A WI regarding the Russo-Japanese War

What if Britain and France hadn't purposely screwed Russia over during the Russo-Japanese War when Russia was sending its Baltic fleet over to the Pacific? IOTL, the British denied the Russians access to the Suez Canal, and the French didn't let them restock coal and supplies when their fleet reached Indochina. Because of that, they had to take the long way 'round the Cape, which gave the Japanese plenty of time to prepare their plan of attack and fight the battle on their terms. By the time the Russian fleet reached Tsushima, they were weary from weeks of travel and lack of food/coal, which definitely affected their performance in battle.

So what I'm asking is what would happen if the Russian fleet arrived in the Pacific in time to support the Russian defenders on land and confront the Japanese fleet in good condition, thanks to the cooperation of the British and French regarding Suez and Indochina.
 

Cook

Banned
Well for starters the Anglo-Japanese Alliance would be in tatters. This’d mean the British would have to start upgrading the defences of their possessions in the Far East.
 
While the Alliance would never come to fruition, I'm not entirely sure if the British would bother bolstering the coastal defenses in their Pacific territories. Until the Japanese comprehensively and totally defeated Russia, most European states were still unconvinced of Japan's rise as a military power. It took the defeat of a fellow European power to add that sort of impetus.
 

Sumeragi

Banned
Short of the UK putting its alliance in tatters, I don't see why they would not stop the Russians. Now France is a slightly different story....
 
So what I'm asking is what would happen if the Russian fleet arrived in the Pacific in time to support the Russian defenders on land and confront the Japanese fleet in good condition, thanks to the cooperation of the British and French regarding Suez and Indochina.

The Second Pacific Squadron would not have arrived in the Far East to have been any good. The Russian fleet is composed off some of the oldest battleships and coastal defense ships the Baltic Fleet had. The Borodino class were the newest ships, a few pretty much fresh out of the shipyards. The best the Russians had had already been defeated by the Japanese, this force was fairly second rate.

The distance the Squadron had to sail is not going to help it at all. It was a fortunate accident that the Japanese came across the Russian force at all, but I would consider it unlikely that the Russians could have gotten to Vladivostock undetected.

The two likely outcomes is that the Second Pacific Squadron reaches Port Arthur and becomes sealed in by Japanese minefields. The arrival in the besieged port certainly could prolong the inevitable (the fall of the city). If the squadron reached Vladivostock the Russians will have to hope that their admirals will prosecute the war to their fullest. This war is being decided predominately on land.
 
From what I've read about the Russo-Japanese War, France helped Russia out immensely. They allowed the Russian Baltic Fleet to stop and refuel in Madagascar and Vietnam. This might not seem like much but it was in fact an act of war. France was willing to risk it though in order to solidify an alliance between herself and Russia against Germany.
 
Aside from concerns about the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, I really don't see Britain wanting to help the Russian Navy out after the Dogger Bank Incident. Helping out the same Russian ships that were responsible for the incident would probably have been political suicide for whoever suggested it.
 

Cook

Banned
They allowed the Russian Baltic Fleet to stop and refuel in Madagascar and Vietnam. This might not seem like much but it was in fact an act of war.
Not sure about this; the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers were only formalised in the Second Hague Convention of 1907.
 
Aside from concerns about the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, I really don't see Britain wanting to help the Russian Navy out after the Dogger Bank Incident. Helping out the same Russian ships that were responsible for the incident would probably have been political suicide for whoever suggested it.

The Dogger Bank incident could have been plausibly averted by a bit less stupidity on the Russian side, so I think we can overlook it for the sake of discussion :D
 
The Dogger Bank incident could have been plausibly averted by a bit less stupidity on the Russian side, so I think we can overlook it for the sake of discussion :D

It's a necessary PoD to have Britain remotely considering giving any help to Russia; post-Dogger Bank the only way Britain would get involved in the Russo-Japanese war was to start shooting at the Russians.

The Dogger Bank Incident is very avoidable thought; just have common sense prevail so the Russians don't somehow get the idea that a bunch of British fishing trawlers on the other side of the world from Japan are actually Japanese torpedo boats.
 
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