"In
this
building
at
the
invitation
of
T h e o d o r e Roosevelt, President of the
U n i t e d States, w a s h e l d the P e a c e C o n f e r e n c e b e t w e e n the e n v o y s o f R u s s i a
a n d J a p a n , a n d S e p t e m b e r 5, 1905, at
3.47
P.M. w a s s i g n e d T h e Treaty of
Portsmouth, which e n d e d the war b e t w e e n the t w o e m p i r e s . "
T h e R u s s o - J a p a n e s e War b e g a n o n F e b ruary 8 , 1904, w h e n J a p a n a t t a c k e d Port
Arthur in M a n c h u r i a . T h e P o r t s m o u t h Treaty
e n d e d the w a r o n e a n d o n e - h a l f y e a r s later.
Both Russia a n d J a p a n w e r e e x p a n d i n g
their h o l d i n g s in the far East, i n c l u d i n g C h i n a ,
K o r e a a n d Manchuria. President T h e o d o r e
("Teddy") R o o s e v e l t , a t the s e c r e t s u g g e s tion of the J a p a n e s e , a r r a n g e d a p e a c e
c o n f e r e n c e a t the P o r t s m o u t h N a v y Yard.
This t r e a t y g a v e S o u t h e r n S a k h a l i n Island t o
J a p a n a n d f o r c e d R u s s i a t o r e m o v e its
t r o o p s from Manchuria. Russia also h a d to
g i v e u p Port Arthur a n d Darien, a n d h a d t o
Reverse
l e a v e K o r e a a s well t o J a p a n .
English
The victory brought recognition to J a p a n as
a m a j o r w o r l d p o w e r , while R u s s i a ' s d e f e a t
b r o u g h t a b o u t m u c h unrest a n d d i s c o n t e n t
i n s i d e Russia, l e a d i n g within just a f e w y e a r s
t o the R u s s i a n R e v o l u t i o n .
side
panel,
with
historical text
in
T h e stein itself is d e c o r a t e d in g r e e n a n d
brown colors on a cream background, and
w a s i n t e n d e d to h a v e a lid. It is m a d e
" E n g l i s h s t y l e " w i t h the h a n d l e t o the side.
The b a s e is simply m a r k e d " G e r m a n y " a n d
the number"6", b o t h incised. The overall
quality of the stein is only fair, but the historic a l s i g n i f i c a n c e is q u i t e e x t r a o r d i n a r y .
Reference:
The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 16
The Treaty of
Portsmouth
by Mike Wald
It is a l w a y s interesting to c o m e a c r o s s a
b e e r stein that d e p i c t s a p i e c e of history. I
recently w a s able to study an unusual lidless G e r m a n 1/2-Liter stein, m a d e o f s t o n e -
Side panel of "Portsmouth Treaty" stein
w a r e w i t h relief d e c o r a t i o n s , d e p i c t i n g t h e
Treaty
of
Portsmouth
which
ended
the
R u s s o - J a p a n e s e War.
O n e p a n e l o f the stein s h o w s the P e a c e
Conference building in Portsmouth, N e w
H a m p s h i r e , w h e r e the t r e a t y w a s s i g n e d o n
S e p t e m b e r 5 , 1 9 0 5 . A b o v e the illustration
a r e the w o r d s , " P e a c e C o n f e r e n c e B u i l d i n g " , a n d b e l o w it, " N a v y Yard P o r t s m o u t h ,
N.H. W h e r e t r e a t y w a s s i g n e d b e t w e e n
R u s s i a a n d J a p a n Sept. 5th, 1 9 0 5 . " T h e
p a n e l o n the r e v e r s e s i d e o f the stein b e a r s
the f o l l o w i n g English c a p t i o n :
Detail of text on side panel