there were government-inspired demonstrations in Japan when the TR-brokered treaty ended the Russo-Japanese War. The Japanese understood that the US saved the Russians from a total KO in the Far East. Like a boxing referee calling a standing eight the TR administation guaranteed a hostile Russia would remain at Japan's back.
How did this all come about? It is fascinating:
The British aided the Japanese Navy at Port Arthur, so they could enter and destroy the Russian Fleet. The British also tried to keep the Russians in WWI after the Bolshevik Revolution. They treated with Lenin to stay in WWI. And King V would not lift a hand to stop his cousin Tsar Nicholas II and his family from being executed— all to keep good stead with whatever government was in control in Russia.
The underlying reason for all of this, and the US complicity in it: the Russian government owed them money. Prior to the Bolshevik Revolution, the Russian State Bank received credit from France and Great Britain, and partner banks (Chase,Warburg,Morgan) in exchange for gold bullion shipped to both countries, in a significant amount (the Russian national treasury had in Petrograd in 1905 value, 65 million British Pounds of physical gold). All this to finance Russia staying in WWI.
TR was President at this time, 1905, and then Taft and then Wilson (a Progressive socialist disaster who enabled the Bolsheviks to fully take over from Kerensky).
It was the series of progressives who continued to support Russia/Soviet Union, in support of these debts due Bank of England and the French Exchequer. Despite the period of vain attempts to keep us away from the horrors of the fallout of WWI (Coolidge, Harding, Hoover)— the progressives continued, and perpetuated the Depression, and thanks to the comintern/Stalinist agents in FDR’s regime and within Churchill’s- the US went to war having embargoed the Japanese from oil they needed to hold Mongolia/China.
Looking back to the Russo-Japanese war is very instructive, especially as to how the Chinese vast territory and resources featured. The Soviets “beat” the Japanese (recall they only declared war on Japan after Germany invaded them, and right after we dropped the A-Bomb in Aug. 1945) and then helped their future comintern partners, the Chinese.
It’s been pointed out many times on FR, that US policy in these times was “played like a violin” by the Soviets, at the behest of the progressives who to this day always trot out the Nazis— failing to mention that the Nazis were themselves progressive national socialists, or the financing of the Bolsheviks by German banks to bring down their Russian enemies government. The net result- decades of horror and destruction— thanks to the comintern. They have a lot to answer for as they continue to peddle their crap to this day.
The underlying commodity, at the risk of sounding like “occupy” types- was oil (see The Prize). Sorry for the long comment- this day features rather strongly in my family’s history and our beloved country. Deo Vindice.