The Russo-Japanese War of the 1904-1905 and the Evolution of Operational Art

The Russo-Japanese War provides a unique opportunity to examine the early roots of operational art, which allowed the Japanese military to overcome a stronger adversary. Although Russia had superiority in land and naval forces, the Japanese were able to use fundamental operational design processes to achieve victories. This book takes a qualitative research approach through the study of two cases that focus on the Battle of Port Arthur and the sea battle at Tsushima. These major battles of the war provide insight to the Russian and Japanese approaches in modern warfare and their leverage of operational art. As result of the case analysis, it was discovered that modern warfare during the Russo-Japanese evolved from the ideas of operational scale and reach.