In October 1904, while the Japanese Third Army was yet besieging Port Arthur, Tsar Nicholas II ordered the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was led by eight battleships, to head for Port Arthur and break the Japanese naval blockade, and reinforce the Russian Pacific Fleet. The Russian Baltic Fleet, soon renamed the Second Pacific Fleet, then embarked on a seven-month (October 1904-May 1905) 33,000-kilometer voyage half-way around the world by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and around the southern tip of Africa. The Russian fleet was forced to take this much longer route after being denied passage across the Suez Canal by Britain following the Dogger Bank incident. In this incident, which occurred in the North Sea in October 1904, the Russian fleet fired on British trawlers, mistaking them for Japanese torpedo boats. The incident sparked a furious British government protest that nearly led to war between Britain and Russia.
(Taken from Russo-Japanese War – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia: Vol. 5)
The Battle of Mukden (February 20-March 10, 1905), which was the last major land battle of the war, opened with the Japanese main offensive aimed at the Russian flanks, with minor attacks at other points. Again, Russian military planners miscalculated the Japanese plan, believing that the main enemy thrust would be along the eastern flank, when in fact the Japanese focused their offensive in the west. There, the Japanese Second Army comprised the main attacking force and the Japanese Third Army was tasked with advancing in a wide arc in the northwest to the other side of Mukden.
Soon realizing the threat of being encircled, General Kuropatkin moved units from the eastern flank to the western flank, which was badly executed. The Japanese now attacked in force along the weakened Russian eastern flank, breaking through. In the west, the Japanese soon threatened to encircle the Russians. Faced with annihilation, on March 9, 1905, on General Kuropatkin’s orders, Russian forces abandoned Mukden, and retreated north first to Tiehling. The Russians soon also evacuated Tiehling, which they burned to the ground, and retreated further north to Hspingkai. In the Mukden battle, a combined total of 165,000 soldiers were casualties (Japanese: 75,000, including 16,000 killed; Russians: 90,000, including 9,000 killed).
In the aftermath, Japanese forces occupied Mukden and gained control of the entire southern Manchuria. But they had failed to annihilate the Russian Army (which remained relatively potent despite the high losses). Because of serious logistical problems, the Japanese Army decided to abandon plans to advance further north.
Despite the series of battlefield defeats, Tsar Nicholas II continued to believe that the Russian Army would prevail eventually in a protracted war. The now completed Trans-Siberian Railway could transfer more troops and weapons to the Far East. But these hopes would be dashed in the Battle of Tsushima.
In October 1904, while the Japanese Third Army was yet besieging Port Arthur, Tsar Nicholas II ordered the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was led by eight battleships, to head for Port Arthur and break the Japanese naval blockade, and reinforce the Russian Pacific Fleet. The Russian Baltic Fleet, soon renamed the Second Pacific Fleet, then embarked on a seven-month (October 1904-May 1905) 33,000-kilometer voyage half-way around the world by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and around the southern tip of Africa. The Russian fleet was forced to take this much longer route after being denied passage across the Suez Canal by Britain following the Dogger Bank incident. In this incident, which occurred in the North Sea in October 1904, the Russian fleet fired on British trawlers, mistaking them for Japanese torpedo boats. The incident sparked a furious British government protest that nearly led to war between Britain and Russia.
In January 1905, while yet in transit, the Russian fleet received information that Port Arthur had fallen. As a result, it was instructed to head for Vladivostok instead. By May 1905, the Russian fleet had entered the waters south of the Sea of Japan, and while traversing the Tsushima Strait, located between Japan and Korea, the fleet was spotted by a Japanese ship, which then alerted the Japanese Navy. In the previous months, the Japanese had followed the progress of the Russian fleet’s voyage, and thus prepared to do battle with it in a decisive showdown.
In the ensuing Battle of Tsushima (May 27-28, 1905), the Japanese Navy scored a stunning one-sided victory. The Russian Second Pacific Fleet was destroyed, with 10,000 Russians killed or captured, 21 ships sunk, including 7 battleships, and of the 38 Russian ships that started the voyage, only 3 managed to reach Vladivostok. Japanese losses were 700 dead or wounded, and only 3 torpedo boats sunk.
The Battle of Tsushima sent reverberations around the World – an Asian nation dealing a crushing defeat on a European power. In Russia, Tsar Nicholas II abandoned his hard-line position against Japan. On June 8, 1905, one week after the Tsushima battle, Russia agreed to negotiate an end to the war. By this time also, Russia was experiencing massive unrest (the Russian Revolution of 1905) as a result of strikes, demonstrations, peasant protests, and soldiers’ mutinies. This unrest in Russia began in January 1905 when a peaceful demonstration by 150,000 people turned violent when soldiers opened fire and killed scores of people. Russians across the country then rose up against the government. Some military units mutinied, but were contained by loyalist forces. Rail workers and rebellious soldiers seized sections of the Trans-Baikal railway, undermining the Russian war effort in the east. In the end, the Russian government quelled the uprising after agreeing to implement major reforms.
Meanwhile, Japan was faced with a deteriorating economy and mounting foreign debt, and also desired to end the war. The Japanese Army was experiencing logistical problems in Manchuria, and the economic problems at home could seriously undermine Japan’s ability to wage a protracted war. As early as mid-1904, Japan had sought third-party mediation to end the war. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt agreed to act as mediator, and peace talks opened in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in June 1905. Russian and Japanese mediators took a hard-line stance and refused to compromise. As a result, fighting resumed. In July 1905, Japanese naval and land forces seized Sakhalin Island, located off the Russian Far East mainland, in a three-week campaign.
Negotiations then continued. In August 1905, a number of issues were resolved, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the more contentious issues of war reparations and territorial concessions. The Russian delegation threatened to withdraw from the talks and allow the war to continue. The Japanese then acquiesced, and agreed to the Russian stipulation that no war reparations would be paid.