Russo Japanese war

Why did Russia go to war?

• first was they wanted an expansionist policy in the Far East to make up for a decline in power in Europe.

• linked closely to the Tsar's own legacy to be remembered as a great Tsar you needed to increase Russian territory.

• Russians saw Manchuria and Korea as great for expansion, as did the Japanese.

• Russian government also wanted to obtain an ice-free port (all of Russia's major ports on northern coastline were frozen up for parts of yr )

• ice free port beneficial strategically + boosting trade.

• the Russian government wanted to distract people from domestic troubles with idea of foreign glory.

• If Russia were to pull off a glorious victory, nationalistic :( will decrease down the peasantry and working classes to complete Witte's industrial goals.

What happened during the battle of Tsushima

• In the Battle of Tsushima, the Japanese used better tactics and superior naval vessels to

• 7 of the 11 Russian Battleships were sunk, while other 4 were captured and a total of 126,792 tons of Russian shipping was sunk compared to only 450 tons of Japanese shipping.

• was humiliating defeat after the 8-month journey of the Russian Baltic Fleet had attracted global media attention.

• the bulk of their navy was destroyed or captured and their land forces in the far East defeated, the Russian government was forced to sue for peace.

What was the benefits of war in Japan

• Chance to strengthen Russia's world standing.

• Divert attention away from socio-economic and domestic issues within Russia.

• Chance to expand in the Far East, through exercising power in Manchuria and Korea.

• Chance to develop Port Arthur.

What was the cons of war with Japan

• Defeat could end in a huge humiliation.

• Added taxation and potential food shortages in a protracted war.

• Could damage European alliances, as Japan were allied with GB, and GB were allied with Russia's ally, France

What was motivations for war with Japan

• Expansionist (power)

• Ice-free port

• Distract attention from domestic issues

What was reasons for defeat with Japan

• Technological superiority

• Troops outnumbered

• Distance

• Underestimated the Japanese

What was the impact to russias political prestige

• National humiliation for Russia, who were defeated by a smaller Asian country, who were deemed as 'inferior'.

• First major defeat of a European power by an Asian opponent.

• The Russian public associated military incompetence with the governance of the Tsar.

• Strained relationship with GB, as fishing vessels were attacked by the Baltic fleet en route to Port Arthur, and GB had an alliance with Japan at this time.

• Mobilised opposition groups against the Tsar. He was associated with the military commanders' failures and embarrassing defeats in the Battle of Mukden and the Battle of Tsushima.

How did the impact to political prestige link to the tsar

• initial desires for war linked closely to the Tsar's own legacy, as to be remembered as a great Tsar you needed to increase Russian territory.

• Russians saw Manchuria and Korea as excellent opportunities for expansion.

• After the failure at war, there was revolutionary pressure amidst the 1905 revolution

• eventually the Tsar issued the October Manifesto for some social and civil liberties.

Effect of war on economy

• Russian fleets now destroyed and in need of replacement, especially the Baltic Fleet.

• The Russian government increased military spending by 50%, exacerbating a recession in Russia. (Took out large loans from France 800 million Francs/Germany)

• Food shortages, high prices and unemployment. Wages dropped by 20%

• Russia sunk 450 tons of Japanese shipping

Territorial impact of war on Russia

• Russia lost Port Arthur, claims in Korea and Manchuria.

• Loss of taxable populations in East Asia/Loss of industry in East Asia.

• The Treaty of Portsmouth mediated by US President Roosevelt, was actually quite generous to the Russians, as they only lost Port Arthur and claims to Korea and Manchuria. The Japanese were outraged by how little territory they acquired.

Social impact of war on Russia

• Workers were discontent at the poor living conditions and rapid price increases

• Conditions in Russia worsened due to money being spent on the war and transport/communications industry.

• Led to urbanisation to solve the communication issues, but this then led to a decline in standards of health-care.

• After the failure at war though, there was revolutionary pressure amidst the 1905 revolution and eventually the Tsar issued the October Manifesto to extend some social and civil liberties.

How were national minorities a long term cause to the war?

• 600+ new measures were introduced against the Jews, including a requirement to live in ghettos.

