Nicholas II Russo-Japanese War briefly. Russo-Japanese War briefly

Russian- japanese war 1904-1905 had an important historical meaning although many thought it was completely pointless.

But this war played a significant role in the formation of the new government.

Briefly about the reasons for the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905.

At the beginning of the last century, the interests of the Russian and Japanese powers clashed in the consolidation of China in the seas.

The main reason was external political activity states:

Russia's desire to gain a foothold in the Far East region;
the desire of Japan and Western states to prevent this;
Japan's desire to invade Korea;
the construction of military facilities by the Russians on leased Chinese territory.

Also, Japan tried to gain superiority in the field of the armed forces.

Map of military operations of the Russo-Japanese War

The map shows the main moments and the course of the war.

On the night of January 27, the Japanese attacked the Russian flotilla in Port Arthur without warning. This was followed by the blocking of the port of Chemulpo on the territory of Korea by the rest of the Japanese ships. On the map, these actions are shown with blue arrows in the Yellow Sea area. On land, blue arrows indicate the movement of the Japanese army over land.

A year later, in February 1905, one of the main battles took place on land near Mukden (Shenyang). This is indicated by a sign on the map.

In May 1905, the 2nd Russian flotilla lost the battle near the island of Tsushima.

The red dotted lines indicate the breakthrough of the 2nd Russian squadron to Vladivostok.

The beginning of the Japanese war with Russia

The Russo-Japanese War was not a surprise. The conduct of politics in China assumed such a development of events. Russian ships were on duty near Port Arthur to prevent possible attacks.

At night, 8 Japanese destroyers defeated the Russian ships at Port Arthur. Already in the morning another Japanese flotilla attacked Russian ships near the port of Chemulpo. After that, the landing of the Japanese began on land.

Chronological table of the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905.

Events took place on land and sea. The main stages of the war:

On the sea	On the land
26-27 jan. (8-9 Feb.) 1904 - Japanese attack on Port Arthur.	Feb - Apr. 1904 - the landing of Japanese troops in China.
Jan 27. (Feb. 9) 1904 - attack by a Japanese squadron of 2 Russian ships and their destruction.	May 1904 - The Japanese cut off the fortress of Port Arthur from the Russian troops.
May 31 (April 13) 1904 - an attempt by Vice Admiral Makarov to leave the harbor of Port Arthur. The ship, on board which was the admiral, fell on one of the mines placed by the Japanese. Makarov died with almost the entire crew. But the vice admiral remained a hero of the Russo-Japanese war.	Aug 1904 - a battle near the city of Liaoyang with General Kuropatkin at the head of the troops. It was unsuccessful for both sides.
May 14-15 (according to other sources May 27-28) 1905 - the largest battle off the island of Tsushima, in which the Japanese won. Almost all ships were destroyed. Only three broke through to Vladivostok. This was one of the decisive battles.	Sep - Oct. 1904 - battles on the Shahe River.
	Aug - Dec. 1904 - the siege of Port Arthur.
	Dec 20. 1904 (January 2, 1905) - the surrender of the fortress.
	Jan. 1905 - the resumption of defense by Russian troops on the Shahe.
	Feb 1905 - Japanese victory near the city of Mukden (Shenyang).

The nature of the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905

The war was aggressive in nature. The opposition of 2 empires was carried out for the supremacy in the Far East.

Japan's goal was to seize Korea, but Russia began to develop infrastructure on the leased territories. This thwarted Japan's aspirations, and she took drastic measures.

Reasons for Russia's defeat

Why did Russia lose - because of the wrong steps of the Russian army, or did the Japanese initially have all the conditions for victory?

Russian delegation in Portsmouth

Reasons for Russia's defeat:

the unstable situation in the state and the government's interest in the quick conclusion of peace;
a large reserve of troops in Japan;
it took about 3 days to transfer the Japanese army, and Russia could do it in about a month;
Japan's weapons and ships were better than those of Russia.

Western countries supported and assisted Japan. In 1904, England provided Japan with machine guns, which the latter did not previously have.

Outcomes, implications and results

In 1905, a revolution began in the country. Anti-government sentiments demanded an end to the war with Japan, even on unfavorable terms.

All forces had to be thrown into the settlement of the situation in the state.

