Treaty of Portsmouth
Encyclopedia
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
. It was signed on September 5, 1905 after negotiations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships...
in Kittery, Maine
Kittery, Maine
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...
(but named after nearby Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
) in the USA.
Negotiations
Delegates who signed the peace agreement were Sergei WitteSergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte , also known as Sergius Witte, was a highly influential policy-maker who presided over extensive industrialization within the Russian Empire. He served under the last two emperors of Russia...
and Roman Rosen
Roman Rosen
Baron Roman Romanovich Rosen was a diplomat in the service of the Russian Empire.-Biography:Rosen was from a long line of russified Baltic German nobility that included musicians and military leaders...
for Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Komura Jutarō
Komura Jutaro
was a statesman and diplomat in Meiji period Japan.-Biography:Komura was born to a lower-ranking samurai family in service of the Obi clan at Nichinan, Hyuga province . He attended the Daigaku Nankō...
and Takahira Kogorō
Takahira Kogoro
Baron was a Japanese diplomat and ambassador to the United States from 1900 to 1909.-Biography:Takahira was born in what is now Ichinoseki city, Iwate prefecture. From relatively modest beginnings, Takahira was to become a graduate of Kaisei Gakkō .-Career diplomat:In 1876, he joined the Ministry...
for Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Fyodor Martens and other diplomats from both nations stayed in New Castle, New Hampshire
New Castle, New Hampshire
New Castle is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 968 at the 2010 census. It is the smallest town in New Hampshire, and the only one located entirely on islands. It is home to Fort Constitution Historic Site, Fort Stark Historic Site, and the New Castle...
at the Hotel Wentworth (where the armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was signed), and were ferried across the Piscataqua River
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River, in the northeastern United States, is a long tidal estuary formed by the confluence of the Salmon Falls and Cocheco rivers...
for negotiations held on the base located in Kittery, Maine
Kittery, Maine
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...
. The General Stores Building (now Building 86) was used for the meetings. Mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
furniture patterned after the Cabinet Room of the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
was ordered from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
In accordance with the treaty, both Japan and Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
and return its sovereignty to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, but Japan leased the Liaodong Peninsula (containing Port Arthur
Lüshunkou
Lüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....
and Talien), and the Russian rail system in southern Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
with access to strategic resources. Japan also received the southern half of the Island of Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
from Russia. Japan gained a great deal from the treaty, but it was not what the Japanese public had been led to expect, since Japan's initial negotiating position had demanded all of Sakhalin and a monetary indemnity as well. The frustration caused the Hibiya riots
Hibiya riots
' was a major city-wide riot which erupted in Tokyo on 5 September 1905 in protest of the terms of the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905....
, and collapsed Katsura Tarō
Katsura Taro
Prince , was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, politician and three-time Prime Minister of Japan.-Early life:Katsura was born into a samurai family from Hagi, Chōshū Domain...
's cabinet on January 7, 1906. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 was fought between Russia, an international power with one of the largest armies in the world, and Japan, a tiny nation only recently emerged from two and a half centuries of isolation. Research conducted for the 100th anniversary of the Treaty in 1905 explored participants' diaries, local newspapers and government documents to explain the causes of the war, the military conflict on land and sea, President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's back channel diplomacy, and the peace negotiations hosted by the United States Navy and the State of New Hampshire.
The proceedings of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty negotiations have been identified as an early example of multi-track diplomacy. Recent examinations of primary documents have determined that the citizen diplomacy at work in the Portsmouth peace process—as the people of Portsmouth encouraged the delegates' efforts for peace at numerous social events, especially during the times when formal negotiations were breaking down—provides an important example for diplomacy today.
The peace conference began when President Theodore Roosevelt invited both countries to conduct direct negotiations at the neutral site of Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
. Because of Roosevelt’s confidence in the Navy, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was specifically selected as the site of the negotiations and charged with the delicate responsibility for providing the diplomatic protocols for peace.
Due to the efforts of Governor McLane, the State of New Hampshire along with Portsmouth and its citizens became the unlikely host for the first international treaty to be signed in the United States. Only now is it becoming apparent that the hospitality of the State of New Hampshire and the residents of Portsmouth and vicinity played a significant informal role in creating an atmosphere that made the formal peaceful settlement possible. As the primary representatives of their governments, plenipotentiaries Serge Witte of Russia and Jutaro Komura of Japan debated, risked their reputations as diplomats, and successfully negotiated a peace treaty that resolved the grave concerns of each nation.
