This week, part five of our series on the Russo-Japanese War, covering the final days of the war. The Second Pacific Squadron is defeated at the Battle of Tsushima Strait, mutiny breaks out aboard Potemkin, and US President Theodore Roosevelt brokers a peace treaty.
“Flight of the Bumblebee” from The Tale of Tsar Saltan
Composed in 1900 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Army Band. Public domain recording. Source.
Scheherazade, Opus 35
Composed in 1888 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.
Russian soldiers retreating to the north, following their defeat at the Battle of Mukden.
This week, part four of our series on the Russo-Japanese War, covering Bloody Sunday, the Battle of Mukden, and Admiral Rozhdestvensky’s struggle to get his fleet to the Pacific.
“God Save the Tsar”
Composed in 1833 by Alexei Lvov. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.
Russian Easter Festival Overture, Opus 36
Composed in 1888 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Public domain.
Performed by The Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.
There will be no new episode of The History of the Twentieth Century this week, because this is Memorial Day weekend in the United States and a bank holiday weekend in the UK. We’ll be back with a new episode next week.
Port Arthur after the surrender. Note the multiple sunken battleships. 203 Hill is at the top left of the picture.
This week, part three of our series on the Russo-Japanese War, covering the Battle of Liaoyang, and the fall of Port Arthur. The Russian Empress, Alexandra, gives birth to a boy, Alexei Nikolayevitch, and the Imperial Family soon learn that he has hemophilia.
Night on Bald Mountain
Composed in 1867 by Modest Mussorgsky. Public domain.
Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.
“Shika No Tone”
Traditional. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.
Red Sun Rising was the name of a conflict simulation game (wargame) published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1977. I was a college sophomore when the game came out, and I bought a copy at once.
A portion of the Red Sun Rising map, showing the Liaodong Peninsula, and a number of locations that should be familiar to anyone listening to the podcast.
Some of the counters from Red Sun Rising. Below are Japanese and Russian battleships. Above are some leader counters. Note the leader ratings. Togo is a better admiral than Kamimura, who’s about a match for Rozhdestvensky. Oyama is a better general than Kuropatkin, who is better than Nogi (III Army). At Port Arthur, Smirnov is a better general than the dismal Stoessel. In the game, you roll a die every turn. On a roll of “6,” Smirnov is in command at Port Arthur for that turn. On any other result, Stoessel is in charge. Do you agree with these assessments of the commanders?
Red Sun Rising is a great game and an excellent explainer for the Russo-Japanese War. (Not to mention a source for the podcast series on the war.) It covers both land and naval warfare. The Japanese must move their armies into Manchuria and supply them via transport fleets that are vulnerable to Russian attack.
But the game was amazing to me for a whole other reason: I had, at that time, never even heard of the Russo-Japanese War. The game made clear not only the course of the war, but the fact that the war was an important development in the history of the century. And here I had never even heard of it!
And so, this week’s episode of the podcast is titled in honor of this amazing wargame conflict simulation.
A period map of the theater of the Russo-Japanese War.
This week, part two of our series on the Russo-Japanese War, covering the Battle of the Yalu River, the battles at Nanshan and Delixu, the naval Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Russian raids on Japanese shipping. And in St. Petersburg, Admiral Rozhdestvensky prepares for an unprecedented effort to send ships from the Baltic Fleet all the way around Africa and Asia to link up with the embattled Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur.
“Etenraku”
Traditional. Public domain.
Performed by Ron Korb. Public domain recording. Source.
“Farewell of Slavianka”
Composed in 1912 by Vasily Ivanovich Agapkin. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Coast Guard Band. Public domain recording. Source.
A period Japanese wood block print of Japanese destroyers attacking the Russian Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur.
This week, we examine the run-up to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. We look at the emerging rivalry between Russia and Japan following the Boxer Uprising, Japan’s surprise attack on Port Arthur, and the opening weeks of the war.
“God Save the Tsar”
Composed in 1833 by Alexei Lvov. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.
1812 Overture
Composed in 1880 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Public domain.
Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.
The Peace Palace in The Hague, seat of the Permanent Court of Arbitration
Our thirtieth episode! This week, we take a look at the so-called “Concert of Europe,” the informal arrangement by which Europe has kept itself (mostly) at peace for the past 85 years. We also examine the Hague Peace Conference of 1899.
“Rule, Britannia!”
Composed in 1740 by Thomas Arne. Public domain.
Aragonaise from Carmen
Composed in 1875 by Georges Bizet. Public domain.
Performed by Papalin, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons license. Details.
This week’s episode looks at Bertha von Suttner, Alfred Nobel, Jan Bloch, and the peace movement of the early twentieth century, and the circumstances around the Hague peace conference of 1899.
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
Composed in 1801 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by Paul Pitman. Public domain. Source.
Venus, the Bringer of Peace from The Planets
Composed in 1916 by Gustav Holst. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Air Force Heritage of America Band. Public domain. Source.
The Russian Crown Prince Nikolai, during his visit to Japan.
This week’s episode dicusses Russia in the late 19th century, during the reign of Emperor Alexander III, especially the story of the heir apparent, Nikolai, his coming of age, his coronation, and his wedding.
String Quartet No. 1, Opus 11
Composed in 1871 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Public domain.
Performed by The Borromeo String Quartet, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons License.Details.
