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Japan Shocked the World

Kings and Generals

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Kings and Generals animated historical documentary series on the early modern era and history of Japan continues with a video on the Russo-Japanese War and the Western perspective on it. In 1904, Japan stunned the world by taking on the Russian Empire and exposing a new kind of industrial warfare. This video explores not just how the Russo-Japanese War unfolded on land and at sea, but how Western observers reacted to seeing an Asian power defeat a European empire in the modern age. From the Yalu River and the siege of Port Arthur to Mukden, the Yellow Sea, and the annihilation of the Baltic Fleet at Tsushima, the conflict revealed the growing power of trenches, machine guns, heavy artillery, naval mines, wireless communications, and long-range gunnery. Yet many foreign observers, politicians, and officers failed to grasp the war’s real meaning. Racial prejudice, faith in offensive spirit, and excuses for Russian failure caused many militaries to dismiss the conflict’s lessons or apply them only partially. As a result, crucial warnings about siege warfare, firepower, logistics, and modern command were ignored before World War I. This video examines the battles, the eyewitness accounts, and the military reforms that followed, showing why the Russo-Japanese War was one of history’s clearest previews of the disasters to come in 1914. It also shows how bias can blind even experienced militaries to the future unfolding in front of them.

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The video was made by Lito Areta, while the script was developed by Craig Watson, the video was narrated by Officially Devin (@offydgg & @gameworldnarratives)

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Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z...

00:00:00 - Japan Shocks the World
00:02:45 - Why Russia and Japan Went to War
00:04:30 - Japan’s Early Land Victories
00:07:04 - Port Arthur and the Birth of Trench Warfare
00:12:05 - Mukden and the Future of Modern War
00:14:33 - The Naval Revolution Begins
00:16:32 - Tsushima and the Destruction of Russia’s Fleet
00:21:26 - The Lessons the West Ignored

#documentary #russojapanesewar #Russia

20 Comments

@KingsandGenerals Creator 6 months ago Pinned

@nickbrown8101 6 months ago

Oh the irony of France neglecting their artillery at the outset of WWI. Napoleon must’ve been rolling over in his grave 😂

@bobbielee5268 6 months ago

"they only win because of fanatical mindsets"
Also 9 years later
"Our élan of offensive spirit will carry us to victory"

@vietnamesebeauties 6 months ago

We, the Vietnamese 🇻🇳 universities' students, can talk about the Asians' perspectives from what we learnt from our studies and teachers. At that time, many Asians were thrilled & excited when they heard about the news that Imperial Japan 🇯🇵 defeated Imperial Russia 🇷🇺 at that war, including their enemy, the Imperial Qing China. This war shows them that as long the country's armed forces and navy are modernised, an Asian country can defeat the "white" countries! It inspired the Asians to speed up modernisation and look up to Japan 🇯🇵 as their role model to learn 💪 In short, the Asians no longer thinks white men is the superior race above the rest of the races. A whole new perspective held by the Asians, starting from the beginning 20th century...

@lovelylavenderr 5 months ago

Interesting that racism was so strong in this period that the European powers thought Japan would lose...despite the fact THEY were training their military. The IJA studied under the German and French whereas the IJN studied under the Royal Navy.

@LordWyatt 6 months ago

*American Civil War
Europeans: It’s America, totally different.
*Russo-Japanese War
Europeans: Russians suck and the Asians overwhelmed them
*Great War
Europeans: *shocked Pikachu face

@daniell.q.9597 6 months ago

we know that is going to be a good day when Kings and Genrals post 💯💯💥

@sssdddsf8241 5 months ago

Really surprised that a young MacArthur praising Japanese capabilities only to dismiss them 30 years later when defending the Philippines

@godking1257 6 months ago

Russo japanese war. The war that showed Europeans are not so invincible

@stanisawzokiewski3308 6 months ago (edited)

Fun fact: During the war two polish independence movements were asking Japan to support or not support a Polish uprising against Russia.

Two camps
-One lead by Piłsudski
The main polish father of independence
-One lead by Dmowski
The main ambassador of the polish couse to other nations

Piłsudski wanted to immediately start an uprising against Russia and get Japan to help with it.
Meanwhile Dmowski was trying to persuade Japan against helping, according to him an uprising this soon wouldn't work and Poland would have to wait for the occupiers to be more weakened.

In the end Japan provided money and guns to Piłsudski but did not act further.

During ww1 both Dmowski and Piłsudski would work together (albeit separately from each other) to advance polish independence with Dmowski acting as an Ambassador to the entante, while Piłsudski assumed leadership on the ground in Poland during the chaos.
Dmowski was right and Poland would become independent only after all three empires Russia, Germany and Austria had lost the war.

@PhilipRobinson-xc6ds 6 months ago

Do a video about the Ottoman-Italian war.
It is forgotten today but it had long reaching consequences for Europe and for North Africa.

@sanninjiraiya 6 months ago

When it comes to armies learning the wrong lessons, war never changes

@viajante_erudito 6 months ago

I don't know why, but there's something about Japan during the Meiji era that fascinates me, whether it's because it was an example of modernization and national spirit outside of Europe, or because Japan became today because of his past initiative to aspire to bigger dreams, It's rather curious that Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War was something of a baptism of fire for the country, validating it as a superpower in a more Eurocentric world And by defeating the Russian empire, it ensured that Japan sat at the table with the "big players"

Speaking of the Empire of Japan, it would be a good idea to address in a video about "the yellow peril" a prejudiced theory that existed at that time, generally concerning China, that it would to resurge and "threaten Western civilization," but that, following the Russian defeat in the war against Japan, the theory was adapted to include the Japanese Empire within the concept.