“Punch Volume 126 Title-page” by Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910)</span>

[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> Punch —> E. L. Sambourne —> Next]

[Russo-Japanese War]

Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910)

1904

Pen and ink

Punch title-page volume 126

Sambourne is dealing with the recent hostilities between Japan and Russia: there had been bad blood between them for some time over rival ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. In February 1904 Japan launched a surprise attack on the Russian navy at Port Arthur, to devastating effect. We can see a Japanese castle in the background as the smaller Japanese fighting cock knocks the crown off the head of the Russian imperial eagle, while an Englishman with a pith helmet leans over a fence and looks on. The conflict would lead to Japan's devastating defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05.

Sambourne’s cartoon about the surprise attack appeared in Punch on 17 February. There was another on 11 May when the Russians were in retreat, and a third - a double page spread - on 15 June. Finally he did one on July 20. All these drawings feature bears (he was rather good at drawing these) and together remind us of a long-forgotten war which has recently become more relevant.

The Japanese navy’s shockingly rapid devastation of the Russian fleet would both represent the first time an Asian nation had defeated a European one in the modern era, and provide the basis for Japan’s surprise attack on Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which in turn would precipitate America’s entrance into World War II.

Image capture and text by George P. Landow, with added context by Shirley Nicholson. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Created 9 May 2020

Last modified 5 July 2022