Treaty of Portsmouth

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Image:TreatyOfPortsmouth.jpeg The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. It was signed on September 5, 1905 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard near Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States, by Sergius Witte and Roman Rosen for Russia, and by Komura Jutaro and Takahira Kogoro for Japan. Fyodor Martens and other diplomats from both nations stayed in New Castle, New Hampshire, at the grand Hotel Wentworth by the Sea, and were ferried to negotiations held across the Piscataqua River on the base located in Kittery, Maine.

The treaty acknowledged Japan as the dominant power in Korea and both sides agreed to evacuate Manchuria and return its sovereignty to China, but Japan was leased the Liaodong Peninsula (containing Port Arthur and Talien) and the Russian rail system in southern Manchuria with access to strategic resources. Japan also received the southern half of the Island of Sakhalin from Russia. Although Japan gained a lot, that was not nearly as much as the Japanese public had been led to expect, since Japan's initial negotiating position had demanded all of Sakhalin and a monetary indemnity as well. The frustration caused the Hibiya riots and the collapse of Katsura Taro's cabinet on January 7, 1906.

Image:Peace Conference Building, Treaty of Portsmouth.jpg The negotiations for the treaty were taken under the mediation of Theodore Roosevelt (for which he won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize), both sides were seeking a peace — the Russians had been repeatedly defeated, but the Japanese were in considerable financial difficulties. Negotiations lasted through August. Prior to the beginning of the negotiations, the Japanese had signed the Taft-Katsura agreement with the US in July 1905, agreeing to Japanese control in Korea in return for American dominance in the Philippines. Also the Japanese agreed with Britain to extend the Anglo-Japanese treaty to cover all of Eastern Asia and in return for Britain also agreeing to Japanese control over Korea. The treaty confirmed Japan's emergence as the pre-eminent power in east Asia and forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policies, but it was not well received by the Japanese public.

In 2005, a summer-long series of events was held in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of this treaty, including a visit by a U.S. Navy destroyer, a parade and a re-enactment of the arrival of diplomats from the two warring nations. The treaty was signed at 3:47 p.m. on September 5, 1905, marked by an honor guard, the firing of a 19-gun salute and the ringing of area church bells. Those sounds were duplicated on the same date in 2005, when the signing was re-enacted. [1], [2]

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