Treaty of Portsmouth

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Russia and Japan accepted President Roosevelt's offer to help end the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and agreed to meet with him and Governor John McLane in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Russia agreed after losing major naval and land battles. Japan, which had begun the war with a surprise attack on Port Arthur in Manchuria, agreed after running out of money to finance the war.

On 10 August 1905, the Japanese presented twelve terms. They negotiated daily, but by 19 August, they had reached an impasse. Roosevelt worked to reach compromises on war reparations by Russia to Japan, returning captured Japanese vessels, curtailment of Russia's Pacific navy, and Russia's buying back half of Sakhalin Island for $40,000,000. Russia's envoys were under strict orders not to authorize any kind of payment.

From 20–30 August, Roosevelt persuaded the Japanese to forego reparations and Russia's purchase of southern Sakhalin. Russia agreed to allow Japan to occupy the southern half of Sakhalin and to leave Korea. Both agreed to return Manchuria to China, to restrict their activities in China, and to divide the fisheries they had claimed. The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed on 5 September 1905. In 1906, President Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the negotiations.

Bibliography

Russo-Japanese War Research Society. Available at http://www.russojapan.com.

Westwood, J. N. Russia against Japan 1904–1905: A New Look at the Russo-Japanese War. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986.

Signed September 5 (August 23 O.S.), 1905, in Portsmouth, Maine, this treaty terminated the Russo-Japanese war. U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt had offered to mediate between the warring parties, fearing that continued fighting would destabilize the Far East and jeopardize U.S. commercial interests in China. (Roosevelt went on to win the Nobel Prize for Peace for his efforts.)

Russia recognized Japan's interests in Korea, and ceded its lease over the Liaotung Peninsula to Japan, as well as the southern half of Sakhalin island and control of the Southern Manchurian railroad to Chang-chun. Russia also pledged that Manchuria would remain a part of China.

The treaty ended any Russian hope of establishing protectorates over Manchuria and Korea. In addition, it represented the first defeat of a European Great Power by an Asian state during the modern age.

The fall of Port Arthur, the defeat of the Russian Army at Mukden, the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet at Tsushima, and the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution convinced the government of Tsar Nicholas II that the war had to end. Count Sergei Witte was sent as plenipotentiary with orders to secure the best possible deal for Russia. A cunning negotiator, Witte skillfully used the U.S. press to swing international opinion against Japan. He also realized that Japan lacked the resources to follow up on its initial military victories and that he could afford to prolong the talks. In the end, Japan dropped its demands for a sizable indemnity and the complete evisceration of Russia's position in the Far East. Witte's diplomacy helped to compensate for Russia's military weakness.

Nevertheless, the Treaty of Portsmouth was perceived as a defeat for Russia and diminished its international stature, notably in the 1908 Bosnia crisis. Josef Stalin was to justify the Soviet entry into the war against Japan in 1945 in part on the grounds of reversing the 1905 "defeat."

Bibliography

Fuller, William C., Jr. (1992). Strategy and Power in Russia, 1600 - 1914. New York: Free Press.

Riasanovsky, Nicholas V. (1984). A History of Russia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

—NIKOLAS GVOSDEV

This article is about the 1905 treaty. For the 1713 treaty, see Treaty of Portsmouth (1713).

Russian and Japanese delegates at the negotiating table

The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard near Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the United States.

Negotiations

Delegates who signed the peace agreement were Sergius Witte and Roman Rosen for Russia, and by Komura Jutaro and Takahira Kogoro for Japan. Fyodor Martens and other diplomats from both nations stayed in New Castle, New Hampshire at the Hotel Wentworth (where the armistice was signed), and were ferried across the Piscataqua River for negotiations held on the base located in Kittery, Maine. The General Stores Building (now Building 86) was used for the meetings. Mahogany furniture patterned after the Cabinet Room of the White House was ordered from Washington. The large conference table is today preserved at the Museum Meiji Mura in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

In accordance with the treaty, both Japan and Russia 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 great deal from the treaty, it was not nearly as much as the Japanese public had been led to expect, since Japan's initial negotiating position had demanded all of Sakhalin and a monetary indemnity as well. The frustration caused the Hibiya riots, and collapsed Katsura Taro's cabinet on January 7, 1906.

Negotiations for the treaty were taken under the mediation of Theodore Roosevelt, and 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 negotiations, the Japanese had signed the Taft-Katsura agreement with the United States 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, in return for Britain also agreeing to Japanese control over Korea. The treaty confirmed Japan's emergence as the pre-eminent power in East Asia, and forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policies there, but it was not well received by the Japanese public.

Treaty Building in 1912

Envoy Reception

Key to Envoy Reception

Hotel Wentworth, c. 1906

Centennial

In 2005, a summer-long series of events was held in Portsmouth to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the treaty, including a visit by a U.S. Navy destroyer, a parade, and a re-enactment of the arrival of diplomats from the two warring nations. The treaty was signed at 3:47 p.m. on September 5, 1905, marked by an honor guard, the firing of a 19-gun salute and the ringing of area church bells, all of which were duplicated on the same date in 2005. [1], [2]

Reference

• Geoffrey Jukes, The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England 2002

External links

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Treaty of Portsmouth

• The Treaty of Portsmouth, 1905, Russo-Japanese War (actual text)
• Portsmouth Peace Treaty, 1905-2005
• The Museum Meiji Mura

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