ABSTRACT
The centenary of the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War has passed in Germany almost unnoticed. The war never entered German collective memory. This does not seem surprising at a first glance, considering today’s impression that this war in northeast Asia rarely touched German interests, which were mainly focused on the European politics of the Great Powers. In 1904, the perception was different. The area known as the “Far East,” and especially China, was of considerable interest to Germany. And the big and potentially dangerous neighbor in the European east was a major concern for the German Foreign Office, the army and the emperor. Bismarck had kept a loose alliance with the tsar’s empire, but after the era of the “Iron Chancellor” the treaty with Russia expired. Although Germany was still interested in friendly relations and Wilhelm II trusted in the close family ties to the tsar, German diplomacy could not prevent Russia from seeking a new ally in Germany’s arch-rival, France. Thus, the Russian engagement in northeast Asia seemed a distraction from European matters and was most welcome. When the emperor met Tsar Nicholas II in Reval in August 1902, his departure signal was: “The Admiral of the Atlantic greets the Admiral of the Pacific.” This signal caused considerable irritation, mainly in Britain, which was the foremost seapower of the time.1
