Milestones: 1899–1913 - Office of the Historian Milestones: 1899–1913 The Treaty of Portsmouth and the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905 The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The negotiations took place in August in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and were brokered in part by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The final agreement was signed in September of 1905, and it affirmed the Japanese presence in south Manchuria and Korea and ceded the southern half of the island of Sakhalin to Japan. Photograph from the Russo-Japanese War By 1904, Russia and Japan had endured several years of disputes over control of Manchuria. The Russians had entered the region during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 and, along with Germany and France, was a part of the “Triple Intervention” that forced Japan to give up its demands for ports in South Manchuria and the Liaodong Peninsula in the wake of its victory in China.

Instead, Russia moved into the area and took control of Port Arthur, a warm water port with strategic and commercial significance. A Japanese attempt to stage a coup in adjacent Korea was thwarted in part by the Russian presence in the region, and the two nations’ divergent interests appeared more and more likely to clash. In 1904, the Japanese attacked the Russian fleet at Port Arthur before the formal declaration of war was received in Moscow, surprising the Russian navy and earning an early victory. Over the course of the next year, the two forces clashed in Korea and the Sea of Japan, with the Japanese scoring significant, but costly, victories. War casualties were high on both sides. At the battle over Mukden, the Russians lost 60,000 soldiers and the Japanese lost 41,000 soldiers. The military costs were high as well. A Russian fleet made the long trip from the Baltic Sea around Africa and India, only to be half destroyed by the Japanese upon its arrival in Northeast Asia. By 1905, the combination of these losses and the economic cost of financing the war led both countries to seek an end to the war. Photograph of Attack on Port Arthur The Japanese asked U.S.

President Roosevelt to negotiate a peace agreement, and representatives of the two nations met in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1905. For the sake of maintaining the balance of power and equal economic opportunity in the region, Roosevelt preferred that the war end on terms that left both Russia and Japan a role to play in Northeast China. Though excited by the Japanese military victories, Roosevelt worried about the consequences to American interests if Japan managed to drive Russia out entirely. The negotiations centered on access to ports and territories in Manchuria and Korea, control of Sakhalin Island, and the question of who was responsible for paying war costs. The chief aims of the Japanese negotiator included first control in Korea and South Manchuria, then the negotiation of an indemnity and control of Sakhalin Island. The Russians wanted to maintain Sakhalin Island, refused to pay a war costs indemnity to the Japanese, and hoped to maintain their fleet in the Pacific. The indemnity issue, along with the dispensation of Sakhalin Island, were the major sticking points in the negotiation, although given its financial straits in 1905, Russia was likely unable to pay an indemnity even if required by a treaty to do so.

When negotiations reached an impasse, Roosevelt stepped in with the proposal that Russia “buy back” the northern part of Sakhalin from Japanese control. The Russians were adamant that they would not pay any amount of money, which would act as a disguised indemnity, when the territory ought to be theirs. After long internal debate, Japan eventually agreed to take only the southern half of the island, without any kind of payment. Theirs had not been a decisive enough victory to force the point. The Treaty ultimately gave Japan control of Korea and much of South Manchuria, including Port Arthur and the railway that connected it with the rest of the region, along with the southern half of Sakhalin Island; Russian power was curtailed in the region, but it was not required to pay Japan’s war costs. Because neither nation was in a strong financial position to continue the war easily, both were forced to compromise in the terms of the peace. Still, the Japanese public felt they had won the war, and they considered the lack of an indemnity to be an affront. There was a brief outbreak of protests and rioting in Tokyo when the terms of the agreement were made public.

Similarly, the Russian people were also dissatisfied, angry about giving up half of Sakhalin. Individuals gathered to work out what became the Treaty of Portsmouth Throughout the war and the peace talks, American public opinion largely sided with Japan. Believing that the Japanese were fighting a “just war” against Russian aggression, and that the island nation was equally committed to the Open Door and the territorial integrity of China, the American people were anxious to support it. This sense did not really change over the course of the negotiations, in spite of the best efforts of the Russian negotiator to improve the press coverage of his nation’s position. The final decision of the Japanese to forgo an indemnity only served to strengthen U.S. approval of Japan’s actions throughout the conflict. The anti-treaty and, at times, anti-American demonstrations in Tokyo that followed the ratification of the treaty caught many Americans off-guard. The Treaty of Portsmouth marked the last real event in an era of U.S.-Japanese cooperation that began with the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Instead, competition between the two nations in the Pacific grew over the years that followed. Conversely, Japanese relations with Russia improved in the wake of the treaty.

