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The misunderstood lessons
from history...
By Gilbert Rios of APM
The general context of the Russo-Ja- time undermined by the great weakness
panese war of 1904 was the control of of the Qing imperial dynasty. The great
Manchuria and Korea, with a marked powers such as Great Britain and the
desire for expansion on the Russian United States recommended that Tokyo
side (construction of the Trans-Siberian exercise caution, as it rejected the
Railway, then the Trans-Manchurian growing Russian presence in Korea and
Railway...) and Japan’s desire for these Manchuria...
same territories. To face what it considered a dangerous
Nicholas II and Emperor Mutsuhito threat, Japan decided to increase its mi-
wanted to build a colonial empire to litary budget by 400%-500% in order to
match those of the Western powers. double its manpower and make its fleet
Their common target was China, at that the largest in the Asian Pacific zone.
Japanese naval officers were trained
by Great Britain, and at a diplomatic le-
vel, Japan obtained the UK’s support on
30 January 1902.
For Tsar Nicholas II, who believed him-
self to be on a civilising mission, as did a
substantial proportion of his state appa-
ratus, it was a matter of taking up arms
against what they called “the Japanese
macaques” so as to unify the populations
of the Empire around a triumphant Tsar.
On paper, the Russian army was three
times larger than the Japanese army and
was thus tipped to emerge victorious, as
the propaganda both inside and outside
the country shows (see the 3 documents
opposite). Russia was enjoying ma-
58 Delcampe Magazine
