' Folkestone, Kent : Global Oriental.  {{ISBN|978-1-901-90306-5}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/56955351  OCLC 56955351]

[[Category:Wars involving Russia]]
[[Category:Wars involving Japan]]
[[Category:20th century in Russia]]
[[Category:20th century in Japan]]
[[Category:1900s conflicts]]