Although the actual importance of Roosevelt’s mediation and personal pressure on the leadership in Moscow and Tokyo to the final agreement is unclear, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in moderating the talks and pushing toward peace. Russo-Japanese peace treaty signed - Sep 05, 1905 - HISTORY.com Russo-Japanese peace treaty signed Publisher A+E Networks The Russo-Japanese War comes to an end as representatives of the two nations sign the Treaty of Portsmouth in New Hampshire. Russia, defeated in the war, agreed to cede to Japan the island of Sakhalin and Russian port and rail rights in Manchuria. On February 8, 1904, following the Russian rejection of a Japanese plan to divide Manchuria and Korea into spheres of influence, Japan launched a surprise naval attack against Port Arthur, a Russian naval base in China. The Russian fleet was decimated. During the subsequent Russo-Japanese War, Japan won a series of decisive victories over the Russians, who underestimated the military potential of its non-Western opponent.

In January 1905, the strategic naval base of Port Arthur fell to Japanese naval forces under Admiral Heihachiro Togo; in March, Russian troops were defeated at Shenyang, China, by Japanese Field Marshal Iwao Oyama; and in May, the Russian Baltic fleet under Admiral Zinovi Rozhdestvenski was destroyed by Togo near the Tsushima Islands. These three major defeats convinced Russia that further resistance against Japan’s imperial designs for East Asia was hopeless, and U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt mediated a peace treaty at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in August 1905. (He was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this achievement.) Japan emerged from the conflict as the first modern non-Western world power and set its sights on greater imperial expansion. The Russian military’s disastrous performance in the war was one of the immediate causes of the Russian Revolution of 1905. Related Videos Treaty of Portsmouth -- By Dean Dexter The Treaty of Portsmouth, N. H.

Ended the Russo-Japanese War By DEAN DEXTER A significant event in New Hampshire that captured the attention of the world in the early twentieth century, but which has since fallen away from the public mind is The Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War. The treaty was signed on September 5, 1905 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, situated on Seavey Island in the middle of the Piscatiqua River, between Maine and New Hampshire. It was the first international peace conference to be held in the United States and earned then-President Theodore Roosevelt the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. As the country entered a new century, the Treaty of Portsmouth signaled a kind of coming of age for the Republic, a debut on the world stage that would in but a few years see a swirl of events demanding more and more world leadership from Washington. Indeed, it can be argued that the Russo-Japanese War helped ferment tensions in Europe which eventually led to World War I. The domino-effect of events that in turn followed later launched the second World War and the nearly 50 years of East-West tensions known as the Cold War.

In fact great international questions remain to this day, rooted in the nearly forgotten Russo-Japanese conflict -- nearly forgotten maybe by the MTV generation and their hardworking, two income producing parents -- but not lost on the leaders of the two nations involved. To this day, Russia and Japan have not signed a peace treaty ending World War II, partly due to bitterness traced to their bloody 1904-1905 engagement. Nor is this bit of history forgotten by people involved in such organizations as the Japan-America and Russian Societies of New Hampshire, and an organization called the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum, which keeps alive the spirit of community interest in global affairs nurtured in Portsmouth in 1905 by locally hosting international meetings of scholars and diplomats. "What was unique about events surrounding the Treaty of Portsmouth was that the people of the city were the real hosts of the event," says Charles Doleac, an attorney and president of the Treaty Forum and a longtime student of Russo-Japanese relations. Doleac emphasizes that the whole community was behind the event, lending a warm spirit of hospitality and goodwill that certainly added to the peace process and which was also not lost on negotiators from the two nations.

