Sino-Japanese Naval War 1894-1895

| Introduction

In the mid 19th century, China and Japan, with their populations of 400 and 44–45 million people respectively, were the largest countries in the Far East. Despite their differences, they shared numerous similarities. Both were fairly well-developed feudal states where social and economic conditions were comparable to those of medieval Europe. In both countries, the emperor, surrounded by the aura of divinity, held supreme power. In reality, that power was limited by the influence of local feudal lords and officials. Finally, both countries adopted policies of isolationism, locking themselves away from the outside world in the belief of their own superiority and perfection. Both China and Japan had contact with European countries in the 16th century and had even traded with them, but these relationships were limited and subject to severe restrictions.

That state of affairs continued until the mid-19th century, when the Western powers finally forced both countries to become more open to the outside world. Thus, they disturbed the peace Japan and China had enjoyed for centuries and forced their leaders to act in response to the new developments. Both countries chose to go in completely different directions, which had a considerable effect on their subsequent histories. The conflict that erupted between China and Japan in 1894 demonstrated which of those roads had been the more successful.

China was unquestionably the largest and most populous country in Asia. In the mid-17th century, it was conquered by the Manchurians and as result, power fell into the hands of the new Manchurian Ch’ing Dynasty. The Manchurians adopted Chinese administrative systems and quickly became sinicised themselves, though they tried to preserve their dissimilarity and reserved the most important government offices for themselves. (Native Chinese citizens were still allowed to pursue their careers in government under certain conditions). Under Manchurian rule, China entered a period of relative stability, economic revival and rapid population growth, with over 360 million citizens at the beginning of the 19th century. Therefore, China could have been considered the richest and most powerful country in the world and indeed, this was exactly as it perceived itself. However, the beginnings of a future crisis were lurking under the façade of splendour.

The rapidly growing population caused ever increasing shortages of land, as the cultivable acreage actually decreased slightly during this period. At the same time the Ch’ing administration was so corrupt and ineffectual that the country had begun to descend into stagnation. Despite this, at the beginning of the 19th century, China could still be perceived from the outside as a real power. It was completely self-sufficient economically, which allowed the Chinese authorities to follow a path of isolationism (which was intended, among other things, to keep the ruling dynasty in power). However, for various reasons, limited trade exchange was permitted with European countries at the harbour of Canton (Kanchou).

Initially, the trade with the Spanish Philippines was seen as most important, but from the mid 18th century there was a shift towards India, which was controlled at the time by the British East India Company. China was generally not interested in European commodities, though there was some desire for Indian cotton. Therefore, in exchange for the stream of exported tea, silk, pottery and other goods, the Middle Country received silver, which worked well for the Chinese economy.

Only when India-produced opium entered into the exchange did the balance of the foreign trade reverse. The Chinese domestic market proved exceedingly receptive to the drug and as a result, at the beginning of the 19th century the foreign trade balance began to level. In the 1830s, because of opium, the value of Chinese imports exceeded the annual value of exports by approximately 10 million taels¹.

Signing of the Treaty of Tientsin, which ended the Second Opium War, in 1858.

Chinese war junks. Similar vessels were the core of Chinese naval forces in the Opium War period (performing police and auxiliary duties until the 1880s!) Facing modern navies of European powers they had no chance of victory.

That situation inevitably triggered a reaction by the Chinese authorities. Apart from the harmful effects of opium on the human body (around 1840 the number of opium addicts in China was estimated at two million), the trade deficit was distinctly undesirable for the Middle Country. The outflow of silver abroad also increased its domastic price in comparison to copper coins used by peasants for current payments. At the beginning of the 19th century the price of a silver tael had been equal to 1,000 copper coins, a figure which rose to 1,500 in the second half of the third decade, while a decade later it rose to 2,000! The rise in value had a colossal impact on the situation of Chinese peasantry. They paid taxes in silver, so the aforementioned ‘copper inflation’ increased their real financial burden. This all took its toll on the internal situation of the country, escalating already-commonplace social unrest caused by increasing land pressure as well as corruption and abuse of power.

Attempts to stop the opium trade led to British military intervention in 1840 and the so-called First Opium War. This conflict exposed Chinese military weakness, revealing Chinese forces as unable to face the better-armed and trained enemy. The war concluded by the signing in 1842 of the Treaty of Nankin, which was favourable to the British, who apart from gaining control of Hong Kong and receiving significant reparations, opened five Chinese treaty ports for their trade. Taking advantage of a weakened China, similar treaties were signed by the United States in 1843 and France in 1844.

