How Far Was the Russo-Japanese War Responsible for the Outbreak of the 1905 Revolution?

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The Russo-Japanese War lasted from 1904 to 1905, and arose from Japan and Russia’s shared desire for expansion into Korea. Russia suffered many defeats in the war, against a country that was considered inferior, as well as not being one of the Great Powers. This was humiliating for the people of Russia, and caused them to lose confidence in Tsar Nicholas II, as well as causing great military, economic, and political problems for Russia. I would therefore argue that the Russo-Japanese War to be partly responsible for the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. Huge military defeats took place in the Russo-Japanese War, which highlighted the weakness of the Russian military and caused national humiliation, which contributed to the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. An example of such defeat was in January 1905 when the army had to surrender their Port Arthur naval base in Northern China, which they had possessed before the start of the war. Another example of a great failure of the military was at the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. The Russian Baltic Fleet consisting of the 35 warships had sailed from northern Europe to the Far East, only to lose 25 warships in a defeat by the Japanese Navy. The crushing of Russian’s military added movement to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military, making many people become un-patriotic. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was humiliating. However, many of the defeats to the Russian military occurred after the Revolution had started, not causing its outbreak, but merely adding to the opposition to autocratic rule by the Tsar and prolonging the Revolution. The Russo-Japanese War also brought about economic problems for Russia, and this therefore meant there was a significant lack of money to solve any other problems present Russia, hence partly being responsible for
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