Unlike similar frenetic events of today which involve photo opportunities, daily press conferences, and instantaneous TV coverage - in which the President seems always a dominating presence - the environment surrounding the Portsmouth negotiations were much different. Although the foreign and domestic press was on hand - represented by big city newspapers and such popular periodicals as Harper's Weekly, the pace and tone of the historic meetings, which lasted about 30 days, were methodical and sedate. The commodious Wentworth By-the-Sea Hotel (where both delegations were housed), with its refreshing ocean breezes, long verandahs, and excellent cuisine, added to the relaxing, businesslike pace of the talks, which were held a few miles away at the shipyard, in a brick store house where a museum commemorating the treaty is now located. So, the dominant outside factor of the peace negotiations in Portsmouth was not the fishbowl effect of instantaneous worldwide press exposure, nor the onsite hovering of a President as micromanager. Rather, it was the gracious role played by the proud but discrete host community itself, a historic city in its own right which pre-dates the American Revolution.

Roosevelt, who originally lobbied to bring the two nations together, never set foot in Portsmouth during the talks, but instead was holed up for the summer at Sagamoe Hill, his estate at Oyster Bay, New York, where he was regularly kept abreast of the meetings via telegraph. In fact, the reason the parlay was not held in Washington was due to the insufferable humidity the Capital City is subject to from June to September, making work there impossible prior to air conditioning. Before World War II, Washington virtually shut down each summer. Actually, the Portsmouth site won out over a mini-competition between Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, Newport, Rhode Isalnd, and Atlantic City, New Jeresy. Portsmouth was chosen because of the security and communications resources of the Shipyard, its closeness to Oyster Bay, and because of the community's growing reputation as a desirable tourist area. The Russians had originally wanted to meet in Europe, the Japanese in Asia, but at Roosevelt's invitation, they agreed to meet in the United States. According to one historian, New Hampshire Governor John McLane and the Executive Council dispatched an invitation to Roosevelt that June promoting the Granite State as the best site.

Word of the Portsmouth choice was relayed later that month by Assistant Secretary of State Herbert H.D. Pierce, who would later remain on the scene throughout the talks as a special liaison to Roosevelt. Leading the Russian delegation was Sergius Witte, former imperial Minister of Finance, and veteran diplomat Baron Roman Rosen. Heading the Japanese delegates were Baron Iutaro Komura, veteran foreign service officer and 1878 graduate of Harvard, and Japan's ambassador to Washington, Kogoro Takashira. Henry W. Denison of Lancaster, N.H., a veteran U.S. vice consul in Japan and long-time technical advisor to Japan's foreign office, assisted the Japanese team. Main conference room, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The conference table was once at RPI (Troy, N.Y.), now it is in Japan as an icon to a great moment in history. Gov. McLane and the Council welcomed the delegates to Portsmouth at a festive reception at the old Rockingham County Courthouse on August 8, which included a parade through the city with many diplomats and other dignitaries attending. N.H. National Guard and U.S. Marine units acted as honor guards. The formal talks began on August 10.

The meetings were conducted in four languages (Japanese, Russian, English and French). Three-hour morning and afternoon sessions were held throughout, with variations in this schedule as stalemates developed. The delegates reportedly visited Roosevelt at Oyster Bay on only one occasion each. The governor and his staff remained at the Wentworth throughout the negotiations, facilitating an air of helpfulness and hospitality when the delegates were not in formal meetings. Following the treaty signing, the Japanese and Russian delegations were so impressed with this hospitality and of the local people they had met, each made a cash donation to Governor McLane of $10,000 on behalf of their governments for charitable purposes, to be determined by McLane. (When news of the treaty's signing was delivered to Roosevelt by his secretary William Loeb -- father of the late publisher of the Manchester Union Leader and N.H.

Sunday News of the same name -- the jovial President reportedly bounded down the stairs of his mansion yelling, "That's bully for the Russians, the Japanese, and me!") As it turns out, the Russian and Japanse negotiators thought they were being hosted by the state of New Hampshire, when in fact the owner of the Wentworth (the estate of the late Portsmouth beer baron Frank Jones) provided accommodations free of charge. McLane in turn -- as an act of goodwill and diplomacy -- invested the gifts in Japanese and Russian government bonds. A commission was then established by the state legislature to oversee the investments and disburse the charitable donations throughout the state. That commission is still in existence. Although the Russian government defaulted on bond payments following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 (Lenin was not about the honor the Czar's debts), the Japanese have honored the instruments. (Note: The Japanese defaulted for nine years during World War II and after, but issued new bonds in 1951, doubling yearly interest payments for the following nine years to make up for the lapse. Attempts by the commission to have the Soviets honor the bonds were not successful during the Cold War.