The Russo-Japanese war, which involved not only the two warring countries, but also China, Korea, Europe, and the United States, set the balance of power in the Pacific for the next century. The war and the treaty signaled the emergence of Japan as a world power. Because of the role played by President Theodore Roosevelt, the United States became a significant force in world diplomacy. Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his back channel efforts before and during the peace negotiations, even though he never came to Portsmouth. This international affair settled immediate difficulties in the Far East and created four decades of peace between the two warring nations. Negotiations lasted through August. Prior to the beginning of negotiations, the Japanese allegedly made the Taft-Katsura Agreement
Taft-Katsura Agreement
The Taft–Katsura Agreement was a set of notes taken during conversations between United States Secretary of War William Howard Taft and Prime Minister of Japan Katsura Tarō on 29 July 1905...
with the U.S. in July 1905, which agreed to Japanese control of Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, in return for American dominance in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The Japanese also agreed with the United Kingdom
to extend the Anglo-Japanese treaty to cover all of Eastern Asia, in return for the UK's also agreeing to Japan's control over Korea. Despite Japan's demands for the entirety of Sakhalin and a war indemnity, and Russia's outright refusal, peace was attained through the actions of the participants, including Roosevelt's back-channel communications. Russia, under the guidance of Witte, was unwilling to give concessions in the name of peace and took advantage of Japan's need to end the war and thus Japan's willingness to compromise.
Roosevelt first proposed that a neutral committee propose concessions that Russia would cede to Japan, but after the idea's rejection, Roosevelt convinced Japan to lay down its demand for an indemnity and accept the southern half of Sakhalin rather than the island as a whole. The treaty confirmed Japan's emergence as the pre-eminent power in East Asia, and forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policies there, but it was not well received by the Japanese public.
Commemoration
In 1994, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum was created by the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire to commemorate the Portsmouth Peace Treaty with the first formal meeting between Japanese and Russian scholars and diplomats in Portsmouth, New Hampshire since the negotiation of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty in 1905. As the Treaty of Portsmouth is considered one of the most powerful symbols of peace in the Northern Pacific region and the most significant, shared peace history for Japan, Russia and the United States, the Forum was designed to explore from the Japanese, Russian and American perspectives, the history of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty and its relevance to current issues involving the Northern Pacific region. The Forum is intended to focus modern scholarship on international problems in the "spirit of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty".Four Forums were held prior to the Portsmouth Peace Treaty 100th anniversary in the City Council Chambers at Portsmouth City Hall. The first Forum in 1994 was facilitated by the Japanese Consulate in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Subsequent dialogues considered the latest developments in Russo-Japanese relations with specific reference to the Kuril Islands
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
. Since then, the Forum has brought the Portsmouth Peace Treaty and its model of diplomacy to wider awareness through the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Treaty in 2005, commemorations of Theodore Roosevelt’s Nobel Peace Prize for his Treaty diplomacy (2006–2009) and legislation in 2010 making September 5th Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day in New Hampshire. The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty provided a platform for organizing commemorative events at many levels.
In her 2009 book, Japanese Society at War: Death, Memory and the Russo-Japanese War, Naoko Shimazu detailed Japan's response
to the 1904-05 war, the subsequent peace and the 100th anniversary commemorations, writing "[T]he Portsmouth Peace Treaty Centennial held in Portsmouth NH was most probably the largest centennial event held on the Russo-Japanese War in 2004-05."
In the months leading up to the 100th anniversary, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum encouraged original research in local archives, newspaper files and family histories. Charles B. Doleac, the Chairman of the Forum, translated this research into a timeline of events as they happened in Portsmouth in 1905, fostering a new understanding of the dynamics at work in the formal, informal and backchannel negotiations and of the accommodating interplay of the diplomatic and social agendas of all participants including the ordinary people in Portsmouth that summer. Since then, the Forum has documented new insights derived from this timeline and subsequent discoveries in permanent resources including the exhibit An Uncommon Commitment to Peace, and its companion catalogue, recognized by the Library of Congress as the most accessible educational resource on the subject, a Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail (and map supported by the New Hampshire Division of Tourism), a curriculum guide for grades 4-8 distributed to all school districts in New Hampshire, a series of New Hampshire Humanities Council lectures and articles on the Treaty and New Hampshire's citizen diplomacy and a variety of commemorative events.
As an organizational tool, the timeline inspired many local organizations to produce concerts, lectures, exhibits, dinners and re-enactments. In 2005, dozens of local organizations and hundreds of their volunteers celebrated the theme of the 1905 peace treaty—reached with ordinary citizens providing a crucial, neutral, supporting atmosphere, not for one or the other of the protagonists, but for peace. These organizations created a calendar of more than 45 events in 2005 and since then, including:
- 10 exhibits, displayed at the Portsmouth Historical Society, New Hampshire State Archives, Portsmouth Athenaeum, NH Art Association, Seacoast African-American Cultural Center, Children's Museum of Portsmouth, Green Acre Baha’i School, Wentworth-Coolidge MansionWentworth-Coolidge MansionWentworth-Coolidge Mansion is a 40-room clapboard house which was built as the home, offices and working farm of Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth. It is located on the water at 375 Little Harbor Road, about 2 miles southeast of the center of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is one of the few royal...
