{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Russo–Japanese War
|partof=
|image=300px
|caption=
|date=February 8, 1904 &ndash; September 5, 1905
|place=Manchuria, Yellow Sea
|casus=Rival ambitions over Manchuria and the Korean peninsula
|territory=
|result=Japanese victory; Treaty of Portsmouth
|combatant1= Russian Empire
 Principality of Montenegro 
|combatant2= Empire of Japan
|commander1= Tsar Nicholas II<br/> Stepan Makarov
|commander2= Emperor Meiji<br/> Oyama Iwao<br/> Heihachiro Togo
|strength1=
|strength2=
|casualties1=
|casualties2=
}}

The '''Russo–Japanese War''' (; imperialist ambitions of the Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, and the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea.  

The Russians were in constant pursuit of a Port Arthur would be operational all year. From the end of the First Sino-Japanese War and 1903 negotiations between the Tsar's government and Japan had proved futile. Japan chose war to protect its country by maintaining exclusive dominance in Korea, while all European countries expected Russia would win.

The resulting campaigns, in which the fledgling Japanese military consistently attained victory over the Russian forces arrayed against them, were unexpected by world observers. These victories, as time transpired, would dramatically transform the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Japan's recent entry onto the world stage. The embarrassing string of defeats increased Russian populace's dissatisfaction with the inefficient and corrupt Tsarist government and proved a major cause of the Russian Revolution of 1905.

==Origins of the Russo-Japanese war==
<!-- Deleted image removed: right|thumb|"Japan fights against Russia by support of UK", [[Georges Ferdinand Bigot, circa 1905]] -->
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Meiji government embarked on an endeavor to assimilate Western ideas, technological advances and customs. By the late 19th century, Japan had emerged from isolation and transformed itself into a modernized industrial state in a remarkably short time. The Japanese wished to preserve their sovereignty and to be recognized as an equal with the Western powers.  

Russia, a major Imperial power, had ambitions in the East. By the 1890s it had extended its realm across Central Asia to Afghanistan, absorbing local states in the process. The Russian Empire stretched from Poland in the west to the Kamchatka peninsula in the East<ref>University of Texas: [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/japan_euro_growth_1800.jpg Growth of colonial empires in Asia]</ref>. With its construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway to the port of Vladivostok, Russia hoped to further consolidate its influence and presence in the region. This was precisely what Japan feared, as they regarded Korea (and to a lesser extent Manchuria) as a protective buffer.

===Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)===
 
The Japanese government regarded Korea, which was geo-politically close to Japan, as an essential part of its national security. The Japanese wanted, at the very least, to keep Korea independent under Japanese influence. Japan's subsequent defeat of China during the war led to the China abandoned its own Port Arthur) to Japan. 

However, the Russians, having their own ambitions in the region persuaded Germany and France to apply pressure on Japan. Through the Triple Intervention, Japan relinquished its claim on the Liaodong Peninsula for an increased financial indemnity.

===Russian Encroachment===
In Russian fleet appeared off Port Arthur. After three months, in 1898, a convention was agreed between China and Russia by which Russia was leased Port Arthur, Talienwan and the surrounding waters. It was further agreed that the convention could be extended by mutual agreement. The Russians clearly believed that would be the case for they lost no time in occupation and in fortifying Port Arthur, their sole warm-water port on the Pacific coast, and of great strategic value. A year later, in order to consolidate their position, the Russians began a new railway from Harbin through Mukden to Port Arthur. The development of the railway was a contributory factor towards the Boxer Rebellion and the railway stations at Tiehling and Lioyang were burnt. 
The Russians also began to make inroads into Korea, by 1898 they acquired mining and forestry concessions near Yalu and Tumen rivers,<ref> S.C.M. Paine, p. 317</ref> causing the Japanese much anxiety.

===The Boxer Rebellion===

The Russians and Japanese were both part of the eight member international force which was sent into quell the Boxer Rebellion and to relieve the international legations under siege in the Chinese capital. As with other member nations, the Russians sent troops into China, specifically Manchuria to protect its interests.<ref> Connaughton R., p. 7-8.</ref> Russia assured other powers that it would vacate the area after the crisis. However, by 1903 the Russian had not yet adhered to any timetable for withdrawal<ref>S.C.M. Paine, p. 320.</ref> and actually strengthened their position in Manchuria.

===Negotiations===
The Japanese statesman, Britain had signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902, the British seeking to restrict naval competition by keeping the Russian Pacific seaports of Vladivostok and Port Arthur from their full use. The alliance with the British meant, in part, that if any nation allied itself with Russia during any war with Japan, then Britain would enter the war on Japan's side. Russia could no longer count on receiving help from either Germany or France without there being a danger of the British involvement with the war. With such an alliance, Japan felt free to commence hostilities, if necessary.

