Russia's annexation of Turkestan in 1864 prompted British involvement in Afghanistan to halt a perceived threat to their interests in India. To avoid further antagonizing the British, the logical alternative for Russia was to exploit territorial gains brought about by a weakening China. However, this decision was to lead them into direct conflict with Japan.
The Meiji period in Japan saw control wrested from the iron grip of the `shoguns' and the country's emergence from a long period of global isolation. The Japanese created a centralized government, adopted a new constitution and removed restrictions on foreign trade. They also borrowed heavily from western methods for swift industrialization. Significantly, the new Japanese army was modelled on the German army, and their navy on the British.
The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5 was the first test of Japan's new military power and it ended with a Japanese victory. The subsequent Treaty of Shimonoseki signed on April 17, 1895, gave Japan territorial concessions and required China to pay an indemnity of 200 million [G 19 / taels]. However, on April 23, Russia with the support of France and Germany persuaded Japan to return the Liaotung Peninsula to China in exchange for an additional 30 million taels. Japan agreed and devoted the money to building a larger navy and better-equipped army.
The following year Russia made an alliance with the [G 12 / Manchus] to counter further Japanese designs on China and Manchuria. A railway concession through Manchuria (East Chinese Railway) was also granted to Russia in exchange for a loan to help China pay her debt to Japan. In 1898 Russia's territorial ambitions were furthered when China granted a 25-year lease over Port Arthur and Dairen on the Liaotung Peninsula. This satisfied the Russian need for an ice-free port, but it irritated the Japanese who less than three years ago were denied these possessions.
As the first foreigners to sign a commercial agreement with Korea (1876), the Japanese had a dominant influence in the country. However, rising nationalist sentiment in Korea (encouraged by the Russians) led to the Japanese- orchestrated assassination of Korea's Queen Min in October 1895. The king sought refuge in the Russian Legation and granted the latter commercial concessions along the Yalu River.
This served as a pretext for gradual Russian penetration into northern Korea. The [G 05 / Boxer Rebellion] gave Russia the rationale to move troops into Manchuria to protect the East Chinese Railway from further damage, but it also suited the expansionist goals of militarist Russians. Although in 1902 Russia agreed to evacuate its troops, this was delayed on various grounds. From August 1903 to February 1904, Russia and Japan held negotiations over their respective spheres of interest in Manchuria and Korea. The Japanese were prepared to write off Manchuria if the Russians would recognize their authority over Korea. However, the Tsar could not make up his mind and with little progress in sight, the Japanese decided on war. On the evening of February 8, [M 040 / 1904], they attacked the Russian fleet at Port Arthur.
