Aftermath of the Victory of the Sea of Japan--The World Hopes
that Peace Will Result--The President of the United States
Takes the Initial Step--Meantime the Japanese Decline an
Armistice--Operations Begun for the Seizure of Saghalien
Island--Japanese Landing Parties Successful--Russians Continue
Flight After Series of Conflicts--Japanese Take Chief Town of
Island, Alexandrovsk, July 25--Flight of Russians and Pursuit
Continued--Governor of Island and Remainder of Garrison
Surrender to Japanese, July 30--Russia and Japan Accept
President's Proposal to Meet and Discuss Terms of
Peace--America Chosen as Scene of Meeting--Envoys
Named--Portsmouth, N. H., Selected as Scene of Meeting--Russian
and Japanese Envoys Formally Received by the President at
Oyster Bay, August 5--Sessions of Peace Conference Begin at
Portsmouth, August 9--Conference Adjourns Without Achievement,
August 18--President Begins Effort to Effect Compromise, August
19--Japan Withdraws Demand for Indemnity and Other Demands on
Which There Had Been a Deadlock, August 29--Announcement Made
That Peace is Assured--Work of Drafting Treaty Begun--Peace
Treaty Signed--The Treaty of Peace.
A wave of awe went 'round the word when the full effects of the Battle
of the Sea of Japan were realized. Russia stood before the world in the
light of a thoroughly vanquished nation. On land her armies had been
invariably defeated in a series of battles of stupendous magnitude. Her
original Asiatic fleet had been annihilated. Her last great effort to
stem the victories of Japan, the sending of a vast Armada to the
Orient, had resulted in complete annihilation of that fleet. The
nations forgot to grieve for the thousands slain in the hope that this
last crowning disaster to Russia would bring what every civilized land
had desired for months--an end to the titanic war.
[Sidenote: President Takes Initiative]
While this was the universal wish it remained for the President of the
United States to take the initiative. The fact that, with the exception
of a minor campaign for the possession of the Island of Saghalien, off
the Siberian coast, this was really the closing chapter of the war, has
added a brilliant feat to the annals of American diplomatic
achievements and has placed the name of Theodore Roosevelt eternally
among those of the famous benefactors of humanity.
[Sidenote: Japanese Take Saghalien]
As has been said, one minor martial enterprise remained for the
Japanese. Saghalien Island, blanketing the coasts of Siberia for a
distance of 700 miles, had been secured by Russia from Japan by a
treaty partaking, it was claimed by the Japanese, the nature of a
coercive measure. Among the objects for which the Japanese had entered
upon the war were to secure permanent fishing rights in the waters
along the Siberian coast and the recession of Saghalien Island to her.
The seizure of this Island, too, was a necessary corollary of a land
and sea campaign against Vladivostock, which would have been the next
step in her military campaign had not the war come to an end. There was
little surprise, therefore, when the Tokio government, while giving
consent to a proposal that the belligerent nations meet to talk of
peace, refused to consent to an armistice. Possession of Saghalien
Island was still to be gained. The Japanese campaign began when a
landing was effected on the East coast of the Island on July 8. The
Russian garrison numbered 8,000 men and while there were defensive
works of some strength at a number of points, the defenders were
helpless before the advance of the invaders. The campaign amounted to a
half dozen engagements, mere skirmishes, when compared with the battles
of the Manchurian campaign. The Russians made a brave defence, but lost
position after position and the subjugation of the Island was completed
on July 30, when the Russian Governor and 3,500 men surrendered "in the
name of humanity." Five days previously the Japanese had occupied
Alexandrovsk, the chief town of the Island and co-operative naval
forces were disposed so that the escape of the garrison from the Island
to the mainland was impossible. The slaughter of the entire force of
the defenders could have been the only result of continued resistance.
The Japanese announced the organization of a civil administration of
the Island the moment the surrender had been completed, and were thus
in possession of what was actually Russian territory. This fact was
important to the Japanese from several standpoints. The Island is rich
in minerals, it is the centre of the vast fishing industry of the North
Pacific and has strategic value on account of its position with regard
to the entire Siberian littoral. More important than any of these
circumstances, however, was the fact that it had been soil over which
flew the Russian flag. The Japanese contemplated making a demand for
indemnity at the forthcoming peace conference. Precedent demanded that
there should have been the occupation of territory to make valid such a
claim. The occupation of Saghalien gave this necessary basis for the
indemnity demand which, ultimately was presented and only withdrawn
when it became apparent that the war must go on unless Japan withdrew
her claim.
