Quite, although the Germans were training the Japanese Army and the Kaizer's help with the logistics of the Baltic Fleet was more to keep the Tsar away from European events than any alliance! The last hurrah of the pre-dreadnought era. Because of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902, France did not dare join in with Russia against Japan and risk war with Britain. Not even a great deal of help for the Baltic Fleet in getting to Port Arthur/Vladivostok....RF wrote:They only just managed to beat the Russians in 1904-1905.
Indeed without Japan's alliance with Britain in 1902 I could well imagine Germany or even France siding with Russia and joining in that war The Battle of Tsushima would have been very different if the Russians were backed by some of the Kaisers early dreadnoughts....
The trouble for the IRN was an inability to concentrate naval forces, with the Black Sea Fleet trapped by the Dardanelles and the Pacific Fleet sunk or scuttled before the Baltic Fleet can reinforce it with 4 of the 5 new Borodino class pre-dreadnoughts and another Peresviet class pre-dreadnought - new ships, but poorly designed (top heavy without the additional coal of a long voyage) and with untrained crews.
For the IRA, it was the poorly built,single track, incomplete at Lake Baikal, Trans-Siberian Railway.......