CHAPTER XX.
Aftermath of the Victory of the Sea of Japan—The World Hopes that Peace Will Result—The President of the United States Takes the Initial Step—Meantime the Japanese Decline an Armistice—Operations Begun for the Seizure of Saghalien Island—Japanese Landing Parties Successful—Russians Continue Flight After Series of Conflicts—Japanese Take Chief Town of Island, Alexandrovsk, July 25—Flight of Russians and Pursuit Continued—Governor of Island and Remainder of Garrison Surrender to Japanese, July 30—Russia and Japan Accept President's Proposal to Meet and Discuss Terms of Peace—America Chosen as Scene of Meeting—Envoys Named—Portsmouth, N. H., Selected as Scene of Meeting—Russian and Japanese Envoys Formally Received by the President at Oyster Bay, August 5—Sessions of Peace Conference Begin at Portsmouth, August 9—Conference Adjourns Without Achievement, August 18—President Begins Effort to Effect Compromise, August 19—Japan Withdraws Demand for Indemnity and Other Demands on Which There Had Been a Deadlock, August 29—Announcement Made That Peace is Assured—Work of Drafting Treaty Begun—Peace Treaty Signed—The Treaty of Peace.
A wave of awe went 'round the word when the full effects of the Battle of the Sea of Japan were realized. Russia stood before the world in the light of a thoroughly vanquished nation. On land her armies had been invariably defeated in a series of battles of stupendous magnitude. Her original Asiatic fleet had been annihilated. Her last great effort to stem the victories of Japan, the sending of a vast Armada to the Orient, had resulted in complete annihilation of that fleet. The nations forgot to grieve for the thousands slain in the hope that this last crowning disaster to Russia would bring what every civilized land had desired for months—an end to the titanic war.
President Takes Initiative
While this was the universal wish it remained for the President of the United States to take the initiative. The fact that, with the exception of a minor campaign for the possession of the Island of Saghalien, off the Siberian coast, this was really the closing chapter of the war, has added a brilliant feat to the annals of American diplomatic achievements and has placed the name of Theodore Roosevelt eternally among those of the famous benefactors of humanity.
Japanese Take Saghalien
As has been said, one minor martial enterprise remained for the Japanese. Saghalien Island, blanketing the coasts of Siberia for a distance of 700 miles, had been secured by Russia from Japan by a treaty partaking, it was claimed by the Japanese, the nature of a coercive measure. Among the objects for which the Japanese had entered upon the war were to secure permanent fishing rights in the waters along the Siberian coast and the recession of Saghalien Island to her. The seizure of this Island, too, was a necessary corollary of a land and sea campaign against Vladivostock, which would have been the next step in her military campaign had not the war come to an end. There was little surprise, therefore, when the Tokio government, while giving consent to a proposal that the belligerent nations meet to talk of peace, refused to consent to an armistice. Possession of Saghalien Island was still to be gained. The Japanese campaign began when a landing was effected on the East coast of the Island on July 8. The Russian garrison numbered 8,000 men and while there were defensive works of some strength at a number of points, the defenders were helpless before the advance of the invaders. The campaign amounted to a half dozen engagements, mere skirmishes, when compared with the battles of the Manchurian campaign. The Russians made a brave defence, but lost position after position and the subjugation of the Island was completed on July 30, when the Russian Governor and 3,500 men surrendered "in the name of humanity." Five days previously the Japanese had occupied Alexandrovsk, the chief town of the Island and co-operative naval forces were disposed so that the escape of the garrison from the Island to the mainland was impossible. The slaughter of the entire force of the defenders could have been the only result of continued resistance. The Japanese announced the organization of a civil administration of the Island the moment the surrender had been completed, and were thus in possession of what was actually Russian territory. This fact was important to the Japanese from several standpoints. The Island is rich in minerals, it is the centre of the vast fishing industry of the North Pacific and has strategic value on account of its position with regard to the entire Siberian littoral. More important than any of these circumstances, however, was the fact that it had been soil over which flew the Russian flag. The Japanese contemplated making a demand for indemnity at the forthcoming peace conference. Precedent demanded that there should have been the occupation of territory to make valid such a claim. The occupation of Saghalien gave this necessary basis for the indemnity demand which, ultimately was presented and only withdrawn when it became apparent that the war must go on unless Japan withdrew her claim.
