The Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) was the first conflict in this century fought between great powers. Japan seized the planned idea by launching a surprise attack on Russian naval forces in the Far East and landing an army on the Asian mainland. Yet Japan's first gains did not produce a rapid conclusion to the conflict, which lasted for almost nineteen months. The fighting on land revolved around the desperate blockade of the Russian naval base at …showed first 75 words of 423 total…

…showed last 75 words of 423 total…ending the war before the first shot was ever fired. Finally, the war affords an opportunity to examine the influential sea power theorists Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sir Julian Corbett. Both of them studied this war closely, and it had a considerable influence on the evolution of their thought. The Russo-Japanese war can therefore be used to compare (and test) their ideas about sea power, naval strategy and the proper relationship between armies and fleets.