First Sino-Japanese War 1894-95: Japan's Rise to Power

[00:00:00]In the late 19th century, the Kingdom of Korea is  at the center of Great Power rivalries. Japan and China see the Korean peninsula as essential to  their security and prestige, and both intervene in Korean affairs. Great Power rivalry fuels even  more tension. In 1885, Anglo-Russian competition in Central Asia, known as the Great Game, spills  into East Asia when Britain briefly occupies a Korean port. The Russian Empire also begins  building the Trans-Siberian railway to link up with its pacific naval base at Vladivostok,  on territory it previously forced China to give up. The Russian presence, Japanese imperial  ambitions, and traditional Chinese interests spark a Korea-focused Asian Great Game in the 1890s  – a game that that drags the region into war.

[00:00:50]Domestically, Korea is in crisis –  decades of bitter elite rivalries lead to power struggles within the Joseon  dynasty, between King Kojong and Queen Min, and the King’s father, known as the Taewongun . One of the questions fueling the tensions is Korea’s relationship to the outside world. It’s  known as the Hermit Kingdom for its isolation, even though Korea is formally a tributary of the  Chinese Qing Empire. In the 1870s and 1880s, reformers look to modernizing Japan as a model,  while Confucian-minded conservatives value ties with China, and numerous popular rebellions oppose  corrupt royal officials or outside influence.

[00:01:31]China and Japan both worry about instability in  Korea. China even tries to impose what some have called a modern form of Qing imperialism in  the 1880s, which influential Chinese Viceroy Li Hongzhang sums up this way: “For  China, Korea is a dependent of China; for all others, Korea is independent.” (Jager 64) Both China and Japan suffer from unequal economic treaties with Western Powers, both  go through midcentury civil wars, and the Chinese endure humiliating defeats against  the British and French. China’s self-strengthening movement and Japan’s reforms after the Meiji  Restoration are both frantic attempts to modernize their economies and militaries  – though at the cost of internal tensions.

[00:02:20]By 1894, the Korean carousel of coups and  rebellions has left King Kojong at the head of a weak and corrupt government. Meanwhile a  religious movement known as the Tonghaks has gained followers. Founded by Choe Je-u, they  combinate ideas from Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and opposition to what they see as the  dynasty’s moral degeneracy and western influence.

[00:02:44]In February, they rise up to protest abuse by  corrupt local governments in the south. Government troops are too weak to deal with the rebels, so  the King asks China for help. Beijing sends a small force in June, and informs the Japanese as  per an 1885 agreement, but only after they’ve set sail for the port of Asan. Japan considers this a  breach of the agreement and sends its own troops.

[00:03:09]Ironically, the rebellion ends June 11.  China’s representative in Korea Yuan Shikai, proposes a withdrawal, but Japanese Prime Minster  Hirobumi Ito is under pressure from hawkish ministers and patriotic newspapers. Ito doesn’t  want to be seen as too aggressive by the British, since Tokyo and London are about to end their  unequal commercial treaty. So the Japanese say their troops will stay until Korea enacts  reforms to deal with the causes of the rebellion.

[00:03:39]China’s top diplomat Viceroy Li asks the British  and Russians to mediate, according to the Chinese diplomatic strategy of using “barbarians against  barbarians,” but they refuse. He wants to avoid war, as he has doubts about China’s military  readiness and because he knows the Dowager Empress Cixi has diverted funds from the navy  to build a new palace for her upcoming birthday.

[00:04:03]Qing Emperor Guanxu, on the other hand, briefly  considers war with Japan to overcome the influence of his maternal aunt Empress Dowager Cixi,  but most of his ministers oppose him. He does, however, send more troops to Korea. Tokyo now sees war as inevitable, so on July 19 its envoy to Korea Keisuke  Otori demands that King Kojong expel the Chinese and adopt reforms to show Korea’s  independence from China. On July 23, Japanese troops force the King to  accept the leadership of his father.

[00:04:37]Two days later, Japanese warships attack  Chinese naval forces in the Battle of P’ung-Do, in which the Japanese sink a Chinese cruiser  and a troopship with 1000 men on board. Beijing declares war on August 1, 1894, and the  First Sino-Japanese War officially begins.