On 28 July 1903, the Japanese Minister at St. Petersburg was instructed to represent his country's view opposing Russia's consolidation plans over Manchuria. Trade-offs followed and the situation was reached on 13 January 1904 whereby Japan proposed a formula of Manchuria being outside her sphere of influence and sought in return a similar statement relating to Russia's discontinuing interest in Korea. By 4 February 1904, no formal reply had been forthcoming and on the 6th February Mr. Kurino Shinichiro, the Japanese Minister, called on the Russian Foreign Minister, Count Lamsdorf, to take his leave.<ref> Connaughton, p. 10.</ref> Japan severed diplomatic relations on February 6, 1904.

==War==
===Declaration of War===
thumb|left|Greater Manchuria, Russian (outer) Manchuria is the lighter red region to the upper right
Japan issued a Russian Far East Fleet at Port Arthur. Tsar Nicholas II was stunned by news of the attack. He could not believe that Japan could initiate a warlike act without a formal declaration of war, and had been assured by his ministers that the Japanese would not fight. Russia declared war on Japan eight days later.<ref> Connaughton, p. 34.</ref> However, the requirement to declare war before commencing hostilities was not made international law until after the war had ended in October 1907, effective from 26 January 1910.<ref>Yale University: [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague03.htm Laws of War: Opening of Hostilities (Hague III); October 18, 1907, Avalon Project at Yale Law School].</ref> Montenegro also declared war against Japan as a gesture of moral support for Russia out of gratefulness for Russian support in Montenegro's struggles against the Ottoman Empire.  However, due to logistical reasons and distance, Montenegro's contribution to the war effort was limited to those Montenegrins who served in the Russian armed forces.

===Campaign of 1904===
thumb|right|Battlefields in the Russo-Japanese War
Port Arthur, on the Liaodong Peninsula in the south of Manchuria, had been fortified into a major naval base by the Imperial Russian Army. Since it needed to control the sea in order to fight a war on the Asian mainland, Japan's first military objective was to neutralize the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. 

=====Battle of Port Arthur=====
On the night of Tsesarevich'' and ''Retvizan,'' the heaviest battleships in Russia's far Eastern theater, and the 6,600 ton cruiser ''Pallada''. <ref name="AmericanMonthlyReviewOfReviews1904">
{{Citation
  | last         = Shaw
  | first        = Albert 
  | title        = The Progress of the World - Japan's Swift Action
  | place        = New York
  | publisher    = The Review of Reviews Company
  | journal      = The American Monthly Review of Reviews 
  | issue        = No. 3
  | pages        = 260 
  | date         = March, 1904
  | volume       = 29
  | url          = http://books.google.com/books?id=Jr8CAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Review+of+Reviews%22&lr=&as_brr=1&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
}}</ref> These attacks developed into the Battle of Port Arthur the next morning.  A series of indecisive naval engagements followed, in which Admiral Togo was unable to attack the Russian fleet successfully as it was protected by the shore batteries of the harbor, and the Russians were reluctant to leave the harbor for the open seas, especially after the death of Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov on 13 April 1904.

However, these engagements provided cover for a Japanese landing near Incheon in Korea. From Incheon the Japanese occupied Seoul and then the rest of Korea. By the end of April, the Imperial Japanese Army under Kuroki Itei was ready to cross the Yalu river into Russian-occupied Manchuria.

=====Battle of Yalu River=====
In contrast to the Japanese strategy of rapidly gaining ground to control Manchuria, Russian strategy focused on fighting delaying actions to gain time for reinforcements to arrive via the long Battle of the Yalu River became the first major land battle of the war, when Japanese troops stormed a Russian position after an unopposed crossing of the river. Japanese troops proceeded to land at several points on the Manchurian coast, and, in a series of engagements, drove the Russians back towards Port Arthur. These battles, including the Battle of Nanshan on 25 May 1904, were marked by heavy Japanese losses from attacking entrenched Russian positions, but the Russians maintained their focus on defending, and did not counterattack.

=====Blockade of Port Arthur=====
The Japanese attempted to deny the Russians use of Port Arthur. During the night of 13 February-14 February, the Japanese attempted to block the entrance to Port Arthur by sinking several cement-filled steamers in the deep water channel to the port, but they sank too deep to be effective. Another similar attempt to block the harbor entrance during the night of 3-4 May also failed. In March, the charismatic Vice Admiral Makarov had taken command of the First Russian Pacific Squadron with the intention of breaking out of the Port Arthur blockade.