But the conquest of Saghalien marked the last of actual warfare between
Japan and Russia. President Roosevelt had sent an identical note to
Japan and Russia on June 8, calling upon each, in the name of humanity,
to meet to discuss terms of peace and the whole Saghalien campaign had
gone on while, following this request, diplomatic machinery had been
slowly at work preparing the way for the peace conference. The rest of
the story of the Japan-Russia War has to do with the events which
finally called permanent truce to the long struggle and caused a
million fighting men and their auxiliaries to turn their faces from the
rugged plains of Manchuria, where thousands on thousands had given
their lives for their Emperors and their Fatherlands.
[Sidenote: Preparing for Peace Parleys]
Russia's acceptance of the President's invitation reached Washington on
June 12, two days after Japan had announced her assent. A ripple was
caused by difficulty in choosing a place for the meeting. Russia
preferred an European capital. Japan would not consent to any that
could be named. Russia ultimately yielded the point, and on June 15,
with the consent of both of the belligerents, Washington was named, and
a day within the first ten days of August was accepted for the
assembling of the envoys. The Czar named Sergius Witte, greatest
statesman of the Empire, to head the peace delegation, with Baron
Rosen, Russian ambassador at Washington, as his associate. The Mikado
named Baron Komura as chief of the Japanese delegation, and as his
associate, Mr. Takahira, Japanese Minister to the United States.
Accompanying each was a suite of a dozen secretarys, legal and military
experts and interpreters. On July 11, the President named Portsmouth,
N. H., Navy Yard as the actual place of meeting. It was feared that
Washington, under the torrid conditions usually prevailing there in
mid-summer, would prove a too uncomfortable place for the guests of the
nation to spend the weeks that must necessarily be consumed in the
negotiations. The Japanese envoys and their suite reached New York on
July 25. M. Witte, the chief Russian envoy, arrived in New York with
his suite on August 2, and was joined by Baron Rosen, his associate.
Both the Japanese and the Russian delegations were informally presented
to the President at his summer home at Oyster Bay, N. Y., prior to the
formal reception of the two peace missions which took place on the
President's yacht, the Mayflower, in Oyster Bay on August 5. The
President, in a toast to which no reply was given, expressed the hope
that a "just and lasting peace" might be arranged. The envoys and their
suites were conveyed in warships to Portsmouth, reaching that city on
August 7. The envoys were formally welcomed by United States officials
and the Governor of the State of New Hampshire. The Hotel Wentworth, on
an island off the mainland was made their place of residence. The newly
constructed general stores building in the Navy Yard, which had been
elaborately fitted up with every possible convenience, was designated
as the scene of the sessions.
[Sidenote: The Japanese Terms]
The first meeting of the envoys was held on August 9. The Japanese
terms were presented in twelve sections, as follows:
I. Recognition of Japan's "preponderating influence" in Korea.
II. Mutual obligations to evacuate Manchuria, Russia to retrocede to
China all special privileges.
III. Japanese obligations to restore the sovereignty and administration
of China in Manchuria.
IV. Mutual obligations to respect the territorial and administrative
integrity of China and the principle of the "open door."
V. The cession of the Island of Saghalien.
VI. The surrender of the Russian leases in the Liaotung Peninsula,
including Port Arthur, Dalny and the Blonde and Elliott Islands.
VII. The cession of the branch of the Chinese Eastern Railroad from
Harbin southward.
VIII. The retention by Russia of that portion of the railroad line
through northern Manchuria connecting the Transsiberian road with
Vladivostock.
IX. The reimbursement of Japan for the war--commonly spoken of as the
indemnity.
X. The surrender of Russian warships which have been interned in
neutral ports during the war.
XI. The limitation of Russia's naval forces in the Pacific.
XII. The question of fishing rights of Russia and Japan off the
Siberian coast.
