Russo-Japanese War

Japanese: 日露戦争 - にちろせんそう

This war took place between February 1904 (Meiji 37) and September 1905, during which Japan and Russia fought over control of Korea and South Manchuria (northeastern China). Japan suffered 120,000 deaths and disabilities, and spent 1.5 billion yen on the war.

[Michio Fujimura]

International Context

After the Triple Intervention, as the great powers divided China, America declared that China should be opened to the public, that territorial integrity should be guaranteed, and that there should be equal opportunities. In response, Russia promoted its Eastward Policy centered on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and took control of southern Manchuria through the construction of the China East Railway and the lease of Port Arthur and Dalian. It also advanced into Korea, stationing military instructors and financial advisors, and plotting to lease Masanpo on the southern coast. Japan attempted to maintain its superiority in Korea through the Yamagata-Lovanov Agreement and the Nishi-Rosen Agreement, but Russia did not withdraw the troops it had sent in the name of suppressing the Boxer Rebellion, and ended up occupying virtually all of Manchuria. Britain proposed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to prevent Russia from moving south and to defend the Chinese market. Foreign Minister Komura Jutaro suppressed the argument for a Japan-Russia accord by Ito Hirobumi and others who advocated adjusting Japan-Russia relations through the exchange of Manchuria and Korea, and countered the Franco-Russian Alliance by forming the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in January 1902. This created a situation in which two imperialist blocs faced each other across Manchuria and Korea.

[Michio Fujimura]

The cause of the war

Even though April 8, 1903 was the deadline for the second withdrawal of Russian troops under the Sino-Russian Agreement, Russia did not withdraw its troops. Instead, it increased its forces and advanced to the south bank of the Yalu River and began cutting down forests. Japan hardened its stance, seeing Russia as a threat to the security of Korea. At the same time, a 10-year plan for military expansion against Russia after the Sino-Japanese War was completed, and the military emphasized that if war was necessary, now was the time. The people were suffering under successive tax increases caused by the expansion of the military, but their dissatisfaction was led to a hard-line diplomatic stance by the National Alliance and others, and the anti-war arguments of Uchimura Kanzo and Kotoku Shusui, based on the Yorozu Choho, became isolated.

In June 1903, the Katsura Taro Cabinet held a conference with the Genro (elder statesmen) to draw up a draft for negotiations with Russia. With the backing of public opinion in favor of war and the support of the United States and Britain, negotiations began in August, demanding that Russia liberate Mukden and withdraw its troops from Manchuria. Japan and Russia each sought to make the other country acknowledge Korea and Manchuria as their sphere of influence, promise not to interfere in these areas, and limit the control of the other country in its sphere of influence. Japan hoped that the existence of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance would force Russia to make concessions, but the Russian Tsar's aides firmly rejected Japan's demands regarding Manchuria, and also denied Japan's right to use Korean territory for military purposes. As the negotiations were proving difficult, mid-ranking officials from the Army, Navy, and Foreign Ministries contacted each other and plotted to start a war as soon as possible, while seven professors, including Tokyo Imperial University professor Tomizu Hiroto, advocated a hard-line stance and campaigned around the country to stir up public opinion for war. As Yorozuchoho also shifted to supporting the idea of war, Uchimura and others left the company, while Kotoku and Sakai Toshihiko founded Heimin Shimbun and maintained their position as the sole bastion of anti-war sentiment. The business world, which had initially been reluctant to go to war, shifted to the view of war in October as market conditions stagnated due to information that war was imminent. At a cabinet meeting in late December, the government decided to accelerate preparations for war, and at a conference in the presence of the Emperor on February 4, 1904, after receiving news of the dispatch of the Port Arthur fleet, it was decided to sever diplomatic relations with Russia and begin military action, and on the 10th, both Japan and Russia declared war on each other.

