1904, the Russo-Japanese War of broke out. The war lasted for a year and a half, and was carried out simultaneously on sea and land, and eventually ended with Japan's victory. The reason why Japan can win this war is inseparable from the support of other countries. Without the support of other countries, it would be difficult for Japan to win this war. In contrast, Tsarist Russia , in this war, no country supports it from beginning to end. The reason why everyone does not support Tsarist Russia is mainly because if Tsarist Russia fails, it will be beneficial to everyone.
Russian War has had a great influence in modern history. This is the first time in modern history that the yellow race defeated whites at sea. The failure of whites to monopolize maritime hegemony was completely over. However, before the war began, many people believed that Japan could not win. Although Japan has increased its national strength after years of Meiji Restoration, it has also entered modern times and defeated the Qing Dynasty in 895, its comprehensive strength is still far from Tsarist Russia. Most importantly, this is the first time that such a large-scale war broke out with the Western powers. Many people are not optimistic about Japan.
However, while many people are not optimistic about Japan, many countries actively support Japan behind their backs. At that time, the mainstream powers in the world all supported Japan. Of course, there are five major powers related to this war, namely Britain, France, Germany, the Qing Dynasty and the United States. These five countries have strong overall strength, but their attitudes towards this war are basically the same, that is, they all support Japan. Although they claim to the outside world, they are neutral and do not support either party.
Many people can’t figure it out. This is obviously just a war between Japan and Tsarist Russia, so why do these big powers get involved. In fact, the reason why these countries participate in this war is mainly related to their own interests.
British and France are both world hegemons. They have their own interests all over the world, and it is impossible not to participate in this war; Germany is a newly rising country and wants to have a place internationally. Once Germany succeeds in taking a team, it will definitely be beneficial to itself; the Qing Dynasty was forced to participate, because the land part of this war was carried out in the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and it would be fine whether the Qing Dynasty wanted to participate; it goes without saying that the United States, Japan and Tsarist Russia seem to be very far away from the United States, but they are both located in the Pacific Ocean. The United States is also located in the Pacific Ocean. The war that took place in the Pacific Ocean could not ignore it.
In general, the great powers at that time had reasons to participate in the war. Now let’s take a closer look at the specific reasons for the participation of major powers in the Russo-Japanese War and what benefits were for them after participating in the war.
First look at the UK. Britain is the global hegemon. The global hegemon of any era has a characteristic, that is, no other forces are allowed to rise. Once you find that there is a threat to the rise of a force that threatens you, you will try your best to suppress it. In modern times, the wars between Britain and Spain, the Netherlands, the city, France, and Germany were all because of these. Originally, Britain had joined forces with France to defeat Tsarist Russia in Crimean War . Unexpectedly, Tsarist Russia turned around and expanded eastward, and its strength increased significantly soon. This time, Britain decided to continue to suppress Tsarist Russia.
British wants to suppress Tsarist Russia, but he doesn't want to take action directly. After all, it's too expensive to take action by himself and it's not cost-effective. So Britain began to find allies in East Asia. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Britain saw that Japan was very strong and decided to unite with Japan to fight against Tsarist Russia. After all, Japan is not as strong as Tsarist Russia. Even if Japan defeats Tsarist Russia, the threat to Britain is not as great as Tsarist Russia. In 1902, Britain and Japan formed their first alliance, and at this time, Japan was completely holding Britain's thighs.
Once Tsarist Russia fails, the UK can also take the opportunity to expand its power in Far East , and Tsarist Russia's threat to itself will also be reduced. For the UK, supporting Japan is still very cost-effective.
Secondly look at France. The UK is the world overlord, and France is equivalent to the second largest in the world, second only to the UK in the world. However, in addition to the same reasons why France supports Japan as Britain and does not want Tsarist Russia to be strong, there is another reason, which is more interesting.
France and Tsarist Russia have always had a good relationship. During the reforms in the second half of the 19th century, most of the money was lent to Tsarist Russia by France. In addition to borrowing money, the two countries also formally formed an alliance in 1891. Although the two countries were mortal enemies during the Crimean War, the relationship later was indeed good. The main reason why France united Tsarist Russia is that France wants to use Tsarist Russia to fight against the newly emerging Germany. After all, after , the French-Prussian War, Germany's threat to France became increasingly greater and greater, and France needed to find a powerful ally in the east of Germany to attack Germany together. In this way, France supports Tsarist Russia so much. However, after France supported Tsarist Russia, it was discovered that Tsarist Russia had changed. Tsarist Russia has put all its energy into the Far East, and the country has expanded its power in the Northeast Asia region. This caused dissatisfaction in France.
France feels that if Tsarist Russia is too strong in Northeast Asia, it will reduce its influence in Europe. Then you will not be able to fight against Germany. Therefore, France decided to let Tsarist Russia fall into trouble in Northeast Asia, and Tsarist Russia will focus on the European part. In this way, Tsarist Russia can fight against Germany with itself. I have to say that France's approach is indeed a scam, and it is really a scam of teammates.
