The Russo-Japanese WarThe Russo-Japanese War was a conflict between Russia and Japan in 1904-1905. The cause of the war was that Russia wanted to expand into Asia and clashed with Japanese plans to gain a foothold in the main territory of Asia. In 1898, Russia leased Port Arthur to China, intending to make it a major Asian port and the headquarters of Russian naval power in the Pacific. Russia already had troops in Manchuria during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, but it had to face the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902, which promised to leave Chinese territory. The promise was not kept and in June 1903 Japan proposed a mutual agreement recognizing the interests of Japan in Korea and Russia in Manchuria and guaranteeing the integrity of China and Korea. Russia refused the proposal and caused the Japanese navy to launch a surprise attack on Port Arthur, then blockaded the damaged Russian fleet on February 8, 1904. Declaration of war followed on February 10. Japanese naval power was well over double the power it had...