Belligerent Empires: The road to World War Zero
In the long history of the world, there are few eras as interesting as the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These were times of great change, turmoil, and transformation in the world. Many issues, phenomena, and ideas that continue to influence the world today originated during that period. Additionally, this era played a critical role in the history of two current major world powers: Russia and Japan. Recently, in preparation for a Model UN conference, I had the opportunity to delve into the Russo-Japanese War. This event is often referred to as the ‘World War Zero’ due to its significance as one of the first modern confrontations between an Asian and a European power. Hence, my deep interest in this period of history motivated me to thoroughly research and gain extensive knowledge about its causes. Consequently, all these factors have compelled me to author this article, focusing on the casus belli (causes of the war) and the historical background of the nations involved.
Any analysis of a historical event must begin with a brief examination of the key players who influenced the event. For the Russo-Japanese War, the major players were two mighty empires, each at contrasting positions of strength. On one side, we have the Meiji era of the Empire of Japan, led by Emperor Mutsuhito: best known for leading Japan to the modern superpower it is today. Under his reign, Japan rapidly modernized and industrialized. Meiji’s Japan was built by a group of astute political operatives known as the Meiji Oligarchy. They started as minor players in Japan’s sprawling noble classes. Nevertheless, they managed to seize power from the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan at the time. These ambitious men closely studied the European nations’ model of progress and adapted it to Japan’s unique context. Although they were prone to internal power struggles, their efforts to advance reforms were never significantly stalled.
Meiji’s Japan was pitted against a declining Russian empire. Led by the infamous Nicholas II: the last emperor of Russia. The empire had a formidable reputation and vast land holdings. Due to its sheer scale, Russia was always tough to govern. Additionally, its ethnic diversity due to its long past of conquests made many of its people by nature, hostile to the emperor. Historically, Russia’s strength compared to the rest of the world depended on the capability and competence of the ruling Tsar. However, Nicholas II did not stand out as one of Russia’s most impressive leaders. His reign was mostly dominated by domestic instability. In the Russian system of the time, a rotating cast of ministers, advisors, and nobles vied for power, but Nicholas’ inability to manage the imperial intrigue resulted in significant flaws in the system. Additionally, the Russian’s had grown complacent and overconfident in their abilities. Moreover, their ideas of government were derived from outdated doctrines and were being implemented by creaking institutions. While these were successful at the time of the implementation, by the 19th century had become inefficient.
Armed with a broad understanding of the scenario, we are now ready to dive into the details. While I have covered the salient points, there is much nuance and detail that I have not addressed. Furthermore, I have excluded some points or simplified certain aspects. Fortunately, there is a wealth of information available in various books, articles, and resources for further exploration. Personally, half the fun of history is immersing oneself in the details; I would not want to deprive you of that opportunity. I wrote this article to provide you with a taste of the event, and it is up to you to explore the rest of the information. With that obligatory disclaimer out of the way, let us jump right in.
Pre-industrial Japan: The Tokugawa Shogunate
In the early 19th century, Japan was ruled by a military dictatorship known as the Tokugawa shogunate, with the emperor serving as a mere figurehead. Meanwhile, the actual power was in the hands of the Tokugawa shogun (general). The Tokugawa family rose to power by ending the civil wars that had plagued Japan for a time. Initially, they were a family of powerful local lords (daimyō). To safeguard their power, the Tokugawa took some key steps. Firstly, they reorganized the nation under a strict hierarchy to promote political stability, with the shogun holding the real power. A member of the Tokugawa family would always hold the shogun position. Underneath the shogun, prominent samurai or daimyō handled administration and taxation within their large personal domains. Below them were the samurai: the primary enforcers of the daimyō’s power. The rest of society was ordered based on their relative societal value.
Among these groups, the daimyō played the most critical role in Japan’s decentralized structure, holding almost absolute power over their domains. Fearing the daimyōs autonomy as a threat, the Tokugawa family implemented policies to curb their power and ensure their loyalty. These policies included: regulating marriages in daimyo families to prevent marital alliances, limiting the construction of fortifications, and requiring oaths of allegiance to the shogun. Additionally, they encouraged infighting between the daimyō to prevent them from uniting and rebelling against the Tokugawa. To safeguard against foreign adversaries, Japan pursued an isolationist foreign policy, severely punishing attempts to leave or enter the country. As a result, Japan enjoyed relative peace during the nearly 250 years of Tokugawa rule.
However, eventually, the Tokugawa were forced to abandon some of their key policies and made some missteps. Japan’s era of isolation ended abruptly due to the shogunate’s policy of signing perceived ‘unequal’ treaties with foreigners and the growing influence of powerful but hostile daimyō in the Satsuma and Chōshū domains, which led to instability within Japan. Taking advantage of the shogunate’s weakness, these forces convinced the emperor to strip power from the shogun. Following a civil war, Emperor Meiji became the undisputed ruler of Japan in 1869.
The Meiji era: The enlightened era
With full authority over the administration of the nation, the emperor promptly appointed loyalists from lower-ranking samurai families to senior administrative positions being impressed with their vision for the nation. Such ambitious and capable men, including the Ishin no Sanketsu or ‘Three Outstanding Heroes in the Restoration,’ became influential advisors and constituted what would later be called the ‘Meiji Oligarchy.’ Every so often, the Meiji Oligarchy would evolve with a new set of advisors being brought in every few years.
