CHANCERIESTHE DIPLOMATIC ATLAS

The Treaty of Portsmouth

1905-09-05

After a year and a half at war with the Russian Empire, Japan had won battles on land and at sea, at a cost it could scarcely sustain. Russia also wanted a way out. With President Theodore Roosevelt acting as mediator, their envoys met at Portsmouth Navy Yard and signed a peace treaty on 5 September 1905. The war had grown out of Russian and Japanese competition for influence in Korea and Manchuria; Roosevelt wanted a settlement that would preserve a balance between the two powers in northeastern China. [1] [2]

Russia recognized Japan’s predominant interests in Korea and transferred its leasehold rights in southern Manchuria, along with the southern half of the island of Sakhalin. Neither Korea nor China had a seat at the negotiations, although the settlement disposed of rights in their territory and allowed Japan greater freedom to act in Korea. [3]

Japan also dropped its demand for a war indemnity. Russia would pay nothing. Many Japanese had expected victory to bring compensation for the cost of the war, and news of the terms set off riots in Tokyo. Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize the following year for bringing the fighting to an end. [1]

Related Diplomats

  1. Jutarō Komura [4] [3]
  2. Kogorō Takahira [5] [3]
  3. Baron Roman Rosen [3]

Sources

  1. The Treaty of Portsmouth and the Russo-Japanese War — Office of the Historian

    Mediation, indemnity dispute and Japanese reaction

  2. The Russo-Japanese War — Japan Center for Asian Historical Records

    Eighteen months of war from February 1904 to the August 1905 peace conference; treaty signed September 5

  3. Treaty of Portsmouth — text transmitted by Ambassador Meyer

    FRUS 1905, document 915; Articles II, III, V, VI and IX

    FRUS 1905, document 915, treaty articles II, V–VI, IX and plenipotentiaries

    FRUS 1905, document 915; treaty of September 5, articles II, V–VI and plenipotentiaries

    FRUS 1905, document 915, enclosure, preamble and Articles II–VI

  4. Arinori Mori — mission record (1871–1873)

    Answer on Komura's diplomatic achievements and records

  5. 日露戦争特別展2 用語集 — 高平小五郎

    Takahira Kogoro entry

Related Reading

Cite This Article

The Treaty of Portsmouth. Chanceries Diplopedia. Record 33aed50715c7d7624540. https://chanceries.org/research/history/japan-portsmouth-02dc077d2a/

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