World War Zero: How Japan Humiliated Russia in 1904–1905

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]At the beginning of 1904, a fierce war broke out in the Far East between two imperial powers, Russia and Japan.

[00:00:09]It was the result of years of rivalry between the two states for influence in the region and control over its resources.

[00:00:16]After carrying out radical internal reforms, the Japanese empire sought to expand its influence over Chinese, Manchurian, and Korean lands. Russia, meanwhile, following the ambitions of Tsar Nicholas II, intended to extend its own control over Manchuria and Korea.

[00:00:35]This confrontation eventually turned into open war, one that, to Russia's surprise, ended in a total and humiliating defeat.

[00:00:44]Today, we will talk about the Russo-Japanese War. How Russia lost to a country that seemed much smaller and weaker, but proved to be far better prepared for modern war.

[00:00:58]In 1895, Japan and China signed a peace treaty that ended their year-long war over influence in Korea.

[00:01:06]Chinese forces had been defeated, and Japan gained the right to annex several occupied territories. During the war, Japanese troops captured China's Liaodong Peninsula, where the strategic port city of Lushun was located.

[00:01:20]This port could be used as a naval base to control the Yellow Sea and the approaches to the Pacific. However, Japan's occupation of this territory deeply alarmed the major colonial powers, especially France and Germany.

[00:01:34]They feared the expansion of Japanese influence in East Asia, viewing it as a threat to their own interests and colonial possessions in the region.

[00:01:43]Besides them, Japan's actions also alarmed Russia, which had its own ambitious plans to expand its influence in Asia.

[00:01:51]Together, these three powers issued an ultimatum to Tokyo, demanding that Japanese troops withdraw from the Liaodong Peninsula and threatening to take it by force.

[00:02:02]Japan could not resist three powerful states at once and hoped for support from Great Britain with which it had maintained good relations.

[00:02:10]However, Britain refused to back Japan unwilling to escalate the conflict and risk turning it into a much larger war.

[00:02:19]As a result, Tokyo was forced to return the peninsula along with the city of Lushun and its bay to China effectively giving up its previous gains. Meanwhile, Russia soon secured control over part of Liaodong for itself.

[00:02:34]At China's insistence, which was still trying to save face after its defeat, this transfer was formally presented as a loan.

[00:02:42]Russia, for its part, also agreed to this arrangement not wanting to appear as an outright occupier.

[00:02:49]In this way, under Tsar Nicholas II, Russia gained control over Lushun for 25 years.

[00:02:56]When Russian forces arrived in the area, they quickly began turning it into their own stronghold, establishing the naval base known as Port Arthur.

[00:03:05]In Tokyo, this was increasingly seen as a direct threat and a possible path to war with Russia. The Japanese government soon began preparing for revenge and the recovery of its lost positions with active support from Great Britain.

[00:03:20]It was clear in Tokyo that Russia would not give up Liaodong and Port Arthur voluntarily, so it was necessary to prepare for war.

[00:03:29]Meanwhile, Russia continued expansion in Manchuria.

[00:03:33]This greatly annoyed the Japanese emperor, who considered these lands part of Japan's sphere of influence.

[00:03:39]Ultimately, these factors were used by Japan as a pretext to start the war.

[00:03:44]In 1903, it issued an ultimatum to Russia demanding that Moscow recognize Japan's rights in the territories by Russian troops.

[00:03:54]The Russian government rejected Japan's demands as it was already preparing for a possible war in the Far East. Nicholas II was confident that his army and navy could quickly defeat the weaker Japanese forces.

[00:04:07]This angered the Japanese even more and they officially broke off negotiations with Russia. It was now clear that war was about to begin.

[00:04:19]The decision to go to war had already been made on February 4th, 1904, while negotiations between the two sides were still ongoing.

[00:04:28]On the night of February 5th, the Japanese government ordered a landing in Korea and an attack on the Russian base at Port Arthur.

[00:04:36]However, the order was carried out only on February 8th, when the Japanese fleet, led by Admiral Togo Heihachiro, attacked Russian ships in the harbor.

[00:04:47]The next day, Russian ships were also attacked at the Chemulpo base in Korea.

[00:04:52]The Tsarist sailors were so stunned by the attack that they offered almost no resistance and their ships were destroyed. Russia then began sending troops to the Far East, but poor transport infrastructure made this extremely slow.

[00:05:06]As a result, Russian forces arrived gradually and entered major ground combat only in late April, near the border between Manchuria and Korea.

[00:05:16]On April 30th, the two sides met near the town of Jiuliancheng, where both had concentrated significant forces.

[00:05:24]The Russian troops, led by General Mikhail Zasulich, numbered about 25,000 men, while the Japanese had up to 60,000.

[00:05:33]In the end, this numerical advantage largely decided the outcome of the battle.

