Russo-Japanese War: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Date	February 8, 1904 - September 5, 1905
Location	China • Manchuria • Korea
Participants	Japan • Russian Empire

Did You Know?

U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt was given the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in mediating the peace treaty between Russia and Japan.
During the negotiations, advisors to the Czar convinced him that Japan would not go to war with Russia.
Historians estimate that around 20,000 Chinese civilians died in the Russo-Japansese war.

Photos and Videos

Japanese soldiers in uniform disembark from a boat onto a dock, with hilly terrain visible in the background during the Russo-Japanese War.

Historical map showing the main locations of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) in East Asia. The map highlights battles at Port Arthur, Mukden, Liaoyang, and Tsushima, as well as the Trans-Siberian Railroad route through Siberia and Manchuria. It includes the regions of Manchuria, Korea, the Empire of Japan, and nearby seas, with country boundaries as they were in 1904-1905.

Historical map showing Russian expansion in Asia, with different colors representing territories acquired during specific periods and under various rulers from 1533 to 1894. The map highlights the original Russian territory in 1533 and subsequent acquisitions stretching eastward across Siberia to the Pacific Ocean, and southward toward Central Asia. Major cities, rivers, and neighboring countries are labeled for geographic context.

First Sino-Japanese War

The emperor Meiji

Map showing the territorial extent of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty around 1850, shaded in green, which includes present-day China, Manchuria, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Outer Mongolia. The red line marks the boundary of modern China for comparison, and neighboring regions such as the Russian Empire, India, Burma, French Indochina, Korea, and Japan are labeled. Major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, as well as major rivers and the Great Wall, are also indicated.

Portrait of Aleksey Kuropatkin in an ornate military uniform decorated with medals and a sash, facing slightly to the left.

Tōgō Heihachirō

Japanese naval warships with smokestacks releasing dark smoke steam toward shore, with water splashes from artillery shells in the foreground and mountains in the background.

attack on Port Arthur

What happened during the Boxer Rebellion in China?

Witness the entry of the U.S. into international politics as Theodore Roosevelt successfully ends the Russo-Japanese War of 1905

See All Videos and Images →

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Timeline

Battle of Port Arthur

Battle of Port Arthur

February 2, 1904 - August 9, 1904

Battleships at Port Arthur

Battle of the Yellow Sea

August 10, 1904

Russian soldiers and horse-drawn carts crowd a street as smoke rises from burning buildings in Mukden, Manchuria, during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.

Battle of Mukden

February 20, 1905 - March 10, 1905

Historical map showing the main locations of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) in East Asia. The map highlights battles at Port Arthur, Mukden, Liaoyang, and Tsushima, as well as the Trans-Siberian Railroad route through Siberia and Manchuria. It includes the regions of Manchuria, Korea, the Empire of Japan, and nearby seas, with country boundaries as they were in 1904-1905.

Battle of Tsushima

May 27, 1905 - May 29, 1905

Key People

Oil portrait of Theodore Roosevelt by John Singer Sargent showing Roosevelt standing with one hand on a wooden pedestal and the other on his hip, dressed in a dark suit.

Theodore Roosevelt

president of United States

Nicholas II

Nicholas II

tsar of Russia

Yamagata Aritomo

Yamagata Aritomo

prime minister of Japan

Tōgō Heihachirō

Tōgō Heihachirō

Japanese admiral

Makarov, Stepan Osipovich

Stepan Osipovich Makarov

Russian naval commander

Anatoly Mikhaylovich Stessel.

Anatoly Mikhaylovich Stessel

Russian general

Suzuki Kantarō

Danshaku Suzuki Kantarō

prime minister of Japan

Aleksey Kuropatkin in his library, 1904/05.

Aleksey Kuropatkin

Russian general

Civil War era cannon overlooks Kennesaw Mountain National Battle. (military, artillery, American history)

Pick Your Battles Quiz

Louis IX of France (St. Louis), stained glass window of Louis IX during the Crusades. (Unknown location.)

World Wars

D-Day. American soldiers fire rifles, throw grenades and wade ashore on Omaha Beach next to a German bunker during D Day landing. 1 of 5 Allied beachheads est. in Normandy, France. The Normandy Invasion of World War II launched June 6, 1944.

A History of War