Double Eagle and Rising Sun

Book excerpt: "The Russo-Japanese War and the peace conference that followed it at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, marked a turning point in the history of both participants and reshaped the future of East Asia and the world. Mediated by President Theodore Roosevelt (for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize), the 1905 Portsmouth Conference brought to an end one of the largest and most important wars in modern history, one in which Japan won spectacular victories on land and sea. But the peace settlement fell far short of public expectations in Japan. As a consequence of the treaty, Japan gained supremacy in Korea and a sphere of influence in South Manchuria, but overall the treaty reflected the military stalemate that had come about in Manchuria. Roosevelt wanted a balance of power to emerge from the war, and his hope was realized in the peace process"--Jacket.