[Michio Fujimura]

The course of the war

Japan, which lacked national power and could not endure a long-term war, decided to destroy the Russian army in Manchuria before receiving reinforcements from Europe, and then ask Britain and the United States for a peace agreement while the war situation was favorable. Since Japan was also dependent on Britain and the United States for war funds and military supplies, it was necessary to achieve early results in order to draw aid and successfully raise foreign loans. The strategy for Russia was drawn up around a short-term decisive battle, surprise attacks, and cooperation with Britain and the United States. Prior to the declaration of war, the naval battle off Incheon, the Japanese Army's landing in Korea, and the Combined Fleet (Commander-in-Chief Togo Heihachiro)'s night attack on Port Arthur were carried out, and Kaneko Kentaro was sent to the United States and Britain to request peace, while Takahashi Korekiyo, the Governor of the Bank of Japan, was sent to raise foreign loans.

The First Army (Commander Kuroki Tamemoto) took control of Korea, and under pressure, the Japan-Korea Protocol was signed in February, followed by the First Japan-Korea Treaty in August, making Korea a de facto protectorate. The Navy attempted to blockade Port Arthur in order to secure control of the Yellow Sea and transport the Army to the Liaodong Peninsula, and as part of this, a suicide squad led by Hirose Takeo carried out a blockade operation at the port. The Second Army (Commander Oku Yasukata) landed on the Liaodong Peninsula in May, and after the fierce Battle of Nanshan, aimed for the decisive battle at Liaoyang together with the First Army and the Fourth Army (Commander Nozu Michitsura). To besiege the Port Arthur fortress, the Third Army (Commander Nogi Maresuke) was organized, and the Manchuria Army General Headquarters (Commander Oyama Iwao) was put in charge of unifying the command of the above forces, with Kodama Gentaro as Chief of Staff. In August, the Russian Port Arthur fleet attempted to escape and head for Vladivostok, but the main force of the Combined Fleet routed them (Battle of the Yellow Sea), and the Second Fleet (Commander Kamimura Hikonojo) defeated the Vladivostok fleet during a diversionary operation (Battle of Ulsan). The Third Army launched an all-out attack on Port Arthur, but lost one-third of its forces and was defeated. The Northern Advance (First, Second, and Fourth Armies) also suffered 24,000 casualties, including Lieutenant Colonel Tachibana Shuta, who would later be hailed as a military god along with Navy Lieutenant Colonel Hirose, and although they occupied Liaoyang, they failed in their strategic objective of annihilat- ing the Russian field forces, and any chance of an early end to the war that Japan had hoped for was gone.

Russia had initially stationed powerful military corps around the capital in preparation for a revolutionary movement, but believing that defeat would encourage revolutionary momentum, decided to send in additional active-duty troops and an expeditionary Baltic Fleet. In October, the Russians counterattacked, resulting in the Battle of Shahe, which the Japanese forces fought back after a hard fight. With the departure of the Baltic Fleet, the capture of Port Arthur became an urgent task, and Imperial General Headquarters deployed all of its reserve forces, leading Chief of Staff Kodama to take Hill 203 (Nireishan), and at great cost to Japan, succeeding in surrendering the city in January 1905 (about 60,000 war dead had been suffered in the six months of war up to that point). In March, Japan narrowly won the Battle of Mukden, but failed to encircle and annihilate the Russian forces, and peace became an urgent matter due to the limitations of its military power. In May, Togo's fleet annihilated the expeditionary Baltic Fleet, and Russia, having lost its naval power, also decided to make peace.

[Michio Fujimura]

Anti-war movement

Japan paid for more than half of its war expenses with American and British capital, while Russia fought with French capital. The same was true for artillery shells. The Russo-Japanese War was a proxy war between Britain and France in terms of finances and production, and the people of both countries were forced to make sacrifices. In March 1904, Kotoku, Sakai and others published "A Letter to the Socialist Party of Russia" in the Heimin Shimbun, in which they opposed "patriotism" and militarism, and claimed that the people of Japan and Russia were brothers. Katayama Sen also attended the Amsterdam Congress of the Second International, where he interacted with Plekhanov of the Russian Social Democratic Party. Yosano Akiko published an anti-war poem titled "You Must Not Die," and contrary to the outward war enthusiasm, the increasing number of war casualties and poverty in daily life spread a war-weary mood among the people. In Russia, the revolutionary movement intensified after the Bloody Sunday incident in January 1905, and in June the Black Sea Fleet battleship Potemkin rebelled, spreading the revolution throughout the country. Peace was an absolute necessity to put out the flames of the revolution.