On Petropavlovsk'' and the ''Pobeda'' slipped out of port but struck Japanese mines off Port Arthur. The ''Petropavlovsk'' sank almost immediately, while the ''Pobeda'' had to be towed back to port for extensive repairs. Admiral Makarov, the single most effective Russian naval strategist of the war, had perished on the battleship ''Petropavlovsk''.

On 15 April 1904, the Russian government made overtures threatening to seize the British war correspondents who were taking the  ship ''Haimun'' into warzones to report for the London-based ''The Times'' newspaper, citing concerns about the possibility of the British giving away Russian positions to the Japanese fleet.

The Russians learned quickly, and soon employed the Japanese tactic of offensive minelaying. On Yashima ''and the ''Hatsuse'', were lured into a recently laid Russian minefield off Port Arthur, each striking at least two mines. The ''Hatsue'' sank within minutes, taking 450 sailors with her, while the ''Yashima'' sank while under tow towards Korea for repairs. On June 23, 1904, a breakout attempt by the Russian squadron, now under the command of Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft failed. By the end of the month, Japanese artillery were firing shells into the harbor.

=====Siege of Port Arthur=====
left|thumb|Bombardment during the [[Siege of Port Arthur]]
Japan began a long Tsesarevich'', received a direct hit on the bridge, killing the fleet commander, Admiral Vitgeft.  At this, the Russian fleet turned around and headed back into Port Arthur. Though no warships were sunk by either side in the battle, the Russians were now back in port and the Japanese navy still had battleships to meet the new Russian fleet when it arrived.

=====Fall of Port Arthur=====
Eventually, the Russian warships at Port Arthur were sunk by the artillery of the besieging army. Attempts to relieve the besieged city by land also failed, and, after the Battle of Liaoyang in late August, the Russians retreated to Mukden (Shenyang). Port Arthur finally fell on 2 January 1905 when the garrison's commanding officer ceded the port to the Japanese without consulting his high command.

=====Baltic Fleet=====
Meanwhile, at sea, the Russians were preparing to reinforce the Far East Fleet by sending the Baltic Fleet, under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky  The fleet sailed around the world from the Baltic Sea to China via the Cape of Good Hope.  The Baltic Fleet would not reach the Far East until May 1905.

On 21 October 1904, while passing by the United Kingdom (an ally of Japan but neutral in this war), vessels of the Baltic Fleet nearly provoked a war in the Dogger Bank incident by firing on British fishing boats that they mistook for enemy torpedo boats.

===Campaign of 1905===
thumb|right|200px|Retreat of Russian Soldiers after the [[Battle of Mukden.]]

=====Harsh winter and final battles=====

With the fall of Port Arthur, the Japanese 3rd army was now able to continue northward and reinforce positions south of Russian-held Mukden. With the onset of the severe Manchurian winter, there had been no major land engagements since the Battle of Shaho the previous year. Both sides camped opposite each other along 60 to  of front lines, south of Mukden.

The Russian Second Army under General Kuropatkin and the battle was inconclusive. The Japanese knew that they needed to destroy the Russian army in Manchuria before Russian reinforcements arrived via the Trans-Siberian railroad. 

The Battle of Mukden commenced on February 20, 1905. In the following days Japanese forces proceeded to assault the right and left flanks of Russian forces surrounding Mukden, along a  front. Both sides were well entrenched and were backed with hundreds of artillery pieces. After days of harsh fighting, added pressure from both flanks forced both ends of the Russian defensive line to curve backwards. Seeing they were about to be encircled, the Russians began a general retreat, fighting a series of fierce rearguard actions, which soon deteriorated in the confusion and collapse of Russian forces. On March 10, 1905 after three weeks of fighting, General Kuropatkin decided to withdraw to the north of Mukden.  

The retreating Russian Manchurian Army formations disintegrated as fighting units, but the Japanese failed to destroy them completely. The Japanese themselves had suffered large casualties and were in no condition to pursue. Although the battle of Mukden was a major defeat for the Russians it had not been decisive, and the final victory would depend on the navy.

'''Wojna rosyjsko-japońska''' - wojna pomiędzy Rosją a Japonią toczona w okresie Dalekim Wschodzie zakończona zwycięstwem Japonii, która dzięki temu awansowała do grona światowych potęg. Wojna była jednym z lokalnych konfliktów wybuchających przed I wojną światową. 