[Sidenote: Japan Makes Peace Possible]
These demands, one by one, were discussed by the envoys. It developed
that Russia absolutely refused to grant an indemnity, to surrender
warships interned in Chinese and American ports, or to cede to Japan
the Island of Saghalien. Whatever hope of compromise there seemed to be
with regard to the other questions at issue it was regarded as
absolutely essential to the signing of a treaty of peace that Russia
should yield on the subject of indemnity. The President's efforts were
directed toward accomplishing this result under some other name than
indemnity. It was proposed to arrange for the payment of the amount
demanded as a purchase price for Saghalien, or for the railway rights
over which Japan had become master. No compromise would be listened to
by the Czar, "Not a kopeck for indemnity," was the phrase of M. Witte,
and there was no yielding. By shrewd diplomatic manoeuvring the
Russian envoy had placed Japan in a position which meant that were the
war to be continued it would be upon the responsibility of Japan and
for the sole reason that money must be had. The Tokio government, after
long discussion, decided upon a magnanimous course, which at once won
the encomiums of the whole civilized world. She yielded every point in
dispute, gave up her demand for indemnity, gave up half of Saghalien,
gave up her claim upon the interned warships and, though triumphantly
victorious in every step of the war, accepted terms of peace dictated
by the nation she had conquered, and this "in the name of humanity."
Russia had won the victory on the face of it, but the historian will
credit to Japan the greater and the real victory, a victory of vast
moral and humanitarian significance.
The glad news went out to the world on August 29, that the envoys had
agreed upon every point and that a treaty of peace would forthwith be
drafted. To Prof. Maartens, the famous authority of international law
and to Mr. Dennison, an American, long an adviser of the Japanese
Foreign Office, was assigned the task of actually drafting the treaty
in accord with the general agreement that had been reached by the
envoys. Their work was speedily accomplished and the "Treaty of
Portsmouth" brought to an end this struggle that had cost hundreds of
thousands of lives, billions of dollars and had completely changed the
status of political power in the Far East.
The treaty of peace was finally signed at Portsmouth, N. H., on
September 5, 1905; Sergius Witte and Baron Rosen signed for Russia,
while Baron Komura and Mr. Takahira signed for Japan. It was signed by
the Emperors of Russia and Japan and made public October 16, 1905.
TEXT OF THE TREATY.
The text of the treaty is as follows:
The Emperor of Japan, on the one part, and the Emperor of all the
Russias, on the other part, animated by a desire to restore the
blessings of peace to their countries, have resolved to conclude
a treaty of peace, and have for this purpose named their
plenipotentiaries, that is to say, for his Majesty the Emperor of
Japan, Baron Komura Jutaro, Jusami, Grand Cordon of the Imperial
Order of the Rising Sun, his Minister for Foreign Affairs, and
his Excellency, Takahira Kogoro, Imperial Order of the Sacred
Treasure, his Minister to the United States, and his Majesty the
Emperor of all the Russias his Excellency Sergius Witte, his
Secretary of State and President of the Committee of Ministers of
the Empire of Russia, and his Excellency Baron Roman Rosen,
Master of the Imperial Court of Russia, his Majesty's Ambassador
to the United States, who, after having exchanged their full
powers, which were found to be in good and due form, have
concluded the following articles:
ARTICLE I.
There shall henceforth be peace and amity between their Majesties the
Emperor of Japan and the Emperor of all the Russias, and between their
respective States and subjects.
ARTICLE II.
The Imperial Russian Government, acknowledging that Japan possesses in
Korea paramount political, military and economical interests, engages
neither to obstruct nor interfere with measures for guidance,
protection and control which the Imperial Government of Japan may find
necessary to take in Korea. It is understood that Russian subjects in
Korea shall be treated in exactly the same manner as the subjects and
citizens of other foreign Powers; that is to say, they shall be placed
on the same footing as the subjects and citizens of the most favored
nation. It is also agreed that, in order to avoid causes of
misunderstanding, the two high contracting parties will abstain on the
Russian-Korean frontier from taking any military measure which may
menace the security of Russian or Korean territory.
ARTICLE III.
Japan and Russia mutually engage:
First.--To evacuate completely and simultaneously Manchuria, except the
territory affected by the lease of the Liaotung Peninsula, in
conformity with the provisions of the additional article 1 annexed to
this treaty, and,
Second.--To restore entirely and completely to the exclusive
administration of China all the portions of Manchuria now in
occupation, or under the control of the Japanese or Russian troops,
with the exception of the territory above mentioned.
The Imperial Government of Russia declares that it has not in Manchuria
any territorial advantages or preferential or exclusive concessions in
the impairment of Chinese sovereignty, or inconsistent with the
principle of equal opportunity.
ARTICLE IV.
Japan and Russia reciprocally engage not to obstruct any general
measures common to all countries which China may take for the
development of the commerce or industry of Manchuria.