[Michio Fujimura]

peace

At the request of Japan, US President Theodore Roosevelt recommended peace to both countries in June. A peace conference was held in Portsmouth in August. Japanese plenipotentiary Komura Jutaro demanded war indemnity, but plenipotentiary Witte refused, citing the reality of the Manchurian front that Russia was certain to win if they fought again. In the end, Japan was granted superiority in Korea, the lease of the Liaodong Peninsula, the South Manchuria branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway, South Sakhalin, and fishing rights in Primorsky Krai. This satisfied all of the conditions that the Japanese government considered absolutely necessary, and even met part of the relative condition of South Sakhalin. However, some of the Japanese people, who saw that there was no indemnity and that life after the war would be difficult, held a national conference against the peace on September 5, the day the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, and vented their wartime dissatisfaction with the Hibiya Riots.

[Michio Fujimura]

Impact of the war

Japan gained protectorate rights over Korea as a result of its victory in the war, and was granted recognition of its rule over Korea through the Second Anglo-Japanese Alliance and the Katsura-Taft Agreement. It gradually stripped away Korean sovereignty, eventually annexing it in 1910. In Manchuria, the South Manchuria Railway Company was established in 1906, and the following year, the Russo-Japanese Agreement brought South Manchuria into its sphere of influence. However, Japan rejected a proposal by American railroad financier Harriman to jointly manage the South Manchuria Railway, which led to a clash with the American policy of an open door policy in Asia. Japan's victory in the war marked the rise of the Asian national movement, but the annexation of Korea destroyed hopes for Japan. Meanwhile, Russia, whose advance into Asia had been blocked, strengthened its Balkan policy, which resulted in the establishment of an anti-German encirclement through the Anglo-French-Russian Entente. Thus was established the strategic layout for World War I.

[Michio Fujimura]

"Studies on the History of the Russo-Japanese War" edited by Seizaburo Nobuo and Jiichi Nakayama (1959, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)" ▽ "The Russo-Japanese War" by Tetsuo Furuya (Chuko Shinsho)

Russo-Japanese War
©Shogakukan ">

Russo-Japanese War

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

1904年（明治37）2月より翌1905年9月まで、日本とロシアが朝鮮と南満州（中国東北）の支配をめぐって戦った戦争。日本は12万の戦死、廃疾者を出し戦費15億円を費やした。

［藤村道生］

国際的背景

三国干渉後、列強の中国分割が進行するなかで、アメリカは中国の門戸開放と領土保全および機会均等を宣言した。これに対しロシアは、シベリア鉄道を軸に東方政策を推進、東清(とうしん)鉄道敷設、旅順(りょじゅん)・大連(だいれん)租借を通じて南満州を支配するとともに、朝鮮にも進出して軍事教官や財政顧問を置き、南岸の馬山(まさん)浦まで租借を策した。日本は山県(やまがた)‐ロバノフ協定、西‐ローゼン協定で朝鮮における優越権の維持を図ったが、ロシアは義和団(ぎわだん)鎮圧の名目で出兵した兵力を撤兵せず事実上全満州を占領するに至った。イギリスは、ロシアの南下を阻止して中国市場を防衛するために日英同盟を提案。小村寿太郎(じゅたろう)外相は、満韓交換で日露関係調整を唱える伊藤博文(ひろぶみ)らの日露協商論を抑えて、1902年1月日英同盟を結び露仏同盟に対抗した。こうして満州と朝鮮を挟んで二帝国主義ブロックが対峙(たいじ)する形勢が生じた。

［藤村道生］

開戦の動因

ロシアは露清(ろしん)協定による第二次撤兵の期限の1903年4月8日になっても、撤兵を実行せず、逆に増兵し、鴨緑江(おうりょくこう)南岸に進出して森林伐採を始めた。日本は、朝鮮の安全を脅かすものとして態度を硬化させた。おりしも日清戦後の10年計画による対露軍備拡張案が完成したので、軍も、開戦が必要ならば現在をおいてないと強調した。国民は軍拡による相次ぐ増税にあえいでいたが、不満は国民同盟会などによって強硬外交論に誘導され、『萬朝報(よろずちょうほう)』に拠(よ)る内村鑑三(かんぞう)や幸徳秋水(こうとくしゅうすい)の非戦論は孤立していった。

　桂(かつら)太郎内閣は1903年6月、元老を交えて御前会議を開き対露交渉案をまとめ、開戦世論と米英の支持を背景に、8月ロシアに対し奉天(ほうてん)の開放とロシア軍の満州撤兵を要求、交渉を開始した。日露両国はそれぞれ、相手国が朝鮮と満州を自国の勢力圏と認めること、相手国がこれに干渉しないことを約束させ、さらに相手国の勢力圏における支配を制限しようとした。日本は日英同盟の存在がロシアに譲歩させると期待したが、ロシア皇帝の側近は日本の満州に関する要求を強硬に拒否する一方、日本が韓国領土を軍事的に使用する権利をも否認した。交渉が難航するなかで日本では、陸・海・外三省の中堅幹部が互いに連絡して早期開戦を策動し、また東京帝大教授戸水寛人(とみずひろんど)ら七博士は強硬論を唱え、全国を遊説して開戦世論を盛り上げた。『萬朝報』も開戦論支持に転じたため内村らは退社、幸徳や堺利彦(さかいとしひこ)は『平民新聞』を創刊して非戦論の孤塁を守った。当初戦争に消極的だった実業界も、戦争切迫の情報で市況が沈滞したため、10月には開戦説に移った。政府は12月末の閣議で開戦準備促進を決め、旅順艦隊出動の報を受けた1904年2月4日の御前会議は対露国交断絶と軍事行動開始を決定し、10日日露両国はそれぞれ宣戦を布告した。

［藤村道生］

戦争の経過

国力が乏しく長期戦に耐えることのできない日本の戦略は、ヨーロッパの増援を受けないうちに満州のロシア軍を撃滅し、戦況が優勢のうちに英米に依頼して講和することであった。戦費と軍需品も英米に依存していたから、援助を引き出し外債募集に成功するためにも早期に戦果をあげる必要があった。短期決戦と奇襲、英米との協調を軸に対露作戦計画が立案され、宣戦布告に先だつ仁川(じんせん)沖海戦と陸軍の韓国上陸、連合艦隊（司令長官東郷平八郎(とうごうへいはちろう)）の旅順港夜襲が強行され、金子堅太郎が講和の斡旋(あっせん)依頼に、また日銀総裁高橋是清(これきよ)が外債募集のためにそれぞれ米、英に派遣された。

　第一軍（司令官黒木為楨(ためもと)）は韓国を制圧、その圧力下に2月日韓議定書を結び、ついで8月に第一次日韓協約を締結して事実上の保護国とした。海軍は、黄海(こうかい)の制海権を確保し陸軍を遼東(りょうとう)半島に輸送するため旅順港の封鎖を図り、その一環として広瀬武夫らの決死隊が同港閉塞(へいそく)作戦を強行した。第二軍（司令官奥保鞏(おくやすかた)）は5月遼東半島に上陸、南山激戦ののち第一軍、第四軍（司令官野津道貫(のづみちつら)）とともに遼陽(りょうよう)決戦を目ざした。旅順要塞(ようさい)攻囲のため第三軍（司令官乃木希典(のぎまれすけ)）を編成、以上各軍の統一指揮にあたる満州軍総司令部（総司令官大山巌(いわお)）を置き、児玉源太郎(こだまげんたろう)を総参謀長とした。8月、ロシアの旅順艦隊はウラジオストクを目ざして脱走を図ったが、連合艦隊主力はこれを敗走させ（黄海海戦）、第二艦隊（長官上村彦之丞(かみむらひこのじょう)）は陽動作戦中のウラジオ艦隊を撃破した（蔚山(うるさん)沖海戦）。第三軍は旅順に対し総攻撃したが兵力の3分の1を失って挫折(ざせつ)。北進軍（第一、二、四軍）ものちに海軍の広瀬中佐とともに軍神として喧伝(けんでん)された橘周太(たちばなしゅうた)中佐以下2万4000の死傷者を出し、遼陽は占領したが戦略目標のロシア野戦軍の殲滅(せんめつ)に失敗し、日本の望んだ早期終戦の可能性は去った。

