Tsushima Incident
Encyclopedia
Tsushima Island
Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese Archipelago situated in the middle of the Tsushima Strait at 34°25'N and 129°20'E. The main island of Tsushima was once a single island, but the island was divided into two in 1671 by the Ōfunakosiseto canal and into three in 1900 by the Manzekiseto canal...
, a Japanese territory located between Honshu
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
.
Arrival of the Posadnik
On 13 March 1861, the Russian corvetteCorvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
Posadnik (Посадник, 1856), captained by Nicolai Birilev, arrived in Tsushima island in the inlet of Ozaki, the captain demanding landing rights. This event triggered fear in the Japanese Shogunate, as the Russians had already attempted to breach Japan's isolation policy
Sakoku
was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633–39 and remained in effect until...
in the northern island of Hokkaido
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
with the events involving Adam Laxman in 1792, the burning of villages there in 1806, and the events leading to the arrest of Vasilii Golovnin in 1811. At that time, only a few Japanese ports were open to foreign ships (Hakodate, Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
, Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
), and Tsushima was clearly not one of them, thus suggesting unfriendly intentions on the part of the Russians. If taken over by the Russians, Tsushima could have become an effective base for further aggression. Japan received British help to support its policy. As tension rose, a second Russian ship arrived, and requests were made by the Russians to build a landing base and to receive supplies.
Clash
Saga Domain
Saga Domain was a han, or feudal domain, in Tokugawa period Japan. Largely contiguous with Hizen Province on Kyūshū, the domain was governed from Saga Castle in the capital city of Saga by the Nabeshima clan of tozama daimyō...
warships, the Kankō Maru
Kanko Maru
The was Japan's first steam warship. The ship was a 3-masted top sail schooner , with an auxiliary coal-fired steam engine turning a side paddlewheel...
and the Denryū Maru, as well as one British warship. On May 21, 1861, a clash took place between the Russian sailors of a launch and a group of samurai and farmers, in which one farmer was killed and one samurai, who soon committed suicide
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
, was captured by the Russians. In mid-July, Foreign Magistrate Muragaki Narimasa went directly to the Russian Consulate in Hakodate, demanding the departure of the ship to the Russian Consul Goshkevitch.
Russian retreat
As this strategy did not work, the Japanese asked the British to intervene, as they also had an interest in preventing the Russians from extending their influence in Asia. Admiral Hope arrived in Tsushima with two warships on 28 August, and on 19 September 1861 the Posadnik finally had to leave Tsushima.Background
The late 1850s saw a period of Russian expansion into the Sea of JapanSea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
, with the setting up a post in the estuary of the Amur
Nikolayevsk-on-Amur
Nikolayevsk-on-Amur often romanized as Nikolayevsk-na-Amure, is a town and the administrative center of Nikolayevsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia located on the Amur River close to its liman in the Pacific Ocean...
in 1850, the acquisition of the present Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...
by the Treaty of Aigun
Treaty of Aigun
The Treaty of Aigun was a 1858 treaty between the Russian Empire, and the empire of the Qing Dynasty, the sinicized-Manchu rulers of China, that established much of the modern border between the Russian Far East and Manchuria , which is now known as Northeast China...
(1858) and the Convention of Peking
Convention of Peking
The Convention of Peking or the First Convention of Peking is the name used for three different unequal treaties, which were concluded between Qing China and the United Kingdom, France, and Russia.-Background:...
(1860), and the establishment of Vladivostok
History of Vladivostok
The history of Vladivostok can roughly be divided into the history of the territory where Vladivostok is located and into the history of the city per se.- Influences :...
in 1860.
In 1858 the Imperial Russian Navy
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
leased a strip of Nagasaki Bay
Nagasaki Bay
Nagasaki Bay can be:* The bay of the East China Sea at which Nagasaki is located.* The name is also used in the futuristic anime Ghost in the Shell as a name for the same bay. For information on this fictional usage see New Port City....
coastline across the village of Inasa as a winter anchorage for the Chinese Flotilla's emerging Pacific Fleet (all domestic anchorages froze up in winter). Flotilla commander Admiral Ivan Likhachev realized the dangers of basing the fleet in a foreign port, and settled on establishing a permanent base in Tsushima. He was aware that the British had attempted to set their flag there in 1859 and had conducted hydrographic surveys around the island in 1855. In 1860 he requested a go-ahead from the government in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
; the cautious foreign minister, Alexander Gorchakov, ruled out any incursions against British interests, while General Admiral
General Admiral
General admiral was a Danish, Dutch, German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish naval rank. Its historic origin is a title high military or naval dignitaries of early modern Europe sometimes held, for example the commander-in-chief of the Dutch Republic's navy .-Third Reich:In the German...