But the conquest of Saghalien marked the last of actual warfare between Japan and Russia. President Roosevelt had sent an identical note to Japan and Russia on June 8, calling upon each, in the name of humanity, to meet to discuss terms of peace and the whole Saghalien campaign had gone on while, following this request, diplomatic machinery had been slowly at work preparing the way for the peace conference. The rest of the story of the Japan-Russia War has to do with the events which finally called permanent truce to the long struggle and caused a million fighting men and their auxiliaries to turn their faces from the rugged plains of Manchuria, where thousands on thousands had given their lives for their Emperors and their Fatherlands.
Preparing for Peace Parleys
Russia's acceptance of the President's invitation reached Washington on June 12, two days after Japan had announced her assent. A ripple was caused by difficulty in choosing a place for the meeting. Russia preferred an European capital. Japan would not consent to any that could be named. Russia ultimately yielded the point, and on June 15, with the consent of both of the belligerents, Washington was named, and a day within the first ten days of August was accepted for the assembling of the envoys. The Czar named Sergius Witte, greatest statesman of the Empire, to head the peace delegation, with Baron Rosen, Russian ambassador at Washington, as his associate. The Mikado named Baron Komura as chief of the Japanese delegation, and as his associate, Mr. Takahira, Japanese Minister to the United States. Accompanying each was a suite of a dozen secretarys, legal and military experts and interpreters. On July 11, the President named Portsmouth, N. H., Navy Yard as the actual place of meeting. It was feared that Washington, under the torrid conditions usually prevailing there in mid-summer, would prove a too uncomfortable place for the guests of the nation to spend the weeks that must necessarily be consumed in the negotiations. The Japanese envoys and their suite reached New York on July 25. M. Witte, the chief Russian envoy, arrived in New York with his suite on August 2, and was joined by Baron Rosen, his associate. Both the Japanese and the Russian delegations were informally presented to the President at his summer home at Oyster Bay, N. Y., prior to the formal reception of the two peace missions which took place on the President's yacht, the Mayflower, in Oyster Bay on August 5. The President, in a toast to which no reply was given, expressed the hope that a "just and lasting peace" might be arranged. The envoys and their suites were conveyed in warships to Portsmouth, reaching that city on August 7. The envoys were formally welcomed by United States officials and the Governor of the State of New Hampshire. The Hotel Wentworth, on an island off the mainland was made their place of residence. The newly constructed general stores building in the Navy Yard, which had been elaborately fitted up with every possible convenience, was designated as the scene of the sessions.
The Japanese Terms
The first meeting of the envoys was held on August 9. The Japanese terms were presented in twelve sections, as follows:
I. Recognition of Japan's "preponderating influence" in Korea.
II. Mutual obligations to evacuate Manchuria, Russia to retrocede to China all special privileges.
III. Japanese obligations to restore the sovereignty and administration of China in Manchuria.
IV. Mutual obligations to respect the territorial and administrative integrity of China and the principle of the "open door."
V. The cession of the Island of Saghalien.
VI. The surrender of the Russian leases in the Liaotung Peninsula, including Port Arthur, Dalny and the Blonde and Elliott Islands.
VII. The cession of the branch of the Chinese Eastern Railroad from Harbin southward.
VIII. The retention by Russia of that portion of the railroad line through northern Manchuria connecting the Transsiberian road with Vladivostock.