'''Ważniejsze epizody wojny''':
*obrona Port Artur
*bitwa na Morzu Żółtym
*bitwa pod Cuszimą
*bitwa pod Mukdenem

'''Polacy, uczestnicy wojny rosyjsko-japońskiej'''

Zdzisław Nicman w artykule zatytułowanym „''Chrzest bojowy przyszłych generałów''”, opublikowanym na łamach ”''Polski Zbrojnej''” podaje, że w wojnie rosyjsko-japońskiej uczestniczyło 84 Polaków,  oficerów armii rosyjskiej - przyszłych Wojska Polskiego:
* Bronisław Teofil Babiański
* Leon Berbecki - dowódca batalionu, pięciokrotnie ranny
* Leon Billewicz - dowódca kompanii
* Jakub Bohusz-Szyszko
* Januariusz Cichowicz - starszy adiutant w Zarządzie Generała Kwatermistrza Armii Mandżurskiej
* Filip Dubiski
* Edward Hejdukiewicz - dowódca kompanii
* Eugeniusz de Henning-Michaelis - dowódca pułku
* Wacław Iwaszkiewicz-Rudoszański
* Edmund Kessler - Syberyjski Pułk Strzelców
* Maksymilian Linda - dowódca batalionu
* Kajetan Olszewski - pełniący obowiązki dowódcy 98 i 97 Pułku Piechoty
* Adam Sławoczyński - dowódca 85 Wyborskiego Pułku Piechoty
* Stanisław Suryn - dowódca kompanii karabinów maszynowych
* Jerzy Wołkowicki
* Jan Zarako-Zarakowski - dowódca pułku
* Lucjan Żeligowski
* Franciszek Kurpiewski
* Franciszek Lewandowski
Nie zostali przyjęci lub nie zgłosili się do Wojska Polskiego:
* Józefa Dowbor-Muśnickiego) - dowódca pułku

<!--
The '''Russo-Japanese War''' (Japan in Manchuria and Korea. It resulted in a surprise victory for Japan, establishing Japan as a major world power.  

<div style="float:right; width:311px;padding:8px; margin-left:1em; text-align:center">Grafika:RusShellJapLine1905.jpg
<br>''Russian 500 pound shell bursting near the Japanese siege guns, near Port Arthur''
<br>
More detailed description of photo
</div>

Popular discontent in Russia following the defeat led to the Russian Revolution of 1905.  The war ended with mediation by the United States. There was discontent among Japanese over the lack of territorial gains; this led to an erosion of good feelings towards the United States.

The defeat of Russia was met with shock both in the West and especially across Asia.  That a non-Western country could defeat an established power in such a large military conflict was particularly inspiring to various anti-colonial independence movements around the world.  After the conclusion of World War II, some Japanese historians would look back upon the war with nostalgia, especially those who have sought to portray Japan's conduct in the first half of the century as one of leadership in a sustained effort to liberate oppressed Asian peoples and thereby downplay Japan's own imperialistic ambitions throughout the period.

==Origins of the war==

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, various Western countries were competing for influence, trade, and territory in Sino-Japanese War, and Japan secured a peace in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (April 17, 1895) by which China abandoned its own claims to Korea, as well as ceding Taiwan and Lüshunkou (often called Port Arthur). However, three Western powers (Russia, Germany and France) by the Triple Intervention of April 23, 1895 applied pressure on Japan to give up Port Arthur, and the Russians later (in 1898) negotiated a 25-year lease of the naval base with China. Meanwhile, Russian soldiers occupied much of Manchuria, and Russia competed with Japan for influence in Korea.

Japan, after failing to negotiate a favorable agreement with Russia, which dragged its feet in 1903-04 about a staged withdrawal from Manchuria, decided to seek a military solution. Japan's military had been recently modernized, and although it was not nearly as large as the Russian, it was more than adequate to face the forces that Russia had stationed in Asia at the beginning of the war. Japan severed relations on February 4, 1904, although war was not declared until after the beginning of hostilities on February 8th.

See Ian Nish, ''The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War'', Longman, 1985 ISBN 0582491142

==Campaign of 1904==

Port Arthur, on the Liaotung pennsula in the south of Manchuria, had been fortified into a major naval base by the Russians. The Japanese needed to control the sea in order to fight a war on the Asian mainland, so their first military objective was to neutralize the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. On the night of February 8, Makarov on April 13. These provided cover for a Japanese landing near Incheon in Korea, from which they occupied Seoul and rapidly occupied the rest of Korea. By the end of April, the Japanese army under Kuroki Itei was prepared to cross the Yalu river into Russian-occupied Manchuria.