The current government has not been approached to date, perhaps due to Russia's tenuous financial standing.) Today the small museum at the shipyard is the only memorial to the events that once focused the world's attention on this venerable New England seaport where Capt. John Paul Jones once lived and built one of the U.S. Navy's first ships. That, and the decaying shell of the old Wentworth* that looms like a ghost over-looking the sea -- it's great piazzas long gone as are the stiff, dignified men in silk hats who here one summer long ago ended a war in a far off land. circa 1980's _______________ *Since this writing, new owners of the long vacant Wentworth By-the-Sea began a complete restoration. Closed since 1982, the hotel reopened on May 15, 2003 with 161 delux rooms, including many waterfront suites with balconies overlooking the water. The original building was built in 1874. The restored hotel is now the Wentworth-by-the-Sea Marriott Hotel and Spa. It is truly once again one of New Hampshire's grand hotels.

Access the Wenworth's website here. _______________ Dean Dexter is a former contributing editor of New Hampshire Magazine, and is a former New Hampshire state representative and Belknap County Commissioner. See Dexter's cover story on the Treaty of Portsmouth in the April, 1997 issue of New Hampshire magazine. An editorial by Dexter on the Wentworth's restoration appeared in the July 29, 1999 of The Union Leader (Manchester, N. H.) and may be viewed at that publication's web archive site at: . Treaty of Portsmouth | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Japan-Russia Treaty of Peace, or "Treaty of Portsmouth", September 5, 1905. Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) . Negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth (1905) — From left to right: The Russians at far side of table are Korostovetz, Nabokov, Witte , Rosen , Plancon and the Japanese at near side of table are Adachi , Ochiai , Komura , Takahira , Satō .

The large conference table is today preserved at the Museum Meiji Mura in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan . The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War . It was signed on September 5, 1905 [1] after negotiations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, in the United States. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 was fought between Russia, an international power with one of the largest armies in the world, and Japan, a nation only recently emerged from two-and-a-half centuries of isolation. Research conducted for the 100th anniversary of the Treaty in 2005 explored participants' diaries, local newspapers and government documents to explain the causes of the war, the military conflict on land and sea, President Theodore Roosevelt 's back channel diplomacy, and the peace negotiations hosted by the United States Navy and the State of New Hampshire, as the nearby city of Portsmouth acted as host to the diplomats. Contents Edit Delegates who signed the peace agreement were Sergei Witte and Roman Rosen for Russia , and Komura Jutarō and Takahira Kogorō for Japan .

Fyodor Martens and other diplomats from both nations stayed in New Castle, New Hampshire at the Hotel Wentworth (where the armistice was signed), and were ferried across the Piscataqua River for negotiations held on the base located in Kittery, Maine. The General Stores Building (now Building 86) was used for the meetings. Mahogany furniture patterned after the Cabinet Room of the White House was ordered from Washington, D.C. In accordance with the treaty, both Japan and Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria and return its sovereignty to China, but Japan leased the Liaodong Peninsula (containing Port Arthur and Talien ), and the Russian rail system in southern Manchuria with access to strategic resources. Japan also received the southern half of the Island of Sakhalin from Russia. The peace conference began when President Theodore Roosevelt invited both countries to conduct direct negotiations at the neutral site of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Due to the efforts of Governor McLane, the State of New Hampshire along with Portsmouth became the host for the first international treaty to be signed in the United States.

As the primary representatives of their governments, Serge Witte of Russia and Jutaro Komura of Japan debated and negotiated a peace treaty that resolved the concerns of each nation.[ citation needed ] Effects Edit The Russo-Japanese war, which involved not only the two warring countries, but also China, Korea, Europe, and the United States, set the balance of power in the Pacific for the next century. The war and the treaty signaled the emergence of Japan as a world power. Because of the role played by President Theodore Roosevelt, the United States became a significant force in world diplomacy. Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his back channel efforts before and during the peace negotiations, even though he never went to Portsmouth. This international affair settled immediate difficulties in the Far East and created three decades of peace between the two warring nations. Negotiations lasted through August. Prior to the beginning of negotiations, the Japanese allegedly made the Taft-Katsura Agreement with the U.S. in July 1905, which agreed to Japanese control of Korea, in return for American dominance in the Philippines.