Although Russia had enough resources and capabilities to win. If the war had lasted a few more months, Russia could have won, since the Japanese forces began to weaken. But Japan asked the United States to influence Russia and persuade it to negotiate.

Both countries withdrew their armies from the Manchurian region.
Russia gave away Port Arthur and part of the railroad.
Korea remained in the sphere of interests of the Japanese state.
Part of Sakhalin henceforth belonged to the Japanese state.
Japan also gained access to fishing along the Russian coast.

In both countries, the war had a negative impact on the financial situation. There was an increase in prices and taxes. In addition, the debt of the Japanese state has grown significantly.

Russia has learned from the loss. At the end of the decade, the army and navy were reorganized.

The significance of the Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War acted as an impetus for the revolution. She opened many problems of the current government. Many did not understand why this war was needed at all. As a result, the mood against the authorities only intensified.

Russo-Japanese war- This is a war that was fought between the Russian and Japanese empires for control over Manchuria and Korea. After a break of several decades, it became the first big war using the latest weapons : long-range artillery, battleships, destroyers, electric barbed wire high voltage; as well as using spotlights and a field kitchen.

Causes of the war:

Russia leases the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur as a naval base.
Construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway and Russian economic expansion in Manchuria.
Struggle for spheres of influence in China and Koree.
A distraction from the revolutionary movement in Russia ("small victorious war")
The strengthening of Russia's position in the Far East threatened the monopolies of England, the United States and Japan's militaristic aspirations.

The nature of the war: unfair on both sides.

In 1902 England entered into a military alliance with Japan and, together with the United States, embarked on the path of her preparation for war with Russia. Per short term Japan has built an armored fleet at shipyards in England, Italy, and the United States.

The Russian naval bases in the Pacific - Port Arthur and Vladivostok - were 1,100 miles apart and poorly equipped. By the beginning of the war, out of 1 million 50 thousand Russian soldiers in the Far East, about 100 thousand were deployed. The Far Eastern army was removed from the main supply centers, the Siberian Railway had a low throughput(3 trains per day).

COURSE OF EVENTS

January 27, 1904 Japan's attack on the Russian fleet. The death of the cruiser "Varangian" and the gunboat Koreets in Chemulpo Bay off the coast of Korea. Blocked in Chemulpo "Varyag" and "Koreets" rejected the offer to surrender. Trying to break through to Port Arthur, two Russian ships under the command of Captain 1st Rank V.F.Rudnev engaged 14 enemy ships.

January 27 - December 20, 1904... Defense of the naval fortress Port arthur... During the siege, new types of weapons were first used: rapid-fire howitzers, Maxim machine guns, hand grenades, mortars.

Pacific Fleet Commander Vice Admiral S.O. Makarov was preparing for active operations at sea and the defense of Port Arthur. On March 31, he led his squadron to an outer raid in order to engage the enemy and lure his ships under the fire of coastal batteries. However, at the very beginning of the battle, his flagship Petropavlovsk was blown up by a mine and sank within 2 minutes. Most of the team died, the entire headquarters of S.O. Makarov. After that, the Russian fleet went on the defensive, since the commander-in-chief of the Far Eastern forces, Admiral E. I. Alekseev, refused to take active actions at sea.

The ground defense of Port Arthur was led by the head of the Kwantung fortified region, General A. M. Stoessel... The main struggle in November unfolded for Mount Vysokaya. On December 2, the chief of ground defense, its organizer and inspirer, General R. I. Kondratenko... Stoessel on December 20, 1904 signed surrender ... The fortress withstood 6 assaults and was surrendered only as a result of the betrayal of the commandant, General A. M. Stessel. For Russia, the fall of Port Arthur meant the loss of access to the ice-free Yellow Sea, the deterioration of the strategic situation in Manchuria and a significant aggravation of the internal political situation in the country.

October 1904 The defeat of the Russian troops on the Shahe River.

February 25, 1905 The defeat of the Russian army at Mukden (Manchuria). Largest land battle in history before World War I.

May 14-15, 1905 Battle in the Tsushima Strait. The defeat by the Japanese fleet of the 2nd Pacific Squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Z.P. Rozhestvensky, aimed at Far East from the Baltic Sea. In July, the Japanese occupied Sakhalin Island.

