After the Meiji Restoration, Japan embarked on the path of capitalist development. As its national strength grew, the ambitions of Japan's rulers expanded, leading to the gradual formulation of an expansionist "Continental Policy" aimed at foreign aggression. This policy centered on invading China and was divided into five steps: first, occupy Taiwan; second, annex Korea; third, seize Manchuria and Mongolia; fourth, conquer China; and fifth, dominate Asia, ultimately aiming for world hegemony. The First Sino-Japanese War, which broke out in 1894, was the concrete implementation of Japan's "Continental Policy."
In 1894, the Donghak Peasant Rebellion erupted in Korea, which also served as the trigger for the First Sino-Japanese War. Also known as the Gabo Peasant War, this massive uprising was organized and led by followers of the Donghak religious movement in Korea, with the goals of opposing the feudal rule of the Joseon Dynasty and resisting the invasion and partition of Korea by foreign powers. At the time, the Korean government forces suffered repeated defeats under the fierce attacks of the rebel army and were forced to seek help from their suzerain, China.
At the same time as the Qing army landed in Korea, Japan also sent a seven-hundred-man advance force into Korean territory under the pretext of protecting its embassy and citizens there. However, just a few days later, the Korean government reached a ceasefire agreement with the domestic rebel forces. The Korean government then requested both China and Japan to withdraw their troops from Korea. While Japan readily agreed in words, it simultaneously kept sending reinforcements to Korea. In the end, the number of Japanese troops in Korea had swelled to over ten thousand.
With strong military power as backing, Japanese Minister to Korea, Ōtori Keisuke, began to continuously provoke the Qing government, seizing the opportunity to stall for time and prepare for the impending First Sino-Japanese War. As time passed, Japan's intention to use this opportunity to launch a war against China became increasingly obvious. At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi's sixtieth birthday was approaching, and to avoid disrupting her celebration, she was very reluctant to engage in conflict with Japan, delusionally hoping that mediation by Britain, the United States, and Russia could defuse the imminent war between China and Japan.
During this period, two major factions once again formed within the Qing government: those advocating war and those favoring peace. This time, the young Guangxu Emperor stood in opposition to his foster mother, Empress Dowager Cixi, supporting war against Japan. However, since Empress Dowager Cixi was the true power holder in the country at the time, under her direction, Li Hongzhang continuously shuttled between Britain, the United States, and Russia, lobbying them to mediate. It was precisely because the peace faction held an absolute advantage in the court that the Qing army grew complacent and failed to make adequate preparations before the war broke out, resulting in heavy losses during the conflict.
The Japanese government's wolfish ambitions were naturally well understood by Western powers such as Britain, the United States, and Russia, who eagerly hoped that China and Japan would actually go to war, because only when the snipe and the clam fight can the fisherman profit. Under these circumstances, the so-called "mediation" naturally yielded no results.
On July 23, 1894, Japanese forces launched a surprise attack on the Korean royal palace, quickly turning the Korean government into a puppet of Japan. On July 25, the Japanese military also ambushed Qing troop transport ships on the sea near Feng Island, triggering the Battle of Feng Island. At this point, the First Sino-Japanese War officially broke out. On August 1, China and Japan formally declared war on each other.
Shortly thereafter, the Chinese and Japanese armies engaged in their first large-scale direct confrontation in Pyongyang, known historically as the Battle of Pyongyang. The Qing commander, Ye Zhichao, made critical command errors during the battle and ultimately fled the field, severely damaging Qing morale and leading to defeat despite the two sides being evenly matched. The routed Qing forces retreated back to China, and the Japanese took advantage of the situation to capture all of Korea.
On September 17, 1894, the Battle of the Yellow Sea erupted. During the fierce five-hour engagement, the Beiyang Fleet lost five warships, with thousands of Qing soldiers either killed or severely wounded, and the distinguished patriotic general Deng Shichang sacrificed his life for the nation in this battle. Meanwhile, Japan also had five warships damaged to varying degrees, with over six hundred officers and soldiers either dead or injured. The Battle of the Yellow Sea inflicted heavy losses on both China and Japan. However, before a clear verdict on victory or defeat could be reached, Li Hongzhang ordered the Beiyang Fleet to retreat into Weihai Port to preserve its strength. Seizing this opportunity, the Japanese forces gained control of the Yellow Sea's maritime supremacy.
On October 24, 1894, the Battle of the Yalu River Defense broke out. Before the battle began, Japan declared to the Qing government that it would march all the way to Beijing, defeating the Qing forces in morale first. In this battle, the Qing army deployed a total of 28,000 troops to fight the Japanese. However, within just three days, these tens of thousands of Qing soldiers were utterly routed by the Japanese forces.
