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The Russian Navy was essentially destroyed by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, suffering a humiliating loss of eight battleships in the lopsided Battle of Tsushima while inflicting virtually no damage to the Japanese Imperial Fleet. A dozen years later, as the Russian empire imploded after the Bolshevik revolution, Western armies invaded to pick up the spoils. All that occurred before Germany invaded and destroyed much of the Russian army in the early days of World War II, notably at the battle of Stalingrad, where Russia suffered close to a million casualties in a year of fighting, albeit ultimately achieving victory.

The Russian Navy was essentially destroyed by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, suffering a humiliating loss of eight battleships in the lopsided Battle of Tsushima while inflicting virtually no damage to the Japanese Imperial Fleet. A dozen years later, as the Russian empire imploded after the Bolshevik revolution, Western armies invaded to pick up the spoils. All that occurred before Germany invaded and destroyed much of the Russian army in the early days of World War II, notably at the battle of Stalingrad, where Russia suffered close to a million casualties in a year of fighting, albeit ultimately achieving victory.

A decade ago, as the supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, I would meet occasionally with my counterpart in Russia, General Nikolai Makarov (not to be confused with General Vladimir Makarov, a failed Russian commander in Ukraine who committed suicide in Moscow this month). Makarov would remind me of those centuries of war and humiliation. “Too much history,” he once said. Russians have a lot of scar tissue from the last 200 years.<ref>[https://archive.md/ya4oV#selection-3471.0-3471.55 Getting Pummeled in War Is a 200-Year Russian Tradition] by James Stavridis, Bloomberg News, February 23, 2023</ref>}}

A decade ago, as the supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, I would meet occasionally with my counterpart in Russia, General Nikolai Makarov (not to be confused with General Vladimir Makarov, a failed Russian commander in Ukraine who committed suicide in Moscow this month). Makarov would remind me of those centuries of war and humiliation. “Too much history,” he once said. Russians have a lot of scar tissue from the last 200 years.<ref>[https://archive.md/ya4oV#selection-3471.0-3471.55 Getting Pummeled in War Is a 200-Year Russian Tradition] by James Stavridis, Bloomberg News, February 23, 2023</ref>}}

*[https://247wallst.com/special-report/2023/08/05/19-wars-russia-has-lost-from-ivan-the-terrible-to-vladimir-putin/ 19 Russian Wars Ending in Defeat, From Ivan the Terrible to Vladimir Putin]

*[https://247wallst.com/special-report/2023/08/05/19-wars-russia-has-lost-from-ivan-the-terrible-to-vladimir-putin/ 19 Russian Wars Ending in Defeat, From Ivan the Terrible to Vladimir Putin]