IX. The reimbursement of Japan for the war—commonly spoken of as the indemnity.
X. The surrender of Russian warships which have been interned in neutral ports during the war.
XI. The limitation of Russia's naval forces in the Pacific.
XII. The question of fishing rights of Russia and Japan off the Siberian coast.
Japan Makes Peace Possible
These demands, one by one, were discussed by the envoys. It developed that Russia absolutely refused to grant an indemnity, to surrender warships interned in Chinese and American ports, or to cede to Japan the Island of Saghalien. Whatever hope of compromise there seemed to be with regard to the other questions at issue it was regarded as absolutely essential to the signing of a treaty of peace that Russia should yield on the subject of indemnity. The President's efforts were directed toward accomplishing this result under some other name than indemnity. It was proposed to arrange for the payment of the amount demanded as a purchase price for Saghalien, or for the railway rights over which Japan had become master. No compromise would be listened to by the Czar, "Not a kopeck for indemnity," was the phrase of M. Witte, and there was no yielding. By shrewd diplomatic manœuvring the Russian envoy had placed Japan in a position which meant that were the war to be continued it would be upon the responsibility of Japan and for the sole reason that money must be had. The Tokio government, after long discussion, decided upon a magnanimous course, which at once won the encomiums of the whole civilized world. She yielded every point in dispute, gave up her demand for indemnity, gave up half of Saghalien, gave up her claim upon the interned warships and, though triumphantly victorious in every step of the war, accepted terms of peace dictated by the nation she had conquered, and this "in the name of humanity." Russia had won the victory on the face of it, but the historian will credit to Japan the greater and the real victory, a victory of vast moral and humanitarian significance.
The glad news went out to the world on August 29, that the envoys had agreed upon every point and that a treaty of peace would forthwith be drafted. To Prof. Maartens, the famous authority of international law and to Mr. Dennison, an American, long an adviser of the Japanese Foreign Office, was assigned the task of actually drafting the treaty in accord with the general agreement that had been reached by the envoys. Their work was speedily accomplished and the "Treaty of Portsmouth" brought to an end this struggle that had cost hundreds of thousands of lives, billions of dollars and had completely changed the status of political power in the Far East.
The treaty of peace was finally signed at Portsmouth, N. H., on September 5, 1905; Sergius Witte and Baron Rosen signed for Russia, while Baron Komura and Mr. Takahira signed for Japan. It was signed by the Emperors of Russia and Japan and made public October 16, 1905.
TEXT OF THE TREATY.
The text of the treaty is as follows:
The Emperor of Japan, on the one part, and the Emperor of all the Russias, on the other part, animated by a desire to restore the blessings of peace to their countries, have resolved to conclude a treaty of peace, and have for this purpose named their plenipotentiaries, that is to say, for his Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Baron Komura Jutaro, Jusami, Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun, his Minister for Foreign Affairs, and his Excellency, Takahira Kogoro, Imperial Order of the Sacred Treasure, his Minister to the United States, and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias his Excellency Sergius Witte, his Secretary of State and President of the Committee of Ministers of the Empire of Russia, and his Excellency Baron Roman Rosen, Master of the Imperial Court of Russia, his Majesty's Ambassador to the United States, who, after having exchanged their full powers, which were found to be in good and due form, have concluded the following articles:
ARTICLE I.
There shall henceforth be peace and amity between their Majesties the Emperor of Japan and the Emperor of all the Russias, and between their respective States and subjects.
ARTICLE II.
The Imperial Russian Government, acknowledging that Japan possesses in Korea paramount political, military and economical interests, engages neither to obstruct nor interfere with measures for guidance, protection and control which the Imperial Government of Japan may find necessary to take in Korea. It is understood that Russian subjects in Korea shall be treated in exactly the same manner as the subjects and citizens of other foreign Powers; that is to say, they shall be placed on the same footing as the subjects and citizens of the most favored nation. It is also agreed that, in order to avoid causes of misunderstanding, the two high contracting parties will abstain on the Russian-Korean frontier from taking any military measure which may menace the security of Russian or Korean territory.
ARTICLE III.
Japan and Russia mutually engage:
First.—To evacuate completely and simultaneously Manchuria, except the territory affected by the lease of the Liaotung Peninsula, in conformity with the provisions of the additional article 1 annexed to this treaty, and,
Second.—To restore entirely and completely to the exclusive administration of China all the portions of Manchuria now in occupation, or under the control of the Japanese or Russian troops, with the exception of the territory above mentioned.
The Imperial Government of Russia declares that it has not in Manchuria any territorial advantages or preferential or exclusive concessions in the impairment of Chinese sovereignty, or inconsistent with the principle of equal opportunity.
ARTICLE IV.
Japan and Russia reciprocally engage not to obstruct any general measures common to all countries which China may take for the development of the commerce or industry of Manchuria.
ARTICLE V.
