Portsmouth Peace Treaty

Despite the successes achieved during the war with Russia, the stress of all the forces required for this put Japan in a difficult position. In this regard, the Japanese leadership began to attempt to clarify the possibilities of concluding peace. The first attempt was made by the Japanese envoy to Britain, Hayashi in July 1904 and repeated it after the fall of Port Arthur through the German diplomat Eckardstein. At the same time, the Japanese side made a condition for an official request for peace from the Russian side. The Russian government rejected this offer.

In connection with the interest in obtaining Russian support due to the impending Moroccan crisis (1905), France took the initiative in regulating Russian-Japanese relations. With the consent of the Russian government, on April 5, 1905, the French representative proposed Motono, the Japanese envoy in Paris, to mediate France, warning that Russia would agree to peace negotiations only if the clauses on payment of indemnities and concessions to Russian territories were excluded from Japan's requirements. On April 13, Motono informed the French side of his refusal to accept this Russian condition.

In connection with the pro-Japanese position of T. Roosevelt , who provided Japan with huge financial support, the Japanese side turned to the United States for assistance. On April 18, 1905, the Japanese envoy to the United States, Takahira asked Roosevelt to make a proposal for peace. As a preliminary requirement of the American side, Roosevelt set the condition for Japan to respect the principle of “open doors” in China and evacuate its forces from Manchuria at the end of the war. Japan made the required commitments by a note dated April 24, 1905. The US president was determined to facilitate the early conclusion of a peace agreement, "before Japan pushes Russia out of East Asia." According to him, it is better if Russia “is left face to face with Japan so that they can exert a restraining influence on each other” ^[1] .

In preparation for the peace talks, Japan agreed on support from the United Kingdom and the United States. In January 1905, Roosevelt and British Ambassador Durand agreed to transfer Port Arthur and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. The United States (the Katsura-Taft secret agreement between Japan and America) and Great Britain (the second Anglo-Japanese alliance treaty of 1905) recognized Japan’s rights to Korea in advance.

In connection with the defeat at Tsushima on May 14 (27) - 15 (28) May 1905 and the development of revolutionary events in Russia, the government of the Russian Empire firmly decided to make peace. When Roosevelt, at the request of the Japanese government, made a proposal "on his own behalf and on his own initiative" to organize peace negotiations, Emperor Nicholas II accepted this proposal on the basis of the position "domestic welfare is more important than victory."

The Peace Conference in Portsmouth opened on August 9, 1905. The requirements set by Japan were as follows:

• Recognition of the freedom of action of Japan in Korea.
• The withdrawal of Russian troops from Manchuria.
• Transfer to Japan of the Liaodong Peninsula and the South Manchurian Railway (UMZhD).
• Payment of military expenses by Russia.
• Transfer Japan interned by her Russian ships.
• Joining Japan Sakhalin (occupied by Japanese troops on the eve of the opening of the conference in Portsmouth) and the Kuril Islands.
• The limitation of Russian naval forces in the Far East .
• Granting Japan fishing rights along the Russian coast.

At the insistence of the Russian side, the protocol of the conference recorded the obligation of Japan not to carry out without coordination with the Korean government actions affecting the sovereignty of Korea. It was also possible to impose on Japan a condition on the simultaneous and parallel withdrawal of the armed forces of the two countries from Manchuria. The Russian side, in connection with the problem of the South-Caucasian Railway, agreed to cede to Japan only that part of the road that was in the Japanese zone of occupation, and only with the consent of the Chinese government.

Russia rejected Japan’s demands for Sakhalin, interned ships, the limitation of Russian naval forces in the Far East, and indemnities. Consent was only given to Japan to compensate for the costs of prisoners of war. In connection with the firm position of the Russian delegation, which stated at the first meeting that “there are no winners or losers at the conference,” the conference was on the verge of failure. Before the prospect of a continuation of the war, Japan trembled and on August 18, 1905 refused the requirements for limiting naval forces, issuing interned ships and paying indemnities subject to the concession to it of southern Sakhalin and payment of 1.2 billion yen for the return of northern Sakhalin to Russia. The Russian side was ready to give in on Sakhalin, but refused to pay a fee for the return of its northern part. The American side was followed by pressure on Russia to force it to accept the conditions of Japan, but Witte was firm in upholding the Russian position. Unable to make a concession from Russia, Roosevelt strongly advised the Japanese side not to continue the war due to indemnity. Ultimately, the Japanese government decided to make peace without indemnity, leaving Japan to the south of Sakhalin. Japan also had to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Laperouse Strait and commit to not strengthening South Sakhalin.

The signing of the contract was perceived by the Japanese public as humiliation and caused riots in Tokyo.

The Portsmouth Peace Treaty consisted of 15 articles and two additions.

The peace treaty proclaimed peace and friendship between the emperors of Russia and Japan, between states and subjects.

According to the agreement, Russia recognized Korea as a sphere of Japanese influence, ceded to Japan rental rights to the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur and Dalniy , part of the South Ural Railway from Port Arthur to Kuanchenzi and agreed in article 12 to conclude a fishing convention along the Russian coasts of Japan, Okhotsk and Bering seas.

Russia was inferior to Japan south of Sakhalin (50 parallel) and "all adjacent to the last island."

The agreement secured only the commercial use of Manchu roads by both parties.

The parties agreed on the exchange of prisoners of war.

The terms of the agreement were much closer to the Russian than the Japanese peace program, so in Japan this peace treaty was met with overt discontent - see Riots in Tokyo (1905) .

European powers and the United States were pleased with the conclusion of the treaty. France in connection with the German threat sought to attract Russia to the settlement of the Moroccan crisis . Britain, after weakening Russia's position in the Far East, regarded it as a possible ally against Germany . Germany after the conclusion of the Bierca Treaty of 1905 hoped to use Russia for its own purposes. The United States believed that it had achieved its goal of stopping Russia's advance in the Far East, while at the same time preserving Russia as a counterweight to Japan.

When Soviet-Japanese diplomatic relations were established in 1925, the Soviet government recognized the Portsmouth Peace Treaty with the proviso that “the USSR does not bear political responsibility for it”

After the defeat of Japan in World War II and its surrender on September 2, 1945, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty ceased to be in force.

• Japan-America Society of New Hampshire - Portsmouth Peace Treaty History Site
• Portsmouth Peace Treaty . Project of the Russian Military Historical Society "100 main documents of Russian history."
• Volynets Alexey "110 years since the conclusion of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty . "