|
Japanese leaders of the late 19th century regarded the Korean Peninsula
as a "dagger pointed at the heart of Japan." It was over Korea that Japan
became involved in the first Sino-Japanese War with the Chinese Empire in
1894-1895 and the Russo-Japanese War with Russia in 1904-1905. The war with
China established Japan's dominant interest in Korea, while giving it the
Pescadores Islands and Formosa (now Taiwan).
In 1905 Japan
inflicted a singeing defeat upon Tsarist Russia, which woke up the whole
world to the new boy on the block.
The resulting Treaty of Portsmouth denied
Japan an indemnity, leading to riots, but Japan replaced Russian economic
influence in Inner Manchuria. Much anger was also felt at the denial of the
whole of Sakhalin (Karafuto) which the Japanese felt Russia had extorted in
1875 in exchange for the Kurile Islands. Both wars gave Japan a free hand in
Korea, which it formally annexed in 1910.
|
