Preamble:
Before the outbreak of World War I, the Far East staged a great power game.
The island nation unsheathed its samurai sword and fought for months with the giant bear of the northern kingdom in northeast China.
In the end, the Japanese were victorious, but they were disgraced when they made a claim. The Tsar's ten words, the majesty of the strong, the winner and the loser are judged. This play is worth savoring.
After the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan's ambitions swelled and Russia competed for interests in Northeast China
In the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan rose once and won a complete victory. The Qing government was defeated and retreated, and was finally forced to cede land and pay silver, cede the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan, and the Penghu Islands, and pay 200 million taels of silver.
After the war, the Japanese tasted the sweetness and whetted their appetites. They found that China, the dragon of East Asia, was nothing more than a "paper tiger" that was defeated by the outside world. As a result, Japan's inflated ambitions began to set its sights on the vast and fertile Northeast China.
But Japan's wishful thinking was soon shattered by another brown bear from the north. Tsarist Russia has long regarded the Northeast as its sphere of influence, so how can it tolerate Japan's involvement?
As a result, Tsarist Russia united with Germany and France to force Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula in the name of "the intervention of the three countries to return Liaodong". Japan had to give in, but the resentment and dissatisfaction in its heart had already been planted.
Since then, Japan and Russia have waged a game of competition in northeast China. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Tsarist Russia sent heavy troops to invade Northeast China, wantonly invaded Chinese territory, and tried to include Northeast China in its sphere of influence.
Japan, on the other hand, did everything possible to expand its power in the northeast and waited for an opportunity to retaliate against Tsarist Russia. The contradictions between the two countries are accumulating deeper and deeper in the northeast and are finally about to erupt. Everyone knows that a big war is inevitable.
War seems to have become the last resort for Japan and Russia to compete for interests in the Northeast. This war is not only about the hegemony of the two countries in East Asia, but also about the fate of China. Japan and Russia went to war, and the flames of war were once again ignited in the difficult land of China.
Russo-Japanese War: Asian countries defeat European powers for the first time
In February 1904, the Russo-Japanese War broke out, which shocked the world. This war was the first time that Asian countries challenged the European powers. Japan, an island nation that had only experienced more than 30 years of the Meiji Restoration, dared to go to war against the Russian Empire, which occupied Eurasia.
This time, Japan was no longer satisfied with a corner of the Korean Peninsula and northeastern China, but vowed to drive Russia out of all of East Asia. Not to be outdone, the Russian tsar vowed to teach Japan a lesson and consolidate its hegemony in the Far East.
The flames of war were once again ignited in Northeast China. Lushunkou, Mukden, Wicker Lake...... These place names became the battlefield of the desperate struggle between the Japanese and Russian armies. Both sides know that whoever wins this war will decide the fate of East Asia.
As a result, both sides did their best and invested troops on an unprecedented scale. Japan and Russia dispatched a total of 1.5 million troops and more than 100 warships. In the Battle of Lushun alone, the Japanese suffered more than 90,000 casualties. The brutality of this war, known as "World War Zero", can be seen.
The war lasted for more than a year, with heavy casualties on both sides. But gradually, the situation began to tilt in favor of Japan. In January 1905, the Japanese army conquered Lushun. In February, the Japanese army defeated the Russian army in the Battle of Mukden.
In May, the Japanese Navy almost completely annihilated the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Tsushima Strait. In August, the Japanese occupied Sakhalin. Russia was losing ground on the battlefield, and revolution broke out at home.
The tsar was forced to sue for peace. On September 5, 1905, Japan and Russia signed a peace treaty in Portsmouth, USA. Russia transferred its rights in Northeast China to Japan and recognized Korea as Japan's sphere of influence.
The Russo-Japanese War was a war that changed the world pattern. It marked the first time that an Asian country had won a contest with the European powers. Japan, which became the first country in Asia to defeat the European powers.
But for China, the war was a disaster. Not only did it fail to drive out the invaders, but it allowed Japan to replace Russia as the new master of hegemony in Northeast China. The arrogance of the Japanese is even greater than that of the Russians. They demanded that the Chinese government recognize its special rights and interests in the Northeast, open up the Northeast market, and demand huge reparations.