The Japanese also agreed with the United Kingdom to extend the Anglo-Japanese treaty to cover all of Eastern Asia , and in return the UK also agreed to Japan's control over Korea. Despite Japan's demands for the entirety of Sakhalin and a war indemnity, and Russia's outright refusal, peace was attained through the actions of the participants, including Roosevelt's back-channel communications. Russia, under the guidance of Witte, was unwilling to give concessions in the name of peace and took advantage of Japan's need to end the war and thus Japan's willingness to compromise. [2] Roosevelt first proposed that a neutral committee propose concessions that Russia would cede to Japan, but after the idea's rejection, Roosevelt convinced Japan to lay down its demand for an indemnity and accept the southern half of Sakhalin rather than the island as a whole. The treaty confirmed Japan's emergence as the pre-eminent power in East Asia, and forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policies there, but it was not well received by the Japanese public. [3] Ratification Edit The treaty was ratified by the Japanese Privy Council on October 4, 1905.

[4] Japan gained a great deal from the treaty, but it was not what the Japanese public had been led to expect, since Japan's initial negotiating position had demanded all of Sakhalin and a monetary indemnity as well. The frustration caused the Hibiya riots , and collapsed Katsura Tarō 's cabinet on January 7, 1906. Treaty Building in 1912 Edit Ratification of the Peace Treaty between Japan and Russia, November 25, 1905. In 1994, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum was created by the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire to commemorate the Portsmouth Peace Treaty with the first formal meeting between Japanese and Russian scholars and diplomats in Portsmouth, New Hampshire since the negotiation of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty in 1905. As the Treaty of Portsmouth is considered one of the most powerful symbols of peace in the Northern Pacific region and the most significant, shared peace history for Japan, Russia and the United States, the Forum was designed to explore from the Japanese, Russian and American perspectives, the history of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty and its relevance to current issues involving the Northern Pacific region.

The Forum is intended to focus modern scholarship on international problems in the "spirit of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty". References The Treaty of Portsmouth & the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905 Other State Department Archive Sites The Treaty of Portsmouth & the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905 The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. The negotiations took place in August in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and were brokered in part by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The final agreement was signed in September of 1905, and it affirmed the Japanese presence in south Manchuria and Korea and ceded the southern half of the island of Sakhalin to Japan. By 1904, Russia and Japan had endured several years of disputes over control of Manchuria. The Russians had entered the region during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 and, along with Germany and France, was a part of the "Triple Intervention" that forced Japan to give up its demands for ports in South Manchuria and the Liaodong Peninsula in the wake of its victory in China.

Instead, Russia moved into the area and took control of Port Arthur, a warm water port with strategic and commercial significance. A Japanese attempt to stage a coup in adjacent Korea was thwarted in part by the Russian presence in the region, and the two nations' divergent interests appeared more and more likely to clash. In 1904, the Japanese attacked the Russian fleet at Port Arthur before the formal declaration of war was received in Moscow, surprising the Russian navy and earning an early victory. Over the course of the next year, the two forces clashed in Korea and the Sea of Japan, with the Japanese scoring significant, but costly, victories. War casualties were high on both sides. At the battle over Mukden, the Russians lost 60,000 soldiers and the Japanese lost 41,000 soldiers. The military costs were high as well. A Russian fleet made the long trip from the Baltic Sea around Africa and India, only to be half destroyed by the Japanese upon its arrival in Northeast Asia. By 1905, the combination of these losses and the economic cost of financing the war led both countries to seek an end to the war. The Japanese asked U.S.

President Roosevelt to negotiate a peace agreement, and representatives of the two nations met in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1905. For the sake of maintaining the balance of power and equal economic opportunity in the region, Roosevelt preferred that the war end on terms that left both Russia and Japan a role to play in Northeast China. Though excited by the Japanese military victories, Roosevelt worried about the consequences to American interests if Japan managed to drive Russia out entirely. The negotiations centered on access to ports and territories in Manchuria and Korea, control of Sakhalin Island, and the question of who was responsible for paying war costs. The chief aims of the Japanese negotiator included first control in Korea and South Manchuria, then the negotiation of an indemnity and control of Sakhalin Island. The Russians wanted to maintain Sakhalin Island, refused to pay a war costs indemnity to the Japanese, and hoped to maintain their fleet in the Pacific. The indemnity issue, along with the dispensation of Sakhalin Island, were the major sticking points in the negotiation, although given its financial straits in 1905, Russia was likely unable to pay an indemnity even if required by a treaty to do so.

