By land and sea the Japanese, who had been trained by European officers, were easily victorious. Asan was occupied, a victory was gained off the Yalu River, and the Japanese marched on Yingkow. Port Arthur, on the Liao-Tung peninsula, was captured, finally Wei-hai-Wei fell, and Li Hung Chang, the Chinese Minister, sued for peace.
Political Result:
By the Treaty of Shimonoseki, China ceded to Japan the Liao Tung peninsula, the island of Formosa and the Pescadores Islands, and the indemnity was fixed at 200 million taels. But Russia, France, and Germany intervened, and ordered Japan to surrender the Liao Tung Peninsula on the ground that Port Arthur threatened the independence of Peking. But the insincerity of the intervention of the Western Powers was revealed in 1897, when China was compelled to lease Kiao Chow to Germany, Port Arthur to Russia, Wei-hai-Wei to Great Britain, while France obtained a concession near Tonkin. Only the Italian claim for the port of Sanmen was refused by China.
Remarks:
The encroachments of the Western Powers evoked intense indignation in China. The rivalry in the exploitation of the Far East by the West had begun in real earnest.
THE ITALO-ABYSSINIAN WAR
1895–1896
Belligerents:
Italy.
Abyssinia.