japan was d 1st country to defeat a European one. how did it happen?

Question

keepin in mind the meiji restoration.

Answer 1

Japan's first military objective was to neutralize the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. On the night of 8 February 1904, the Japanese fleet under Admiral Heihachiro Togo opened the war with a surprise torpedo attack on the Russian ships at Port Arthur and badly damaged two battleships. These attacks developed into the Battle of Port Arthur the next morning. A series of indecisive naval engagements followed, in which the Admiral Togo was unable to attack the Russian fleet successfully as it was protected by the land guns of the harbor and the Russians declined to leave the harbor for the open seas, especially after the death of Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov on 13 April.

However, these engagements provided cover for a Japanese landing near Incheon in Korea. From Incheon the Japanese occupied Seoul and then the rest of Korea. By the end of April, the Japanese army under Kuroki Itei was ready to cross the Yalu river into Russian-occupied Manchuria.

In counterpoint to the Japanese strategy of gaining rapid victories to control Manchuria, Russian strategy focused on fighting delaying actions to gain time for reinforcements to arrive via the long Trans-Siberian railway. On 1 May 1904, the Battle of the Yalu River, in which Japanese troops stormed a Russian position after an unopposed crossing of the river, was the first major land battle of the war. Japanese troops proceeded to land at several points on the Manchurian coast, and, in a series of engagements, drove the Russians back on Port Arthur. These battles, including the Battle of Nanshan on 25 May, were marked by heavy Japanese losses from attacking entrenched Russian positions, but the Russians remained passive and failed to counterattack.

At sea, the war was just as brutal. After the 8 February attack on Port Arthur, the Japanese attempted to deny the Russians use of the port. During the night of 13-14 February, the Japanese attempted to block the entrance to Port Arthur by sinking several cement-filled steamers in the deep water channel to the port, but they sank too deep to be effective. Another attempt to block the harbor entrance during the night of 3-4 May with blockships also failed. In March, the energetic Vice Admiral Makarov had taken command of the First Russian Pacific Squadron with the intention of breaking out of the Port Arthur blockade.

By then, both sides were engaged in a tactical offensive, laying mines in each other's ports. This was the first time that mines were used for offensive purposes; in the past, mines had been used for purely defensive purposes to protect harbors against potential invaders. The Japanese mine-laying policy proved effective at restricting the movement of Russian ships outside Port Arthur, when on 12 April 1904 two Russian battleships, the flagship Petropavlovsk and the Pobeda, struck Japanese mines off Port Arthur. The Petropavlovsk sank almost immediately, while the Pobeda had to be towed back to Port Arthur for extensive repairs. Admiral Makarov, the single effective Russian naval strategist of the war, died on the Petropavlovsk, effectively muzzling the Russian navy for the rest of the conflict.

The Russians soon copied the Japanese policy of offensive minelaying. On 14 May 1904, two Japanese battleships, the Yashima and the Hatsuse, were lured into a recently laid Russian minefield off Port Arthur, each striking at least two mines. The Yashima sank within minutes, taking 450 sailors with her, while the Hatsuse sank under tow a few hours later. On 23 June, a breakout attempt by the Russian squadron, now under the command of Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft failed. By the end of the month, Japanese artillery were firing shells into the harbor.


Russian 500 pound shell bursting near the Japanese siege guns, near Port ArthurJapan began a long siege of Port Arthur, which had been heavily fortified by the Russians. On 10 August 1904, the Russian fleet attempted to break out and proceed to Vladivostok, but they were intercepted and defeated at the Battle of the Yellow Sea. The remnants of the Russian fleet remained in Port Arthur, where they were eventually sunk by the artillery of the besieging army. Attempts to relieve the city by land also failed, and, after the Battle of Liaoyang in late August, the Russians retreated to Mukden (Shenyang). Port Arthur finally fell on 2 January 1905 when the leading officer ceded the Port to the Japanese without consulting his superiors, another example of the disorganized state of the Russian military.


Campaign of 1905
The Japanese army was now able to attack northward. To finish the war, Japan needed to crush the Russian army in Manchuria. The Battle of Mukden commenced at the end of February. Japanese forces progressed step by step and tried to encircle General Kuropatkin's headquarters at Mukden (Shenyang). Russian forces resisted, but on 10 March 1905 they decided to retreat. Having suffered massive casualties, the Japanese did not pursue the Russians. Because the possession of the city meant little strategically, a final victory would depend on the navy.


Mikasa, possibly the most powerful battleship of her time, was the Japanese flagship at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.Meanwhile, at sea, the Russians were preparing to reinforce their fleet by sending the Baltic Sea fleet under Admiral Zinovi Petrovich Rozhdestvenski around the Cape of Good Hope to Asia. On 21 October 1904, while passing by the United Kingdom (an ally of Japan but neutral in this war), they nearly provoked a war in the Dogger Bank incident by firing on British fishing boats that they mistook for torpedo boats.

The long duration of its journey meant that Admiral Togo was well aware of the Baltic Fleet's progress, and he made plans to meet it before it could reach Vladivostok. He intercepted it in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan, and in the Battle of Tsushima, 27 May–28 May 1905, the Japanese fleet, numerically inferior but with superior speed and firing range, shelled the Russian fleet mercilessly, destroying all eight of its battleships.


Peace
Although Russia still had a larger army than Japan, these successive defeats had shaken Russian confidence. Throughout 1905, Russia was rocked by the Russian Revolution of 1905, which posed a severe threat to the stability of the government. Russia elected to negotiate peace rather than continue the war, so that it could concentrate on internal matters.

Answer 2

It happened primarily because of Russian military ineptitude. With the exception of the second world war and the defeat of Napoleon Russia's military past has been less than glorious.

Answer 3

please...i'd like to see a european power fight the chinese army during the 15th century and before. china was ahead by centuries...china vs. "mighty roman empire that 'conquered the word'"...psh...china woulda had rome on its ***. ne ways... as for the 1904 defeat of the russians handed by japan...well what can you say...japan takes what it learned and improve upon it (like always)

Answer 4

they beat the russians - thier navy had been modernized by european countries and then they used the technology - equipment and training to destroy the russians at Vladivostok

Answer 5

CanProf has said it all...