REASONS FOR THE DEFEAT OF RUSSIA

Support for Japan from England and the United States.
Poor preparation of Russia for war. Military and technical superiority of Japan.
Errors and ill-considered actions of the Russian command.
The inability to quickly transfer reserves to the Far East.

Russian-Japanese War. RESULTS

Korea was recognized as Japan's sphere of influence;
Japan took possession of South Sakhalin;
Japan received the right to fish along the Russian coast;
Russia leased the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur to Japan.

Russian commanders in this war: A.N. Kuropatkin, S.O. Makarov, A.M. Stoessel.

Consequences of Russia's defeat in the war:

weakening of Russia's positions in the Far East;
public discontent with the autocracy, which lost the war with Japan;
destabilization of the political situation in Russia, the growth of the revolutionary struggle;
active reform of the army, a significant increase in its combat effectiveness.

Today, February 9 (January 27), marks the 112th anniversary of the legendary battle of the Varyag cruiser and the Korean gunboat with the Japanese squadron. From that moment on, the Russo-Japanese War broke out, which lasted more than a year and a half - until September 5 (August 23), 1905. Our selection contains the most remarkable facts of this war.

The battle at Chemulpo and the feat of the cruiser "Varyag"

The armored cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" under the general command of Captain 1st Rank Vsevolod Rudnev in Chemulpo Bay - a Korean port in the Yellow Sea - were opposed by two Japanese armored cruisers, four armored cruisers and three destroyers. Despite the desperate resistance of the Russian sailors, the forces were incomparable. Only after damage to the steering mechanisms and several guns was the Varyag forced to return to Chemulpo, where it was sunk and the gunboat Koreets was blown up.

The surviving sailors moved to the ships of neutral countries, and after a while most of the crew was able to return to their homeland. The feat of the cruiser sailors was not forgotten even after many years. In 1954, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the battle at Chemulpo, the Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy N.G. Kuznetsov personally awarded 15 veterans with medals "For Courage".

Crew member of the cruiser "Varyag" Ivan Shutov with sailors of the Northern Fleet, 50s

Difficult fate of "Varyag"

But the cruiser "Varyag" itself, the Japanese were later able to lift from the bottom and even put into service in their Navy under the name "Soya". In 1916, Russia bought it from Japan, which by that time was already an ally in the Entente. The cruiser made the transition from Vladivostok to Romanov-on-Murman (Murmansk). In February 1917, the ship went to the UK for repairs, where it was confiscated by the British. In 1925, while being towed, the cruiser was caught in a storm and sank off the coast in the Irish Sea. In 2003, the first Russian expedition with a dive into the wreckage area took place - then some small parts of the Varyag were raised. By the way, the grandson of Vsevolod Rudnev, who lives in France, took part in the dive.

The cruiser "Varyag" after the battle on the Chemulpo raid, January 27, 1904

The death of Makarov and Vereshchagin

On account of Mannerheim - the release of the 3rd Infantry Division, which fell into the "bag". His dragoons, under cover of the fog, put the Japanese to flight. For skillful leadership and personal courage, the baron was awarded the rank of colonel.

He also conducted secret reconnaissance in Mongolia with a detachment of “local militia”: “My squad is just hunkhuz, that is, local robbers from the high road ... These bandits ... do not know anything except a Russian magazine rifle and cartridges ... There is no order in it, no unity ... although they cannot be accused of lack of courage. They managed to break out of the encirclement where the Japanese cavalry drove us ... The army headquarters was very satisfied with our work - we managed to map about 400 miles and provide information about the Japanese positions throughout the territory of our activity, ”wrote Mannerheim.

Karl Gustav Mannerheim, 1904

Many serious works and no less frivolous fiction have been written about the Russian-Japanese battles. However, even today, more than a century later, researchers argue: what was the main reason for the shameful and fatal defeat of Russia? Complete unpreparedness of a huge, disorganized empire for decisive military operations, or mediocrity of the generals? Or maybe politicians' miscalculations?

Zheltorussia: a failed project

In 1896, the current state councilor, Alexander Bezobrazov, presented the emperor with a report in which he proposed colonizing China, Korea and Mongolia. The Zheltorosiya project sparked a lively debate in court circles ... And a nervous resonance in Japan, which, in need of resources, claimed dominance in the Pacific region. Britain played the role of catalyst in the conflict, not wanting Russia to turn into a gigantic colonial power. The diplomats recalled that all the Russian-Japanese negotiations that took place on the eve of the war were attended by the British - advisers and consultants to the Japanese side.