[00:05:39]On May 1st, Japanese forces under General Kuroki Tamemoto launched their attack. Using superior numbers, they pressed the Russians hard and forced the Tsarist troops on the flank to retreat.

[00:05:51]To stabilize the situation, the Russian command sent in the reserve 11th Rifle Regiment.

[00:05:57]However, while covering the withdrawal of other units, the regiment was surrounded.

[00:06:02]It attempted to break through with bayonet attacks, but the Japanese avoided close combat and instead fired at the Russians from a distance.

[00:06:10]As a result, the 11th Regiment lost about half of its men, including its commander, Colonel Layming.

[00:06:17]Meanwhile, after learning that the Japanese had broken through the left flank, Zasulich ordered a general retreat.

[00:06:25]This Russian defeat was the first clear sign that the war would have serious consequences for St. Petersburg.

[00:06:31]Meanwhile, the Japanese command ordered the capture of the Port Arthur fortress, which housed a large Russian garrison.

[00:06:38]Control over this stronghold effectively shaped the course of the entire conflict, so both sides attached great military and symbolic importance to it.

[00:06:48]On April 22nd, the Japanese began landing their second army on the Liaodong Peninsula, about 100 km from the fortress.

[00:06:56]The Russians, however, made no real attempt to disrupt the Japanese landing.

[00:07:00]Instead, they decided to stop them near Jinzhou, where strong defensive positions had been prepared.

[00:07:07]On May 13th, a battle took place near the city, during which a single Russian regiment, using these fortifications, managed to hold back the attacks of three Japanese divisions.

[00:07:18]Despite this, the Russian defenses were broken by evening, opening the way for the Japanese toward their main objective.

[00:07:26]In early June, the Russian 1st East Siberian Corps tried to stop the Japanese advance near Wafangou, but instead suffered a crushing defeat.

[00:07:35]Japanese forces broke Russian resistance on the approaches to the fortress, and on August 9th, they completely surrounded From that moment began the bloody and prolonged defense of Port Arthur.

[00:07:47]Another defeat that would become a serious blow to Russia.

[00:07:54]The Port Arthur Garrison numbered more than 50,000 soldiers and had around 600 guns, but there was no unity among the commanders over how the fortress should be defended.

[00:08:05]Eventually, the initiative was taken by General Roman Kondratenko.

[00:08:09]He managed to organize an effective defense that withstood numerous Japanese attacks for almost 5 months.

[00:08:16]The Japanese tried to take the fortress by storm using heavy artillery, but this only led to enormous casualties on their side. The Russians, meanwhile, used the fortress's strong defenses to hold out for a surprisingly long time.

[00:08:32]But in the end, they were still doomed.

[00:08:35]The garrison was completely surrounded and breaking through the Japanese blockade to reach it was extremely difficult.

[00:08:43]Eventually, the endless Japanese assaults turned into a decisive attack on 203-meter hill.

[00:08:49]Its capture was crucial. From this position, the Japanese could direct artillery fire into Port Arthur's harbor and target the Russian fleet.

[00:08:58]Desperate to hold the position, the Russians threw everyone they could into the fight. Cooks, medics, support personnel, and even the wounded.

[00:09:06]But none of this changed the situation.

[00:09:09]On December 5th, the Japanese finally captured the hill. Meanwhile, the situation inside the fortress was no better. Its defenders and civilian population were cut off from the outside world, suffering from hunger, shortages of medicine, and disease.

[00:09:25]Exhausted, the Russian soldiers could no longer hold the line and the Japanese broke through in several places.

[00:09:32]As a result, on January 1st, 1905, the garrison of the Russian Empire requested terms of surrender.

[00:09:40]The next day, Port Arthur passed under Japanese control. Of the more than 50,000 men who had defended the fortress, only about 9,000 remained fit for service and were taken prisoner.

[00:09:52]In addition, Russia had effectively lost almost all of its Pacific Fleet, which would later play a decisive role in the further course of the war.

[00:10:01]This was a major Japanese victory, but it came at a terrible cost.

[00:10:06]During the assaults on Port Arthur, the Japanese suffered more than 90,000 casualties in this bloody struggle.

[00:10:13]After this, the Japanese command shifted the fighting to Manchuria, where it sought to drive the Russians out of the region.

[00:10:21]It was there that the largest land battle of the war would soon unfold.

[00:10:29]The beginning of 1905 was extremely unfavorable for Russia. In January, the empire was shaken by revolution, which had been directly fueled by the defeats of the Tsarist army in the war against Japan.

[00:10:41]This situation further weakened the regime's ability to wage the war effectively and try to turn its course.

[00:10:48]The Russians now had to prevent the Japanese from advancing deeper into Manchuria.

[00:10:54]Around 200,000 Japanese soldiers under Marshall Oyama Iwao were moving into the region, opposed by roughly 275,000 Russian troops led by General Aleksey Kuropatkin.

[00:11:07]The two armies met near Mukden, which the Japanese plan to capture before pushing farther inland.

