The Importance of Japan's Wars with China and Russia

Much, if not all, Meiji ambition was rooted in establishing Japan as a major world power. Upon the rise of the Meiji government a great deal of effort was geared toward putting the unequal treaties of the Tokugawa period right. These treaties were a burden to the nation. A shame, and a hindrance to its growth and international reputation. Despite the heights of modernization that Japan reached, it still hadn't been able to reshape their image in the eyes of the West. It wouldn't be until 1894, a year before the end of the war with China that Japan would see the unequal treaty with England begin to lift. Ultimately, this achievement in China contributed to the lifting of other treaties by the remaining nations in 1897.

Japan's actions in China were initially quite controversial. China was a massive continental power, and Japan only a small island nation. Furthermore, Japan had only relatively recently begun its international exposure and education; the country had seen few international conflicts. However, in the war against China Japan performed surprisingly well. So well, in fact, that the war extended only from 1894 to 1895, and allowed Japan quite an extensive list of demands, even after the Liodong Peninsula was returned to China due to international pressure.

At home, the victory over China brought a swell of patriotism. Furthermore, confidence in the new government rose, clearly the Japanese were rising in the world. This sentiment was also a result of the Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty of 1894 which promised the removal of the British treaty within a five year period. The victory in China only furthered the growing attention on Japanese military prowess, which led other treaties to be lifted several years later. Clearly the war with China had turned eyes to Japan, no longer were they seen as a meek island nation.

Unfortunately, Japan's victory over China still hadn't allowed them entry into the club of Western powers. While it had established the nation as military stronger than its Asian counterparts, the West still held to their position of authority over them. This seemed strikingly clear after Russia, France, and Germany demanded the return of one of Japan's most prideful war spoils: the Liodong Peninsula. Reluctantly and with great dismay the Japanese handed the territory back to the Chinese. However, this would be the last humiliation Japan would suffer as a result of Russia.

In 1904 Japan declared war on Russia in order to protect their borders against growing Russian control of Manchuria, failure to reach an acceptable agreement with the Czar of Russia (negotiations posed by the Japanese of concessions in Manchuria if the Russians would leave Korea to the Japanese), and a desire for a bolstered reputations among Western nations. Considering the opponent, Japan had set it foot in deep. Russia was a huge Western power with considerable military backing and the advantage of being on the same land mass as the battlefield. However, they were also at a huge disadvantage as far as their navy was concerned. Japan had spent a great deal of time and money building up military power, one of the strongest areas was their naval fleet. Disadvantaged by their inability to pass through British waters (due to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902), and other neutral ports, the Japanese navy was able to corner the Russians into negotiations with American president Theodore Roosevelt as negotiator.

Although the war won Japan very little in the way of land and left Japan nearly financially exhausted, it had won Japan a great deal of international prestige. The war with Russia did what the war with China had been unable to accomplish. The war had put Japan on the list of world powers. It had defeated a Western nation, a nation that once held sway over the country, it was a striking move that won Japan the internationally equality it had sought since the beginning of the Meiji period in 1868.

It's hard to say whether Japan would have enjoyed international recognition without the help of their stellar performance against the Chinese and Russians. Japan was able to test their military strength, show off their prowess, and finally break the Western bas that held sway over Asia. Japan could no longer be grouped in with the Chinese and Koreans.