Nevertheless, Russia was entrenched in east coast: the governorship of the Far East was established, Russian troops occupied part of Manchuria, the resettlement to Harbin and the strengthening of Port Arthur, which was called the gateway to Beijing, began ... Moreover, preparations for the inclusion of Korea in the composition of Russian Empire... The latter became the notorious drop that overflowed the Japanese cup.

A minute before the attack

Actually, the war in Russia was expected. Both the "obrazovskoy clique" (as they called those who financially supported Mr. Bezobrazov's projects) and Nicholas II soberly believed that a military competition for the region, alas, was inevitable. Was it possible to pass it? Yes, but at a too high price - at the cost of the refusal of the Russian crown not only from colonial ambitions, but from the Far Eastern territories as a whole.
The Russian government foresaw the war and even prepared for it: roads were built, ports were strengthened. The diplomats did not sit idly by: relations with Austria, Germany and France improved, which should have ensured Russia, if not support, then at least European non-intervention.

However, the Russian politicians still hoped that Japan would not risk it. And even when the cannons rumbled, the country was reigned with a hatred: right, that some kind of Japan in comparison with the huge, mighty Russia? Yes, we will smash the foe in a matter of days!

However, was Russia so powerful? The Japanese, for example, had three times more destroyers. And battleships built in England and France were superior to Russian ships in a number of the most important indicators. The Japanese naval artillery also had an undoubted advantage. As for the ground forces, the number of Russian troops beyond Lake Baikal was, including border guards and the protection of various objects, 150 thousand servicemen, while the Japanese army after the announced mobilization exceeded 440 thousand bayonets.

Intelligence reported to the tsar about the superiority of the enemy. She argues: Japan is fully prepared for a skirmish and is waiting for an opportunity. But it seems Russian emperor forgot Suvorov's behest that procrastination is like death. The Russian elite hesitated and hesitated ...

The feat of ships and the fall of Port Arthur

The war broke out without announcement. On the night of January 27, 1904, an armada of Japanese warships attacked the Russian flotilla in the roadstead near Port Arthur. The second blow was struck by the Mikado warriors near Seoul: there, in the Chemulpo Bay, the cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Korean, who were guarding the Russian mission in Korea, took an unequal battle. Since ships from Britain, the United States, Italy and France were nearby, the duel, one might say, proceeded before the eyes of the world. Having sunk several enemy vessels,

"Varyag" with "Korean" preferred the seabed to Japanese captivity:

We did not let go before the enemy
Glorious St. Andrew's flag,
No, we blew up the Koreyets,
We sunk "Varyag" ...

By the way, a year later, the Japanese were not too lazy to raise the legendary cruiser from the bottom to make it a training craft. Remembering the defenders of the Varyag, they left the ship its good name, adding on board: "Here we will teach how to love our Fatherland."

The heirs of the busi did not succeed in taking Port Arthur. The fortress withstood four assaults, but remained unshakable. During the siege, the Japanese lost 50 thousand soldiers, however, the losses of Russia were extremely tangible: 20 thousand killed soldiers. Would Port Arthur survive? Perhaps, but in December, unexpectedly for many, General Stoessel decided to surrender the citadel along with the garrison.

Mukden meat grinder and Tsushima defeat

The skirmish near Mukden broke the military population record with over half a million people on both sides. The battle lasted 19 days almost without interruption. As a result, the army of General Kuropatkin was completely defeated: 60 thousand Russian soldiers died a heroic death. Historians are unanimous: the closeness and negligence of the commanders (staffs gave contradictory orders), their underestimation of the enemy's forces and blatant sloppiness were to blame for the catastrophe, which had a detrimental effect on the provision of the army with material and technical means.

The "control" blow for Russia was the battle of Tsushima. On May 14, 1905, 120 brand new battleships and cruisers flying Japanese flags surrounded the Russian squadron that had arrived from the Baltic. Only three ships - including the Aurora, which played a special role years later - managed to escape from the ring of death. 20 Russian battleships were sunk. Seven more were taken on board. More than 11 thousand sailors became prisoners.

