The Sino-Japanese War of 1894 to 1895 can be said to be an important battle that changed the course of Chinese history. In the past, the Qing Dynasty's army only suffered losses in front of the European powers, and they did not look down on Japan, a small country, at all.
But this Sino-Japanese War directly stunned the old men and grandmothers of the Qing Dynasty. It is said that the West is powerful, but I didn't expect the East to be so strong?
After this, the Qing Dynasty began to cooperate with Tsarist Russia, and they formed allies to defend against Japan. In fact, after fighting the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan had already exhausted all the strength it had.
Some people even speculated that if the Qing court continued to insist on fighting, it would definitely be able to drag Japan down. However, at the critical moment, Cixi nodded, Lao Li signed, and the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" not only sold our treasure island, but also gave away 230 million taels of silver.
From this, it is impossible for Japan to continue its attack on the Qing Dynasty in a short period of time. There are at least 3 reasons for this:
- First, Japan's own lack of stamina can no longer support them to continue to fight a war of national destruction. What's more, they had to face the huge Qing Empire.
- Second, Japan had already received land and indemnities from the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was the basis for an armistice between the two sides. If Japan continues the war, it will give up these lands and reparations.
- Third, the indemnity paid by the Qing court was paid to Japan in annual installments. Before the reparations were paid, Japan rushed to attack, didn't it want the final payment?
Therefore, at this time, Tsarist Russia intimidated the Qing court, saying that Japan would call at any time, which is nonsense. Tsarist Russia just wanted to borrow the timidity of the Qing court to realize its own interests.
The Russo-Japanese War began after the formation of the Anglo-Japanese alliance
After learning that Qing Russia had formed an alliance, Japan was also very angry. However, what made Japan even more annoyed was that Tsarist Russia signed the "Sino-Russian Secret Treaty" with the Qing court and began to extend its hand to the northeast and the peninsula. The irreconcilable contradictions between Tsarist Russia and Japan also surfaced.
First, Tsarist Russia and Japan fought for control of the peninsula
After the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing court had given up its vassal rights on the peninsula, but Tsarist Russia felt that it had a chance to penetrate the peninsula. As long as the peninsula can be controlled, then Tsarist Russia will not have to worry about having ice-free ports in the east.
The Japanese felt that this matter seriously violated Japan's rights and interests on the peninsula, and for this reason Japan repeatedly consulted with the Russians, but was always looked down upon.
Second, Tsarist Russia and Japan fought over the Liaodong Peninsula
During the negotiations of the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Japan originally wanted to ask the Qing court to cede the Liaodong Peninsula, but Tsarist Russia, along with Germany and France, resolutely opposed this matter.
At that time, the Qing court was very moved, and thought that there were still good people among the great powers! This was the later Qing-Russian alliance. By 1896, construction of the Eastern Railway began, and by the end of 1897, Tsarist Russia occupied the Liaodong Peninsula.
The reason was to help the Qing court defend the German army in Shandong, and as soon as the German army withdrew, they would leave immediately. As a result, in March 1898, Tsarist Russia forced the Qing court to sign the "Luda Lease Treaty" and forcibly leased the Liaodong Peninsula. The mouths of the Japanese are crooked.
Third, Tsarist Russia and Japan competed for the top spot in the Eight-Nation Alliance
In 1900, the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Coalition broke out, but in fact, the other powers were all small Karami, and they did not send a few people over. Naturally, the largest number of people sent were our two neighbors, Tsarist Russia and Japan.
In order to compete for the qualification of the leader of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Tsarist Russia sent 4,800 people to come, thinking that it was firmly in the position of the leading big brother, but Japan was not convinced and sent 8,000 people in one go.
Tsarist Russia was very unhappy, so it simply dispatched 170,000 troops and directly entered the northeast. When the Eight-Nation Coalition was tossing in the capital, the Russian army took the opportunity to occupy the northeast, which can be described as the biggest profit.
Japan, which could not bear it anymore, finally wanted to fight with Tsarist Russia. Emperor Meiji of Japan ran to Hirobumi Ito and asked: Ito, what are the chances of winning a fight with Russia?
Hirobumi Ito made an OK pose towards Emperor Meiji, and Meiji's eyes immediately lit up: Can you fight like that?
Ito's face darkened: I mean, the chances of Japan winning are less than 30%.
Since you can't beat it, you can only find foreign help. To this end, Japan formed an alliance with Britain in 1902. With Britain as a big backer, Japan finally had the confidence to compete with Tsarist Russia.