[00:04:57]Many Japanese, even liberal-minded thinkers,  greet the war with enthusiasm. Supporters frame the conflict as a clash of the new world versus  the decrepit old order, or as part of a battle to advance civilization in Asia, an assessment shared  by many in the West who hold anti-Chinese views.

[00:05:16]China is still much larger and  has more resources than Japan, and not all Japanese officers are confident.  China’s military though, is not centralized with local governors controlling regional  forces who must plunder from civilians to survive and are rarely trained in modern warfare . Li was one of the Chinese reformers pushing for military modernization and helped create two of  China’s best-armed forces : The Beiyang Fleet, which has two German-built, large, modern  battleships to which the Japanese have no equivalent, and the small Huai Army, which has  modern equipment and some Western training.

[00:05:53]Japanese forces are better-armed, trained, and  supplied, and are led by Japanese officers who have studied western warfighting. For years, Tokyo  has reallocated funds from the Imperial Court and into the army and navy – and in June 1894, even  cracks Chinese diplomatic and military codes.

[00:06:12]The Japanese plan is to secure their lines of  communication in Korea, get control of the Yellow Sea, expel the Chinese from Korea, then  carry the war into Manchuria and possibly even overthrow the Qing Empire. The Chinese want  to surround the Japanese units in Seoul as a first step in maintaining their influence  in Korea, but the Japanese are quicker.

[00:06:36]Japanese troops start moving on July 28, before  the formal start of the war, and they defeat the Chinese in a skirmish at the village of Seonghwan  that night. Chinese general Ye Zhichao wants to stand at Asan, but he now learns of the  loss of expected reinforcements at sea, and faulty intelligence leads him to overestimate  Japanese numbers. So the Chinese abandon southern Korea altogether and march 250km north to  Pyongyang, living off the land as they go.

[00:07:05]The city is well-protected by a river, hills,  forts, cliffs, walls, and Chinese earthwork defenses. Japanese general Yamagata Aritomo  plans to surprise the Chinese by storming the city from all four sides. Meanwhile, General Ye  reduces patrols after a friendly-fire incident, so the Chinese don’t detect the Japanese  preparations on the landward side. On September 14, supported by four gunboats, the  Japanese assault begins. The Chinese don’t take the opportunity to hit the Japanese as they cross  the river, but they do counterattack fiercely, with cavalry charges. The next day, Japanese  reinforcements arrive in the hills to the north and join the battle, surprising the Chinese as  planned and capturing the city’s northern gate.

[00:07:52]General Ye tells the Japanese he  will surrender the next morning, but also orders the garrison to escape overnight  — but the withdrawal goes terribly wrong. Chinese officer Lu Shushan describes the panic: “Those Chinese soldiers who were in the front were fired upon [by the Japanese] and started  to retreat but those in the back wanted to rush forward. It was so dark and crowded that one  could not distinguish between enemies and friends, so all the Chinese took out their weapons and  began fighting each other. […Some] even killed themselves out of sheer terror.” (Jager 142) The fragmented Chinese command under four generals prevented effective action, and there are  rumors that the Chinese Manchu troops fled first, while Chinese Muslim units fought to the end.  The Japanese take Pyongyang in just two days, capturing large quantities of weapons,  supplies, and horses, and suffering just 160 dead against 2,000 Chinese dead and  700 prisoners, whom the Japanese treat well.