In the deep Tsushima strait,
Far from native land
At the bottom, in the deep ocean
Forgotten are ships
There the Russians sleep admirals
And the sailors doze around,
They sprout corals
Between the fingers of outstretched hands ...

The Russian army was crushed, the Japanese one was so exhausted that the proud descendants of the samurai agreed to negotiations. Peace was concluded in August, in American Portsmouth - according to the agreement, Russia ceded Port Arthur and part of Sakhalin to the Japanese, and also abandoned attempts to colonize Korea and China. However, the unsuccessful military campaign put an end to not only Russia's expansion to the East, but, as it turned out later, to the monarchy in general. The “small victorious war,” which the Russian elite so hoped for, toppled the throne forever.

Noble enemies

The newspapers of that time are replete with photographs from Japanese captivity. On them, high-cheeked and narrow-eyed doctors, nurses, military men and even members of the Japanese imperial family willingly pose with Russian officers and privates. It is difficult to imagine something like this later, during the war with the Germans ...

The attitude of the Japanese towards prisoners of war became the standard on the basis of which many international conventions were created years later. "All wars are based on political differences between states," said the Japanese military, "therefore, hatred of the people should not be inflamed."

The 28 camps opened in Japan contained 71,947 Russian sailors, soldiers, and officers. Of course, they were treated differently, especially since becoming a prisoner of war for a Japanese means tarnishing his honor, but on the whole, the humane policy of the War Ministry was respected. The Japanese spent 30 sen on the maintenance of the Russian prisoner-soldier (twice as much for an officer), while only 16 sen for their own Japanese soldier. The prisoners' meals consisted of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tea, and, as eyewitnesses noted, the menu was varied, and the officers had the opportunity to hire a personal chef.

Heroes and traitors

More than 100 thousand privates and officers were buried in the graves of the war. And the memory of many is still alive.
For example, the commander of the Varyag, Vsevolod Rudnev. Having received an ultimatum from Admiral Uriu, the cruiser captain decided to go for a breakthrough, which he informed the team about. During the battle, the crippled, shot through "Varyag" managed to release 1105 shells at the enemy. And only after that, the captain, having transferred the rest of the crew to foreign ships, gave the order to open the Kingston. The courage of "Varyag" amazed the Japanese so much that later Vsevolod Rudnev received a prestigious order from them. The rising sun... True, he never put on this award.

Vasily Zverev, mechanic of the destroyer "Strong", did something completely unprecedented: he closed the hole with himself, allowing the ship, destroyed by the enemy, to return to the port and save the crew. All foreign newspapers, without exception, reported about this unthinkable act.

Of course, among the many heroes were the rank and file. The Japanese, who value debt above all else, admired the steadfastness of the intelligence officer Vasily Ryabov. During interrogation, the captured Russian spy did not answer a single question and was sentenced to be shot. However, even at gunpoint, Vasily Ryabov behaved, in the opinion of the Japanese, as befits a samurai - with honor.

As for the criminals, the public opinion declared the Adjutant General Baron Stoessel as such. After the war, the investigation accused him of ignoring orders from above, not taking measures to provide Port Arthur with food, in reports he lied about his personal, heroic participation in battles, misled the sovereign, handed out awards to senior officers who did not deserve them ... And Finally, he surrendered Port Arthur on conditions humiliating for the Motherland. Moreover, the cowardly baron did not share the burden of captivity with the garrison. However, Stoessel did not suffer any special punishment: after serving a year and a half in domestic confinement, he was pardoned by the tsar's decree.

The indecision of military bureaucrats, their unwillingness to take risks, inability to act in field conditions and the unwillingness to see the obvious - this is what pushed Russia into the abyss of defeat and into the abyss of cataclysms that took place after the war.

Imperial Russia’s policy in the Far East and East Asia at the beginning of the 20th century was aimed at establishing dominance in this region. At that time, the only serious opponent in the implementation of the so-called "great Asian program" of Nicholas II was the Japanese Empire, which in the past decades had seriously strengthened its military potential and began an active expansion into Korea and China. The military clash of the two empires was only a matter of time.