, Old York Historical Society, Wentworth by the SeaWentworth by the SeaThe Wentworth by the Sea is a historic grand hotel in New Castle, New Hampshire, United States. It is now called The Wentworth by the Sea Hotel & Spa...
hotel, and the Portsmouth Naval ShipyardPortsmouth Naval ShipyardThe Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships... - 4 original plays including the 2005 NH Humanities Council statewide Chautauqua and Pontine Theatre
- 15-week concert series, three original musical compositions and Seacoast Wind Ensemble commemorative concerts and multiple original art works created for a statewide juried exhibit by the NH Art Association
- 22 lectures presented in conjunction with the Portsmouth Public Library, the Portsmouth Athenaeum, the Portsmouth Historical Society, Green Acre Baha'i School and Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
- 9 publications and a documentary film
- an official port visit by the U.S. Navy’s destroyer, USS Ross (DDG-71)
- re-enactments of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard welcome and Treaty signing commemoration, the New Hampshire National Guard’s Welcoming Parade and receptions by private citizens in honor of the diplomats,
- two State Dinners hosted by the Governor of New Hampshire and a Mayor's Tea Reception for Portsmouth's Sister Cities of Nichinan, JapanNichinan, Miyazakiis a city in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on January 1, 1950. As of November 1, 2009, the city has an estimated population of 57,866 and a population density of 108 persons per km². The city's total area is 536.12 km²....
and SeverodvinskSeverodvinskSeverodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...
, Russia, all at the Wentworth by the Sea hotel, which provided accommodations for both the Japanese and Russian delegations in 1905 for 30 days, at no charge - visits by the Japanese Ambassadors to the US, the Japanese Public Affairs Minister to the US, and the Consuls-General of Japan in Boston.
The Forum tradition returned in 2006 with a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Theodore Roosevelt. At that event, the president of the Theodore Roosevelt Association presented a bust of TR to the commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum chairman presented an authentic replica of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Shipyard for their Building 86 museum. In 2007, the Forum welcomed Ambassador Dennis Ross as the guest speaker. In 2008, Samantha Power was guest of honor. In 2009 the Forum presented a rebroadcast of the ceremony awarding the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama.
In 2010 the NH Senate and NH House of Representatives voted unanimously to enact legislation making September 5 — the day the Treaty was signed in 1905 - "Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day" in perpetuity, statewide. Governor Lynch signed the legislation on August 17, 2010, and issued the first Governor's Proclamation for September 5, 2010. In Portsmouth the day was celebrated with a NH Humanities Council lecture, a peace flag-raising at Green Acre in Eliot, Maine
Eliot, Maine
Eliot is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,204 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area....
, a memorial salute at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and bell-ringing throughout the seacoast area of Maine-New Hampshire.
Sources
- Davis, Richard Harding, and Alfred Thayer Mahan. (1905). The Russo-Japanese war; a photographic and descriptive review of the great conflict in the Far East, gathered from the reports, records, cable despatches, photographs, etc., etc., of Collier's war correspondents New York: P. F. Collier & SonCollier's WeeklyCollier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
. OCLC: 21581015 - De Martens, F, (1905). "The Portsmouth Peace Conference",' 'The North American Review, 181 (558).
- Doleac, Charles B. (2006) An Uncommon Commitment to Peace: Portsmouth Peace Treaty 1905
- Harcave, Sidney. (2004) Count Sergei Witte and the Twilight of Imperial Russia: A Biography. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. 10-ISBN 0-765-61422-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-765-61422-3 (cloth)
- ______________. (1990). The Memoirs of Count Witte (translator, Sidney Harcave). Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. 10-ISBN 0-873-32571-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-873-32571-4 (cloth)
- Geoffrey Jukes, (2002) The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Oxford: Osprey PublishingOsprey PublishingOsprey Publishing is an Oxford-based publishing company specializing in military history. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company produces over a dozen ongoing series, each focusing on a specific aspect of...
. 10-ISBN 1-841-76446-9; 13-ISBN 978-1-841-76446-7 (paper) - KokovtsovVladimir KokovtsovCount Vladimir Nikolayevich Kokovtsov was a Russian prime minister during the reign of Nicholas II of Russia.- Biography :...
, Vladamir. (1935). Out of My Past (translator, Laura Matveev). Stanford: Stanford University PressStanford University PressThe Stanford University Press is the publishing house of Stanford University. In 1892, an independent publishing company was established at the university. The first use of the name "Stanford University Press" in a book's imprinting occurred in 1895...
. - Korostovetz, J. J. (1920). Pre-War Diplomacy The Russo-Japanese Problem. London: British Periodicals Limited.
- Matsumura, Masayoshi (1987). Nichi-Ro senso to Kaneko Kentaro: Koho gaiko no kenkyu. Shinyudo. ISBN 4-88033-010-8, translated by Ian Ruxton as Baron Kaneko and the Russo-Japanese War: A Study in the Public Diplomacy of Japan (2009) ISBN 978-0-557-11751-2 Preview
- Trani, Eugene P. (1969). The Treaty of Portsmouth; An Adventure in American Diplomacy. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.
- Randall, Peter. (1985, 2002) There Are No Victors Here: A Local Perspective on the Treaty of Portsmouth Portsmouth Marine Society.
- White, J. A.(1969): "Portsmouth 1905: Peace or Truce?", Journal of Peace Research, 6(4).
- Witte, Sergei. (1921). The Memoirs of Count Witte (translator, Abraham Yarmolinsky). New York: Doubleday