Stríð Japana og Rússa 1904-1905. Upphaf, átök og afleiðingar

Abstract

In this thesis I have explored the origins of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905, how itproceeded and its results as it appears in available scholarly works in the Englishlanguage.Not perhaps unexpectedly it seems the conflict can trace its roots to at least twosources, the adoption of Western technology and ideals in Japan after its re-opening to therest of the world in the middle of the 19th century and the constant expansion of Russianterritories in the East.The introduction of Western military technology and expansionist ideology meant thatJapan started to have designs on territories outside its geographic boundaries, which werealready under Russian influence or occupation.Discussions between the two countries to provide an amicable solution eventuallyproved fruitless which led to a war.Japanese forces eventually triumphed militarily over the Russian after a fighting forover 15 months, though it would take four more months until a peace agreement wassigned. The battles seemed to prove that the recently modernized Japanese armed forceswere superior in most regards compared to the Russian.Results of the war destabilized the balance of power between the imperial powers ofEurope and America which is likely to have contributed to the start of the First World War.However the lessons of the military conflict were largely applied haphazardly or wereignored at the start of that war. The Japanese victory also kindled hope of freedom forcolonized natives in Asia and elsewhere.