To justify their reforms to the people, the Meiji oligarchy carried out their actions in the name of the emperor, who was considered a symbol of continuity and the guardian of Japan’s culture and history. They propagated an ideology of absolute loyalty to the emperor, portraying him as a semi-divine figure to whom the Japanese people owed everything and should follow unquestioningly. This ideology was evident in the language used in announcements of reforms. For example, when Japan adopted a constitution, it was declared that the people’s rights were not absolute or inalienable, as in the West, but were given to them by the emperor. This ideological narrative conveniently supported the oligarchs’ moves aimed at centralization and uniformity.
Recognizing that Japan faced financial instability and lacked the funds necessary for infrastructure development to fuel industrialization, the Meiji oligarchy began by reforming the land ownership and taxation systems. They initiated a series of reforms that stripped the daimyō and samurai of their lands, status, and roles in the tax collection process. To prevent uprisings by disgruntled daimyō and maintain stability, they reformed the system of nobility to resemble the European model and gave the daimyō senior positions in the hierarchy. Japan was reorganized into a prefectural system, with each prefecture governed by a centrally appointed governor. This change allowed the government to collect all land tax revenue, as the daimyō system had been abolished, and it ensured stability as the conflicts among local rural lords were eliminated. These changes overhauled the empire’s finances, providing the resources needed for further reforms and infrastructure development.
The Japanese government also brought in foreign advisors to compensate for the lack of domestic skilled labour and to train the workforce. Simultaneously, they set up a national education system to efficiently disseminate these teachings among the populace and reduce long-term reliance on foreigners. By the end of the 19th century, such reforms had made significant contributions to Japan’s rapid transformation across various fields. Japan’s military, agriculture, and engineering sectors were modernized and overhauled. Due to the such factors, by the eve of the war, Japan had a modern, well-trained military with a world-class navy. Additionally, the country experienced burgeoning industrial growth, a well-developed transport and communication network, and widespread urbanization. These developments led to a surge in Japan’s population, making it clear that domestic agriculture could not support the growth. Furthermore, the rapid industrialization compelled Japan to seek resources through colonialism, which sparked their interest in Manchuria.
Russia: A nation caught between ages
After making it past the mammoth deep dive of the conditions that lead to Japan’s interest in Manchuria, I would forgive you for being a little tired of hearing about Japan. So, I think that its high time that we change gears and move over to covering the Russian side. Coming into the 19th century, the Russian empire was a behemoth. It was a fearsome foe that commanded great power and influence. However, this gigantic scale had other consequences. Russian society had, compared to the rest of Europe, been trapped in the past. It never evolved past a feudal social structure and organized itself in a largely medieval form. Nobility, serfdom, and the predominance of the imperial court were amongst the institutions that dominated Russian society. The Russians were not oblivious to these issues, but their attempts at modernization had mixed success. The first Russian leader to recognize benefits of industrialization was Peter the Great. As much as I would love to delve into his history, I shall supress those urges for the sake of brevity. He transformed the Russian state and made sweeping reforms, but his successors proved less ambitions and able.
By the time of the 19th century, Russia still lagged its European counterparts. In the end, Russia was able to produce at scale but this ended up creating further issues. Firstly, it created a new working class that was bitter at the poor working conditions in the empire’s factories. Secondly, attempts at land reform had fostered a combative peasant population. While Russian industry had some success in modernizing, the military was a completely different animal. After defeating Napolean, Russian military leaders, particularly Nicholas the First, became overconfident and spent lavishly on an overly bureaucratised and overmanned military. While the Russian military was adequately staffed, little thought or effort went to training, adapting, or modernizing it. Unlike their Prussian or British counterparts, the Russians cared little for modern tactics, strategies, or technologies. In fact, the situation was so dire that in contemporary times, a stereotype has appeared that casts the Russian military of the time as a glorified theatre of pageantry and parades. Corruption was rife as ambitious people began to see the extravagant sums spent on the military as ripe for the taking. In addition to the corruption, since the military was primarily staffed by conscription, morale amongst the troops was low. Finally, the disastrous performance of the Russians in wars such as the Crimean war shook the sheen off Russia’s previous assumed military might.
Yet these internal challenges did not deter the Russian’s ambitions in the east. They had invested great sums of money into building infrastructure to secure Manchuria and Korea. Projects such as the Eastern Chinese railway ended up costing vast amounts. Furthermore, Russian involvement in Chinese issues such as the Boxer rebellion and the Manchurian campaign proved costly. It has been estimated that the Russians spent approximately 500 million roubles to build permanent properties in China. The Russians were wary of Japanese expansion in the region as a threat to their significant investments.
Finally, after getting through all that information, I believe that I have provided a comprehensive introduction to the factors that influenced the Russo-Japanese war. I hope that I have succeeded in stimulating your interest in the matter and I strongly encourage you to investigate the events mentioned here further. Loose yourself in the topic like I did, and you will leave with a profound understanding of the circumstances that have contributed to these powers current place in our world. It is a fascinating rabbit hole to descend; give it a shot. Below, I have provided some interesting resources that I used, and that provide a great launching off pad to look further into some of the points mentioned in this article.
Further reading:
Book on the causes of the war: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57931
Paper on the Tokugawa Shogunate: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/137080/1/Binder3.pdf
Meiji Japan’s Financial Policy: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1746-1049.1965.tb00767.x
Article on Meiji Japan: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1750_meiji.htm
