Topic summary
Bohai Gulf
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Bohai Sea.
19th and 20th centuries
In the last decade of 19th century, Bohai Gulf became the major stage of military conflicts. In 1894-95, the First Sino-Japanese War broke out, and it featured critical naval engagements in and around the Bohai Sea. One of the most decisive battles was the Battle of the Yalu River in 1894, fought just outside the Bohai Sea's eastern approaches, where the Qing navy's Beiyang Fleet suffered a major defeat. This loss opened the path for Japanese forces to project power deeper into the Bohai region. Subsequently, in early 1895, Japanese troops invaded the Shandong Peninsula and captured Weihaiwei, a heavily fortified naval base at the eastern mouth of the Bohai Sea. The fall of Weihaiwei marked the collapse of Qing maritime defense and helped force China to sign the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki, in which it ceded Taiwan and recognized Korea's independence.