Lessons Lost in Time

You can still feel that wind off the Liaodong Peninsula if you listen hard enough, it carries the ghosts of Port Arthur, Mukden, and the empires that thought they were too big to fail. One bled out. The other walked away with a victory that cost it its soul.This was trench warfare before Europe even knew the word. Six hundred thousand men fed into a grinder that proved industrial war didn’t care about flags, prayers, or imperial fantasies. Japan thought victory would earn respect. Russia thought size meant destiny. They both walked into a century that would break them.And the West? It applauded, took notes, and learned absolutely nothing.If you want to understand how the 20th century actually started, this is for you. With ghosts, rust, barbed wire, and two empires testing how much suffering they could inflict before something inside them snapped.This week on Lessons Lost in Time, we go deep into the war that rewired global power.If you’re into history that punches you in the chest instead of patting you on the head, click the link and listen now.FURTHER READINGhttps://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/nwc-review/article/2203/&path_info=The_Russo_Japanese_War__Primary_Causes_of_Japanese_Success.pdfhttps://eprints.lse.ac.uk/6906/1/Aspects_of_the_Russo-Japanese_War.pdf

Japan. An island chain born of fire and salt, where mountains plunge into restless seas and the air smells of cedar, smoke, and ambition. A place where beauty comes with an edge and tradition carries the weight of centuries. This is not just a country. It is a code carved into the bones of its people. From the silent discipline of the samurai to the divine winds that smashed Mongol fleets, Japan’s identity was forged in isolation and hardened by the belief that sacrifice is the highest form of honor. For generations, it guarded its shores like a temple gate. When it stepped beyond them, it came as a storm. By the early 20th century, the Rising Sun was not content to rise. It wanted to blaze across the Pacific and claim it as its own. Pearl Harbor was not a mistake. It was a statement. A flash of steel meant to break the spine of an empire before it could even reach for a sword. And yet, precision can breed overconfidence. The same discipline that gave Japan its strength kept it from bending when the weight of war demanded it. From the jungles of New Guinea to the black sands of Iwo Jima, from the firebombed heart of Tokyo to the blinding light over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the nation that had sworn never to bow found itself forced to its knees. Today we are talking about the war that began with a war against China, then an invasion of the South Pacific and Hawaii and ended in an atomic dawn. We will look at the admirals and emperors who gambled everything, the island battles that bled armies dry, and the cultural collision between two powers that could not see the world the same way. This is not about heroes and villains. It is about nations that believed they were chosen by history, locked in a fight where surrender was not just defeat, it was the death of the soul.

It starts like any good story, with a promise. America, the liberator, the shining beacon. But behind that gleaming façade? The ugly truth of an empire trying to carve out a piece of the world’s pie, by any means necessary. The Philippines, caught in the middle, their fate decided by powers thousands of miles away. The Philippine American War, 1899-1902. What started as a fight for freedom quickly spiraled into a bloody nightmare. Casualties? Over 200,000, many of them civilians. What does that sound like to you? The Indian wars, Vietnam? Iraq? Afghanistan? Sure, but it’s not just history repeating itself. It’s the same scheme, one that’s been used, rewritten, and repurposed for centuries. But here’s the kicker: if America didn’t do it, someone else would have. Germany, Japan, or maybe Spain would have continued. The world was an empire-building machine, and we were all just cogs in the gears. So, does that matter? Is it enough to say, ‘Well, someone else would’ve done it’ and shrug it off? That question echoes into today. If you came for a clean, heroic tale, you won’t find it here. But if you want to understand what empire looks like up close, if you’re willing to sit with the blood, the noise, and the voices we’ve tried to forget, then pull up a chair. Because the Philippine-American War has stories it needs to tell you.Links to further readingThe Philippine War, 1899-1902 (Modern War Studies) https://a.co/d/aYiobxxAmerican Soldiers Write Home https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/58/The Philippine American War: America’s First Vietnam https://www.thecollector.com/philippine-american-war-us-first-vietnam/ 

