Battle of Mukden, 1905

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Aleksey Kuropatkin versus Oyama Iwao: A Japanese army under Oyama seizes the initiative with an offensive against a Russian army under Kuropatkin. Can Kuropatkin parry Oyama’s thrusts long enough to launch his own? Click on images below to view battle; first image opens video presentation and the second image opens PowerPoint presentation.

The significance of this battle is purely psychological but on a global scale. Tsushima Strait was more one-sided but Mukden sent the original shockwave of a large European nation being defeated by a small Asian nation.

Poor command and control were responsible for the Russian defeat. Kuropatkin made many of the right moves and should have been able to counterattack against the Japanese left flank and turn it instead of the other way around but communications broke down, a common shortfall of the era’s Russian military. For a more sophisticated analysis of the Russian military, please check out Menning’s Bayonets before Bullets: The Imperial Russian Army, 1861-1914.

This animation was one of the more time-consuming ones for two reasons: sheer numbers and the length of time the battle was undecided. Determining the numbers involved was not difficult as it was very clear which were incredibly inflated for no apparent reason. Although I do not use Wikipedia, except for finding new battles to animate, the numbers were so inaccurate that I felt it was my duty to correct them and properly cite them. I urge viewers to skim through Wikipedia’s many battle articles and spend a few moments to do the same: correct the strength columns and cite your reliable source.

- Jonathan Webb

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