[War & Business] The Suez Canal and the Russo-Japanese War

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Suez Canal in Egypt, called the lifeline of international logistics since its completion in the 19th century, had a significant impact on the fate of the Korean Peninsula during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. At that time, the Russian naval fleet failed to pass through the Suez Canal and had to detour around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, increasing the voyage distance by 9,500 km, which caused them to miss a favorable military situation and ultimately suffer a crushing defeat by the Japanese fleet.

The common explanation for why the Russian fleet could not pass through the Suez Canal at that time is the British blockade of the canal following the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902. However, the real reason the Russian main battleships could not pass through the canal was that the ships were too large to enter the canal. Smaller vessels all passed through the Suez Canal, waited for the battleships at Madagascar Island, and then joined forces.

Even the largest battleships at the time were less than one-fifth the size of today's container ships, but since the Suez Canal was much narrower than it is now, it influenced the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War. This was due to the canal’s width being significantly reduced from the original plan because of severe construction budget shortages from the start.

When construction of the Suez Canal began in 1859, the Egyptian government financially relied on the French side responsible for the construction. However, France, which was mainly focused on internal European issues rather than Africa, did not provide adequate support. Ultimately, the Egyptian government issued 400,000 shares to raise construction funds for the canal, but 170,000 shares remained unsold, forcing Egypt to cover about half of the construction costs and leading to bankruptcy.

Observing this situation, Britain pressured other countries not to purchase shares, causing the stock price to continuously fall. Later, in 1875, when the Egyptian government could not overcome its financial difficulties and sold its canal shares at a low price, Britain immediately bought the shares and took control of the canal’s operation rights. Britain planned to expand the canal for its Asian colonial enterprises, but the subsequent World War I and World War II hindered these plans. Even after World War II, ongoing instability due to Middle East wars meant that canal expansion projects consistently fell short of the shipping industry's expectations.

The recent grounding accident of the 220,000-ton large container ship Ever Given was a foreseeable event. Since the 2010s, container ships and oil tankers have grown dramatically in size due to technological developments, but the Suez Canal, which underwent expansion work in 2015, has been criticized for not being properly expanded due to Egypt’s financial difficulties.

Following this accident, Russia and Canada are enticing shipping companies worldwide to use the Arctic route, where glaciers completely disappear in summer. The world is closely watching whether the Suez Canal will lose its position as the global logistics lifeline and a key player in international military security due to this incident.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.