The Imperial Russian Government transfers and assigns to the Imperial Government of Japan, with the consent of the Government of China, the lease of Port Arthur, Talien and the adjacent territory and territorial waters, and all rights, privileges and concessions connected with or forming part of such lease, and it also transfers and assigns to the Imperial Government of Japan all public works and properties in the territory affected by the above-mentioned lease.
The two contracting parties mutually engage to obtain the consent of the Chinese Government mentioned in the foregoing stipulation.
The Imperial Government of Japan, on its part, undertakes that the proprietary rights of Russian subjects in the territory above referred to shall be perfectly respected.
ARTICLE VI.
The Imperial Russian Government engages to transfer and assign to the Imperial Government of Japan, without compensation and with the consent of the Chinese Government, the railway between Changchunfu and Kuanchangtsu and Port Arthur, and all the branches, together with all the rights, privileges and properties appertaining thereto in that region, as well as all the coal mines in said region belonging to or worked for the benefit of the railway. The two high contracting parties mutually engage to obtain the consent of the Government of China mentioned in the foregoing stipulation.
ARTICLE VII.
Japan and Russia engage to exploit their respective railways in Manchuria exclusively for commercial and industrial purposes and nowise for strategic purposes. It is understood that this restriction does not apply to the railway in the territory affected by the lease of the Liaotung Peninsula.
ARTICLE VIII.
The Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia with the view to promote and facilitate intercourse and traffic will as soon as possible conclude a separate convention for the regulation of their connecting railway services in Manchuria.
ARTICLE IX.
The Imperial Russian Government cedes to the Imperial Government of Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty the southern portion of the Island of Saghalin and all the islands adjacent thereto and the public works and properties thereon. The fiftieth degree of north latitude is adopted as the northern boundary of the ceded territory. The exact alignment of such territory shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the additional article II annexed to this treaty.
Japan and Russia mutually agree not to construct in their respective possessions on the Island of Saghalin or the adjacent islands any fortification or other similar military works. They also respectively engage not to take any military measures which may impede the free navigation of the Strait of La Perouse and the Strait of Tartary.
ARTICLE X.
It is reserved to Russian subjects, inhabitants of the territory ceded to Japan, to sell their real property and retire to their country, but if they prefer to remain in the ceded territory they will be maintained and protected in the full exercise of their industries and rights of property on condition of submitting to the Japanese laws and jurisdiction. Japan shall have full liberty to withdraw the right of residence in or to deport from such territory of any inhabitants who labor under political or administrative disability. She engages, however, that the proprietary rights of such inhabitants shall be fully respected.
ARTICLE XI.
Russia engages to arrange with Japan for granting to Japanese subjects rights of fishery along the coasts of the Russian possession in the Japan, Okhotsk and Bering Seas.
It is agreed that the foregoing engagement shall not affect rights already belonging to Russian or foreign subjects in those regions.
ARTICLE XII.
The treaty of commerce and navigation between Japan and Russia having been annulled by the war the Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia engage to adopt as a basis for their commercial relations pending the conclusion of a new treaty of commerce and navigation the basis of the treaty which was in force previous to the present war, the system of reciprocal treatment on the footing of the most favored nation, in which are included import and export duties, customs formalities, transit and tonnage dues and the admission and treatment of agents, subjects and vessels of one country in the territories of the other.
ARTICLE XIII.
As soon as possible after the present treaty comes in force all prisoners of war shall be reciprocally restored. The Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia shall each appoint a special commissioner to take charge of the prisoners. All prisoners in the hands of one Government shall be delivered to and be received by the commissioner of the other Government or by his duly authorized representative in such convenient numbers and at such convenient ports of the delivering State as such delivering State shall notify in advance to the commissioner of the receiving State.
The Governments of Japan and Russia shall present each other as soon as possible after the delivery of the prisoners is completed with a statement of the direct expenditures respectively incurred by them for the care and maintenance of the prisoners from the date of capture or surrender and up to the time of death or delivery. Russia engages to repay to Japan as soon as possible after the exchange of statement as above provided the difference between the actual amount so expended by Japan and the actual amount similarly disbursed by Russia.
ARTICLE XIV.
