Ross Winn

“ The czar is therefore pushing Japan with a determination to carry the point or force Japan into war single handed and supported only by her own resources. The Russian leaders know that Japan is the barrier in the way of Russia's supremacy in the east, and that, sooner or later, Japan has got to be crushed. Now is the opportunity to do it, while Japan has no allied help. Then again the czar is menaced at home by the rising spirit of liberty, which threatens internal revolution. Better therefore to distract public attention by a foreign war than to face war at home. ”

“ No international problem, no diplomatic chess game, of modern history is more interesting to a student of human affairs than this deadly game between Russia and Japan.
The success of Japan in her war with China in 1895 brought the island empire to the world's notice and established its rank among the first-rate powers. The rapidity of Japan's rise is one of the marvels of history. Twenty years ago Japan was ranked with China, Persia, and other Asiatic nations. Today she is one of the Great Powers. Japan is the predominant spirit of the Orient. ”

“ That the European powers have not already divided China's vast domain between them is due mostly to international jealousies, and the fear of each of the would-be land-grabbers of being overreached by the others. Thus Great Britain, who was very willing to add Tibet to her Indian empire, could not allow Russia to gain a position in Chinese Turkestan, where at some future time, the czar could pour his troops upon India by a direct rout, thus depriving England of the shield of Afghanistan. ”