[00:11:13]The battle began with a Japanese attack on February 20th. They soon managed to push the Russians back, forcing them to withdraw toward the Daling Pass.

[00:11:23]After this, Oyama Iwao ordered a full-scale offensive aiming to defeat the Russian army by striking its flanks.

[00:11:32]Kuropatkin was forced to abandon his own offensive and hastily organize a defense, but the Russian general could not determine exactly where the main Japanese blow would fall. So, he frantically shifted his reserves from one sector to another.

[00:11:46]Eventually, Kuropatkin decided to stop the Japanese with counterattacks, but they completely failed because of poor coordination between the units and the command.

[00:11:56]This allowed the Japanese to advance far to the northwest of Mukden and create a direct threat of encirclement.

[00:12:02]In response, Kuropatkin decided to shorten the front by pulling two armies back behind the Hun He River, from where he planned to launch a counterattack.

[00:12:12]But the withdrawal was disorganized, and he failed to regroup his forces for a counterblow.

[00:12:18]On March 9th, near Kyuzan, Japanese troops launched an attack against the center of the Russian First Army and quickly broke through this sector of the front.

[00:12:27]After that, the Tsarist units trying to avoid encirclement began retreating toward the Sipingai positions.

[00:12:35]On March 10th, the defeated troops of the Russian Empire abandoned Mukden, while around 30,000 of their soldiers were taken prisoner.

[00:12:45]The outcome of the battle was a shock to Nicholas II.

[00:12:48]The humiliating defeat in the three-week Battle of Mukden, suffered at the hands of a technically weaker Japanese army, greatly weakened Russia's influence across the world. Russia lost almost 90,000 men in the battle, but at home, few yet realized that the empire's most shameful defeat was still ahead.

[00:13:11]After the catastrophic losses of the Russian Pacific Squadron, St. Petersburg decided to send another fleet to the ocean under Vice Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky.

[00:13:22]It had to reach the Far East all the way from the Baltic Sea, exhausting much of its strength and resources just to get to the combat zone.

[00:13:30]The crews were tired and the ships badly needed serious repairs after months at sea.

[00:13:35]Despite this, the command ordered the sailors to defeat the Japanese fleet and turn the course of the war.

[00:13:41]But this ambitious mission ended in total failure.

[00:13:45]In late May, the Russian squadron made up of 30 ships and led by the flagship Knyaz Suvorov approached the islands of Tsushima and Okino Shima.

[00:13:55]The Japanese fleet commanded by Togo Heihachiro was already aware of its approach and prepared a trap. When the Russian ships entered the Tsushima Strait, both exits were blocked by the Japanese. They then moved against the Russian flanks, leaving them almost no chance to defend themselves.

[00:14:14]Japanese ships opened a massive, almost one-sided bombardment, while the Russians were barely able to strike back.

[00:14:22]In just one day of naval battle, the Russians lost 21 ships, around half of which were scuttled by their own crews because of severe damage.

[00:14:30]The Japanese lost only three torpedo boats, one of which sank after colliding with a friendly ship. As a result, more than 5,000 Russian sailors were killed, while another 6,000 were taken prisoner, including the commander Rozhestvensky.

[00:14:47]The Japanese, by contrast, suffered only 117 killed.

[00:14:52]This total defeat left Russia in a dead end, as it had effectively run out of the resources needed to continue the war.

[00:14:59]Japan now had every chance of achieving total victory by driving Russia out of Asia.

[00:15:06]But surprisingly, help for the Russians came from the Americans.

[00:15:13]Watching the struggle between Russia and Japan, US President Theodore Roosevelt initially hoped that both sides would simply exhaust each other.

[00:15:22]But as Japan began to dominate the war and defeat the Russians, this started to seriously concern the Americans.

[00:15:29]Roosevelt did not want Japan to become too powerful. Instead, he wanted to preserve Russia as a strong counterweight to Japanese influence in Asia. For this reason, he quickly offered to mediate peace negotiations between the two sides. Russia agreed almost immediately, hoping to avoid total defeat and save face. Japan, however, was in a winning position and had little desire to make any deal. Yet under pressure from the Western powers, the Japanese government was eventually forced to accept the American proposal.

[00:16:04]On September 5th, 1905, Russia and Japan signed a peace treaty in Portsmouth.

[00:16:11]Under its terms, Japan's rights to Liaodong and Port Arthur were recognized. In addition, Russia ceded Southern Sakhalin and acknowledged Korea as part of Japan's sphere of influence.

[00:16:23]Although Japan had largely achieved its goals, it still wanted more.

[00:16:27]Russia, meanwhile, emerged from the war with its international influence seriously weakened, while trust in the monarchy at home was badly shaken.

[00:16:36]This is how this intense military conflict came to an end.

[00:16:40]Through its own overconfidence, Russia suffered a humiliating defeat, while Japan emerged as a truly powerful state.

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