Russia Against Japan, 1904–05: A New Look at the Russo-Japanese War PDF
Preview Russia Against Japan, 1904–05: A New Look at the Russo-Japanese War
RUSSIA AGAINST JAPAN, 1904-05 By the same author ENDURANCE AND ENDEAVOUR: Russian History, 1812-1980 WITNESSES OF TSUSHIMA A HISTORY OF RUSSIAN RAILWAYS RAILWAYS AT WAR SOVIETLOCOMOTIVETECHNOLOGYDURING INDUSTRIALIZATION, 1928-1952 RUSSIA AGAINST JAPAN, 1904-05 A New Look at the Russo-Japanese War J. N. Westwood M MACMILLAN ©J.N.Westwood 1986 Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition 1986 Allrights reserved.Noreproduction.copyor transmission ofthispublicationmay bemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noparagraphofthispublicationmay bereproduced.copiedor transmittedsave withwritten permission orinaccordancewith theprovisionsoftheCopyright.Designsand PatentsAct 1988. orunder thetermsofanylicencepermittinglimitedcopying issued bytheCopyrightLicensingAgency.33-4AlfredPlace. LondonWCIE7DP. Anyperson whodoesany unauthorised act inrelationto this publicationmaybeliabletocriminal prosecution and civilclaimsfordamages. Firstpublished 1986 Reprinted 1990 Publishedby MACMILLANACADEMICANDPROFESSIONALLTD Houndmills.Basingstoke.HampshireRG21 2X5 and London Companiesand representatives throughouttheworld British LibraryCataloguinginPublication Data Westwood.J.N. Russia againstJapan.1904--{)5:anew lookat theRusso-JapaneseWar. I. Russo-JapaneseWar. \904--\905 I. Tille 952.03'\ D5517 ISBN978-1-349-07310-8 ISBN978-1-349-07308-5(eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-07308-5 Contents ListofIllustrations vi Preface viii Map x 1 The InevitableWar? 1 2 TheContenders 24 3 AdmiralTogoStrikes 37 4 TheWarinManchuria 52 5 The Endof the RussianSquardron 72 6 TheSiege of PortArthur 94 7 The Roadto Mukden 116 8 Tsushima 137 9 Peaceand itsSequel 152 NotesandReferences 164 Bibliography 173 Index 178 v List of Illustrations Plates 1a. General Kuropatkin lb. General Stoessel lc. Admiral Togo 1d. Admiral Rozhestvensky 2a Japanese cavalryman 2b. Russian cavalry 3a. Russian mobilisation 3b. Quarterdeck of Asahi 4a. Japanese sailors 4b. Japanese infantry Sa. Russian squadron returns to Port Arthur 5b. Cruiser Varyag ;~J Loss of the Petropav/ovsk 6a. Russian reservists 6b. Russian howitzer 7a. Japanese field artillery 7b. General Zasulich 8a. Captured Russian guns 8b. 0.1 the South Manchuria Railway 9a. Russian infantry at field kitchen 9b. Japanese balloon lOa. Japanese howitzer lOb. A Russian missile is launched 11a. End of the Rurik 11b. Damage of Rossiya 12a. Interment of Russian casualty 12b. Japanese infantry 13a. Suvorov officers 13b. Wardroom of Aleksandr 111 14a. The Tsar aboard Svetlana vi List ofIllustrations vii 14b. 2nd Squadron nears Tsushima 15a. Admiral Nebogatov surrenders 15b. Vladivostok in 1905 16a. Japanese mule carts 16b. The negotiators at Portsmouth With two exceptions, all the photographs were first published during or soon after the war in Russian, British and American periodicals. After so many years it has not been possible to identify those to whom credit should be given for some of these pictures. It is known that on the Russian side many photographs were made by Viktor Bulla, whose work was used by the magazine Niva and syndicated abroad. Other photographs were copyrighted by Underwood & Co., H. C. White & Co., and Collier's Weekly, but the individual photographers were not identified. Some pictures were retouched to suit them for publication. Where considerable artwork was used the words 'from a photograph' have been included in the captions. Map The war zone Preface Every decade or so a new book appears about the Russo-Japanese War, usually fatter than this one. So the appearance of yet another volume on the subject needs to be explained, if not excused. Until August 1914put it into the background, this war attracted enormous interest. First came the newspaper accounts, then the first memoirs translated from Russian or Japanese, or written bywestern attaches, correspondents and freelances who had followed the cam paigns in person. In the military and naval world, painstaking analyses were made, sometimes for the interested public and some times for restricted circulation. It was felt at the time that this war, with its combination of advanced technology and massive human involvement,was aprecursorofthings to come. By1914the military and naval staffs of all the great powers were well advanced in the publication of multi-volume official histories of the war that were intended for the education of their officers. Of these, the British Official History is probably the best, and has served as a basis for subsequent, more popular, accounts. However, apart from its justifiable neglect of the non-military aspects of the war, the Official History makes over-confident use of questionable Russian and Japanese sources. As with most wars, the firstbooks to be written (and translated) were not the best; the more thoughtful and reliable accounts too often came after intense public interest had subsided, and they were not translated. Subsequent general books for general readers relied on the Official History, memoirs of doubtful reliability and, worst of all, contemporary newspaper accounts. Most writers accepted that unreliable sources make the most exciting narratives. Inthisvolume afewexamples willbenotedofdistortions that have long been treated as historical evidence, but the main purpose isto draw upon the enormous stock of neglected, mainly Russian language, material. The result isa book which omits, as unreliable, much anecdotal and hitherto unchallenged material recycled in viii Preface ix previous works, and whichat the same time seeks to viewthe events of 1904-05from new or long-forgotten angles. Bristol J.N.WESlWOOD
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