[HIGHLIGHTS] “Played a colossal role in the fate of the Russian monarchy”: historian Oleg Airapetov - about the Russo-Japanese War

Russian historian Oleg Airapetov talks about the Russo-Japanese War. He says the conflict began when Japan attacked a Russian squadron in 1904.

Russia lost the southern part of Sakhalin and lease rights on the Kwantung Peninsula. The Russian leadership had an idea about the advisability of gaining access to the ports of Southern Manchuria in order to turn the construction of the railway into a large Eurasian project, he says. The historian believes that the war played a colossal role in the fate of the Russian monarchy.