Motives and Forms of the British Empire’s Participation in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905

The research objectives are as follows: to identify forms of the British Empire’s participation in the Russian-Japanese War, to reveal the factors that influenced the country’s political course, to evaluate the level of Britain’s involvement in combat operations in the Pacific Theatre in 1904-1905. The article considers the issue of Britain’s political, military and economic assistance to Japan. The provided factual material shows clearly the influence of Britain’s military-economic policy on the course of the battle in 1904-1905. Scientific originality of the study involves analysing previously unpublished sources revealing Britain’s influence on the course of the Russian-Japanese War. The research findings are as follows: the author identifies implicit factors that determined strategy and tactics of the sea warfare and highlights additional factors that contributed to defeat of the Russian fleet in 1905.