The Russo-Japanese War of 1904 was a military conflict in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power. The Russo-Japanese War developed out of the rivalry between Russia and Japan for dominance in Korea and Manchuria. In 1898, Russia had pressured China into granting it a lease for the strategically important port of Port Arthur in southern Manchuria. Russia thereby entered into occupation of the peninsula, even though, in concert with other European powers, it had forced Japan to relinquish just such a right after the latter\'s decisive victory over China. Moreover, in 1896, Russia had won rights to extend the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Chinese-held Manchuria to the Russian seaport of Vladivostok, thus gaining control of an important strip of Manchurian territory. (Kort, 53 & 73)
However, though Russia had built the Trans-Siberian Railroad, it still lacked......
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