The Story of Russo-Japanese War (1/2) : 1904-1905

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• published: 09 Mar 2016
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEOz-BrAxPo&feature;=youtu.be ※Both General, Nogi & Stessel, after the war (Nogi lost all two sons in the war, but treated Stessel with respect) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nogi_Maresuke General Maresuke Nogi had attacked Port Arthur at great cost. Tens of thousands lost their lives, including two of Nogi’s both sons. After the war, Nogi wrote a poem that expressed shame over “a mountain of corpses.” ※Admiral, Tōgō Heihachirō https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dg%C5%8D_Heihachir%C5%8D http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/navalbattles1900today/p/tsushima.htm (引用) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqCz9h3z-sU 【The Russo-Japanese War】 It occurred by the aggressive act of Russia into Manchuria, which was located east of China and north of Korea. Japan fought the war against Russia for the security of Manchuria, Korea and Japan. As a matter of fact, prior to that, in 1894-1895 there had been a war between Japan and China. The Qing dynasty of China tried to subordinate Korea to it, and Japan fought against China to make Korea an independent country. This war ended with Japan's victory. Japan made Korea an independent country, and also received from China the Liao-dong peninsula of Manchuria by treaty with China. But Russia wanted this Liao-dong peninsula because it had ice-free harbors. Then, Russia, in association with Germany and France, exerted strong pressure and forced Japan to give the peninsula back to China using a powerful argument. Japan did not have the power to reject, so the Japanese regretfully gave the peninsula back to China. After that, Russia said to China, "We returned the peninsula back to you, give us a reward." As a result, Russia received many rights and interests in China. In addition, Russia entered the Liao-dong peninsula and made it their own without any cost! Russia did such a sly thing. But this was not the first time Russia had engaged in such tactics, since this country had been doing the same kind of things in many places, widening their territories with deception and invasion. This expanding country, Russia, was a great threat to Japan in those days. The giant country was trying to swallow Manchuria, China, Korea and then, Japan. That was why Japan had to fight the war against Russia. This war was to protect East Asia and Japan from Russian invasion. Most of the people in the world never imagined that this small country called Japan could defeat that giant country. But Japan miraculously won the war, although the victory was won by a slim margin. Japan owed the victory much to the help of a great Jewish banker in the USA, Jacob Shiff, who undertook much of the war cost for Japan. In those days there were many persecutions of Jews in Russia, so he wanted Russia to be punished. In addition, the American president, Theodore Roosevelt, mediated between Russia and Japan to end the war and establish peace, so the feeling of the Japanese to the USA in those days was nothing but gratitude and respect. 【Change of the American People's Attitude】 　　 But after the Russo-Japanese war, strange rumors spread in the USA, and many absurd articles appeared in newspapers such as, "Japan will easily take the Philippines, Hawaii and then, all of the Pacific Ocean. Americans and Europeans may become suspicious of Japan. When the President Theodore Roosevelt commanded the American fleet during a world cruise to visit Japan, many people thought that the Japanese would surely attack the American fleet. But contrary to expectations, the Japanese greatly welcomed them. However, such trust shown by the president was not in the majority. The American government soon began to look upon Japan as an enemy, and made a plan to control and suppress Japan. That was called the "Orange Plan". The USA began to look upon Japan as their enemy 35 years before the war, and was preparing to suppress Japan year by year. 【Offer for Joint Management of the Manchuria Railroad with the USA】 Just after the Russo-Japanese War, an American railroad executive and a great business man, Edward Harriman, visited Japan to talk with Japanese leaders. At the time, as a result of the victory on the Russo-Japanese War, it was already determined that Japan would inherit the rights of Manchuria Railroad. Harriman met the Japanese leaders and suggested, "I will provide for the cost of the Manchuria Railroad. So, let us do a joint management of the railroad together." If the USA and Japan could have worked together on the Manchuria Railroad, it would have been wonderful, however, it seems that it was difficult for Japan to continue to work with such a country not admitting racial equality. In fact, Japan was the first in history to propose the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the stage of international politics. It seems that it was a historical inevitability that these two countries would someday fight against each other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NTZKjv2JxQ