The Battle of Nanshan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Battle of Nanshan - Research Paper Example The two imperial nations engaged in fierce diplomatic attempts over matters concerning Manchuria and Korea, both aiming to grab hold of those territories to expand their kingdoms. Widespread expectation in the Western hemisphere was that Russia would wipe out the military forces of Japan with her large defense forces (Steinberg et al. 2005), but most Japanese government officials were convinced that their highly trained and specialized armed forces will give them military advantage over Russia. The overconfidence and conceit of Nicholas II, the Russian Tsar, hampered concessions between the two superpowers; Japan attacked, then Russia, immediately after, received a Declaration of War (Steinberg et al. 2005). Nonetheless, after the battle at Tsushima, Russia was forced to surrender. It surrendered Manchuria, Port Arthur, and any efforts to occupy Korea, and had damaged irreparably the repute of several admirals and generals (Steinberg et al. 2005). The unfavorable outcomes for Russia are not possible to overstate, with the defeat of trained and veteran admirals and generals, the complete annihilation of the Pacific and Baltic fleets (Warner 2004), the defeat of the defense forces against a perceived lesser opponent. Although the Battle of Nanshan was a remarkable triumph for the Japanese Empire, it enabled for Japan the contagion of the most deceitful of all maladies: triumph malady. Overly assured in the methods and strategies used and taking for granted most of the lessons to be gained from the attacks, Japan went on being overconfident with its impregnability, assured that the willpower of its armed forces were sufficient to seize what the Empire wanted (Warner 2004). This essay will discuss the battle strategies and tactics of Russia and Japan at the Battle of Nanshan, as well as the political climate at the time, the military leaders, and the final outcome of the battle. II. Russian and Japanese Battle Strategies at the Battle of Nanshan To start with, the general power and strength of the Russian naval forces was more superior to those of Japan, but the flotilla of the latter was in home waters, whereas the Russian fleet was separated between the Pacific and Europe. Evidently, the Russian military manpower surpassed that of Japan, but the former was battling thousands of miles from home and the opponent was fighting within hundred miles from home (Steinberg et al. 2005). The Japanese were highly trained in Western military tactics and strategies, and were painfully disciplined and capably supervised. The Russians were undisciplined, incompetent, and were hindered by ill-equipped officers and obsolete military strategies (Steinberg et al. 2005). The resources of Japan were far more inadequate than those of Russia and the former had to achieve an immediate victory before the entire force and power of Russia emerged. Thus, Japan embraced the enormous risk of initiating armed forces movements at once, before the flotilla of Russian at Po rt Arthur had been obliterated (Warner 2004). The strategy of Russia was to postpone and deter final response until it had mustered its strength. Basically, the Battle of Nanshan was fought between a developing Asian superpower and a European imperialist. After the triumph of the Japanese at the Yalu River, General Yasukata Oku’s Second Army arrived at the Liaotung cape, quite near to Port Arthur (Steinberg et al. 2005). The Second Army was composed of roughly 39,000 combatants. Arrival was finalized by May 1904