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During her negotiations with Japan, Russia did not expect the Japanese to go to war. After all, Japan was a newly emergent country, whose naval officers might have been trained in Britain and her army officers in Germany, but several of those officers had begun their careers wearing armor and brandishing swords. The Russian army, by contrast, saw itself as among the world's most powerful. But as it turned out, while the Japanese may have been incapable of sustaining a lengthy, drawn-out war, they were able to achieve victory in a shorter, more locally contained conflict.
During her negotiations with Japan, Russia did not expect the Japanese to go to war. After all, Japan was a newly emergent country, whose naval officers might have been trained in Britain and her army officers in Germany, but several of those officers had begun their careers wearing armor and brandishing swords. The Russian army, by contrast, saw itself as among the world's most powerful. But as it turned out, while the Japanese may have been incapable of sustaining a lengthy, drawn-out war, they were able to achieve victory in a shorter, more locally contained conflict.
Having successfully financed roughly half of the costs of the Sino-Japanese War with war bonds, and having received indemnities from China which covered the full cost of the war and then half over again, many in the Japanese government and big business felt a war with Russia could be relatively easily financed as well. Even if the war were to cost as much as 300-400 million [[yen]] - twice as much as that with China - it was believed the economic growth of the intervening years would be sufficient to allow the private sector (e.g. people & corporations buying war bonds) to help cover the costs of the war. However, as early as April 1904, with the war already underway, the government anticipated an annual military budget of 580 million yen.<ref>[[Peter Duus]], "Economic Dimensions of Meiji Imperialism," in Peattie and Myers (eds.), ''The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945'', Princeton University Press (1984), 143-146.</ref>
==War==
==War==
The war was fought both on land (chiefly in Manchuria) and at sea. The Japanese won early victories on land, pushing back the Russians during heavy fighting, and managed, over the course of two battles, to destroy nearly the entirety of the Russian naval fleet. This was accomplished in large part by attacking the Russian Navy in port at Port Arthur prior to the official declaration of war; England's chief contribution to the war, as Japan's ally, was to then deny Russia access to the Suez Canal, forcing those portions of the Russian Navy based in Europe to take the lengthy journey around Africa in order to join the conflict. This Baltic Fleet completed the majority of its 18,000 mile journey before the fighting was over, before meeting defeat at the hands of the Japanese navy in the Straits of [[Tsushima]]. Of the 35 ships in the Baltic Fleet, only four successfully reached Vladivostok.
The war was fought both on land (chiefly in Manchuria) and at sea. The Japanese won early victories on land, pushing back the Russians during heavy fighting, and managed, over the course of two battles, to destroy nearly the entirety of the Russian naval fleet. This was accomplished in large part by attacking the Russian Navy in port at Port Arthur prior to the official declaration of war; England's chief contribution to the war, as Japan's ally, was to then deny Russia access to the Suez Canal, forcing those portions of the Russian Navy based in Europe to take the lengthy journey around Africa in order to join the conflict. This Baltic Fleet completed the majority of its 18,000 mile journey before the fighting was over, before meeting defeat at the hands of the Japanese navy in the Straits of [[Tsushima]]. Of the 35 ships in the Baltic Fleet, only four successfully reached Vladivostok.
The war ended in Japanese victory, but also in extensive costs for the Japanese in lives, equipment, and supplies, as well as financially; the Russians managed to reject suggestions they pay any indemnity, leaving the Japanese government with considerable expenses. The [[Treaty of Portsmouth]] which ended the war was brokered by US President Theodore Roosevelt (for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize) and was signed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In the Treaty, Russia agreed to cede southern [[Sakhalin Island]] and all of its direct interests in Manchuria (i.e. namely railways and leaseholds on the Liaodong Peninsula), and to formally recognize Japan's control of Korea. Japanese demands for the cession of all of Sakhalin, and for monetary reparations were rejected.
==Aftermath==
[[File:Portsmouth.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth as depicted in a wall mural at the American Museum of Natural History]]
The war ended in Japanese victory, but also in extensive costs for the Japanese in lives, equipment, and supplies, as well as financially; the Russians managed to reject suggestions they pay any indemnity, leaving the Japanese government with considerable expenses. The [[Treaty of Portsmouth]] which ended the war was brokered by US President Theodore Roosevelt (for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize) and was signed at the Portsmouth Naval Yard, in the US state of Maine. In the Treaty, Russia agreed to cede southern [[Sakhalin Island]] and all of its direct interests in Manchuria (i.e. namely railways and leaseholds on the Liaodong Peninsula), and to formally recognize Japan's control of Korea. Japanese demands for the cession of all of Sakhalin, and for monetary reparations were rejected.
The people of Tokyo, upset at the peace conditions, rioted in protest. In what was likely the first major urban riot of the Meiji period, citizens set fire to the prime minister's residence, electric streetcars, and police boxes.<ref>[[Anne Walthall]], "Nishimiya Hide: Turning Palace Arts into Marketable Skills," in Walthall (ed.), ''The Human Tradition in Modern Japan," Scholarly Resources, Inc. (2002), 59.</ref>
Japan soon afterwards headquartered an army group in Port Arthur which came to be called the Guandong (or Kwantung) Army, as well as the South Manchurian Railway Company, both of which would play key roles in initiating the outbreak of hostilities in the 1930s which then expanded into the full-on Fifteen-Years War (also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese/continental portion of the Pacific War).
Japan soon afterwards headquartered an army group in Port Arthur which came to be called the Guandong (or Kwantung) Army, as well as the South Manchurian Railway Company, both of which would play key roles in initiating the outbreak of hostilities in the 1930s which then expanded into the full-on Fifteen-Years War (also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese/continental portion of the Pacific War).
