Why did Japan win the Russo-Japanese War?

Why did Japan win the Russo-Japanese War?

1. Superior Training and preparation

   • Japanese soldiers were better educated - most were literate
   • Russian soldiers were mostly illiterate peasants from the east
   • Japanese officers were promoted based on merit, not so in the Russian army
   • In the Russian army, seniority was given precedence over talent
   • Russians were reluctant to do target practice for fear of wasting ammunition

2. Military and communications advantages

   • Japanese used local spies, as well as officers disguised as fishermen in the Battle of Yalu River
   • Russian army had no Japanese speakers
   • Most Japanese naval ships were built in Britain
   • Russian had more ships, but they were an assortment of slower, inferior ships
   • Japanese used locals to aide their transportation and communication

3. Differences in morale

   • Japanese soldiers considered it an honour to fight for their country, and a privilege to die for it
   • Most Russian soldiers were conscripts who cared little
   • Russian soldiers had been known to flee
   • Russian army went long stretches without eating while travelling
   • The Japanese had 6 food stops in a 37 hour train journey
   • Better officer-men relationship in the Japanese army

4. Russian incompetence

   • Sent the Baltic fleet to the Pacific - took 7 1/2 months and only 3 of the 39 ships arrived
   • When doing target practice off the coast of Africa, the only ship they hit was their own
   • Fired on North Sea trawlers thinking they were Japanese destroyers
   • Get drunk to celebrate the Tsar's coronation the night before the siege on Port Arthur
   • Admiral Rozhdestvenski did not tell anyone that his second in command had died, so when he was injured, no on ewas in command for several hours