When negotiations reached an impasse, Roosevelt stepped in with the proposal that Russia "buy back" the northern part of Sakhalin from Japanese control. The Russians were adamant that they would not pay any amount of money, which would act as a disguised indemnity, when the territory ought to be theirs. After long internal debate, Japan eventually agreed to take only the southern half of the island, without any kind of payment. Theirs had not been a decisive enough victory to force the point. The Treaty ultimately gave Japan control of Korea and much of South Manchuria, including Port Arthur and the railway that connected it with the rest of the region, along with the southern half of Sakhalin Island; Russian power was curtailed in the region, but it was not required to pay Japan's war costs. Because neither nation was in a strong financial position to continue the war easily, both were forced to compromise in the terms of the peace. Still, the Japanese public felt they had won the war, and they considered the lack of an indemnity to be an affront. There was a brief outbreak of protests and rioting in Tokyo when the terms of the agreement were made public.

Similarly, the Russian people were also dissatisfied, angry about giving up half of Sakhalin. Throughout the war and the peace talks, American public opinion largely sided with Japan. Believing that the Japanese were fighting a "just war" against Russian aggression, and that the island nation was equally committed to the Open Door and the territorial integrity of China, the American people were anxious to support it. This sense did not really change over the course of the negotiations, in spite of the best efforts of the Russian negotiator to improve the press coverage of his nation's position. The final decision of the Japanese to forgo an indemnity only served to strengthen U.S. approval of Japan's actions throughout the conflict. The anti-treaty and, at times, anti-American demonstrations in Tokyo that followed the ratification of the treaty caught many Americans off-guard. The Treaty of Portsmouth marked the last real event in an era of U.S.-Japanese cooperation that began with the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Instead, competition between the two nations in the Pacific grew over the years that followed. Conversely, Japanese relations with Russia improved in the wake of the treaty.

Although the actual importance of Roosevelt's mediation and personal pressure on the leadership in Moscow and Tokyo to the final agreement is unclear, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in moderating the talks and pushing toward peace. Portsmouth Peace Treaty, 1905-2005 Main Site INTRODUCTION Watch a video of a 1905 newsreel of the arrival of the Peace Treaty participants, and the parade in downtown Portsmouth in their honor. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 was fought between Russia, an international power with one of the largest armies in the world, and Japan, a tiny nation only recently emerged from two and a half centuries of isolation. These Web pages explore the causes of the war, the military conflict on land and sea, President Theodore Roosevelt's back channel diplomacy, and the peace negotiations hosted by the United States Navy and the State of New Hampshire. The people of Portsmouth encouraged the delegates' efforts for peace at numerous social events, especially during the times when formal negotiations were breaking down. The Portsmouth peace process provides an important example for diplomacy today. Many postcards were published during the treaty negotiations; this one has all of the major participants pictured. Portsmouth Athenaeum collection.

