Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Russian activity in the area grew considerably. A
permanent settlement was established on Sitka
Island, and the town of New Archangel, founded
in 1804, served as the capital of Russian Amer-
ica. Baranov organized the fur trade to maximize
profits, and a second charter was granted in
1821, extending the company's monopoly to lat-
itude 51° north. But the long-term outlook for
the company and Russia's presence in America
in general was not positive. By 1840 the fur
trade was yielding fewer profits, and the Russian
government took over the company, appointing
the famous explorer Ferdinand von
WRANGEL
governor (1840-49). Nevertheless, despite his
efforts, the distances involved in supplying the
colony from Russia, the difficulty in attracting
settlers to Russian America, the harsh climate,
and the growing interest of the British and
Americans in the area all pointed to decreasing
Russian involvement in North America. Two
decades later, when the U.S. government agreed
to purchase Alaska from Russia, the company
was dissolved.
based at Port Arthur. The following month the
Japanese landed near Inchon and by late April
faced the Russian defenses at the Yalu River.
Overmatching the Russians by four to one, the
Japanese crossed the river on May 1, cut off the
Russian forces at Port Arthur from the main
army in Manchuria, and began a nine-month
siege of Port Arthur. The Russians received rein-
forcements via the just completed
TRANS
-
SIBERIAN
RAILROAD
and launched two new offensives in
October 1904 and January 1905, both of which
proved indecisive. On January 2, 1905, after a 10-
day intensive assault, the Japanese captured Port
Arthur. Russian and Japanese again confronted
each other at Mukden (Shenyang) between
February 19 and March 10, 1905. Although out-
numbered by the Russians, the Japanese forced a
Russian surrender, even as both sides suffered
heavy casualties (90,000 Russians and 50,000
Japanese). The defeat at Mukden effectively
ended the land phase of the war.
The naval stage of the war proceeded almost
in slow motion, as the Russian Baltic Fleet of 45
ships sailed from St. Petersburg in October 1904,
but reached the war theater only in early May
1905. Intercepted by the Japanese at the Straits
of Tsushima between Korea and Japan, over half
the fleet was sunk or captured, and the Russians
suffered about 4,000 casualties while over 7,000
sailors were captured, including three admirals.
The Battle of
TSUSHIMA
essentially marked the
end of the war, just as the Japanese were reach-
ing the financial limits of their ability to conduct
it. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt offered to
mediate, and both sides conducted negotiations
at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On September
5, 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed.
According to its terms, Russia surrendered its
leases at Liaoyang and Port Arthur, evacuated
Manchuria, and gave the southern half of
Sakhalin Island to Japan (which the Soviet
Union would recover after World War II). Korea
was recognized as being in the Japanese sphere
of influence. Three years later, Japan annexed
Korea. President Roosevelt received the Nobel
Peace Prize for his efforts, while Nicholas II was
now left with the purely domestic phase of the
Russo-Finnish War
See “
WINTER WAR
.”
Russo-Japanese War
(1904-1905)
A war fought in 1904-5 that resulted from the
long-term clash of interests in East Asia between
two expansionist powers, the Russo-Japanese
War marked the emergence of Japan as an East
Asian power and, having triggered the 1905 Rev-
olution in Russia, also exposed Russia's domestic
vulnerability and military weakness. Attracted by
the possible political gains from a “short, victori-
ous little war,” Czar
NICHOLAS II
ignored the advice
of more seasoned officials such as his foreign
minister and the former minister of finance,
Count Sergei
WITTE
, and instead followed policies
that provoked a conflict. The war itself was trig-
gered by Russia's refusal to honor a 1902 agree-
ment with Japan and withdraw from
MANCHURIA
,
as well as from its insistence in obtaining com-
mercial concessions in Korea. On February 6,
1904, Japan attacked the Russian naval fleet
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