The cumulative effect of the increasing economic crisis and military failures was the outbreak of one of the largest peasant uprisings in the history of China. The Taiping rebellion was named for the title of the country (‘Tai Ping’, or Eternal Happiness) created by the insurgents. The rebellion escalated in the beginning of the 1850s, additionally revealing the weakness of the country. Being aware of the reasons behind the outbreak of the rebellion, the central authorities again tried to regulate points of dispute with Western powers and limit the ever expanding opium trade. However, the effect of those actions was the Second Opium War in 1856. On this occasion, Great Britain was joined by France and, within two years, they had forced China to surrender again. The treaty of Tientsin, signed in 1858, required not only subsequent reparation payments for the victors, but the Chinese government had also to increase the number of open treaty ports to eleven and grant foreigners further privileges. An attempt to violate the provisions of the treaty led a year later to the outbreak of the Third Opium War, which ended with the capture of Peking by intervention forces and another defeat sealed with the signing of the Convention of Peking in 1860.

The Opium Wars broke the former Chinese policy of isolationism and forced the Ch’ing authorities to cooperate with western powers. At the price of profound concessions, the Ch’ing authorities won Western help to deal with the Taipings. The rebellion was finally put down in 1864 at enormous cost in material and population terms (estimated at up to 15–20 million Chinese lives), but in the southern provinces, near the border with Birma, Laos and Vietnam, the Taipings survived until the mid 1870s.

The Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion significantly influenced the situation in China. First of all, the events exposed the military weakness of the central government, which was unable either to establish order within the country, or to protect its borders against foreign invasion. Therefore, local militias and armies formed by individual governors became more important, as they were responsible for putting down the Taiping Rebellion. As a result, local leaders grew in power and although they were still not independent from the central government, they managed to gain significant autonomy based on their own armed forces and local taxes. Thus, two main camps came into being: the Huai coterie led by Li Hung-chang, dominating the northern part of the country, and the Hunan coterie led by Tseng Kuo-fan and Tso Tsung-t’ang (who competed with each other, meaning their coterie was not as cohesive as Li’s) which dominated the south. Both parties competed for favours of the Peking court, where Ts’u Hsi, the widow of Emperor Hsien Feng (who had died in 1861) played the leading role.

In the new situation, the main objective of the Chinese authorities was to bring back the conditions which had existed before the Taiping Rebellion. However, that proved impossible, due to the growing influence of the Western powers. As a result in 1860, despite the reluctance of the most conservative circles gathered around Ts’u Hsi’s court, pro-Western parties managed to force through the so-called ‘Self-Strengthening Policy’ (tzu ch’iang). In principle this was limited exclusively to reforms of the military. Units were to be organised and trained in the European way and armed with modern weapons, a modern navy and a suitable native armament industry were to be created, while western science and militarily useful technologies were adopted. There were no plans to reform the existing social and economic systems, or the political one, which was considered ideal.

Empress Ts’u Hsi, widow of Emperor Hsien Feng who died in 1861 (due to which she is often called the Widow Empress). For nearly the next fifty years she ruled China, and was, arguably, largely responsible for the crisis of the state.

The last Shogun – Tokugawa Yoshinobu.

As a result of that state of affairs, at the end of 19th century China plunged into deeper and deeper crisis. Central government was weak, while in the provinces local leaders grew stronger. The country was devastated by war, while an influx of cheap European and American goods ruined indigenous industry. Although Europeans had no further territorial claims, in taking advantage of extraterritorial privileges and their own legal jurisdiction, they had a destructive impact on the country, creating within its borders practically independent enclaves. All those developments led to a deep crisis in the existing socio-political system. It was time for reforms that had to be much more thorough than the ‘Self-Strengthening Policy’, but the central government neither wanted them, nor was capable of implementing their introduction. The crisis deepened and, by the eve of the outbreak of the war with Japan, China remained a weak country of enormous, yet unrealised, potential.

Developments took a different turn in Japan. The country, similarly to China, was a feudal monarchy, yet it was ruled by a native dynasty. The Emperor, worshipped as a god, was only a nominal ruler as the actual power was in the hands of the highest military leader – the shogun. His vassals were powerful territorial lords (daimyos), who in turn had their own vassals. Therefore, Japan was specifically a diarchy (bakufu), where the nominal power was held by the emperor (tenno, mikado), while the actual power was in the hands of the shogun, a senior to his feudal princes (daimyos). Samurais, warrior-noblemen, were the privileged class. In the 19th century merchants grew more important, although formally their social status remained relatively low. The burden of maintaining the entire state apparatus and the daimyos was on the shoulders of free peasantry, who leased the land they cultivated.

