In late May 2017, it will be 112 years since the Imperial Japanese Navy's catastrophic defeat of the Imperial Russian Navy during the Battle of Tsushima.
The clash in question was a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 and 1905 — a conflict provoked by the Russian search for a warm-water port on the Pacific Ocean. The major Russian port in the Pacific, Vladivostok, was operational only during the summer. Port Arthur — nowadays Dalian, a naval base leased from China — was operational all the year.
Before that war, Russia pursued an expansionist policy in the Far East. As one of the major European powers, Russia was in a position to dictate developments in multiple spots around the world. Japan, on the contrary, was an unknown Asian county at the end of the world — and was seriously concerned about Russian encroachment of its sphere of influence in Korea.
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