|
The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed on
September 5,
1905 at the Portsmouth Naval Base,
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, by
Sergius Witte and
Roman Rosen (for
Russia) and
Komura Jutaro and
Takahira Kogoro (for
Japan), ending the
Russo-Japanese War.
The
treaty acknowledged Japan as the dominant power in
Korea and both sides agreed to evacuate
Manchuria and return its sovereignty to
China, but Japan was leased the
Liaodong Peninsula (containing
Port Arthur and
Talien) and the Russian rail system in southern Manchuria with access
to strategic resources. Japan also received the southern half of the
Island of
Sakhalin from Russia. Although Japan gained a lot, that was not nearly
as much as the Japanese public had been led to expect. The frustration
caused the
Hibiya riots and the collapse of
Katsura Taro's Cabinet on
January 7,
1906.
The negotiations for the treaty were taken under the mediation of
Theodore Roosevelt (for which he won the 1906
Nobel Peace Prize), both sides were seeking a peace - the Russians had
been repeatedly defeated, but the Japanese were in considerable financial
difficulties. Negotiations lasted through August. Prior to the beginning
of the negotiations, the Japanese had signed the
Taft-Katsura agreement with the US in July, 1905, agreeing to Japanese
control in Korea in return for American dominance in the
Philippines. Also the Japanese agreed with Britain to extend the
Anglo-Japanese treaty to cover all of Eastern Asia and in return for
Britain also agreeing to Japan having Korea. The treaty confirmed Japan's
emergence as the pre-eminent power in east Asia and forced Russia to
abandon its expansionist policies, but it was not well received by the
Japanese public.
|
