What Caused the Russo-Japanese War—Korea or Manchuria?

摘要

The Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) has become the focus of academic attention again owing to the recent observance of the 100-year anniversary of the war. This survey article examines new scholarship that has appeared on the historical significance of the war in the wake of this anniversary from among researchers located around the world. This paper will focus on the causes of the war, by questioning the significance of Korea and Manchuria in the diplomatic negotiations leading up to the outbreak of the war. The origins of the war are closely connected to the ‘Korea question’ and the ‘Manchuria question’: if Korea was the reason for the Russo-Japanese War, the war was a defensive war for Japan; if Manchuria was the reason for the war, it was an imperial war. However, I believe that the connections between the Korea question and the Manchuria question became entangled in a way that the actors involved did not realize clearly at the time.