Original: After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Japan gained control of Taiwan, Korea, and the southern half of Sakhalin.
Simplified: It had wars with China and Russia: the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and the Second Sino-Japanese War, which grew to become a part of World War 2.