The present treaty shall be ratified by their Majesties the Emperor of Japan and the Emperor of all the Russias. Such ratification shall be with as little delay as possible, and in any case no later than fifty days from the date of the signature of the treaty, to be announced to the Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia respectively through the French Minister at Tokio and the Ambassador of the United States at St. Petersburg, and from the date of the latter of such announcements this treaty shall in all its parts come into full force. The formal exchange of ratifications shall take place at Washington as soon as possible.
ARTICLE XV.
The present treaty shall be signed in duplicate in both the English and French languages. The texts are in absolute conformity, but in case of a discrepancy in the interpretation the French text shall prevail.
SUB-ARTICLES.
In conformity with the provisions of articles 3 and 9 of the treaty of peace between Japan and Russia of this date the undersigned plenipotentiaries have concluded the following additional articles:
SUB-ARTICLE TO ARTICLE III.
The Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia mutually engage to commence the withdrawal of their military forces from the territory of Manchuria simultaneously and immediately after the treaty of peace comes into operation, and within a period of eighteen months after that date the armies of the two countries shall be completely withdrawn from Manchuria, except from the leased territory of the Liaotung Peninsula. The forces of the two countries occupying the front positions shall first be withdrawn.
The high contracting parties reserve to themselves the right to maintain guards to protect their respective railway lines in Manchuria. The number of such guards shall not exceed fifteen per kilometre and within that maximum number the commanders of the Japanese and Russian armies shall by common accord fix the number of such guards to be employed as small as possible while having in view the actual requirements.
The commanders of the Japanese and Russian forces in Manchuria shall agree upon the details of the evacuation in conformity with the above principles and shall take by common accord the measures necessary to carry out the evacuation as soon as possible, and in any case not later than the period of eighteen months.
SUB-ARTICLE TO ARTICLE IX.
As soon as possible after the present treaty comes into force a committee of delimitation composed of an equal number of members is to be appointed respectively by the two high contracting parties which shall on the spot mark in a permanent manner the exact boundary between the Japanese and Russian possessions on the Island of Saghalin. The commission shall be bound so far as topographical considerations permit to follow the fiftieth parallel of north latitude as the boundary line, and in case any deflections from that line at any points are found to be necessary compensation will be made by correlative deflections at other points. It shall also be the duty of the said commission to prepare a list and a description of the adjacent islands included in the cession, and finally the commission shall prepare and sign maps showing the boundaries of the ceded territory. The work of the commission shall be subject to the approval of the high contracting parties.
The foregoing additional articles are to be considered ratified with the ratification of the treaty of peace to which they are annexed.
In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed and affixed seals to the present treaty of peace.
Done at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, this fifth day of the ninth month of the thirty-eighth year of the Meijei, corresponding to the twenty-third day of August, one thousand nine hundred and five. (September 5, 1905.)
Transcriber's Note:
Names, italicized phrases, and inconsistencies in capitalization and hyphenation have been left as printed. Otherwise, obvious typographical errors, punctuation errors, and inconsistencies in the punctuation of sidenotes and captions have been corrected.
Illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs, thus the page number of the illustration might not match the page number in the List of Illustrations. Links in the List of Illustration lead to the images.
On page 278, "Commander-inChief" has been changed to "Commander-in-Chief" ("During the months which had elapsed since the arrival of the Russian Commander-in-Chief at the seat of war").
On page 373, "silhouttes" has been changed to "silhouettes" ("two long dark silhouettes, emitting quantities of smoke and evidently steaming at high speed").
On page 374, "silhouttes" has been changed to "silhouettes" ("two long, dark silhouettes emitting quantities of smoke").
On page 427, "(9)" has been changed to "(10)" ("(10) Wounds inflicted by modern arms heal readily").
On page 433, "mobility" has been changed to "immobility" ("the inexorable grasp of the Manchurian winter had fallen upon them and frozen them into immobility").
On page 458, "unrecord" has been left as printed ("continued under these unrecord of the actual campaign").
On page 507, "tht" has been changed to "the" ("General Oku avoided the Russian right centre just left of the railroad").
On page 518, "Russians resistance" has been changed to "Russian resistance" ("Thereupon the Russian resistance was redoubled in fury").
On page 537, counts of ships have been left as printed.