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The Attack Upon Port Arthur Sparknotes

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The Attack upon Port Arthur is an excerpt from the book Human Bullets: A Soldier’s Story from the Russo-Japanese War written by Lt. Tadayoshi Sakurai, a veteran of the war, and the one who provides the first hand account of the siege found in the document. The Siege of Port Arthur is an important and decisive battle that took place during the Russo-Japanese war during 1904-1905, that was as the name implies, a conflict between Japan and Russia, that occurred in and around the Sea of Japan, The Yellow Sea and Manchuria. In his document the author gives an anecdotal account about his role as a Lieutenant in the Japanese Imperial Army during an assault on a fortified Russian Hill. The author goes into length and great detail of the heavy …show more content…

In his account Sakurai provides a raw vivid description of the events as they played out around him, and frequently makes mention of the emotions he experienced during particular points of the siege. It is his vivid descriptions and use of emotion that makes this document an important primary source as it provides a perspective that other primary sources lack, as a great deal of them are written by observers or people reporting on the event. Many of these sources focus on the victory attained or the number of casualties sustained during the battle instead of what it was like in the middle of the battle. Sakurai’s first hand account gives us insight to the feelings and emotions of the author who fought in this battle as well as the soldiers who participated in it alongside him. It allows us the reader to understand how it felt to be there in that moment rather than look at the Siege as simply an event in the war between Russia and Japan. It is because of this perspective that we can consider the text an important piece of history. It offers something that few other sources can …show more content…

This is apparent when examining the document as one can see that it, conveys an accurate portrayal of the events of during the Siege as it describes the technology used by both sides in the battle and matches with other sources, it describes the Japanese assault and how waves of men were sent to capture a position, and how the attack was considered suicidal and the heavy losses described by the author matches shows the heavy losses that the Japanese forces did experience. One can also see that the author’s first person perspective illustrates the horror and carnage of the battle and gives us insight of the feelings and emotions of the Japanese soldiers who fought in the siege and what it was like to be there. It provides a unique perspective that is not commonly found in most sources. Finally, Sakurai’s account differed greatly from public opinion, and the common narrative of the battle, by choosing to portray the event in a much different way and showing that not everyone agreed with public opinion at the

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