Preconditions for the war

For some inexplicable reason, the Russian ruling circles considered Japan to be a rather weak adversary, having a poor idea of the state of the armed forces of this state. In the winter of 1903, at a meeting on the affairs of the Far East, most of Nicholas II's advisers were inclined to the need for a war with the Japanese Empire. Only Sergei Yurievich Witte spoke out against military expansion and aggravation of relations with the Japanese. Perhaps his position was influenced by a trip to the Far East undertaken by him in 1902. Witte argued that Russia was not ready for war in the Far East, which in reality was true, if only taking into account the state of the communication lines, which could not provide timely and quick delivery of reinforcements, ammunition and equipment. Witte's proposal was to abandon military action and emphasize the broad economic development of the Far East, but his opinion was not heeded.

Meanwhile, Japan was not going to wait for the concentration and deployment of the Russian armies in China and Korea. The forces of the imperial navy and army expected to be the first to strike at the Russians. The Japanese were actively supported by Britain and the United States, which were not interested in strengthening Russia in the Far Eastern territories. The British and Americans supplied Japan with raw materials, weapons, ready-made warships, and issued soft loans for military purposes. Ultimately, this became one of the determining factors that pushed the imperial government of Japan to attack the Russian troops stationed in China, which was the beginning of the Russo-Japanese war, which lasted from January 27, 1904 to August 23, 1905.

The course of hostilities in 1904

On the night of January 27, 1904, destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy secretly approached the outer perimeter of the naval defense of Port Arthur, occupied by Russian military forces, and fired at the Russian ships standing in the outer roadstead, damaging two battleships. And at dawn, 14 ships of the Japanese fleet immediately fell on 2 Russian ships (the cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Koreets), which were occupying positions in the area of the neutral port of Icheon (Chemulpo). Russian ships at surprise attack received heavy damage and the sailors, not wanting to surrender to the enemy, blew up their ships themselves.

The Japanese command considered main task throughout the upcoming campaign, the seizure of the water area around the Korean Peninsula, which ensured the achievement of the main goals set for the land army - the occupation of Manchuria, as well as the Primorsky and Ussuriysky territories, that is, it was supposed to capture not only Chinese, but also Russian territories. The main forces of the Russian fleet were concentrated in Port Arthur, some were located in Vladivostok. Most of the flotilla behaved extremely passively, limited to the defense of the coastline.

Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Manchurian Army Alexei Nikolaevich Kuropatkin and Commander of the Japanese Army Oyama Iwao

Three times the Japanese fleet tried to blockade the enemy in Port Arthur and at the end of April 1904 it was possible to do this, as a result of which the Russian ships were locked for a while, and the Japanese landed the ground forces of their 2nd Army of almost 40 thousand people on the Liaodong Peninsula and moved to Port Arthur, barely overcoming the defense of only one Russian regiment, well fortified on the isthmus connecting the Kwantung and Liaodong peninsulas. After breaking through the Russian positions on the isthmus, the Japanese took the Dalny port, seizing a bridgehead and deploying a blockade of the Port Arthur garrison from land and sea.

After capturing bridgeheads on the Kwantung Peninsula, the Japanese troops split up - the formation of the 3rd Army began, the main task of which was the assault on Port Arthur, while the 2nd Army went north. In early June, she struck a strong blow on the 30 thousandth group of Russian troops of General Stackelberg, who advanced to break the blockade of Port Arthur and forced him to retreat. At this time, the 3rd Japanese army finally pushed the advanced defensive units of Port Arthur into the fortress, completely blocking it from land. At the end of May, the Russian fleet managed to intercept Japanese transports, the purpose of which was to deliver 280-mm mortars for the siege of Port Arthur. This seriously helped the defenders, delaying the siege for several months, but in general the fleet behaved passively, making no attempts to recapture the enemy's initiative.

While the siege of Port Arthur was underway, the 1st Japanese Army, which had in its composition about 45 thousand people, which landed in Korea in February, was able to push back the Russian troops, defeating them near the city of Tyuryunchen on the Korean-Chinese border. The main forces of the Russian troops withdrew to Liaoyang. The Japanese troops continued the offensive with the forces of three armies (1st, 2nd and 4th) with a total strength of about 130 thousand people and in early August attacked the Russian troops under the command of General Kuropatkin near Liaoyang.

