During the early part of the year 1905, the strain on the civilized
world caused by the Russo-Japanese War became serious. The losses of
life and of treasure were frightful. From all the sources of information
at hand, I grew most strongly to believe that a further continuation
of the struggle would be a very bad thing for Japan, and an even worse
thing for Russia. Japan was already suffering terribly from the drain
upon her men, and especially upon her resources, and had nothing further
to gain from continuance of the struggle; its continuance meant to her
more loss than gain, even if she were victorious. Russia, in spite of
her gigantic strength, was, in my judgment, apt to lose even more than
she had already lost if the struggle continued. I deemed it probable
that she would no more be able successfully to defend Eastern Siberia
and Northern Manchuria than she had been able to defend Southern
Manchuria and Korea. If the war went on, I thought it, on the whole,
likely that Russia would be driven west of Lake Baikal. But it was very
far from certain. There is no certainty in such a war. Japan might have
met defeat, and defeat to her would have spelt overwhelming disaster;
and even if she had continued to win, what she thus won would have been
of no value to her, and the cost in blood and money would have left her
drained white.
Pages:
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885