WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Russia refused and demanded the establishment of a neutral buffer zone between Russia and Japan in Korea, north of the 39th parallel. The Imperial Japanese Government perceived this as obstructing their plans for expansion into mainland Asia and chose to go to war.

Detailed explanation-2: -Russian forces were left without supplies as the Trans-Siberian Railway was unfinished and there was no effective way of moving troops from the west. Russian armies suffered heavy losses on the Yalu River and at Mukden as a result of the vastly superior Japanese forces.