Author: Charles River Editors
Narrator: Colin Fluxman
Unabridged: 1 hr 31 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 02/12/2022
By the end of the 19th century, the Russian Empire seemed to be at the zenith of its power and reach. It was the largest country in the world, stretching from the Black Sea on the eastern edge of Europe to the Bering Straits in the extreme east of Asia. Even by rail, it took over ten days to travel from one side of the country to the other. Its standing army of over 1.3 million men was the largest in the world, and the “Russian Steamroller” was regarded as one of the most potent military forces available to any ruler.
The sudden and unexpected rise of Japanese influence in the region was opposed by Russia, Germany, and France, who threatened war with Japan unless the terms that ended the war were changed. Reluctantly, the Japanese agreed to withdraw from Manchuria, but they never forgot or forgave what they saw as the way in which the unwarranted European influence was used against them.
Japanese suspicions were reinforced when Russia subsequently concluded a treaty of alliance with China and forced the tottering regime to grant a lease of the Liaodong peninsula to Russia. Russian troops occupied Port Arthur and began to build massive fortifications around the city. The port was linked to Russia by a new railroad that connected to the Trans-Siberian Railroad at the Chinese city of Harbin. Russia also insisted on the right to use its troops to defend the new railroad throughout its length in China. Although the terms by which Russia leased the port from China were temporary, it was clear that Port Arthur was intended to become Russia’s new warm-water port on the Pacific.
To most observers, it seemed clear that Japan and Russia were destined to come into conflict in Korea and Manchuria. Both empires were set on expansion, and both saw these areas as important. However, Russia’s vastly larger population, army, and navy seemed to make it inevitable that Japan would lose if the conflict escalated into war.
Russia has been depicted by the media as a cyberspace boogeyman, a nation of hackers that can and will exploit any and all vulnerabilities of private organizations, government entities, and social media platforms. Over the last 10 years, as hackers ...
Famine – one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in the Book of Revelation – continues to be one of the most crippling and destructive scourges of humanity. This inexorable affliction, traumatically fatal in the worst-case scenarios,...
In the wake of taking Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire would spend the next few centuries expanding its size, power, and influence, bumping up against Eastern Europe and becoming one of the world’s most important geopolitical players. It wa...
The three modern Baltic states - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - may occupy small tracts of lands bordering the Baltic Sea, but their respective histories are unique. Latvia, like its neighbours, was settled thousands of years ago, with a number of...
Wedged in the North Caucasus mountain range and bordering the Caspian Sea, Dagestan is a true meeting point of cultures, religions and geopolitical rivalries. A crossroad between east and west, Dagestan has been vitally important at different times...
"A book that belongs on the shelf alongside The Gulag Archipelago. -- Kirkus Reviews"A short, haunting and beautifully written book." -- The Wall Street JournalThe Gulag was a monstrous network of labor camps that held and killed millions of prisone...
The Cold War moved into one of its most dangerous phases after Brezhnev’s death as both sides deployed nuclear weapons within alarming proximity in Europe. A NATO exercise, “Operation Able Archer,” almost led to a Soviet miscalcul...
“Had I just 10,000 Cossacks, I would have conquered the whole world.” – Napoleon BonaparteThe history of Ukraine is a fascinating story of how cultures, political systems, religions, and power have met, intersected, morphed, and ex...
At 01:23:40 on April 26th 1986, Alexander Akimov pressed the emergency shutdown button at Chernobyl's fourth nuclear reactor. It was an act that forced the permanent evacuation of a city, killed thousands, and crippled the Soviet Union. The event sp...