Tsushima

Abstract

Abstract The Battle of Tsushima, in which the Japanese Imperial Navy defeated the Russian Imperial Navy in 1905, marks the first modern victory of an Asian power over a major European power. This final and most decisive naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War was not only the most devastating defeat suffered by the Imperial Russian Navy in its entire history but also the only truly decisive engagement between two battleship fleets in modern times. On the eve of the battle, both sides believed that an engagement of their fleets would determine the final course of the war. A Russian victory could lead to tsarist control of the seas west of the Japanese home islands. A defeat, however, would end any Russian hope of altering the course of the war and possibly oblige the Russians to negotiate peace. And indeed, the Russian government’s hopes of reversing the military situation in East Asia were dashed in the battle’s aftermath. Now it was compelled to enter into peace negotiations, which resulted in the Treaty of Portsmouth, signed just over three months later. In both Japan and Russia, the Battle of Tsushima had a prolonged impact on both the fate of these nations’ respective navies and on their ambitions during at least four decades. This book is the first scholarly endeavour in English that seeks to not only tell the story of the battle but also evaluate its short- and long-term consequences in the naval, political, and social spheres.