Konstantin Nikolayevich
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia was the second son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.During the reign of his brother Alexander II, Konstantin was an admiral of the Russian fleet and reformed the Russian Navy. He was also an instrumental figure in the emancipation of the serfs...
suggested making a private deal with the head of Tsushima-Fuchū Domain, as long as it did not disturb "the West".
Landing
In line with Likhachev's will and Konstantin's advice Posadnik left Hakodate February 20, 1861 and on March 1 reached the village of Osaki on the western coast of Aso BayAsō Bay
is a deep fjord that nearly cleaves in two the Japanese island of Tsushima. The bay is also notable for having a significant rias coastline, with various small islands found in close proximity to the shore....
(Tatamura Bay in historical reports). Mune Yoshiori, head of Tsushima clan, immediately informed the Bakufu government, however, the cautious cabinet of Andō Nobumasa
Ando Nobumasa
was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Iwakidaira Domain. He was a rōjū in the Tokugawa shogunate, and was active in the wake of Ii Naosuke's assassination...
delayed their response and Yoshiori had to act on his own. Birilev, captain of the Posadnik, made personal contact with Mune, exchanged courtesy gifts, and secured Yoshiori's consent to survey the Imoskaka Bay; Posadnik arrived there on April 2. The crew disembarked, raised the Russian flag, and began building temporary housing, a landing jetty and prepared to refit the ship which needed repairs to propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
and stern tube. Japanese officials tacitly agreed with de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
establishing a naval base and even assigned a team of fifteen local carpenters to help the Russians; the latter rewarded Mune with a gift of small naval cannons. Likhachev inspected the bay twice, March 27 on board the Oprichnik and April 16 on board the Svetlana and recorded friendly behaviour of the Japanese, however, in April the situation irreversibly changed.
Clash
On April 12, 1861 when the Russians disembarked from their launchesLaunch (boat)
A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...
, a group of local peasants led by one Yasugoro attempted to bar entrance and drive the Russians back. In the ensuing clash Yasugoro was killed, two Japanese peasants taken hostage, the rest fled; no Russian fatalities were recorded. Mune appeased the population, ordering them to wait for a Bakumatsu pronouncement, and did not take any action. Russian sources say nothing about presence of Japanese or British warship in the area.
Aftermath
Oguri Tadamasa, the messenger of Bakumatsu arrived in Tsushima in May and politely told Birilev to leave; Birilev explained that he would not move unless the Admiral orders retreat. After 13 days of waiting in vain Oguri left; he left a letter allowing contacts between Birilev and local administration without prejudices against further radical action by the Japanese. Birilev used the permit to the full, and persuaded the council of Japanese officials to issue a charter agreeing with Russian naval presence in Tsushima. Tsushima elders granted the coastline between Hiroura and Imosaki exclusively to the Russians and agreed to bar entrance to any other foreign nation. The charter, however, clearly said that all these concessions depended on good will of the central government. The latter vehemently opposed the deal and called the British envoy Rutherford AlcockRutherford Alcock
Sir Rutherford Alcock KCB was the first British diplomatic representative to live in Japan.-Early life:Alcock was the son of the physician, Dr. Thomas Alcock, who practised at Ealing, near London. As he grew up, Alcock followed his father into the medical profession...
for help. Alcock immediately dispatched two ships under command of Vice Admiral James Hope.
Retreat
Likhachev, as instructed by Konstantin, ordered a general retreat and sent the message to Tsushima with the Oprichnik. Birilev and Posadnik left Tsushima on September 7, 1861, while Oprichnik and Abrek stayed in the harbor; both finally left at the end of September 1861. Likhachev later said that the failure had its upside: "We did not allow the British conquest of the islands", an opinion indirectly supported by contemporary personal meetings between Gorchakov and ambassador Francis NapierFrancis Napier, 10th Lord Napier
Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier and 1st Baron Ettrick, KT, PC , was a Scottish polyglot, diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as the British Minister to the United States from 1857 to 1859, Netherlands from 1859 to 1860, Russia from 1861 to 1864, Prussia from 1864 to 1866 and as the...
; the latter, however, never gave a definite answer about British plans in Tsushima. Likhachev was demoted from his command and tendered a voluntary resignation, which was rejected; the admiral was given command of a Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
squadron. The Russian Navy stayed at Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
until the completion of the Port Arthur base in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Sources
- Alexandr Shirokorad (2005). Rossiya vyhodit v mirovoy okean (Россия выходит в мировой океан). Veche. ISBN 593307519