PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) – This coastal city that revels in its rich Colonial past is looking back to a more recent historical era as it celebrates the 100th anniversary of the treaty that ended the Russo-Japanese War.

A summer-long series of events marking the negotiations that led to the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth on Sept. 5, 1905, picked up steam with this month’s visit by a Navy destroyer, a parade and a re-enactment of the arrival of diplomats from the two warring nations.

A community effort

Civic leaders, the local arts community and volunteers have been pulling out all stops for the centennial at a time when the area’s chief focus is the fate of the government’s oldest shipyard, the site where the peace talks took place and the treaty was signed.

The enthusiasm mirrors the spirit with which residents embraced the Russian and Japanese delegations a century ago, creating an environment that historians credit with helping to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion.

“This is as much a part of our history as being the Colonial capital,” said Charles Doleac, a local lawyer and a leading organizer of the celebration. “Local people made an important contribution in international affairs by creating an atmosphere of trust that helped to end the conflict.”

The anniversary preparations coincide with community efforts to reverse the Pentagon’s recommendation to close the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, and avert the loss of more than 4,000 jobs. The base closure commission is expected to announce its decision as early as next week.

It was at the shipyard that Jutaro Komura and Sergei Witte, representing the emperor of Japan and the czar of Russia, signed the treaty that ended a year and a half of hostilities in which the Japanese had the upper hand.

World War Zero’

The war for dominance in Korea and Manchuria is often glossed over in history classes and gets short shrift – maybe a page, more often a paragraph – in many textbooks. With major battles on land and sea, it marked the first military victory by a modern Asian nation over a European power and signaled the emergence of Japan as a force in the Pacific.

“A lot of scholars have nicknamed it World War Zero. So many things about this war set the tone for World War I – the style of warfare, the type of armaments,” said Allen Hockley, a Dartmouth College history professor who is helping to organize an international conference in Hanover on Sept. 8-10 to commemorate the centennial.

Ideal location

By spring 1905, the war had already cost tens of thousands of lives on each side and seemed likely to evolve into a protracted and costly stalemate, leaving both sides eager for a settlement. Although triumphant on land and sea, the Japanese were exhausted and their treasury was drained.

Japan wanted a peace conference to be held in Asia, while Russia sought to have it in Europe. To break the deadlock, the Japanese asked President Theodore Roosevelt to arrange a neutral setting.

The talks would have been held in Washington, D.C., at most times of the year, but the capital’s sweltering summers in the era before air conditioning led planners to seek a site with cooler weather.

New Hampshire’s White Mountains made a pitch for the talks, and Newport, R.I., and Bar Harbor, Maine, were other possibilities. But the nod went to the shipyard, which is on an island in the Piscataqua River where security was assured, and where a just-completed, three-story brick storehouse could be made into a suitable venue.

Some 200 crewmen worked around the clock for four days to prepare the interior of what has become known as shipyard Building 86. It is now an administration building, but a two-room section once used by envoys has been set aside for treaty memorabilia.

The diplomatic teams rubbed shoulders at dinners, parties, baseball games and concerts. There also were boat outings to Appledore Island and a trip to the Amoskeag mills in Manchester, then the world’s largest textile-making complex.

After 30 days of negotiations, Witte and Komura finally reached an agreement that recognized Japan’s dominance in Korea and Manchuria but did not accede to its demands that Russia pay reparations.

The treaty, written in French, was signed at 3:47 p.m. on Sept. 5, marked by an honor guard, the firing of a 19-gun salute and the ringing of area church bells.

Those sounds will be duplicated this year when the signing is re-enacted.

Lectures, concerts, plays

The principal display of documents and exhibits is at the Portsmouth Historical Society, a key stop on the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail. Modeled after Boston’s Freedom Trail, it is a walking tour of places that tell the story of the negotiations.

The community has gotten caught up in the centennial. Events include lectures, concerts and symposiums. A theater group has produced a play focusing on the treaty and educators have developed a curriculum guide for teachers.

Despite the amity sure to be present at the event, Doleac and Hockley note that Russia and Japan never signed a formal treaty at the close of World War II and are, therefore, still technically at war.

The two countries have outstanding issues regarding control of northern islands, but there are hopes the 100th anniversary of the Portsmouth treaty and the 60th anniversary of V-J Day (the Allied victory over Japan in WWII) might help promote a new accord.

“We’re kind of interested in aiding that process in the spirit of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty,” Doleac said, “but you can’t do that until they’re ready.”