The Tsar's Ten Words: Even if a weak country is victorious, it is difficult to gain respect from a strong country
The smoke of the war dissipated, and the Japanese were full of spirit, as if they had returned to the moment of victory after the First Sino-Japanese War. They are complacent, believing that they are among the world's great powers.
As a result, the Japanese government followed the example of the First Sino-Japanese War and imposed a series of harsh conditions on the defeated Russia, the most notable of which was to demand that Russia pay 3 billion yen in reparations.
This figure is almost three times the national revenue. The Japanese wanted to use this to defeat Russia in one fell swoop and establish their hegemony in the Far East.
They underestimated the stubbornness and dignity of the Russian tsar. In the face of Japan's unreasonable demands, Tsar Nicholas II only replied with ten words: "If there is no reparation, if it is not possible, we will continue to fight", which expressed the courage and bottom line of a great country.
Russia, although defeated, was still a huge empire, which was not humiliated by Japan at will. The Tsar's refusal frustrated Japan's wishful thinking. They found that victory over Russia did not mean that they would be able to get what they wanted. Russia's strength is far beyond their reach.
The Tsar's cross motto reveals the essence of international relations: the dignity and discourse of a country are never won by others, but by their own strength. Even if a weak country is defeated by chance, it is difficult to gain the respect of the strong country.
Only by laying a solid foundation of national strength can we stand on an equal footing on the international stage and be respected. The Japanese know this all too well. Wasn't it because of the rapid rise of industrial and military power after the Meiji Restoration that they were able to defeat Russia?
The Russo-Japanese War was a game of the strong. Russia lost the war, but won dignity. They relied on their strength to defend their bottom line. And although Japan won the war, it lost momentum.
They relied on blackmail to squeeze more out of Russia, only to find themselves overestimating their leverage. This war is not only a contest of strength, but also a contest of temperament. It warns the world that there are never eternal friends between nations, only eternal interests. And the foundation of defending interests lies in one's own strength.
The Russo-Japanese War: The "Fuse" of the World Pattern
The Russo-Japanese War, which seemed to be just a local war, quietly changed the world pattern. It was like a "fuse" that ignited a series of major events in the 20th century. The impact of this war is far beyond the imagination of the parties involved.
For Japan, victory in the war gave it a taste of Asian domination. No longer satisfied with a corner of Korea and the Northeast, it began to extend its claws to the whole of China.
After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan stepped up its aggression against China. It first forced the Qing government to sign a series of unequal treaties, and then took advantage of China's civil strife to brazenly launch a war of aggression against China. Japan's ambitions in China began to swell precisely after the Russo-Japanese War.
For Russia, the defeat in the war became a "coffin nail" for tsarist rule. The war exposed the decay and backwardness of the Russian regime and exacerbated the discontent of all strata of the country.
In 1905, a revolution broke out in Russia. Although the Tsar temporarily calmed down the turmoil, the root cause of the disaster was already deep. In 1917, another revolution broke out in Russia, overthrowing the tsarist rule and establishing the world's first socialist state. The defeat in the Russo-Japanese War became a distant fuse for the October Revolution.
The Russo-Japanese War also profoundly affected the fate of China and North Korea. After the war, Japan replaced Russia as the new master of hegemony in Northeast China and Korea. China and North Korea, on the other hand, have become Japan's "sphere of influence" and have been bullied and plundered by it.
This humiliating situation lasted until the end of the Second World War. It can be said that without the Russo-Japanese War, there would have been no full-scale Japanese aggression against China and Korea later.
Looking at the world pattern in the first half of the 20th century, the shadow of the Russo-Japanese War can be seen everywhere. This war not only contributed to the rise of Japanese militarism, but also brewed the outbreak of the Russian Revolution. It changed the fate of the three East Asian countries and reshaped the balance of world power. It seems to be just a local war, but in fact it is the precursor of the great changes in the world in the 20th century.
Epilogue:
In the Russo-Japanese War, the two powers competed against each other, and the victory or defeat was unpredictable. The world only saw the samurai win the battle, but they did not know the scene of losing. The Tsar's Cross Motto, sharp and graceful, knocked the island nation back to its original shape. Or say: The victor is the prince and the loser is Kou.
The dignity of a country is not in victory or defeat, but in strength. A hundred years of smoke, the truth does not change: the chessboard is square, and only the strong make rules. If a weak country wants to seek glory, it is better to strengthen itself.