[00:08:55]Despite the defeats on land in Korea, China’s  Beiyang Fleet still controls the Yellow Sea and access to Manchuria and Korea’s west coast, but  its commanders make no effort to take the fight to the Japanese. On September 17, the Japanese  combined fleet under Admiral Sukeyuki Ito sights the Chinese by chance near Haiyang island. Chinese  Admiral Ding Ruchang struggles to get his ships into formation. When the Japanese close in  and switch from a column to diagonal line, Ding should react, but instead his  second-in-command, Commodore Liu, spontaneously orders the flagship’s  main guns to fire. The concussion knocks the unsuspecting Admiral Ding and  his British advisor Vice-Admiral William Tyler unconscious at a critical moment . Tyler later comments on the accident: “What was the explanation of the Commodore’s  act in opening fire while the Admiral and I were standing – well in sight – over the  ten-inch guns I never knew and I never heard the thing discussed.” (Tyler 51) With the Admiral incapacitated, the Japanese concentrate their fire on  the weaker Chinese vessels and set them ablaze. Japanese gunners then focus on the two  Chinese battleships, knocking out the flagship Dingyuan communications. Japanese shells kill  so many Chinese sailors they can barely keep their two capital ships in the fight, but they  remain afloat. Admiral Ito eventually decides to break off the fight after his flagship is hit. Chinese officers falsify reports as they had after Pyongyang – a common practice for fear of facing  execution. Emperor Guangxu appoints Prince Gong to run the war effort and strips Li’s prestigious  honors of the Three-Peacock Feather and Yellow Riding Jacket, and Empress Cixi decides on  a modest birthday party. The Japanese have sunk 5 Chinese ships for just three damaged of  their own, crippling the Beiyang Fleet. After two major victories within days of each other,  the Japanese now push into Chinese territory.

[00:11:02]In late October, General Yamagata’s 1st Army  crosses the Yalu River and moves towards the historical Manchu capital of Shenyang, while  General Oyama’s 24,000-strong 2nd Army lands on the Liaodong peninsula to attack China’s most  important naval base at Port Arthur. Shenyang is important to the Manchu Qing court, but  Port Arthur is militarily crucial as the only base where Chinese ships can be repaired. It is  protected by modern forts on the approaches to the city, but the Japanese quickly take them. Japanese land and naval forces surround Port Arthur, and Oyama calls on Chinese General  Wei Rucheng to surrender. Wei’s answer is a counterattack out of the town, but the Japanese  stop it and capture all the remaining inland forts in a few hours. Superior Japanese firepower,  discipline, mobility, and leadership carry the day, just as at Pyongyang and the Yellow Sea.  A foreign observer recalls the one-sided fight: “At the ramparts not a Chinaman remained. They  fled from fort to fort along the high wall, firing as they went, and making a stand at every point  till too close for rifles. All over the hills, they were chased and for many miles around  hardly a hundred [yards] could be passed without sight of a Chinese corpse.” (Jager 151) Chinese commanders disguise themselves and flee, and Japanese troops enter the city November 21.  Until now the Japanese have behaved well towards defeated enemies, but now Japanese units are  gripped by rumors of Chinese soldiers in civilian clothing, and of civilians shooting at them, and  are enraged that the Chinese strung up the heads of Japanese soldiers killed before the city fell. The result is a three-day massacre inside and outside Port Arthur. Soldier Okabe Makio  of the 1st Division writes in his diary: “As we entered the town of Port Arthur, we  saw the head of a Japanese soldier displayed on a wooden stake. This filled us with rage  and a desire to crush any Chinese soldier.

[00:13:09]Anyone we saw in the town, we killed.  The streets were filled with corpses, so many they blocked our way. We killed  people in their homes; by and large, there wasn't a single house without from three  to six dead. Blood was flowing and the smell was awful. We sent out search parties. We shot  some, hacked at others. The Chinese troops just dropped their arms and fled. Firing and  slashing, it was unbounded joy. At this time, our artillery troops were at the rear, giving  three cheers [banzai] for the emperor.” (Lone 155) Foreign journalists like Canadian James Creelman  of the New York World also witness the Japanese killing some women and children as well. Estimates of the death toll vary greatly, from two or three thousand victims to unlikely claims  of 60,000 in some US newspapers at the time.

[00:14:01]The reports of the massacre put Tokyo’s  international political goals at risk, since the US Congress is about to  debate a fairer commercial treaty with Japan. Japanese Foreign Minister Munemitsu  Mutsu fears that the new treaties might not be approved if Japan is seen as uncivilized , so Tokyo funds a disinformation campaign in the American and British press  to cast doubt on the accusations.

[00:14:26]The Japanese campaign convinces many American  politicians that the reports are overblown, some American eyewitnesses change their accounts,  and Congress approves the treaty in February 1895.