View larger image. This postcard combined views of the general stores building at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard with the Hotel Wentworth in New Castle where both delegations were housed during the peace conference. Portsmouth Athenaeum collection. View larger image. A postcard printed after peace was achieved. Portsmouth Athenaeum collection. View larger image. The Russo-Japanese war is unique in that the warring nations fought over, and only on, the territory of two neutral countries, China and Korea. Prior to World War I, this conflict had history's greatest battles between two nations in terms of numbers of troops and ships. It was the first modern war involving both telegraph and telephone, machine guns, barbed wire, illuminating star shells, mine fields, advanced torpedoes, and armored battleships. If not for the military restraint displayed by the other European nations and the diplomacy of the United States, this might have become the first world war. The representatives of Japan and Russia were invited to meet in New Hampshire by Governor John McLane, shown here in another contemporary postcard. Portsmouth Athenaeum collection. View larger image. The peace conference began when President Theodore Roosevelt invited both countries to conduct direct negotiations at the neutral site of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Because of Roosevelt’s confidence in the navy, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was specifically selected as the site of the negotiations and charged with the delicate responsibility for providing the diplomatic protocols for peace. Due to the efforts of Governor Mclane, the State of New Hampshire along with Portsmouth, New Hampshire and its citizens became the unlikely host for the first international treaty to be signed in the United States. Only now is it becoming apparent that the hospitality of the State of New Hampshire and the residents of Portsmouth and vicinity played a significant informal role in creating an atmosphere that made the formal peaceful settlement possible. As the primary representatives of their governments, plenipotentiaries Serge Witte of Russia and Jutaro Komura of Japan debated, risked their reputations as diplomats, and successfully negotiated a peace treaty that resolved the grave concerns of each nation. The Russo-Japanese war, which involved not only the two warring countries, but also China, Korea, Europe, and the United States, set the balance of power in the Pacific for the next century. The war and the treaty signaled the emergence of Japan as a world power. Because of the role played by President Theodore Roosevelt, the United States became a significant force in world diplomacy.

Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his back channel efforts before and during the peace negotiations, even though he never came to Portsmouth. This international affair settled immediate difficulties in the Far East and created four decades of peace between the two warring nations. On the one hundredth anniversary of the Treaty of Portsmouth, we look back on this unusual event, its historical impact on world history, and its example for diplomacy today. The Treaty of Portsmouth (Portsmouth Peace Treaty) Rhode Island: Sarah Gold & Abbie Junior Website Division: The Treaty of Portsmouth: Diplomatic End to the Russo-Japanese War . In Kansas, Christopher Gernon, Junior Performance Division, won the Kansas City competition with his re-enactment of Theodore Roosevelt's Treaty diplomacy that earned him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. Educational Resources for the Study of the Treaty of Portsmouth This website is a now focal point for scholars, recognized by the Library of Congress, a place for posting new research and inquiries into various aspects of the Treaty and its legacy.

In addition to the History of the Treaty, this site contains a catalog of local newspaper headlines from 1905 (the actual clips are available at the Portsmouth Public Library) and a continuously-updated Bibliography to the Russo-Japanese War and the Treaty. The Portsmouth Peace Treaty Curriculum Guide In 2005 for the Treaty 100th anniversary, Northeast Cultural Coop wrote a comprehensive school curriculum that helps teachers present the history of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty to New Hampshire schoolchildren. Aided by Dr. Robert J. Lister, Superintendent and the Portsmouth School Department, the comprehensive curriculum allows New Hampshire public school teachers at the high school and middle school levels to put the Portsmouth Peace Treaty in context with developments in United States and World History. Teaching units also make the information accessible to 4th graders -- the traditional entry point in the state for public school students to learn New Hampshire history. The curriculum itself is an intensively researched 200+ page, illustrated binder with accompanying CD of images and map of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail. The curriculum guide is organized thematically under headings such as The Great Global Game, which puts this period of history and the involvement of the U.S.

into the story of what was happening in the world as of 1905. Other sections of the guide include: --Setting the Stage, which puts the war and peace treaty into perspective for teachers who will want to teach about it; --The Russo-Japanese War,which includes details on the war itself, how and why it occurred, with suggested lessons on how to approach teaching about it in the classroom; --The Peace Process,which helps put the local history in perspective with ways to engage students in research to discover how NH played a role in this international event, with biographies of the key players; --The Aftermath, which deals with the negative reactions in both Russia and Japan to the treaty; --Literary Connections,which gives teachers materials from the time period that helps in the interpretation of the events, including works by Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy, and others. --Other Connections, which includes several lessons on understanding other cultures, women in 1905, geography lessons on Japan and Russia, and information on facts from the time period, such as that the tallest building in the world in 1905 was the Eiffel Tower and that in 1905 Albert Einstein developed his theory of relativity.