The battle was very difficult and there were serious losses on both sides - 23 thousand soldiers from Japan, up to 19 thousand from Russia. The Russian commander-in-chief, despite the uncertain outcome of the battle, gave the order for a further retreat to the city of Mukden even further north. Later, the Russians gave another battle to the Japanese forces, attacking their positions on the Shahe River in the fall. However, the assault on the Japanese positions did not bring decisive success; losses on both sides were again heavy.

At the end of December 1904, the fortress city of Port Arthur fell, which held down the forces of the 3rd Japanese army for almost a year. All Japanese units from the Kwantung Peninsula were hastily transferred north to the city of Mukden.

The course of hostilities in 1905

With the approach of reinforcements of the 3rd Army from Port Arthur to Mukden, the initiative finally passed into the hands of the Japanese command. On a wide front, about 100 km long, the largest battle before the First World War was fought, in which everything again turned out to be not in favor of the Russian army. After a long battle, one of the Japanese armies was able to bypass Mukden from the north, practically cutting off Manchuria from European Russia. If this could be done completely, then the entire Russian army in China would be lost. Kuropatkin correctly assessed the situation, ordering an urgent withdrawal along the entire front, not giving the enemy the opportunity to surround himself.

The Japanese continued to press on the front, forcing the Russian units to roll back further and further north, but soon stopped the pursuit. Despite a successful operation to capture big city Mukden, they suffered huge losses, which the Japanese historian Shumpei Okamoto estimates at 72,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, the main forces of the Russian army could not be defeated, it retreated in perfect order, without panic and maintaining combat effectiveness. At the same time, replenishments continued to arrive to her.

Meanwhile, at sea, the 2nd Pacific squadron of the Russian fleet under the command of Admiral Rozhdestvensky, who came to the aid of Port Arthur in October 1904, arrived in the area of hostilities. In April 1905, her ships appeared in the Tsushima Strait, where they were met with fire from the Japanese fleet completely repaired by the time of their arrival. The entire squadron was almost completely destroyed, only a few ships broke through to Vladivostok. The defeat at sea for Russia was final.

Russian infantry is on Liaoyang (above) and Japanese soldiers at Chemulpo

In mid-July 1905, Japan, which, despite loud victories was already on the brink of economic exhaustion, carried out the last major operation, knocking out Russian troops from Sakhalin Island. Meanwhile, the main Russian army under the command of Kuropatkin, located near the village of Sypingai, reached a number of about half a million soldiers, she received a large number machine guns and howitzer batteries. The Japanese command, seeing a serious strengthening of the enemy and feeling its own weakening (the country's human resources were practically exhausted by that time), did not dare to continue the offensive, on the contrary, expecting that large Russian forces would go over to the counteroffensive.

The Japanese twice proposed peace talks, feeling that the enemy would be able to wage a war for a long time and was not going to surrender. However, a revolution flared up in Russia, one of the reasons for which was the defeats that the army and navy suffered in the Far East. Therefore, in the end, Nicholas II was forced to negotiate with Japan through the mediation of the United States. The Americans, as well as many European powers, were now worried about the over-strengthening of Japan against the background of the weakening of Russia. The peace treaty turned out to be not so difficult for Russia - thanks to the talent of S.Yu. Witte, who headed the Russian delegation, the conditions were softened.

Results of the war

The Russo-Japanese War was certainly unsuccessful for Russia. The defeat of the 2nd Pacific squadron in the Battle of Tsushima hit the national pride of the people especially hard. However, the territorial losses were not very significant - the main problem was the loss of the non-freezing base Port Arthur. As a result of the agreements, both Russian and Japanese forces were evacuated from Manchuria, and Korea became the sphere of influence of Japan. Also, the Japanese received the southern part of Sakhalin Island.

The defeat of the Russian troops in the war was primarily due to the complexity of the transfer of troops, ammunition and equipment to the Far East. Other, no less important reasons were a significant underestimation of the enemy's military potential and poor organization of command and control of troops. As a result, the enemy was able to push back the Russian army deep into the continent, inflicting a number of defeats on it and seizing vast territories. The defeat in the war also led to the fact that the imperial power turned more close attention on the state of the armed forces and was able to strengthen them by the beginning of the First World War, which, however, did not save the outmoded empire from defeats, revolutions and disintegration.