The Russo-Japanese War was the major conflict of the earliest decade of the twentieth century. The struggle for mastery in northeast Asia, specifically for control of Korea, was watched at the time very closely by observers from many other countries keen to draw lessons about the conduct of war in the modern industrial age. The defeat of a traditional European power by a non-white, non-western nation became a model for imitation and admiration among people under, or threatened with, colonial rule.
Examining the wide impact of the war and exploring the effect on the political balance in northeast Asia, this book focuses on the reactions in Europe, the United States, East Asia and the wider colonial world, considering the impact on different sections of society, on political and cultural ideas and ideologies, and on various national independence movements.
1. Between a Colonial Clash and World War Zero: The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War in a Global Perspective Part 1: The Belligerents 2. The War as a Turning Point in Modern Japanese History 3. If Japan Had Lost the War 4. The War and the Fate of the Tsarist Autocracy 5. From Enemies to Allies: The War and Russo-Japanese Relations Part 2: Europe and the United States 6. The Fragmenting of the Old World Order: Britain, the Great Powers, and the War 7. Germany, the Russo-Japanese War and the Road to the Great War 8. The Impact of the War on the French Political Scene 9. The Emergence of a New Rivalry: The War and the United States 10. White Mongols? The War and American Discourses on Race and Religion Part 3: East Asia and the Colonial World 11. The Impact of the War on China 12. On the Confluence of History and Memory: The Significance of the War for Korea 13. Ironies of History: The War and the Origins of East Asian Radicalism 14. Tokyo as a Shared Mecca of Modernity: War Echoes in the Colonial Malay World 15. India and the War Part 4: The Military Arena 16. A Model Not to Follow: The European Armies and the Lessons of the War 17. The Impact of the War on Naval Warfare 18. The Road to Jutland? The War and the German Navy
Biography
Rotem Kowner is Professor of Japanese History at the University of Haifa, Israel. His recent works include The Forgotten Campaign: The Russo-Japanese War and Its Legacy, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, and the edited collection Rethinking the Russo-Japanese War: Centennial Perspectives.
"All of the essays are thought provoking, and some break new ground, such as the war’s effect the rise of nationalist movements in India, China, and Malaya. A valuable read for anyone with an interest in the era of the First World War or East Asia." - The NYMAS Review, The New York Military Affairs Symposium
