Yesterday September 5th, our year long war with Russia came to a halt when the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed (1). The treaty states "It is reserved to Russian subjects, inhabitants of the terrritory ceded to Japan, to retire their property and retire to their country" (2). In this treaty we, Japan, were given lands in Southern Korea that we went to war with Russia over. Although this is the second war we have won in less then ten years, the question arises whether our nation is expanding too quickly while making too many enemies. Many in our country feel that the war against Russia was not necessary and demonstrated that our country's ambitions have increased since our victory over China (3). To many, the fact that we waged war on a country that wasn't attacking us proves the increasing ambitions of our country. The war started with a surprise attack on Russia's Port Arthur, which the London Times called "an act of daring which is destined to take a place of honor in naval annals" (4). Many Russians and Japanese were surprised by this " act of daring", but the underlying message, apparent to many Japanese, was that Japan was becoming an expansionist country (5).

The war with Russia seemed to stem from anger and jealousy. Our country was still bitter as a result of the fact that when we tried to take Chinas Port Liadong, Russia, Germany, and France would not allow it. Yet just a few years later, Russia completed this task without any objections from other European countries (6). Resentment towards Russia for taking control of Liadong was a major factor in our attack against the country. Attacking countries in response to every annoyance is destined to win us more enemies then we can handle. Although we have been successful so far, sooner or later attacks like the one on Port Arthur will lead to a great loss.

Now we must ask ourselves, why did we want Korea? It is said that we wanted control of her trade and industries (7). This supports the contention that we are adopting Western ideas in making policy decisions for our country. We are now too concerned with industry and trade. Many feel that we are forgetting our traditions and heritage in order to adapt to the Western way of life. Farming is now being superceded by industry. The fact that we would go to war in order to support our industrialization demonstrates how badly we want to imitate the West.

In the last ten years we have become enemies with China and Russia, and now it seems that our government is even developing bad relations with America. Our government has made it clear that it is not satisfied with the Americans president Theodore Roosevelt's performance in negotiating the peace treaty with Russia, even if he did win the Nobel Peace Prize for his work (8) . The resentment our country is feeling towards America is similar to that which we felt against Russia, which helped ignite our attack on Port Arthur. It may seem far-fetched, but what will we do in the future, attack one of America's naval bases?

The expansionism of the last ten years, most evident in our recent war against Russia, is not good for our country. It is resulting in poor relations with surrounding countries and eroding our heritage. It is time for Japan to take a lower profile and think about who we are and where we're heading.

Sources
1) The World Book Encyclopedia, 1992 ed., s.v. "Russo-Japanese War"

2) "The Treaty of Portsmouth, 1905-September5,190 [http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1914m/portsmouth.html]January 20023)

3) Marius B. Jansen, The Making Of Modern Japan , (Harvard University Press, 2000)440-443

4) Ibid

5) Ibid

6) "Russo-Japanese War"

7) Ibid

8) Ibid

Images

1. Gary Combs, "Russo-Japanese War Conference,"[http://www.rossica.org/Members/Articles/Articles/print_format/R-J-War.html], January2002

2."Sinking War Ships,"[http://jove.prohosting.com/~sinking/russo-japanese.shtml], January 2002