Initially, Japanese authorities, similarly to those in China, adhered to isolationism, not allowing any contact with the outside world apart from in exceptional circumstances². Then, in March 1854, an American naval squadron under the command of Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived at Yokohama (then known as Kanagawa) and forced Japanese authorities to sign the ‘Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity’³. This opened ports for American trade and granted their merchants the most-favoured nation status as well as allowing the American consul to reside at Shimoda.

It was the first treaty signed by Japan with a foreign nation, but as it soon turned out, it was not the last. In October 1854, the Japanese were forced to sign a similar treaty with Great Britain, in February 1855 with Russia and in January 1856, on their own initiative, with the Netherlands⁴. The series of political treaties was only a prelude to the main goal, which was establishing extended trade relations. Negotiations continued for a relatively long time, but ultimately in 1858, Japan signed commercial treaties consecutively with the USA, the Netherlands, Russia, Great Britain and France.

Signing treaties with five countries in a short period of time stirred public opinion, especially, since the privileges which the foreigners were granted were soon clearly evident. In addition to samurais, whose positions were potentially endangered by foreigners, merchants and craftsmen, threatened by competition of cheaper and better foreign goods, started to show their dissatisfaction. The tension rose, manifesting itself through the hostile and unfriendly attitude of the Japanese towards the ‘barbarians’ from overseas.

The problems of the foreigners soon became one of the elements of the struggle between the emperor and the shogun, where power was at stake. Subsequent shoguns were inclined to make concessions to the foreigners, while the feudal lords, who were under pressure from extremist samurais, showed reluctance towards such a policy (the most hostile toward the foreigners were the powerful princes of the Choshu and Satsuma clans). The imperial court policy could be considered balanced. The emperor expressed his regret over the unfortunate turn of events and obliged the shogun to expel the ‘barbarians’ from the country when the first opportunity presented itself. Simultaneously, he recognised the need to tolerate them for the time being. That attitude allowed the emperor to gain more and more supporters in the struggle with the shogunate.

Meanwhile, the growing aversion of the Japanese towards foreigners had by 1860 resulted in serious anti-foreign riots, which increased in 1863, especially in the regions controlled by the Satsuma clan. Additionally, in June of the same year, the Choshu clan blocked the Straits of Shimonoseki, which was on a number of important navigation routes. Those events led to intervention by the Western powers. First, in August 1863, a British squadron bombarded Kagoshima forcing the Satsuma clan to yield. A year later, a joint naval force from Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States lifted the blockade of the Strait of Shimonoseki⁵.

The young Emperor Mutsuhito, the initiator of the Meiji Restoration (named after his posthumous name, also used to describe the entire period of his rule).

Those operations had serious political implications. Mainly, the anti-foreign Japanese clans gained first-hand experience of the military might of the European countries, which made a powerful and lasting impression. The effect was so strong that groups that had previously opposed contact with Western countries dramatically changed their attitude towards the problem of foreigners and relationships with other nations. They transformed from their enemies to their supporters, with the former greatest opponents, the Satsuma and Choshu clans in the lead. Most importantly, the change came along with the realisation of the need for thorough reforms, which represented Japan’s only chance to equal the strangers from overseas, both militarily and economically⁶.

As a result the Japanese internal balance of power also changed. The emperor, who so far had looked for allies in his struggle with the shogunate among ‘anti-foreign’ clans, suddenly found support in the clans inclined towards the development of foreign contact, which was perceived as a chance for modernising the state. In those conditions the 15-year-old Emperor Mutsuhito⁷, who ascended the throne in January 1867, began his revolution (also known as Meiji Restoration) which brought about the fall of the shogunate⁸. Thus, the Emperor acquired absolute power and the current atmosphere favoured the anticipated reforms.

Print showing the first session of the Japanese parliament in 1889. Along with the proclamation of the constitution, this moment can be considered as the point which cemented the new, reformed Japanese state.

