Russo-Japanese War Part 1

In 1904, driven by the desire for a warm-water port, Russia expanded southward and militarily occupied Manchuria.

Their next target was the Korean Peninsula, and after that, Japan.

Initially, he was completely ignored; prevailing racist attitudes assumed there was no way the yellow monkeys of the Far East could ever defeat the massive Russian Empire.

However, Jacob Schiff, a Jewish-American banker, decided to bankroll Japan.

The British Empire, the world's reigning superpower at the time, also stepped in as a sponsor to thwart Russia's southward expansion.

In a sense, Japan willingly threw itself into the quagmire of a proxy war of the British-Russian struggle for hegemony.

To be continued in Part 2..

Russo-Japanese War Part 1

In 1904, driven by the desire for a warm-water port, Russia expanded southward and militarily occupied Manchuria.

Their next target was the Korean Peninsula, and after that, Japan.

Fearing that Japan would inevitably be absorbed as the "Republic of Yaponskaya," the Japanese government resolved to go to war with Russia.

Japan was practically broke at the time, so the Vice Governor of the Bank of Japan flew around London and Wall Street, essentially begging western financiers to invest in Japanese war bonds.

Initially, he was completely ignored; prevailing racist attitudes assumed there was no way the yellow monkeys of the Far East could ever defeat the massive Russian Empire.

However, Jacob Schiff, a Jewish-American banker, decided to bankroll Japan.

At the time, extremely brutal massacres and persecution of Jews, known as pogroms, were taking place in Russia, and Schiff was furious with the Russian Tsar for the slaughter of his people.

The British Empire, the world's reigning superpower at the time, also stepped in as a sponsor to thwart Russia's southward expansion.

In a sense, Japan willingly threw itself into the quagmire of a proxy war of the British-Russian struggle for hegemony.

To be continued in Part 2..