Tsar and the Tsunami

The 20th century is most often remembered as a period of unprecedented upheaval and violence. Warfare, from both World Wars to the Cold War, and even the wars in Korea and Vietnam defined the century. Forgotten among these conflicts only a few years after the turn of the century sits the Russo-Japanese War, a massive struggle whose implications are still felt today. The war saw the largest European power, the Russian Empire, pitted against the tiny nation of Japan. In the opinions of all but the Japanese, the war would serve to establish Russian dominance in the Far East while reversing the steady rise of Japanese power. Instead, over the course of a single year the Japanese Empire dealt Russia a series of swift and decisive defeats, most notably at sea. For the Japanese, the war confirmed their status as a world-power, solidified their dominance in Eastern Asia and served as a testing-ground for future wars against Europeans, and eventually against the United States. For Russia, defeat at the hands of such a small Asian nation brought humiliation both at home and abroad, breathing life into revolutionary movements that would see the collapse of the empire nearly a decade later.