Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War, was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperialist ambitions of the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, and the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea.

The Russians were in constant pursuit of a warm water port on the Pacific Ocean, for their navy as well as for maritime trade. The recently established Pacific seaport of Vladivostok was operational only during the summer season, but Port Arthur would be operational all year. From the end of the First Sino-Japanese War to 1903, negotiations between the Tsars's government and Japan had proved futile. Japan chose war to protect its exclusive dominance in Korea. Russia, meanwhile, saw war as a means of distracting the populace from government repression and rallying patriotism in the aftermath of several general strikes.

The resulting campaigns, in which the fledgling Japanese military consistently attained victory over the Russian forces arrayed against them, were unexpected by world observers. These victories, as time transpired, would dramatically transform the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Japan's recent entry onto the world stage. The embarrassing string of defeats increased Russian popular dissatisfaction with the inefficient and corrupt Tsarist government and proved a major cause of the Russian Revolution of 1905.