How were the Western Powers "stunned" by the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905?

Question

During the Progressive Era and the Rise of Imperialism.

Answer 1

It wasn't just that an Asian nation had defeated a Western nation. That was certainly a stunner, since it did call into question one of the justifications for imperialism, i.e., that Western nations, by bringing the rest of the world under their "benevolent" hegemony, were also bringing them the wonders of the modern world, as well as "enlightened" Western culture.

What really stunned the world was who had so decisively defeated Russia: Japan. When an American fleet, under Commodore Perry, sailed into Tokyo Bay in 1858, Japan was a medieval, feudalistic society. Less that fifty years later Japan had become one of the leading industrial powers of the world, building a fleet of battleships and cruisers that crushed the Russian fleet in the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.

At the time, battleships were the most complex machines in existence, so for Japan to make such a leap from a medieval agrarian society to a modern industrial one in only fifty years was considered nothing short of miraculous.

Interestingly, the movie "The Last Samurai" takes place during this period of transition, and represents the conflict between the old way of the sword and the Samurai and the new way of steamships and gatling guns.

Answer 2

I Agree but I would also say that that war happened at the end on Imperialism not at the rise. You are at the point where in ten years will be the war that will mark the decline and fall of most of the imperial powers

Answer 3

They were stunned by an Asian power defeating a European power. This drew into question ideas of racial superiority underlying western imperialism.