The Sino-Japanese War was an armed conflict that took place between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan from July 1894 to April 1895. It is also known as the War of Jiawu (sometimes referred to as the first Sino-Japanese War) and was the first of a series of conflicts between the two nations that extended over the next forty years.
The war began with an incident on July 25, 1894, when a dispute arose over Korea’s status as an independent nation or a tributary state of China. This led Japan to send an expeditionary force of 16,000 troops to Korea to protect its interests. When Chinese forces arrived in Korea in response, fighting broke out, marking the start of the Sino-Japanese War.
In the early stages of the war, both sides employed conventional tactics, with the Japanese forces taking advantage of their superior technology, such as their superior artillery and rifles. Ultimately, however, it was Japan’s strategy of total war that gave them the upper hand. They sought to paralyze the Chinese economy, weaken the Qing government, and cause a collapse of morale among the Chinese people. By February 1895, Japanese forces had occupied some of the major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Tianjin, and forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ending the war.
The Sino-Japanese War left a lasting impression on both countries. In China, the war caused great destruction, loss of life, and a political humiliation. For Japan, it was a decisive victory that gave them control of Taiwan, Penghu Islands, Liaodong Peninsula, and other parts of China, and it served as a springboard for their eventual colonization of Korea in 1910. The war also increased tensions between Japan and the Western powers, leading to Japan’s signing of the Boxer Protocol in 1902.