　ロシアは当初、革命運動に備えて有力な兵団を首都周辺に配置していたが、敗戦は革命的機運を助長するとみて、現役兵の増援とバルチック艦隊の遠征を決定した。10月、ロシア軍の反撃で沙河(さか)会戦が発生、日本軍は苦戦のすえ撃退した。バルチック艦隊の出発で緊急課題となった旅順攻略のため、大本営は予備戦力の全部を投入、児玉総参謀長が直接指揮して二〇三高地（爾霊(にれい)山）を奪取、大きな犠牲を払って翌1905年1月開城に成功した（これまでの半年の戦争で約6万人の戦死者が出ている）。3月、奉天会戦で日本は辛勝したが、ロシア軍の包囲殲滅に失敗し、戦力の限界から講和は急務となった。5月、東郷艦隊は遠征のバルチック艦隊を撃滅し、海軍力を失ったロシアも講和を決意した。

［藤村道生］

反戦運動

日本は戦費の半分以上を米英資本で賄い、ロシアもフランス資本で戦った。砲弾も同様で、日露戦争は財政と生産力からは英仏の代理戦争であり、それだけ両国の民衆は犠牲を強いられた。幸徳、堺らは1904年3月、「与露国社会党書」を『平民新聞』に発表して「愛国主義」と軍国主義に反対、日露人民は兄弟であると主張した。また片山潜(せん)は第二インターナショナルのアムステルダム大会に出席、ロシア社会民主党のプレハーノフと交歓した。与謝野晶子(よさのあきこ)は「君死に給ふこと勿(なか)れ」と題する反戦詩を発表、表面の戦争熱と裏腹に戦死者の増加、生活の窮乏は民衆のうちに厭戦(えんせん)気分を広げていった。ロシアでは1905年1月の血の日曜日事件により革命運動が激化、6月には黒海艦隊の戦艦ポチョムキンが反乱、革命は全土に拡大した。革命の火を消すために講和は絶対的要請となった。

［藤村道生］

講和

日本の依頼を受けたアメリカ大統領セオドア・ルーズベルトは、6月両国に講和を勧告。8月ポーツマスで講和会議が開かれた。日本の小村寿太郎(じゅたろう)全権は戦費賠償金を要求したが、ウィッテ全権は再戦すればロシア必勝の形勢にある満州戦線の実状を背景に拒否した。結局日本は、朝鮮における優越権、遼東半島租借権、東清鉄道南満支線、南樺太(からふと)、沿海州漁業権を得ることとなった。それは日本政府が絶対的必要条件としたものをすべて満足させ、さらに南樺太という相対的必要条件の一部さえ満たしていた。しかし償金がなく戦後の生活も困難であるとみた国民の一部は、ポーツマス条約調印日の9月5日、講和反対の国民大会を開き、日比谷焼打(ひびややきうち)事件に戦争中の不満を吐き出した。

［藤村道生］

戦争の影響

戦勝で韓国の保護権を獲得した日本は、第二次日英同盟、桂‐タフト協定で韓国支配の承認を受け、逐次韓国の主権を奪い1910年に併合した。満州でも1906年南満州鉄道株式会社を創立、翌年の日露協約で南満州を勢力範囲に収めた。しかし、アメリカの鉄道資本家ハリマンの提案した満鉄の日米共同管理を拒否したことにより、日本は、門戸開放政策をとるアメリカのアジア政策と衝突することとなった。日本の戦勝はアジア民族運動勃興(ぼっこう)の契機となったが、朝鮮併合は日本への期待を失わせた。一方アジアへの進出を阻まれたロシアがバルカン政策を強化した結果、英仏露協商により対独包囲陣が成立した。こうして第一次世界大戦の戦略配置ができあがったのである。

［藤村道生］

『信夫清三郎・中山治一編『日露戦争史の研究』（1959・河出書房新社）』▽『古屋哲夫著『日露戦争』（中公新書）』