On the same day that the Battle of the Yalu River Defense broke out, the Battle of Jinzhou and Lüshun also began. Japanese forces first landed at Huayuankou in Lüshun, where local farmers spontaneously organized to resist the invading Japanese troops. In stark contrast, the Qing government turned a blind eye to the Japanese landing, not even sending a single soldier to oppose them. On November 6, the Japanese captured Jinzhou, and the next day they attacked Dalian Bay. As early as when the Japanese launched their assault on Jinzhou, Zhao Huaiye, the defender of Dalian, had already prepared to flee. After Jinzhou fell, Zhao Huaiye immediately led his troops to escape to Lüshun. The Japanese took control of Dalian Bay without any effort. Shortly after, the Japanese attacked Lüshun. The defenders of Lüshun, including Gong Zhaoyu, Huang Shilin, Zhao Huaiye, and Wei Rucheng, all abandoned the city and fled. On November 22, the Japanese captured Lüshun. Over the next four days and three nights, the frenzied Japanese troops looted property, raped women, and brutally massacred innocent civilians, with approximately 20,000 people falling under the Japanese blades. This became known as the "Lüshun Massacre," which shocked both China and the world.
On January 19, 1895, Japanese forces departed from Dalian Bay and landed at Rongcheng Bay on the Shandong Peninsula. On January 30, they launched an assault on Weihai, deploying over 34,000 officers and soldiers with the determination to annihilate the entire Beiyang Fleet. Under the fierce Japanese attack, all the forts on the southern shore of Weihai Port quickly fell into enemy hands, leading to the fall of Weihaiwei and trapping the Beiyang Fleet inside the harbor. Subsequently, the Japanese bombarded the Beiyang Fleet, and the Qing forces returned fire. In the ensuing naval battle, several more Beiyang warships were struck by Japanese vessels, forcing the Beiyang Navy to retreat to Liugong Island.
On the morning of February 7, Ding Ruchang ordered the torpedo boat fleet to go out to sea for battle. Unexpectedly, Wang Ping, the commander of the torpedo boat fleet, took the opportunity to flee in panic with thirteen torpedo boats and two steamships. Most of these torpedo boats and steamships were later sunk or captured by the Japanese army, except for the "Zuoyi" torpedo boat that Wang Ping was on, which narrowly escaped disaster. After arriving in Yantai, Wang Ping falsely claimed that Liugong Island had already been occupied by the Japanese army and that the Beiyang Fleet had been completely annihilated. The Qing government had originally sent a large number of army troops to rush to Weihai for support, but upon receiving this false intelligence, they immediately withdrew the reinforcements. This was undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Beiyang Navy, which was eagerly awaiting the arrival of reinforcements.
In utter despair, Ding Ruchang had no choice but to order the warships scuttled to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands. On February 17, with the Beiyang Fleet completely out of ammunition and supplies and with no way out, Ding Ruchang committed suicide by taking poison to atone to his countrymen. On February 20, Liugong Island was captured by Japanese forces. On the 23rd, Weihai Port also fell to the Japanese, leading to the total annihilation of the Beiyang Fleet, thus ending the Battle of Weihaiwei.
On February 2, 1895, Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi proposed peace negotiations to the Qing government. During the First Sino-Japanese War, although the Japanese military had achieved consecutive victories, the enormous military expenditures placed a heavy burden on the Japanese people, leading to continuous peasant uprisings within Japan that forced the government to end the war as soon as possible. In reality, the Qing rulers, led by Empress Dowager Cixi, had been desperately seeking peace with Japan from the very beginning of the war. This show of weakness by the Qing government only emboldened the Japanese government further. While proposing peace talks, Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi insisted that Li Hongzhang serve as the Chinese representative.
In March 1895, Li Hongzhang traveled to Shimonoseki, Japan, to begin negotiations with Japanese representatives including Ito Hirobumi. On April 17, Li Hongzhang, on behalf of the Qing government, signed the humiliating and sovereignty-compromising Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan. The treaty stipulated: China would withdraw its troops from Korea and recognize Korea's independence, which effectively acknowledged Japan's control over Korea; China would cede the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan and its affiliated islands, and the Penghu Islands to Japan; China would pay Japan a war indemnity of 200 million taels of silver; and China would open Shashi, Chongqing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou as treaty ports, allowing Japanese to establish consulates and factories in these ports, with all taxes exempted on products manufactured in Japanese factories.
As the most severe unequal treaty signed between the Qing government and foreign powers since the Treaty of Nanking, the Treaty of Shimonoseki greatly deepened China's semi-colonial status. The cession of large territories such as Taiwan further undermined China's territorial sovereignty and integrity, fueling the ambitions of foreign powers to carve up China and intensifying the national crisis. The enormous indemnity stipulated in the treaty placed a heavy burden on the Chinese people, forcing the Qing government to borrow heavily from abroad, thereby allowing Western powers to firmly control China's economic lifeline. The newly opened treaty ports extended deep into China's interior, providing foreign powers with an excellent opportunity to expand their aggressive influence inland. Additionally, the treaty permitted Japan to invest in China and establish factories, and other powers soon followed suit; the large number of factories they set up in China severely hindered the development of China's national capitalism. Moreover, the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki also marked the bankruptcy of the Self-Strengthening Movement. After its conclusion, foreign aggression against China entered an entirely new phase.