One hundred years ago this month a less-than-successful attack by Japanese naval forces on the Russian Far East Fleet opened a war which reverberated through the following decades.

The political situation in the Far East at the end of the 19th century was far from simple, with European nations vying for territory and Asian countries seeking to influence the balance of power – or even to grasp regional power for themselves.

Japan was fast completing her transformation from a feudal and inward-looking country to a progressive nation with ambitions to becoming one of the big players on the world stage.

The country had already scored a notable victory in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5 over the weak but strategically-important Kingdom of Korea; when China threw in the towel the Japanese insisted on independence for Korea, and among other territories she pocketed was the Liaotung Peninsula which included the warm-water Port Arthur.

But within a month Japan suffered a humiliating setback when the combined diplomatic muscle of Russia, France and Germany forced the Emperor to forego some of the gains made under the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) – including possession of Port Arthur, jealously coveted by the Russians.

Russia, which had already taken large tracts of Siberia, was at that point well on her way to enjoying carte blanche in Manchuria, regarded by her as strategically vital as it opened lines of communication across Asia to a much-needed warm-water port on the Pacific, from where the Russian Bear could dominate Pacific trade.

The Trans-Siberian Railway was built in the last decade of the 19th century, a major project which Russian politicians saw as a crucial factor in the peaceful domination of the East which had been under way in various guises for more than 300 years.

The fact that the line crossed large swathes of Manchuria also gave the Russians a ready-made excuse to call in the troops if the railway came under threat.

Although the Russians first connected the line to Vladivostok, that port was still clogged by ice for some of the winter, so a branch of the single-track line headed south to Port Arthur in 1898, recently ‘liberated’ back to China from the Japanese and now the subject of a very favourable leasing arrangement between the owners and Russia.

But the newly-awakened Japanese were concerned by the growing presence of the Russians in Manchuria and her naval forces on seas which Japan regarded as very much her sphere of influence.

Conversely, the Russians were concerned at the stirrings in the Land of the Rising Sun, and feared an alliance between Japan and China which could put an abrupt end to her plans for the East.

Indeed, the ‘Yellow Peril’ struck a chord in a number of European capitals which were squabbling over territory in the weakening China, and the Boxer Rebellion of 1900-02 proved little more than a hiccup, and an opportunity for Russia to occupy Manchuria to protect the railway.

At this stage Japan managed something of a coup by forging an alliance with Britain in 1902 – the presence of a strong European ally was a source of great national pride for the Asian nation, while Britain was happy to see a friendly country also opposed to the eastward expansion of Russia.

With long-term disputes festering over interests in the Korean peninsula and control over the island of Sakhalin, the relationship between Russia and Japan across the Sea of Japan was becoming more and more volatile.

The Japanese had deliberately created modern forces on land and at sea, modelled on what they considered to be the best around.

Thus their land forces looked to the mighty Prussian military machine for guidance, while there was only one navy they could hope to emulate – the Royal Navy, and in particular the tactics and philosophy of Nelson, who was highly-regarded by the Japanese.

Matters were brought to a head early in 1904 when, during a period of intense diplomatic pressure by the Russians on China, Japan offered to drop any interest in Manchuria if Russia would do the same over Korea.

By February 6, with no agreement forthcoming from the European power, the Japanese ambassador announced his withdrawal from Russia, and the baton was passed from the diplomats to the military.

Troops and equipment had already been gathering in the Japanese port of Sasebo by the time the Japanese ambassador had taken his leave, and the stage was set for the kind of pre-emptive strike which was to be repeated at Pearl Harbour almost 40 years later.

With Admiral Togo flying his flag in the British-built battleship Mikasa, a strong naval force moved into position off Port Arthur, home of the Russian Far East Fleet.

The entrance to the cramped port, named after Lt William Arthur of the Royal Navy in more than 40 years before, was difficult to negotiate, so the Russian warships often lay in the open sea beyond.

That was their position as Togo’s torpedo-boat destroyers began to close in on their targets in the last hours of February 8, 1904, A chance meeting with Russian warships at sea had caused the ten destroyers to break formation, and thus the attack on Port Arthur became somewhat disjointed.

However, the Russian cruiser Pallada was sunk by torpedoes, while the battleships Retvizan and Tsarevitch were badly damaged.

As day broke on February 9, the main Japanese fleet had moved into a threatening position off Port Arthur, and continued the attack on the shocked Russians.

The cruiser Novik was battered, while the battleships Petropavlovsk and Poltava, along with the cruisers Diana and Askold, also took a hammering.

The Japanese ships were also hit, and as covering fire from the forts around Port Arthur became more accurate, the Japanese withdrew to plan the next stage of the campaign.

With troops already ashore in Korea, Japan was already on the offensive, and war was officially declared on February 10.

Over the ensuing months land forces would be engaged in actions which had sombre echoes in the First World War, while naval forces carried out a big gun engagements in which capital ships duelled on the high seas – and lessons learned by the watchers of the Royal Navy led directly to the new Dreadnought breed of warship, born in Portsmouth dockyard soon after the decisive Battle of Tsushima in 1905.