>Russia never actually lost the Russo-Japanese war
I didn't believe this but I just looked into it and it's true. It was more or less a draw, both sides could've continued fighting for a long time, but both decided it would be better to sue for peace, and then in the negotiations Russia got the better of Japan by forcing them to drop their reparations conditions. The treaty they signed was regarded as a defeat in Japan and led to mass rioting and the collapse of the Japanese cabinet. All the claims of Japanese victory are completely baseless.

>As a result, the wartime government, the First Katsura Cabinet, which remained in power for the longest period (1,681 days) in the history of Japanese democracy to date, declared martial law to suppress the riots on September 6 (one day after the signing in Portsmouth). Martial law was lifted on November 29 after more than 2,000 people were arrested, but the Cabinet resigned on December 22 after ratifying the treaty on October 10, as if taking the responsibility for a lost war.[109]

Doesn't sound like a military victory to me. I think the idea of a Japanese win is just a Bolshevik narrative used to smear Nicholas II that still persists to this day for reason