Historical Picture of the Day- Treaty of Portsmouth

        This photo from 1905 is of the singing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, between Imperial Japanese and Russian dignitaries after the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, in which the Japanese embarrassingly defeated the outdated Imperial Russian forces, particularly the Russian Navy after the famous Battle of Tsushima. Seated in the center facing toward the Japanese is the famous Finance Minister of Russia, Sergei Witte. It must be duly noted that the American President, Theodore Roosevelt, proposed the Treaty of Portsmouth between the conflicting empires, and as such was the first President to win the Nobel Peace Prize because of his noble deed. The Russo-Japanese War was a precursor to WW1, and Japan's beginning desire of imperial conquest in the Pacific, which would no doubt play a larger role after WW1 and into WW2.