Russian-Japanese War

The expansion of the great European powers in Asia and the Pacific threatened to strangle Russian naval communications, which could only use the port of Vladivostok during the summer months. For the tsar, it was vital to conquer a port in warm waters that would remain active throughout the year. That is why Port Arthur became the main objective of Russian politics in the East. Japan, for its part, sought to consolidate its presence in Korea, rich in iron and coal, and block the expansion of Russians and Chinese. On February 27, 1876, Japan had imposed a treaty on the Koreans, who had to proclaim them independent of China by granting a series of commercial privileges to Tokyo. The Chinese had suffered a serious defeat in 1856 to the Westerners, and could not avoid Korean independence and increased Japanese influence. In the 1880s a drought caused food shortages in Korea and the country was on the brink of civil war, a mutiny broke out in Seoul and the Japanese representation was attacked by angry mobs. China and Japan sent troops to Seoul, but the war was avoided with the Treaty of Chemulpo, signed on August 30, 1882, which benefited the Japanese. In 1884, new clashes occurred after the Japanese attempted a coup d'état that resulted in a bloody struggle when Chinese troops intervened. The 1885 Tientsin Convention seemed to have resolved the differences between China and Japan, but the Korean government's firm independence attitude became a factor of instability. This situation continued for nine years, when a peasant rebellion broke out.