In the early 20th century, in the small American city of Portsmouth, two invaders fighting on Chinese land, signed a treaty on clearly dividing the interests of North Korea and China under the mediation of the United States. This treaty is the final agreement reached by Russo-Japanese War - Portsmouth Treaty .
Russo-Japanese War
Mr. Lu Xun once clearly depicted the image of the Chinese in the Russo-Japanese War, with empty eyes and numb expressions. The two imperialist powers eventually launched a war on China's land for their respective interests in North Korea and China.
In the year and a half war, the two armies and navies of Japan and Russia emerged together, especially the Japanese army and the Japanese army almost devoted their efforts to fight this war. Finally, under the mediation of the United States, Tsarist Russia and accepted the result of the failure of the war.
Although Japan achieved the final victory of the war, this war also caused Japan to exhaust almost the country's national strength, spending 1.5 billion yen and mobilizing nearly 1.1 million troops, which has become the last step.
It was precisely when neither side could continue to fight that the United States, as a mediator of the war, dominated the result of the war. As the Qing government, which sacrificed the greatest innocently in this war, had no say.
The embarrassing Qing government
With the efforts of the United States, Japan and Russia were scheduled to hold talks in the small American town of Portsmouth in August 1905. After learning the news, the Qing government issued a telegram to Japan and Russia, proposing that any treaties involving China between the two countries must be negotiated with the Qing government. The Qing government will not recognize any conclusions made without consultation. The Qing government not only put forward conditions, but also requested a delegation to go to Portsmouth to participate in the talks.
Faced with the request of the Qing government, Japan and Russia chose to ignore it at the same time. They not only rejected the request of the Qing government to send a delegation, but also ignored the Qing government's statement. As a mediator, the United States did not respond to the request of the Qing government. This peace talk, which concerns China's interests in Northeast China, began with the participation of representatives from Japan, the United States and Russia.
The Russian emperor slapped in the face
As a powerful country of imperialism, Tsar Russia lost to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War, but Tsar Nicholas II toughly put forward the claim that no cede land or no compensation during peace talks. This also led to the stalemate in the peace talks at the beginning.
Japan's representative Komura Sutaro , who was then a Japanese foreign minister, made a request for Tsarist Russia to pay 1.7 billion yen and cede land compensation at the beginning of the peace talks, which directly angered the Tsar's representative Sergei Witt . After learning about the Japanese request, Tsar Nicholas II said: "There is no gate for cede land and compensation. If Japan is so excessive, then continue to start the war."
At this time, Japan was on the verge of collapse. Except for the army, the entire country was carrying extremely serious burdens, which was a typical example of military force. Faced with Tsarist Russia's toughness, Japanese representative Sutaro Komura changed his negotiation strategy. With the mediation of the United States, after 25 days of fierce confrontation, Japan and Russia finally signed the Treaty of Portsmouth.
But the signing of this treaty not only slapped the Tsar in the face, but also did not satisfy Japan. The treaty stipulates that:
Russia recognizes that Japan enjoys political, economic and military privileges in North Korea, and Russia shall not interfere; Russia transfers the concession rights and affiliated privileges obtained from China to Japan; Russia transfers the China South Manchuria Railway and its branches, rights, coal mines, etc. it obtained to Japan for free; Russia cedes Sakhalin Island to Japan south of 50 degrees north latitude, and agrees that the Japanese people operate fishing in the Sea of Japan, Okhotsk Sea, and Bering Sea along the coast of Russia; Japan and Russia station guards along their respective railways, with no more than 15 people per kilometer.
postscript
In the end, the Russo-Japanese War, which caused more than 20,000 deaths in the Northeast and direct economic losses of more than 69 million taels, came to an end with such a treaty under the compromise between Japan, the United States and Russia.This war not only allowed the world to see Tsarist Russia's strength and the middle of the battle, but also laid the groundwork for the disintegration of Tsarist Russia.
At the same time, this war not only provided Japan with the opportunity to invade Chinese territory, but also strengthened Japan's power in Northeast China, providing an opportunity for Japan to accelerate its infiltration and annexation of the Northeast.
, and the Qing government once again showed its corruption and weakness to the great powers. Six years later, the Qing government collapsed with a bang.
