Brave and Noble Fights Expansion II: The Formosa Campaigns, 1884-1895

The Battle for Formosa was the final large-scale campaign associated with the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. The island was ceded to Japan in April 1895 by the Treaty of Shimonoseki which ended the war but the island proclaimed its independence from China and formed a republic in May 1895 following Japan's victory. The Japanese, therefore, mobilized their forces to gain control of their new territory. Although ill-prepared for the Japanese onslaught, and the Chinese Empire unable or unwilling to offer any support, the island's garrison and inhabitants put up a bitter and protracted resistance, one that cost both sides dearly.

In 1884 and 1885, France invaded Formosa in an attempt to wrest control of the island from the Chinese following their campaign in Indochina and the attack at Foochow that resulted in the destruction of the Fukien Fleet. Already over-stretched and with most of their warships badly in need of refit and repair, Admiral Courbet still went ahead with the invasion. The French landed at Keelung, but then became bogged down in trench warfare. The Chinese were able to send reinforcements and supplies to the Formosan garrison through the rather weak French blockade. Although stalemated on Formosa, the French were able to capture the Pescadore islands when they took control of the key island of Peng-hu. In January and February, both sides sent reinforcements, escalating the conflict that threatened possible intervention by other governments to end the French aggression. This scenario covers the last months of the conflict when it could have gone either way.