Thanks to a grant from the Center for Global Partnership of the Japan Foundation, one copy of the curriculum was provided to each school district in the state. Additional copies are available to interested teachers by contacting Northeast Cultural Coop or the Information Director for the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum ( sseacord@lemd.com ) Humanities Council "Humanities To Go" Program offers Portsmouth Peace Treaty speakers Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee co-chairman Chuck Doleac is an accredited NH Humanities Council "Humanities To Go" program presenter. His talk, "Teddy Roosevelt's Nobel Prize: New Hampshire & the Portsmouth Peace Treaty" offers insight into why Roosevelt’s trust in Portsmouth to be the 1905 peace-making city was well founded. Negotiations there between the Russians and Japanese ended “World War Zero” and led to a Nobel Peace Prize for the President – America’s first. Most recently presented to the Stratham Historical Society, the illustrated talk and exhibit panels are an engaging introduction to the subject. One woman at the Stratham talk noted, "I've lived in this area for nearly 90 years and had heard about the Portsmouth Peace Treaty.

This is the first time I finally understood why it was so important!" Click here to learn how your group or business can schedule a "Humanities To Go" talk. Union-Leader Editor Visits Japan Sherry Wood, night editor of the Union Leader newspaper in Manchester NH and author of "Keeping the Peace" a story for gradeschool children presented as part of the "Newspapers in Education" program in 2005, visits Japan, October 9-19, 2007. To follow her blog on the trip, arranged by the Foreign Ministry of Japan under its International Journalists program, click here . Editor Sherry Wood (center) in Nichinan with (left to right) Suniyo Terai, translator; Takenori Okamoto, Nichinan Board of Education; (Wood), Nichinan Mayor Yoshiyoki Taniguchi; and Nichinan-Portsmouth sister City liaison Liz Southwell.

In November 2006, Peter Randall, author of There Are No Victors Here: A Local Perspective on the Treaty of Portsmouth was also the guest in Japan of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's "Opinion Leaders Program." On his return, he presented two illustrated talks -- at Green Acre Baha'i School and at the Portsmouth Athenaeum -- on his visit to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nichinan and Nagasaki. While in Tokyo he gave a recap of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Centennial events to a group hosted by Yomiuri Shimbun, the largest daily newspaper in the world. He commented: "I believe it is quite important that we maintain good relations with Japan as Japan has a foreign policy of peace... This was the trip of a lifetime for me." Portsmouth Christian Academy 8th Graders Study Treaty Students from Mrs. Reardon's class at Portsmouth Christian Academy in Dover, New Hampshire, devoted the entire school year to a study of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, incorporating suggestions from the Curriculum Guide in all of their lessons. in Dover, New Hampshire. In May, the 8th graders led 5th graders from the school on a tour of the Exhibit and Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail.

The following is a report on the Tour prepared by Gracie Derby, a student of class 8A. "The Russo-Japanese Peace Treaty Tour On May 24, 2006 the class of 8A at Portsmouth Christian Academy (P.C.A.), gave a tour of downtown Portsmouth, highlighting the Peace Treaty which ended the Russo-Japanese War between Russia and Japan. The students dressed up in costumes of the day. Girls wore dresses with hats that they had made, while boys carried straw hats that a volunteer purchased for them. The students were separated into four groups and gave tours to the fifth graders of P.C.A. that came. The tour started at the Portsmouth Historical Museum (the John Paul Jones House) then either went up towards Jumpin Jays or the Rockingham Hotel. It took about 45 minutes to go around the town, and then they were allowed 15 minutes at the museum to look around. To prepare for this tour, the class picked topics that would add to their knowledge of the Russo-Japanese War. Then they wrote down what they believed to be most vital to the tour and added that to a script. Everyone in each of the four groups memorized the information in the script.

On the day of the tour, when the fifth graders arrived, the leader of each group went over safety procedures, while some went into the museum to wait for the first two groups to leave. As they walked they talked to the fifth graders about life in 1905, about the Russo-Japanese War, and the role Portsmouth played during the Peace Treaty. The eighth graders were excited to give this tour and were very well prepared for the fifth graders. This was a great experience for all who were involved. On October 26, Mary Reardon will present a workshop on this project at the New Hampshire Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference. The conference takes place at the Center of New Hampshire/Radisson Hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire. "The world won the peace." -- Comment from an 8th grader from the Portsmouth Christian Academy, whose school is using the Curriculum Guide. The 8th graders hosted guest speaker, Committee co-chairman Chuck Doleac.

Question: Which peace treaty ended the Russo-Japanes war?
Answer: PORTSMOUTH