On Feb. 6, 2025, during an exclusive interview with the New York Post US Special envoy to Ukraine General Kellog said the following:
“You have to approach that in a very pragmatic way, you know? I go back to Teddy Roosevelt and the Treaty of Portsmouth [that ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905,]” he said. “The czar of Russia and the Japanese were ready to walk out the door [during negotiations] and Roosevelt basically got them together and said, ‘Both of you got to give a little’ and they did. “And what happens is you get Teddy Roosevelt the Nobel Peace Prize and the war stops. So I think when you look at that, and even more recent examples, that’s just the kind of the way it is.”
Unfortunately, Gen. Kellog misses the most crucial fact that before concluding the Peace Treaty, the Russian forces had suffered a series of devastating defeats – from battles of the Yalu River and Yellow Sea to Port Arthur, Mukden, and Tsushima. Russian Empire was forced to the 1905 Portsmouth treaty in the Russo-Japanese war only after it was militarily defeated by Japan.
Encyclopedia Britannica: “For Russia, the disastrous course of the war had seriously aggravated unrest inside the country, and the surrender of Port Arthur, followed by the loss of Mukden and the devastating defeat at Tsushima, made the emperor accept the proffered mediation of U.S. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt. It was, however, the Japanese government that had taken the initiative in proposing peace negotiations. Exhausted financially and fearing a long, drawn-out war of attrition far from their bases, the Japanese hoped that the acute unrest in Russia would compel the government to discuss terms, and their hopes proved justified.”
Quick history of the war through the posters of the time below.
Russian propaganda on the military situation in Asia in 1904, with the British and US depicted as pushing Japan towards an unwinnable war:
Japanese propaganda depicting and criticising Russian imperialism:
French cartoonist Orens portrayed the head of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, in the hands of his victorious Japanese soldier. In a sense, the cartoon became prophetic because the losses in that war with Japan triggered a series of events that would lead to the Tsar losing his life eventually. Nicholas’ popularity plummeted after the Russian Baltic Fleet was annihilated at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. Nicholas’ next military decision in 1914 to support Serbia would turn out fatal for him – in 1918 the Bolsheviks would execute him and his entire family.
“Though there had been popular support for the war among the Russian public following the Japanese attack at Port Arthur in 1904, that popular support soon turned to discontent after suffering multiple defeats at the hands of the Japanese forces. For many Russians, the immediate shock of unexpected humiliation at the hands of Japan caused the conflict to be viewed as a metaphor for the shortcomings of the Romanov autocracy. This discontent added fuel to the simmering Russian Revolution of 1905, an event Nicholas II had hoped to avoid by taking intransigent negotiating stances. To quell the uprising, Nicholas II issued the October Manifesto, which included only limited reforms but failed to address the societal problems of Russia at the time. Twelve years later, that discontent would boil over into the February Revolution of 1917.” [Wikipedia]
The Fall of Port Arthur:
The loss of Port Arthur led to Russia losing control over Manchuria and Korea:
British postcard:
An American cartoon depicting the embarrassing defeat inflicted upon Russia by its much smaller opponent:
There are striking parallels between the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 and the Russia-Ukraine War in 2025.
- A major reason for the war was Russia’s expansionism.
- Policy of encroachment.
- Much smaller opponent where quick victory was expected.
- Some scholars have suggested that Nicholas II dragged Japan into war intentionally, in hopes of reviving Russian nationalism (per Wikipedia).
- In 1905, Russia lost two of its three fleets. Only its Black Sea Fleet remained. Now it is the latter one that is gone.
- In 1905, Russia lost its Port Arthur naval base and influence in Korea and Manchuria. By 2025, because of the war in Ukraine, Russia has lost its naval bases in Syria and influence in the region.
- In 1905, Russia lost to Japan part of Sakhalin Island. In 2025, Russia lost control over part of its Kursk region.
- Per Encyclopedia Britannica, the Russo-Japanese War became “a military conflict in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in East Asia. Ukraine is capable of forcing Moscow to abandon its expansionist policy in Europe.
The Russia-Ukraine War might be ended with a relatively long-term peace only after Russia has been militarily defeated in the current war. And it can bring peace to the rest of the world.
