How did Japan go from an isolated country embarrassed by its weakness after Admiral Perry and his warships appeared in Tokyo harbor — how did it grow from that to a major world power, one competing with the Allies in  WW II? They did it largely with the Battle of Tsushima. The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 centered around Port Arthur, a Russia-annexed island the Japan always felt was rightfully theirs. Japan attacked the naval base there, causing Russia to mobilize the bulk of its naval force from the Baltic and commit it to the defense of its Far East holdings.

On this day, May 28, in 1905, a pitched battle between the Russian and Japanese fleets was decisively won by Japan. Only two Baltic fleet ships made it back to base; the rest were either destroyed or surrendered. Japan suffered only the loss of two small torpedo boats.

Many reasons account for the one-sided battle. The Baltic fleet was in disarray and the crew morale low: they were barred from using the Suez Canal because they mistakenly fired on some British merchant vessels and had to sail for months all the way around Africa. Their ships and equipment were also no match for the modern Japanese dreadnoughts. Japan meanwhile, because of the victory over a major world power became more aggressive in its diplomacy, joining of the Axis powers in WW II.