The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War

Rotem Kowner

Aug 2009 · Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

About this ebook

Every war leaves an imprint in history, but few have had such a pervasive impact in so many respects as the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Politically, it fatally weakened the Russian Empire while allowing Japan to follow more dangerous paths. Diplomatically, it shook the power balance in Europe and reshaped it in the form of two coalitions, leading to World War I. With regard to the art of warfare, it emphasized the use of trench warfare and machine guns on land and the deployment of battleships and the use of torpedoes at sea.

Yet, despite its importance at the time, it has become very much a forgotten war. The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War provides considerable breadth and depth of coverage based on Japanese, Russian, and Western sources. The breadth is accomplished through a wide-ranging introduction, a detailed chronology and an extensive bibliography. The depth comes in the hundreds of entries on military and political leaders, major battles and lesser encounters, tactics and strategy as well as the weaponry and of course the causes and consequences. The result is the first major reference work on the Russo-Japanese War in English and the largest in any language.

About the author

Rotem Kowner serves as the chair of the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Haifa and teaches Japanese modern history and culture. He is one of the leading authorities on the war, has written extensively on the conflict, and also co-organized a major international conference on “The Russo-Japanese War & the 20th Century: An Assessment from a Centennial Perspective.”