The numerous changes that happened in Russia during the beginning of the 20th century have proved to be as important to the nation domestically as they were to Russian imperial strength altogether. Rapid industrialization of military forces and advances in technology meant that the competition to have an up-to-date armed forces were essential in the pre-WWI era, and Russia was struggling to keep up. The heavy push to export more Russian goods required a warm water port that could allow for sea trade all year round, Russia lacked warm water ports so they sought control of areas surrounding Korea and Manchuria, notably the Liaodong Peninsula. On the other hand, the Japanese military was reaching a point of extreme expansion and was also striving to expand its sphere of influence in the area. The conflict itself lasted shorty over 1 year and saw around 140,000 casualties in total. Peace was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905 and Japan ultimately was successful and regarded as the victor. The impact of the war starting due to poor foreign trade policies and the push to expand Russian exports may have lead to the overall disappointment by the Russian people, especially political opponents to the Imperial autocracy. The defeat itself also dealt a blow to the morale of the Russian empire, that was trying to display its power abroad. The outdated military technology in combination with poor military leadership lead to their defeat against a more advanced Japan. With defeat came a public disappointment in Russian authority which played a huge part in the Revolution of 1905. The empire was slowly collapsing at the cost of their soldiers lives and the dissent of the people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_1905 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Japanese_War