Russo-Japanese War: A Photographic & Descriptive Review of the Great Conflict in the Far East, Gathered from Reports, Records, Cable Despatches, Photographs of Collier's War Correspondents, with an Account of The Great Naval Battle of the Sea of Japan

127, [1] pp. Folio. Picture plate on front cover. "The Russo-Japanese War, February 10, 1904 - September 5, 1905) was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperialist ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, and the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea. The Russians were in constant pursuit of a warm water port on the Pacific Ocean, for their navy as well as for maritime trade. The recently established Pacific seaport of Vladivostok was the only active Russian port that was reasonably operational during the summer season; but Port Arthur would be operational all year. Negotiations between the Tsar's government and Japan between the end of the First Sino-Japanese War and 1903 had proved futile. Japan chose war to protect its country by maintaining exclusive dominance in Korea, while all European countries expected Russia would win. The resulting campaigns, in which the fledgling Japanese military consistently attained victory over the Russian forces arrayed against them, were unexpected by world observers. These victories, as time transpired, would dramatically transform the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a sober reassessment of Japan's recent entry onto the world stage. The embarrassing string of defeats increased dissatisfaction of the Russian populace with the inefficient and corrupt Tsarist government, and was a major cause of the Russian Revolution of 1905. The French financed half of the cost of the war, by their subscription to so-called Russian bonds ; post-USSR Russia reimbursed roughly 1.54% of the capital to the French Republic without any interest, in 1996. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Meiji government embarked on an endeavor to assimilate Western ideas, technological advances and customs. By the late 19th century, Japan had emerged from isolation and transformed itself into a modernized industrial state in a remarkably short time. The Japanese desired to preserve their sovereignty and to be recognized as an equal with the Western powers. Russia, a major Imperial power, had ambitions in the East. By the 1890s it had extended its realm across Central Asia to Afghanistan, absorbing local states in the process. The Russian Empire stretched from Poland in the west to the Kamchatka peninsula in the East. With its construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway to the port of Vladivostok, Russia hoped to further consolidate its influence and presence in the region. This was precisely what Japan feared, as they regarded Korea (and to a lesser extent Manchuria) as a protective buffer. The Japanese victory over Qing China in the First Sino-Japanese War led to the Treaty of Shimonoseki (17 April 1895), under which China abandoned its own suzerainty over Korea and ceded Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula, which includes Port Arthur, to Japan. However, three Western powers (Russia, Germany and France), by the use of the Triple Intervention of 23 April 1895, applied pressure on Japan to relinquish its claim on the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur. In December 1897, a fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy appeared off Port Arthur. After three months a convention was agreed between China and Russia by which Russia was leased Port Arthur, Talienwan (a town which had interested Britain), and the surrounding waters. It was further agreed that the convention could be extended by mutual agreement. The Russians clearly believed that would be the case for they lost no time in occupation and in fortifying Port Arthur, their sole warm-water port on the Pacific coast, and of great strategic value. A year later, in order to consolidate their position, the Russians began a new railway from Harbin through Mukden to Port Arthur. The development of the railway was a contributory factor towards the Boxer Rebellion and the railway stations at Tiehling and Lioyang w