The Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905 This 1904 Japanese print portrays the surprise Japanese naval attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur as a glorious victory. Though the opening battle was in fact inconclusive, with few losses on either side, the Japanese won the war. Defeat by a supposedly “primitive” Asian nation encouraged reform movements in the Russian Empire and became a factor in the outbreak of the Russian Revolution of 1905 (see Chapter 23).

(Universal History Archive/Getty Images)