By the late nineteenth century, Qing China and Japan increasingly competed for political and strategic influence on the Korean peninsula. After the Donghak Peasant Movement in 1894, both states sent troops to Korea; diplomacy broke down and war followed.
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Epochal Overview
Fighting spread across Korea, the Yellow Sea, the Liaodong Peninsula, and the Shandong coast. Japanese forces won successive victories, the Beiyang Fleet was destroyed at Weihaiwei, and the Qing government signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
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Civilizational Impact
The war shifted the East Asian balance of power. Qing China renounced its traditional relationship with Korea, ceded Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, and paid a large indemnity; defeat also stimulated Chinese reform and revolutionary movements and intensified imperial competition.
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Key Figures
directed much of the Qing military diplomacy and peace negotiation; Ito Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo shaped Japanese policy and command; , , many soldiers, and local civilians were drawn into the war.
