The **First Sino-Japanese War** (Chinese: 中日甲午戰爭, Japanese: 日清戦争; 1 August 1894–17 April 1895) was a war between the Qing Dynasty and the Empire of Japan. Finally, the Empire of Japan won the war. They signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.

Comparison of the Military Power
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**Commanders of the Qing Dynasty*** Li Hongzhang
* Ding Ruchang

**Strength*** 630,000 men = the Beiyang Fleet

**Major Battleships**

Dingyuan 
Zhenyuan 
King Yuen
Lai Yuen
Chih Yuen
Ching Yuen 
Tsi Yuen
Kuang Ping
Chaoyong
Yangwei 
Pingyuan 
Kwan Chia  | 
**Commanders of the Empire of Japan*** Yamagata Aritomo
* Itoh Sukeyuki

**Strength*** 240,000 men = the Imperial Japanese Navy

**Major Battleships**

Matsushima 
Itsukushima 
Hashidate 
Naniwa 
Takachiho 
Yaeyama 
Akitsushima 
Yoshino 
Izumi 
Chiyoda 
Hiei 
Kongō 
Fusō  |

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Status of Chinese Fleets
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Zhenyuan, the strongest battleship in the Beiyang Fleet
China had 65 warships before the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War. They were divided into four fleets (Beiyang Fleet, the Nanyang Fleet, the Guangdong Fleet and the Fujian Fleet). Only the Beiyang Fleet participated in the war. In order to save their ships, the other fleets' commanders did not join the war.

In the Beiyang Fleet, there were 25 warships. Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were the most powerful warships in the fleet. They were made in Germany. Dingyuan had 6,000 horsepower and displaced 7,670 tons loaded. Nevertheless, as Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to build a grand garden she embezzled the money originally allocated for expanding the Beiyang Fleet, the commanders did not have enough money to buy the latest weapons for the fleet. Most of the warships in the fleet were not well equipped before joining the war.

Status of Japanese Fleets
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There were totally 240,616 soldiers could be mobilized in Japan before the outbreak of the war. Also, there were 32 battleships and 24 torpedo boats in the Imperial Japanese Navy. All of them had the latest, and newest weapons.

Main Battles During the War
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First Sino-Japanese War, major battles and troop movements
**1. Battle of the Yalu River**

See the main article: Battle of the Yalu River
On 17 September 1894, the Beiyang Fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy fought at the Yalu River, the border between China and Korea. In this battle, the commander of the Beiyang Fleet was Ding Ruchang, originally a cavalryman, and Sukeyuki Ito was the commander of Japanese fleet. The battle lasted 5 hours. Finally, 4 battleships of the Beiyang Fleet was destroyed and 1,000 soldiers were killed. Only 1 battleship was lost in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The commander of the Beiyang Fleet retreated to the port of Lushun.

**2. Battle of Lushunkou**

See the main article: Battle of Lushunkou
On 17 September 1894, the Japanese armies occupied the fortresses with powerful cannons and cities in Lushun and Dalian. The Japanese troops entered the cities and killed 20,000 Chinese civilians within 4 days. This incident was historically called **Port Arthur massacre**.

**3. Battle of Weihaiwei**

See the main article: Battle of Battle of Weihaiwei
In January 1895, the Japanese armies invaded Weihaiwei. The Beiyang Fleet was fairly defeated. 11 battleships of the team was seized.

Other websites
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* Video footage of a naval battle during the First Sino-Japanese war[*permanent dead link*]