In 1888, Qing Dynasty China splashed out some 1,350 tonnes of silver to buy its North Sea Fleet, which almost overnight became the world's eighth largest navy and, supposedly, the most formidable in Asia. That fiction was dramatically exposed just six years later when China's shiny new armada was crushed by the much better organised Imperial Navy of Japan in the Battle of the Yalu River. The humiliating defeat accelerated the decline of China and the rise of Japan, a shift in power cemented a decade later by Japan's stunning naval victory over Russia.
1888年，北洋水師宣告成立。此前中國清政府為此耗費了大約1350噸白銀購置軍艦。幾乎一夜之間，北洋水師成為世界第八大海軍，并且照理也是亞洲最強大的艦隊。但這一幻覺僅在6年后就被戲劇性地擊碎了。這支耀眼的新艦隊在中日甲午海戰中，被更為組織有方的日本帝國海軍打得全軍覆沒。這場恥辱的失敗，加速了中國的衰落和日本的崛起。10年后，日本在日俄海戰中令人震驚地獲勝，鞏固了這一實力轉移。
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