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War with Russia Again Korea served as a steppingstone to war. Russian
influence was growing fast in that country, and combined with Russian
control of Port Arthur and the Liaotung Peninsula, Japan's trading
areas were severely threatened. An alliance with Great Britain supplied
Japan with the security she needed to attack the expanding Russian
outposts. When the Russians demanded a neutral zone in Korea to
begin north of the thirty-ninth parallel and insisted upon complete
control of trade and resources in South Manchuria, Japan responded
by discontinuing diplomatic procedures. Moving her navy into the
coastal area without warning, she attacked a portion of the Russian
fleet at Port Arthur. Japan declared war the next day. The war was
short, dramatic and conclusive. Because Russia was much larger and
was considered a far more powerful country than Japan, world opinion
considered the Japanese the "underdog", and most of the world sided
with her. The Japanese army fought courageously, even brilliantly,
winning one campaign after an- other against the dogged Russian
army. In the United States, President Theodore Roosevelt did not
hesitate to express his admiration for the courage of the Japanese.
The war was over in eighteen months. Fast running out of both trained
soldiers and money, Japan suggested to the US President that a peaceful
settlement of the conflict be proposed. The treaty was signed in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. While Russia was defeated, Japan in turn
was
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