The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War

Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia

by Rotem Kowner (Editor)

The Russo-Japanese War was the major conflict of the earliest decade of the twentieth century. The struggle for mastery in northeast Asia, specifically for control of Korea, was watched at the time very closely by observers from many other countries keen to draw lessons about the conduct of war in the modern industrial age. The defeat of a traditional European power by a non-white, non-western nation became a model for imitation and admiration among people under, or threatened with, colonial rule. Examining the wide impact of the war and exploring the effect on the political balance in northeast Asia, this book focuses on the reactions in Europe, the United States, East Asia and the wider colonial world, considering the impact on different sections of society, on political and cultural ideas and ideologies, and on various national independence movements.

Genres: History, Japan

372 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Rotem Kowner is Professor of Japanese Studies and Naval History at the University of Haifa and a leading expert on the Russo-Japanese War. A founder and first chair of the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Haifa, his research interests include wartime behaviour in modern Japan, questions of race and racism in East Asia, and modern naval history. During the last two decades, Professor Kowner has written extensively and led joint research projects on the Russo-Japanese War, and in so doing played a major role in bringing this conflict and its global repercussions back into historical consideration.