Japan's first overseas campaign against China in the late 19th century marked its rapid transition into Asia's leading military power, using Western-style modernization to defeat the Chinese Empire in Korea and Formosa/Taiwan. The victory confirmed Japan's place as a rival to the West and led to its defeat of Imperial Russia at the Battle of Tsushima.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 48 pages
Publication date: 27 October 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Japan's First Overseas Campaign: Waging War Against China

Japan's rapid transition into Asia's leading military power was marked by its first overseas campaign against China in the late 19th century. After the Meiji restoration of the Japanese imperial regime in 1868-1877, modernization along Western lines of Japan's industry, communications, and land and naval forces advanced with remarkable speed. The obvious opponent was the huge but medieval Chinese Empire, and the obvious arena for war was Korea, a nearby Chinese protectorate that Japan had long coveted. (A secondary campaign would be fought on Formosa/Taiwan, an autonomous Chinese island protectorate.)

In this study, author Gabriele Esposito describes the bloodthirsty course of the Japanese campaign in China, using color illustrations and photos to showcase the organization, equipment, and appearance of the various Chinese forces (China had no true national army), the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, and, for the first time in English, the Korean and Formosan participants. Japan's victory left it confident enough to challenge Imperial Russia and, nine years later, it defeated it at the Battle of Tsushima, where two-thirds of the Russian fleet was destroyed by the Japanese Navy. This victory confirmed Japan's place as Asia's leading military power, soon to become a realistic rival to the West.

Weight: 166g
Dimension: 185 x 247 x 8 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472851338