Both Russia and Japan were desperate to end the Russo-Japanese War by the summer of 1905. However, the conditions of that peace would not bring an end to domestic turmoil in Russia, and would inaugurate entirely fresh domestic turmoil in Japan.
After securing the southern portion of Liaodong Province, the Imperial Japanese Army proceeded to besiege Port Arthur while simultaneously fighting Russian forces to their north in increasingly costly and difficult battles.
In February of 1904, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur and initiate the Russo-Japanese War
When a militant anti-imperial movement spreads China, an allied army of eight nations moved quickly to suppress the rebels, leading to a reactionary swing from the Qing Dynasty’s government.
Although Japan had seemingly won influence over Korea as a war prize from the Chinese, Joseon itself was still an independent state. Because of the actions of one inexperienced Japanese diplomat, that independence was about to be asserted in an undeniable way.
Mounting tensions over the future of Korea turned violent after the end of the Donghak Rebellion, resulting in a war between Japan and China.
With its new constitutional structure in place, the Japanese government began to take on a more permanent political shape. However, war with China over the future of Korea lurked on the horizon.
As pressure mounted from grass roots organizations like the Freedom Party, the Meiji government decided to finally draft a constitution. The process which brought it about, and the language which it employed, would determine the course of Japan’s political future.
The early years of the Meiji period saw an explosion of economic growth as Edo Period merchant houses transformed into conglomerates called Zaibatsu.
The Meiji Revolution very rapidly changed nearly every aspect of public life in Japan. Such rapid progress led, inevitably, to counter-revolutions among various groups who felt discarded by the march of modernization, including a large body of samurai in the land formerly known as Satsuma Domain.
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