Russo-Japanese War: An Examination of Limited War Strategy

The Russo-Japanese War was fought well over a hundred years ago and symbolised the rise of Japan, as it defeated Russia by executing a near-perfect limited war strategy. Japan incisively defined limited political objectives and calibrated its war strategy accordingly. The Russo-Japanese War highlights that an effective limited war strategy mandates: balanced forces to match the strategy; a robust military policy cognisant of the constraints of the construct; synergy between the political masters and the military executors; disposable diplomatic capital to shape favourable war termination and circumvent international interference; identification of appropriate decisive points in the campaign; and tools to shape public opinion. The article analyses the lessons of the limited war strategy from the Russo-Japanese War and examines their validity in the twenty-first century.