[00:14:38]As Japan does damage control in the US, in Korea, the Japanese position gets more complicated in  the Korean kingdom now said to have two kings.

[00:14:48]Japan said it started the war to ensure Korea’s  independence from China, but in practice it wants control. Japan put the King’s father back in  power in July, but he and other conservatives oppose Japanese-sponsored reforms. In August,  the Taewongun asks the Chinese for help: “[Chinese troops in Korea] will provide an  occasion for our deliverance. I hope that the Celestial Empire will extend protection  to our dynasty and court by sweeping away the traitors in the current regime who are selling  the country to the Japanese.” (Jager 169) He also later approaches the Russian legation  and plans to assassinate Japan-friendly Korean opponents. When the Japanese uncover  the plot, they promptly remove him from power. The Taewongun then calls upon  the Tonghak rebels to rise up again.

[00:15:40]Despite divisions between radical and moderate  Tonghaks, brutal Japanese military requisitioning and continued abuses by Korean officials convince  them and local peasants to answer the call.

[00:15:52]On October 12, the Tonghaks declare a general  rebellion, which evolves into a messy civil war involving the Tonghaks, Japanese troops,  government forces, and local government aligned militias known as minpos. The fighting  is brutal, including the traditional practice of beheading or mutilating the dead and scorched  earth policies. Chronicler Hwang Hyon describes a rebel attack against government and minpo troops: “The minpos were excellent marksmen. […] the bullets came raining down upon the bandits  [Tonghaks], and the entire valley was quickly filled with corpses. [The next day] however, the  bandits mustered their men and entered Hadong, and burned down 10 civilian households, declaring  they that would kill all hiding minpo…They then[…] pillaged the nearby villages.” (Jager 178-179) Tokyo sends reinforcements, and a 3000-strong Japanese-Korean government force marches south, smaller but much better equipped than the 10,000  Tonghaks, who are spread out and mostly armed with matchlock muskets and bamboo spears. In November and December, Japanese-led forces inflict a series of battlefield defeats  on the Tonghaks. Another Japanese force moves west from Pusan, trapping the rebels.  The Japanese spare few of the enemy: “Today we caught seven Tonghak peasants who were  left [in the village], lined them up in the fields outside the castle, attached [bayonets] to  guns and with the command of Lt. Morita, stabbed the victims at the same time.  The Korean soldiers watching nearby were surprised and shocked.” (Jager 184) The last Tonghaks, including one of the leaders Jeon Bong-jun, surrender in January  1895. But Korea is still bitterly divided.

[00:17:42]As the Japanese are putting down the Tonghak  rebellion, the Qing court is looking to make peace. There’s also turmoil in China, as Li’s  opponents look to capitalize on his defeats, and several generals are executed.  In November 1894 and January 1895, Li asks for talks, but the Japanese  suspect the Chinese are stalling in the hope a Western power will intervene,  so they remain on the offensive.

[00:18:08]General Yamagata’s move towards Shenyang  continues, and he takes Haicheng December 13. The Chinese launch numerous counterattacks in  the bitter cold, and although they cannot retake the city, they inflict heavy casualties on the  Japanese and stop their advance. The Japanese now turn to China’s last naval base at Weihaiwei. The Chinese cannot challenge the Japanese on the open sea, but the Beiyang Fleet’s four  combat-ready warships might threaten an enemy landing near Beijing. Japanese troops  land in January, and easily capture some of the outlying forts, their guns, and  the walled town of Weihaiwei. Only the naval headquarters on Liugongdao island  remains, so Japanese Admiral Ito writes Chinese Admiral Ding and urges him to defect: “I believe your wisest course is to come to Japan and wait there until the fortunes of  your country are again in the ascent […] Will you throw in your lot with a country that you  see falling to ruin [or] will you preserve the strength that remains to you and evolve  another plan hereafter?” (Vladimir 382) Ding does not respond, but tries and fails  to retake one of the forts in early February.

