Stalin, Volume 1

Japan’s rise and the first signs of catastrophe: Russian Pacific fleet flagship Petropavlovsk after striking two mines off Port Arthur, Russo-Japanese War, March 31, 1904. To make up for the loss, Russia dispatched its Baltic fleet around the world, but its ships, too, were promptly sunk in battle.

Sergei Witte, New Hampshire hotel, August 1905. Witte’s support for construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway had been partially responsible for provoking the war with Japan, but after Russia’s defeat, he negotiated an advantageous peace at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Nicholas II appointed him Russia’s first ever prime minister, but could not stand him.

Ceremonial opening of the State Duma (the lower house), Tsar Nicholas II presiding, Winter Palace throne room, April 27, 1906. The tsar instantly regretted conceding the creation of Russia’s first-ever legislature and schemed to emasculate or abolish it.