At this point, politics intervened to effect a decisive turning point in Nomura's fortunes. In 1904, Japan again went to war, this time in an attempt to thwart the ambitions of Russia in Manchuria, theoretically part of the Chinese Empire but the object of fierce rivalry over control of its huge economic resources. The decision to settle the issue by force of arms had an important symbolic significance, for Russia was a European great power. Japan's challenge reflected confidence in her military and industrial strength, acquired in less than thirty years. Racial pride was also at stake. Victory, on land and at sea, was as total as it was generally unexpected. Although not immediately treated as such, Japan had become a world power.