[00:19:22]Japanese torpedo boats then sink the flagship  Dingyuan and another vessel, and Li telegraphs Ding that no help is coming. The Admiral  negotiates safe passage for his men and commits suicide. The Japanese honor the agreement, and  the Matsushima fires a salute in honor of Ding.

[00:19:43]Peace talks begin in April 1895 in Japan,  but they’re interrupted for a week when a Japanese civilian shoots Li in the face. The  Chinese diplomat recovers, and on April 17, the two sides sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki. China recognizes Korean autonomy, agrees to pay Japan a large indemnity, opens  several major cities to Japanese trade, and grants Japan the same preferential  trade status as the Western Powers.

[00:20:12]China also cedes to Japan the Pescadores Islands,  the Liaodong Peninsula, including Port Arthur, and the island of Formosa (today’s Taiwan). The  inhabitants of Formosa, though, rise up against the Japanese occupation in a 5-month insurgency. The First Sino-Japanese War has led to the deaths of about 20,000 Japanese, 30,000 Chinese, and  between 30 and 50,000 Koreans, devastating the country. The Hansong Sunbo newspaper sums  up the tragedy for the people of Korea: “The innocent people who were  killed are to be pitied as well as those who are yet alive.” (Jager 179) For the Chinese, the war shows the failure of modernization and comes as a deep shock.,  including for Li: “Affairs in my country have been so confined by tradition that I  could not accomplish what I desired.

[00:21:10]Now in a twinkling of an eye ten years  have gone by, and everything is still the same […] I am ashamed of having excessive wishes  and lacking the power to fulfil them.” (Jager 197) After centuries as East Asia’s cultural  and political centre, China has been easily crushed by a smaller power that had been in  its Confucian cultural orbit – which will cause more internal strife and a new push  for economic concessions by Western powers.

[00:21:39]Japanese joy at their victory, new status as  a Great Power, and hopes for equality with the West do not last long. In May, Russia, France,  and Germany stage the Triple Intervention. They argue that Japanese control of the Liaodong  peninsula is a threat to Korea’s independence, China, and Russia – Russian Minister Sergei  Witte even threatens military action: “Japan’s hostile activities on the continent  were directed mainly against Russia.[…] The planned takeover of southern Manchuria will be  a threat to all of us and will probably result in all of Korea being absorbed by Japan.[…] If  Japan could not be persuaded to relinquish its claim to the Liaodong peninsula, Russia should  begin hostile actions against the Japanese fleet, and bombard Japanese ports.” (Jager 200-201) The so-called “Far East” is now a central part of international affairs. Tokyo reluctantly agrees to give back the peninsula to China. Japanese public  opinion is outraged, even more so when in 1898, Russia pressures China into leasing it  the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur, along with a railway deal in Manchuria.  Japanese journalist Soho Tokutomi once a supporter of liberal principles, wants revenge: “[Japan] will break the global monopoly of the Western race, destroy their special privileges,  and bring an end to the special influence and global tyranny of the Whites.” (Mishra 165) Japan’s plans for dominating post-war Korea also run into a Russian roadblock.  Japanese agents assassinate Queen Min and bring back the Taewongun, only to see  Russa help King Kojong regain power in 1896.

[00:23:26]The tensions between the Russian and Japanese  Empires will grow in the following years, until the Asian Great Game  explodes into war again.

[00:23:36]The 1st Sino-Japanese War is a relatively obscure  war that set the stage for many dramatic events of the 20th century like the Korean War. Yet,  it is rarely covered in history documentaries and its impact often overlooked. An important  reason why we are able to cover lesser known wars and conflicts on Real Time History is  your support on Patreon. With a monthly or annual contribution on Patreon, we can go the  extra mile with our history documentaries. So go to patreon.com/realtimehistory  to support our work directly.

[00:24:08]If you want to learn more about the Russo-Japanese  War just 10 years after the events of 1895, check out our documentary on our sister channel The  Great War. As usual you can find all the sources for this video in the description below. If you  are watching this video on Patreon or Nebula, thank you so much for the support, we couldn’t do  it without you. I am Jesse Alexander and this is a production of Real Time History, the only history  channel that fights barbarians with barbarians.