ARTICLE V.
The Imperial Russian Government transfers and assigns to the Imperial
Government of Japan, with the consent of the Government of China, the
lease of Port Arthur, Talien and the adjacent territory and territorial
waters, and all rights, privileges and concessions connected with or
forming part of such lease, and it also transfers and assigns to the
Imperial Government of Japan all public works and properties in the
territory affected by the above-mentioned lease.
The two contracting parties mutually engage to obtain the consent of
the Chinese Government mentioned in the foregoing stipulation.
The Imperial Government of Japan, on its part, undertakes that the
proprietary rights of Russian subjects in the territory above referred
to shall be perfectly respected.
ARTICLE VI.
The Imperial Russian Government engages to transfer and assign to the
Imperial Government of Japan, without compensation and with the consent
of the Chinese Government, the railway between Changchunfu and
Kuanchangtsu and Port Arthur, and all the branches, together with all
the rights, privileges and properties appertaining thereto in that
region, as well as all the coal mines in said region belonging to or
worked for the benefit of the railway. The two high contracting parties
mutually engage to obtain the consent of the Government of China
mentioned in the foregoing stipulation.
ARTICLE VII.
Japan and Russia engage to exploit their respective railways in
Manchuria exclusively for commercial and industrial purposes and nowise
for strategic purposes. It is understood that this restriction does not
apply to the railway in the territory affected by the lease of the
Liaotung Peninsula.
ARTICLE VIII.
The Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia with the view to promote
and facilitate intercourse and traffic will as soon as possible
conclude a separate convention for the regulation of their connecting
railway services in Manchuria.
ARTICLE IX.
The Imperial Russian Government cedes to the Imperial Government of
Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty the southern portion of the
Island of Saghalin and all the islands adjacent thereto and the public
works and properties thereon. The fiftieth degree of north latitude is
adopted as the northern boundary of the ceded territory. The exact
alignment of such territory shall be determined in accordance with the
provisions of the additional article II annexed to this treaty.
Japan and Russia mutually agree not to construct in their respective
possessions on the Island of Saghalin or the adjacent islands any
fortification or other similar military works. They also respectively
engage not to take any military measures which may impede the free
navigation of the Strait of La Perouse and the Strait of Tartary.
ARTICLE X.
It is reserved to Russian subjects, inhabitants of the territory ceded
to Japan, to sell their real property and retire to their country, but
if they prefer to remain in the ceded territory they will be maintained
and protected in the full exercise of their industries and rights of
property on condition of submitting to the Japanese laws and
jurisdiction. Japan shall have full liberty to withdraw the right of
residence in or to deport from such territory of any inhabitants who
labor under political or administrative disability. She engages,
however, that the proprietary rights of such inhabitants shall be fully
respected.
ARTICLE XI.
Russia engages to arrange with Japan for granting to Japanese subjects
rights of fishery along the coasts of the Russian possession in the
Japan, Okhotsk and Bering Seas.
It is agreed that the foregoing engagement shall not affect rights
already belonging to Russian or foreign subjects in those regions.
ARTICLE XII.
The treaty of commerce and navigation between Japan and Russia having
been annulled by the war the Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia
engage to adopt as a basis for their commercial relations pending the
conclusion of a new treaty of commerce and navigation the basis of the
treaty which was in force previous to the present war, the system of
reciprocal treatment on the footing of the most favored nation, in
which are included import and export duties, customs formalities,
transit and tonnage dues and the admission and treatment of agents,
subjects and vessels of one country in the territories of the other.
ARTICLE XIII.
As soon as possible after the present treaty comes in force all
prisoners of war shall be reciprocally restored. The Imperial
Governments of Japan and Russia shall each appoint a special
commissioner to take charge of the prisoners. All prisoners in the
hands of one Government shall be delivered to and be received by the
commissioner of the other Government or by his duly authorized
representative in such convenient numbers and at such convenient ports
of the delivering State as such delivering State shall notify in
advance to the commissioner of the receiving State.
The Governments of Japan and Russia shall present each other as soon as
possible after the delivery of the prisoners is completed with a
statement of the direct expenditures respectively incurred by them for
the care and maintenance of the prisoners from the date of capture or
surrender and up to the time of death or delivery. Russia engages to
repay to Japan as soon as possible after the exchange of statement as
above provided the difference between the actual amount so expended by
Japan and the actual amount similarly disbursed by Russia.
