what is the Sino-Japanses war?

Question

whats the significance of it?
what are the dates?

Answer 1

The First Sino-Japanese War was August 1st 1894 to April 17th 1895. It was a war fought between Qing (pronounced "Ching) dynasty of China and Meiji emperor of Japan. It was fought over control of Korea. Japan won - - showing the world how successful modernization along Western European lines had been in Japan since the 1870s.

Even more impressive was the Russo-Japanese War of February 10, 1904 to September 5, 1905 during which Japan defeated a Western European power (Russia) and really got the world's attention. They began that war with a sneak attack on a Russian naval base just like they started WWII at Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941 against the U.S.
Those who study history should not have been "surprised" at the Pearl Harbor attack.
The Battle of Tsushima Straights in 2005 when the Japanese fleet annihilated the main Russian battle fleet is worth reading about,

Answer 2

A good answer above for the first Sino-Japanese war (although Tsushima was 1905 not 2005 :)), but there was a second one which preceded WWII, the site below will tell you about it: