emperor is rendered as Tsar, rather than "Czar," as the spelling generally favored by students of Russia.
The war between Russia and Japan in 1904-1905 has attracted historians' attention partly because it was the first great-power war fought in the twentieth century, with broadly modern techniques and equipment, partly because it gave the first demonstration of Japan's emergence as a modern power, and partly because of its significance in Russian history. In its effects on and consequences for Russia it is something of a prelude to the First World War and the Russian Revolution. In both cases, Russia's military humiliation in a foreign war brought internal unrest to a boiling point, and resulted in revolution at home.
In both cases, moreover, the initial hope had been nearly the opposite. The causes of Russia's entry into the First World War lie outside the scope of this discussion, but war was initially welcomed in part in the hope that a patriotic fervor would distract popula
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