ARTICLE XIV.
The present treaty shall be ratified by their Majesties the Emperor of
Japan and the Emperor of all the Russias. Such ratification shall be
with as little delay as possible, and in any case no later than fifty
days from the date of the signature of the treaty, to be announced to
the Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia respectively through the
French Minister at Tokio and the Ambassador of the United States at St.
Petersburg, and from the date of the latter of such announcements this
treaty shall in all its parts come into full force. The formal exchange
of ratifications shall take place at Washington as soon as possible.
ARTICLE XV.
The present treaty shall be signed in duplicate in both the English and
French languages. The texts are in absolute conformity, but in case of
a discrepancy in the interpretation the French text shall prevail.
SUB-ARTICLES.
In conformity with the provisions of articles 3 and 9 of the treaty of
peace between Japan and Russia of this date the undersigned
plenipotentiaries have concluded the following additional articles:
SUB-ARTICLE TO ARTICLE III.
The Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia mutually engage to
commence the withdrawal of their military forces from the territory of
Manchuria simultaneously and immediately after the treaty of peace
comes into operation, and within a period of eighteen months after that
date the armies of the two countries shall be completely withdrawn from
Manchuria, except from the leased territory of the Liaotung Peninsula.
The forces of the two countries occupying the front positions shall
first be withdrawn.
The high contracting parties reserve to themselves the right to
maintain guards to protect their respective railway lines in Manchuria.
The number of such guards shall not exceed fifteen per kilometre and
within that maximum number the commanders of the Japanese and Russian
armies shall by common accord fix the number of such guards to be
employed as small as possible while having in view the actual
requirements.
The commanders of the Japanese and Russian forces in Manchuria shall
agree upon the details of the evacuation in conformity with the above
principles and shall take by common accord the measures necessary to
carry out the evacuation as soon as possible, and in any case not later
than the period of eighteen months.
SUB-ARTICLE TO ARTICLE IX.
As soon as possible after the present treaty comes into force a
committee of delimitation composed of an equal number of members is to
be appointed respectively by the two high contracting parties which
shall on the spot mark in a permanent manner the exact boundary between
the Japanese and Russian possessions on the Island of Saghalin. The
commission shall be bound so far as topographical considerations permit
to follow the fiftieth parallel of north latitude as the boundary line,
and in case any deflections from that line at any points are found to
be necessary compensation will be made by correlative deflections at
other points. It shall also be the duty of the said commission to
prepare a list and a description of the adjacent islands included in
the cession, and finally the commission shall prepare and sign maps
showing the boundaries of the ceded territory. The work of the
commission shall be subject to the approval of the high contracting
parties.
The foregoing additional articles are to be considered ratified with
the ratification of the treaty of peace to which they are annexed.
In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed and
affixed seals to the present treaty of peace.
Done at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, this fifth day of the ninth month of
the thirty-eighth year of the Meijei, corresponding to the twenty-third
day of August, one thousand nine hundred and five. (September 5, 1905.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber's note:
Names, italicized phrases, and inconsistencies in capitalization
and hyphenation have been left as printed. Otherwise, obvious
typographical errors, punctuation errors, and inconsistencies in
the punctuation of sidenotes and captions have been corrected.
Illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up
paragraphs, thus the page number of the illustration might not
match the page number in the List of Illustrations.
On page 278, "Commander-inChief" has been changed
to "Commander-in-Chief" ("During the months which
had elapsed since the arrival of the Russian
Commander-in-Chief at the seat of war").
On page 373, "silhouttes" has been changed to
"silhouettes" ("two long dark silhouettes, emitting
quantities of smoke and evidently steaming at high
speed").
On page 374, "silhouttes" has been changed to
"silhouettes" ("two long, dark silhouettes emitting
quantities of smoke").
On page 427, "(9)" has been changed to "(10)" ("(10)
Wounds inflicted by modern arms heal readily").
On page 433, "mobility" has been changed to
"immobility" ("the inexorable grasp of the Manchurian
winter had fallen upon them and frozen them into
immobility").
On page 458, "unrecord" has been left as printed
("continued under these unrecord of the actual
campaign").
On page 507, "tht" has been changed to "the" ("General
Oku avoided the Russian right centre just left of the
railroad").
On page 518, "Russians resistance" has been changed to
"Russian resistance" ("Thereupon the Russian resistance
was redoubled in fury").
On page 537, counts of ships have been left as printed.