• Alienated the vast majority of Russia's 5 million Jews.

• The Georgian Mensheviks provoked the rise of nationalism and campaigned for Georgia to ally with Germany.

• CSK: The Baltic Provinces were relatively stable and prosperous - led to the migration of large numbers of Russians.

• As a result, the process of Russification happened quite naturally and there was little opposition.

How did revolutionaries add a long term cause to revolution

• 2,000 successful political assassination by SRs, including the much-hated interior minister Vyacheslav Plehve and Grand Duke Sergei, Nicholas Il's uncle.

• Mensheviks: controlled Iskra (Spark), the first underground Marxist paper to be distributed in Russia from December 1900.

• CSK: Bolsheviks did not play a vital role in the 1905 Revolution. Menshevik membership was only 8,400 in 1905.

How was Nicholas character and abilities a cause for revolution

• believed strongly in the Divine Right of Kings and considered it his duty to continue the autocratic rule of his father.

• saw revolutionary ideas as the product of 'dark forces' and attributed them to a minority of Jewish plotters and university students (liberals).

• tutored by and heavily influenced by the ideas of Pobedonostsev, a highly conservative and repressive minister who called representative government "the great lie of our time"

• CSK: Nicholas was considered intelligent and loyal. Witte described him as more intelligent than his father. He was also trained as a soldier.

what is sk for the failure of Russia in the Russo Japanese war

• After a long siege, the Japanese were able to sink the Russian Pacific Fleet, which was holed up at Port Arthur.

• in January 1905, Port Arthur, one of Russia's most fortified positions, surrendered to the Japanese

what happened during the battle of mukden?

• The Battle of Mukden, with the loss of 90,000 soldiers, as well as most of their artillery and heavy machine guns.

what did the after math of Bloody Sunday suggest?

• indication that revolution was spreading in Russia, after all, open insurrection had been occurring in Poland throughout 1904 and peasant land seizures had been common in the Years of the Red Cockerel.

what required 60 colliers to supply them en route

• went on a mammoth 8 month, 33,000km journey, requiring the support of 60 colliers (coal ships) to supply them en-route.

what was the status of land battles in Manchuria

• back in Manchuria land battles were not progressing well and Russian forces lost the largest land battle in the war,

why was the surrender of port Arthur unsuccessful

• Port Arthur had already surrendered, wanted to slip undetected into Vladivostok, where they could repair and resupply.

• but Japanese navy under the command of Admiral Togo.

• The Japanese lay in wait for the Russians and engaged them in Tsushima Strait

how did Bloody Sunday begin, what did they demand for?

• Strikes at the Putilov Engineering works, St Petersburg, 7h Jan 1905, followed by strike of 100,000 workers.

• wanted 8-hour working day and minimum wage of l rouble/day.

what was witness response to initial demands in Bloody Sunday

• Witte encouraged the release of a manifesto to lessen the tensions by making concessions, main one to promise to create a state assembly of elected representatives

why was wittes response to Bloody Sunday undermined

• but the powers of the assembly were not clearly defined and Tsar added the clause, "We reserve to ourselves exclusively the care of perfecting the organisation of the Assembly

• he did not intend his royal authority to be restricted in any way.

• The limited concessions of this first August Manifesto did not work and strikes had begun in both Moscow and St Petersburg.

when and what was the 2nd stage of the Bloody Sunday

• 22 January 1905, a group of peaceful protesters led by the loyal, Tsarist, Orthodox priest Georgy Gapon attempted a peaceful march to the Winter Palace.

• 150,000 protesters arrived and realised that the Tsar was not in attendance, chaos ensued.

when protestors arrived at the winter palace what did the tsar do

• infantry opened fire on the crowd, killing over 200 and injuring many more.

• bond between the Tsar and his people was broken.

how did the tsars response to the winter palace protest cause chaos

• protests erupted across the country with 400,000 people joining strikes in the largest Russian labour protest there had ever been.

• Unions united for the first time at a national level to form a Union of Unions, which was dominated by liberals and gave them a link to the masses.

• The 1905 Revolution had begun.