After the Russo-Japanese War, Tsarist Russia did not completely withdraw from the Northeast
Tsarist Russia's occupation of the northeast was condemned by most countries in the world, and it was clear that this was an act of aggression. Tsarist Russia also felt international pressure, so it pretended to withdraw a group of people, and then simply had a showdown, stopped pretending, and sent a large army to the northeast.
The implication is simple: I am a scoundrel, who am I afraid of?
In February 1904, Japan launched a surprise attack on the Tsarist Far East Fleet at Luda, which began the Russo-Japanese War. The whole war lasted more than 1 year and ended in a crushing defeat for Tsarist Russia.
After the war, the two sides began to negotiate, but the results of the negotiations were shocking.
As the victor, Japan gained far less benefits than the benefits brought by the First Sino-Japanese War, and there were only a few benefits:
- First, Japan gained control of the southern extension of the China Eastern Railway.
- Second, Japan obtained the lease right of Luda.
- Thirdly, Japan gained sovereignty over the southern part of Sakhalin.
Other than that, there are basically no substantial benefits. This can make the Japanese people angry, after fighting a Sino-Japanese War, they can get so much land and reparations, and fighting this Russo-Japanese War is also a victory, why can't they make ends meet?
For this reason, the Japanese cabinet at that time even resigned and laid off. After all, Japan spent 1.5 billion yen in this war, most of which was borrowed from the United States.
It is worth noting that Tsarist Russia, in addition to not paying reparations, did not completely withdraw from the Northeast. Why are they still in control of the main line of the China Eastern Railway? I think there are three reasons:
First, Japan is powerless to continue fighting
In the Russo-Japanese War, Tsarist Russia lost two-thirds of its fleet, with less than 20,000 killed but nearly 80,000 captured. The losses on the Japanese side were even worse than those of Tsarist Russia, with a total loss of more than 80,000 people.
This was one of the main reasons for Japan's inability to continue the war, and it was really impossible to give an explanation to the Chinese people. In addition, Japan borrowed a large amount of money to fight this war, and the huge amount of expenses every day made it difficult for the Japanese authorities to sleep and eat, and they naturally hoped for an early end to the war.
Second, Tsarist Russia took a tough attitude, making it difficult for Japan to figure out its cards
When Tsar Nicholas II learned of the defeat, he sent former Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte to negotiate with Japan. The bottom line he gave was that there was no compensation for any of them, and he would accompany him to the end if he wanted to fight.
As soon as these words came out, everyone, including Werther, gasped, and Werther must have secretly thought in his heart: Boss, it's easy to lose the country if you do this!
But this word also reached the ears of the Japanese. The Japanese began to doubt their lives, they really didn't know how strong Tsarist Russia really was, and whether they would collapse if they continued to fight. Rather than risk winning and collapsing, it's better to settle for it.
Third, Japan doesn't have that much appetite
At that time, if Japan drove all the Russian troops out of the Northeast, then the Northeast would definitely be occupied by Japan. At that time, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression may come earlier.
But the problem is that at that time, Japan really didn't have that much appetite. Even if they have this ambition, they can't eat such a big Northeast. Tohoku has more than 800,000 square kilometers and a population of about 20 million, which was too large for Japan at that time. And if you eat here, Japan will face the same situation as Tsarist Russia.
For this reason, Japan planned to divide the Northeast equally with Tsarist Russia. As long as the southern part of the Northeast and the peninsula are Japan's sphere of influence, then Japan can turn a blind eye to the northern part of the Northeast.
After the Russo-Japanese War, a large number of international students went to Japan
After this war, the relationship between Japan and the Qing Dynasty also changed to a certain extent. Although the Qing Dynasty's control of the Northeast was still subject to Tsarist Russia and Japan, at least the Qing Dynasty retained its sovereignty over the Northeast, which is very important.
Moreover, the most surprising thing is, of course, that Japan can actually defeat Tsarist Russia. In other words, the East Asians could completely defeat the European powers! This really surprised the Chinese at that time. With this example, the future of East Asia and even the whole of Asia is promising.
Therefore, after the Russo-Japanese War, a large number of Chinese students went to Japan to study, hoping to learn how to save the country. Although the war did not completely defeat Tsarist Russia, it shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Western powers.
Especially for Tsarist Russia, because Tsarist Russia has hardly made any moves in the East, and the 1.51 million square kilometers of land in the Qing Dynasty were all deceived by Tsarist Russia through blackmail and intimidation, and the two sides did not fight much at all. After the war, blackmail and intimidation lost their role in the East.