Mushroom
Gold Member
How did the 1905 war between Japan and Russia start?
Well, that is actually rather complex. And in essence is because both nations wanted to expand their influence in the region.
After the Boxer Rebellion, both nations got concessions for bases in China. And what Russia wanted and lacked until then was a year-round port in the region, which is why they worked to obtain Port Arthur from China.
However, this also put them right into the area that Japan wanted to expand into. At that time, Russia was wanting to move into Manchuria, and Japan was taking over Korea. And Japan proposed that the two nations recognize the territorial goals of the other and not compete. But Russia refused to do that, as they also had eventual goals of moving farther south and into Korea. Then Russia actually demanded that the borders between the two be established in Korea on the 39th Parallel, just north of the 38th Parallel used as the dividing line in Korea after WWII. They insisted everything north of there would belong to Russia, with a 50 mile wide demilitarized zone between them.
Well, that offended the Japanese, as they already largely controlled Korea. It also put them on edge, as they had already had multiple conflicts with Russia dating back to the 16th century, and most recently in the First Russo-Japanese War in 1895. And after almost a year of negotiations went nowhere and Russia refused to budge, Japan attacked Port Arthur. And by the end of the war, Russia lost most of the territory they had gained from China, and Japan was soon in control of Mongolia.