Sino-Japanese War

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Sino-Japanese war (1894-5), known in Japanese as the Nisshin Sensō. At the root of the conflict was what both countries saw as their competing rights in Korea, particularly with regard to the market for cotton, which from about 1892 had begun to favour China. Anti-government uprisings in Korea provided the pretext for a Japanese invasion, and troops landed in 1894, where they soon met a Chinese army in a series of battles favourable to Japan. In September P'yǒngyang was captured, followed shortly by a naval victory in the Yellow Sea. The Japanese took Port Arthur in November, and Weihaiwei fell in February 1895. The Chinese fleet surrendered to the Japanese later the same month and an armistice in March led to the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. As a result China recognized Korea's independence and ceded the Liaotung peninsula and Formosa (Taiwan) to Japan. International diplomatic intervention forced Japan to relinquish her claim to the Liaotung peninsula, and Russia obtained it, creating such resentment that it made the Russo-Japanese war a certainty unless the Russians chose to behave with less arrogance, which they did not.

— Stephen Turnbull

A conflict between China and Japan in 1894-95 over sovereignty in Korea. Japan's unexpected victory marked its emergence as a world power. As a result of the war Korea, formerly a client state of China, was recognized as independent, and China ceded some possessions to Japan.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

The eruption of war between China and Japan in 1894 did not directly involve the United States, but the resulting regional instability spurred the Cleveland administration to intervene diplomatically. Although it would not formulate the Open Door Policy until 1899, Washington feared European powers would exploit for their own economic benefit the instability caused by the Sino-Japanese rivalry. Thus, the United States had rejected British overtures for foreign intervention to prevent the war. Once hostilities began, however, Washington advised Japan to moderate its ambitions in Asia or face international condemnation. In 1895 the Cleveland administration's efforts succeeded in bringing Japan and China to the peace table.

Bibliography

Beisner Robert L. From the Old Diplomacy to the New, 1865–1900. New York: Crowell, 1975.

McCormick, Thomas J. China Market: America's Quest for Informal Empire, 1893–1901. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1967.