The reforms began with dismantling of the feudal system and introduction of the modern decentralised bureaucratic apparatus. In 1871 all feudal domains returned to the state and state privileges were revoked making all citizens equal before the law. Administrative reforms turned former feudal domains (han) into 261 prefectures (ken) controlled by state-appointed officials⁹. Later, in 1871–1872, agrarian reforms were introduced, which consolidated the actual state of land use by chartering deeds of ownership. That, in turn, allowed for a cadastre (a statement of the quantity and value of land or property) to be prepared, and a uniform land tax of 1/33 of the land value to be introduced. (The initial tax value proved too steep, and after 1876 it was reduced to 2.5 per cent). This replaced the previous system in which peasants gave away half of their crops. Initially, the new cadastre tax provided 80 per cent of budget revenue and although this was not enough to cover all the government’s expenses, it still provided regular revenues which stabilised the budget. Later, in 1873, the army was reformed, introducing universal conscription (in contrast to previous feudal service). Thus, the foundations for the modern Japanese state were laid.

However, those changes were not introduced without conflict. Despite the beneficial agrarian reforms, peasants revolted, as they now had to bear the enormous expenses of state reorganisation and the creation of new structures. The samurai, who saw making all estates equal and creation of conscript army as a blow aimed at their very existence, also revolted. After the largest and final samurai Satsuma Rebellion, led by Saigo Takamori, was suppressed in 1877, the internal situation of Japan slowly stabilised. Finally, the period of socio-political reforms was concluded in 1889 with the signing of a constitution. According to that document, the monarch was the foundation of the entire Japanese statehood. He held supreme power, which was exercised in his name by a government appointed by and responsible to him alone. Legislative power was held by bicameral parliament (the Diet), but its role was limited – the emperor had the right to veto its decisions and could issue decree-laws.

The socio-political reforms were accompanied by economic changes. These included the aforementioned agrarian reforms, which were the foundation of the new private land ownership. Simultaneously, the authorities took serious interest in the industrialisation of the country. Since private capital was weak, industrialisation was financed predominantly by treasury resources. After the treasury reforms, most of those resources came from taxes paid by peasants, who carried the substantial part of the burden of industrialisation on their shoulders. Industrial infrastructure, including the armaments industry, was completely obsolete. Therefore, the industrialisation of Japan had to be started from scratch, and all industrial infrastructure was nationalised in the 1870s. Thanks to considerable financial outlay by the state, progress was soon made. Newly built factories were almost instantly privatised by selling them to private owners for prices much lower than their actual value. Nevertheless, that strategy proved cost-effective in the long run. The losses recovered themselves in the form of taxes and profit from the turnover of aggregate sales¹⁰. Only some mines, shipyards and factories of military importance remained state-owned.

Violent social, political and economic transformations in Japan soon turned its attention towards colonial expansion, in a fashion similar to that of the European powers, for two fundamental reasons. Firstly, especially important in the initial period of the Meiji Restoration, was the need to employ the mass of samurais, whose basis for existence was effectively eradicated by the introduction of the reforms. Following the dismantling of the feudal system, large numbers of ‘unemployed’ samurais became a politically uncertain element, agitating to bring back the pre-1868 state of affairs. The second reason was the necessity to find the source of cheap raw materials, of which Japan had almost none, and a market for the ever growing number of goods manufactured by native industry, which could still not compete with similar European or American products.

Following the events of the first half of 1870s and Saigo Takamori’s Rebellion, the samurai gradually gravitated towards the modern army and found roles there. Thus, they were won over to support the plans of the new central government. Their aggressive attitude, already suitably channelled, made them supporters of military expansion to the continent.

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1  The tael, also known as liang, was a Chinese weight measurement used for weighing precious metals, and which also functioned as currency. There were a variety of taels, the most popular being the kuping tael and haigun tael – the former weighed 37.3 grams and the latter 37.8 grams of pure sliver. Moreover, there were copper coins in circulation, 1,000 of which were initially an equivalent of one silver tael and a large number of silver Spanish pesos (equivalent of eight reales, also known as Mexican dollars) minted in Mexico, which found their way to China as a result of the trade with Manila. From 1889 they were used as a pattern for the Chinese’ own silver coins (yuan) which were equivalent to 0.72 tael. Larger amounts of money were still traditionally counted in taels (the author uses kuping taels).

2  The situation had lasted since 1600, when Jejasu Tokugawa took power. Considering European influence as harmful, he expelled foreigners and simultaneously began to persecute native Christians (at that time there were several hundred thousand in Japan). The policy of isolationism was also continued by Tokugawa’s successors. Only the Dutch were permitted to sustain limited trade relations through a small trading post on Dejima Island at the entrance to the harbour of Nagasaki.

3  European