Only 37 years after the Meiji Restoration, when Japan was just leaving its samurai order behind, it defeated Russia in the war of 1904–1905.
The events
- Meiji Restoration1868 · Kyoto. In 1868 the Tokugawa shogunate was abolished and power formally returned to Emperor Meiji. Japan, until recently closed to the outside world, carried out Western-style reforms and within decades became an industrial and military power.
- Russo-Japanese War1904–1905 · Port Arthur. The war over Manchuria and Korea began with a Japanese naval attack on Port Arthur. After the fortress fell and the Battle of Tsushima, Russia accepted defeat in the Treaty of Portsmouth. Japan's victory stunned Europe and helped spark Russia's 1905 revolution.
More amazing facts
- 1859 · 1869 Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) and Mendeleev's periodic law (1869) are just ten years apart.
- 1861 Alexander II signed the manifesto freeing the serfs on 3 March 1861 (19 February Old Style); the very next day Lincoln became US president.
- 1861 1861: Russia abolished serfdom, and a united Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in Turin.
- 1861 · 1888 Russia abolished serfdom in 1861 and the USA slavery in 1865; Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, only in 1888.
- 1868 · 1964 In 1868 Japan was still ruled by a shogun and samurai carried swords.
- 1869 1869: in March Mendeleev presented his periodic table, and in November the Suez Canal opened.