British and France support Japan, which played a great role in the maritime battlefield in the Russo-Japanese War. Because British and French colonies are spread all over the world, they control important routes and ports around the world. When the Russian navy broke out in the war that day, Tsarist Russia wanted to send naval support, so she had to take a detour. Because all the lines are controlled by Britain and France. Moreover, the Tsarist Russian navy did not receive supplies in many ports, and when they arrived at the front line, their combat effectiveness was sharply reduced. Without the heavy restrictions between Britain and France, Tsarist Russia might not lose to Japan at sea.
Third look at the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's attitude in this war was very clear, that is, to support Japan. Not to mention that other countries support Japan, even if all major powers support Tsarist Russia, the Qing Dynasty would not support Tsarist Russia, and would choose to support Japan. The reason for this is that during the Eight-Nation Alliance's war of aggression against China, Tsarist Russia took the opportunity to send troops to occupy the northeastern region of our country. The territory of more than 1 million square kilometers in the northeast was completely controlled by Tsarist Russia.
After the Eight-Nation Alliance's war of aggression against China ended, countries forced Tsarist Russia to withdraw its troops, and Tsarist Russia was unwilling to withdraw its troops if it were. You should know that the Northeast was the place where the Qing Dynasty rose. The Qing Dynasty could not give up on it, but the Qing Dynasty did not have the ability to regain it. When the Qing Dynasty saw a war breaking out between Japan and Tsarist Russia, the Qing Dynasty really supported Japan unconditionally. The Qing Dynasty not only provided supplies to the Japanese army, but also provided intelligence to the Japanese army, and even paid pensions to some Japanese troops. The Qing Dynasty and Japan had an agreement, that is, Japan helped the Qing Dynasty recover the Northeast, and the Qing Dynasty gave Japan some privileges in the Northeast. Although the Qing Dynasty's approach seemed outrageous, in order to regain the Northeast, the Qing Dynasty could only do this.
The land part of the Russo-Japanese War was basically carried out in Northeast China. This is equivalent to fighting in our country. The Qing Dynasty turned to Japan and played an important role in Japan's victory on the land battlefield.
The fourth look at the United States. In the early 20th century, the United States had the largest economic output in the world, surpassing the United Kingdom. With a strong economic foundation, the United States cannot ignore international affairs. Especially Japan, Tsarist Russia and the United States are all countries along the Pacific coast. No matter who wins these two countries, they will be a threat to the United States in the future. Of course, the United States does the same thing as the United Kingdom. It is to unite the weak and fight against the powerful. Because of this, the United States chose to support Japan.
The United States supports Japan completely different from other countries. To put it bluntly, it means that it does nothing in the early stage. Because for the United States, no matter who wins Japan or Tsarist Russia, it will be beneficial to itself. It’s just that Japan’s victory has a greater benefit to it. The United States believes that the best outcome is that one of the two countries is beaten to death and the other is beaten to crippled. In the end, when they can't move, they will take action.
The United States does do this. Although Japan defeated Tsarist Russia, it was a miserable victory. Tsarist Russia was forced to withdraw from its power in the Pacific.However, when the two sides were discussing peace, Tsarist Russia was always unwilling to agree to any benefits to Japan. Japan cannot accept this. After all, it has won this battle with its own power. If Tsarist Russia does not give anything, wouldn’t it be useless?
originally did not intend to sign a peace treaty with Tsarist Russia, but the United States took action. The United States negotiated in the middle to ask the two of them to make a ceasefire and sign a peace agreement. The United States' intention to take action is obvious. If you don't stop fighting, I will intervene. At that time, the two countries had just ended the war and neither of them was able to confront the United States. Under such circumstances, Japan had to sign a peace treaty with Tsarist Russia that nothing had fallen out. It can be said that the United States has become the biggest winner of this war.
Now do you understand why Tsarist Russia lost this war? Since the beginning of the war, no countries want Tsarist Russia to win this war. With so many countries supporting Japan behind their backs, it is difficult for Tsarist Russia to win. Of course, Tsarist Russia is not completely without state support, Germany supports Tsarist Russia.
Germany's reasons for supporting Tsarist Russia and France are very similar. Once Tsarist Russia wins this war, its energy will be focused on Northeast Asia, so that it will not unite with France to attack itself. However, due to its just rise, Germany dared not blatantly support Tsarist Russia. Moreover, Germany's national strength is far from comparable to the above four countries. Even if it fully supports Tsarist Russia, Tsarist Russia may not be able to win.
On the surface it seems to be just a war between Japan and Tsarist Russia, but it involves many countries behind it. Under this situation, the direction of this war is not something that a country can decide. It is normal for Tsarist Russia to lose this war. With so many countries supporting Japan, it is almost impossible for Tsarist Russia to win.
Reference: "Global History"