This war didn’t just redraw a map. It rewired the balance of power in Asia and set the world on a path to Pearl Harbor, the invasion of Manchuria, and today’s tensions in the Taiwan Strait. You think 1894 is ancient history? Every move China and Japan make in the Pacific right now has an echo that starts here.China was an empire bleeding out in slow motion, clinging to tradition while foreign powers carved it up like spoils. Japan was a nation in a sprint, ripping itself into the modern age with steel, steam, and a chip on its shoulder the size of an island chain. Korea lit the match. Manchuria took the blast. The Treaty of Shimonoseki was the moment Asia’s future changed course, and the West barely noticed.And our guest this week, COL Andy Morgado. He has spent his life in the arena where history meets strategy. Thirty years in uniform. Three tours in Iraq. Four operational deployments to Korea. From battalion command to shaping the Army’s intellectual engine at the School of Advanced Military Studies, he’s been at the center of the conversations that decide wars before they start.This isn’t a dry history lesson. It’s the backstory to the fight that could define the 21st century. And you’ll hear it from a man who’s commanded in combat, shaped doctrine, and trained the minds who will fight the next one.If you think you understand the Pacific, listen to this episode. If you don’t, you’ll be blindsided when the past comes roaring back.LinksMultidomain Operations: The Pursuit of Battlefield Dominance in the 21st Centuryhttps://www.howgatepublishing.com/product-page/mdoThe Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacyhttps://www.amazon.com/Sino-Japanese-War-1894-1895-Perceptions-Primacy/dp/0521617456 

Russia. The land of frozen winters, boiling tempers, and a history so thick with blood, betrayal, and bombast you could bottle it and sell it as a Molotov cocktail.This isn’t just a country. It’s a worldview forged in war, paranoia, and the long, unforgiving shadow of history. From the horsemen of the Mongol horde to the black leather coats of Stalin’s secret police, the Russian psyche has been shaped by centuries of siege. Real and imagined. Fortress mentality isn’t a strategy there. It’s a state of being.And yet, despite the suspicion, the brutality, and the endless dance with disaster, Russia endures. Reinvents. Retaliates. Sometimes with style. Often with force. Always with purpose.Today, we’re sitting down with Professor Mark Galeotti. Yup, that Mark Galeotti. We’re going to dig into the roots of Russian insecurity. Where it comes from. Why it matters. And how it still shapes every handshake, every airstrike, and every line drawn on a map.We’ll trace the scars left by Napoleon’s march, Stalin’s purges, and the Cold War’s long hangover. We’ll talk about the inferiority complex that festers behind the Kremlin walls, and how history—real or rewritten—guides Moscow’s every move from Kyiv to Damascus to Washington.This isn’t about making excuses. It’s about understanding the worldview of a nation that still thinks in terms of czars and tsars, enemies and allies, and very little in between.So pour a drink if it’s after 11. Grab a coffee if it’s earlier. And join us as we wander the haunted corridors of Russian history, where paranoia isn’t a glitch in the system. It is the system.Downfall: Putin, Prigozhin, and the Fight for the Futuredownfall:%20Putin,%20Prigozhin,%20and%20the%20fight%20for%20the%20future%20of%20Russia%20https%3A//a.co/d/1bi80vkForged in War: A military history of Russia from its beginnings to todayhttps://a.co/d/3ZyL1rJPutin's Wars: From Chechnya to Ukrainehttps://a.co/d/1bcsoZG

The Spanish American War 1898 (Part 2): The War of Empires w/ Drew DornstadterThe sun was setting on the Spanish Empire—bloated, brittle, and running on fumes. Four hundred years of conquest and gold, galleons and God, unraveling like an old coat in a storm. And just as the curtain was falling, America showed up. Young, loud, hungry. 1898. The Spanish-American War. It lasted only four months, but it changed everything. One empire dying. Another one being born. Not with ceremony—but with guns, headlines, and a healthy dose of manifest destiny. They said it was about liberation—Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico. Freedom from tyranny, all that jazz. But let’s be honest: it was about markets, military bases, and planting flags on islands most Americans couldn’t find on a map. This wasn’t just about Teddy Roosevelt’s rough riders or stirring speeches in Congress. It was about sugar, about strategy, about making damn sure America wasn’t left behind in the global game of empire. And when the dust settled, Cuba got a sort-of freedom, wrapped in American strings. Puerto Rico became a possession. But in the Philippines, things went dark fast. Because the war didn’t end there. It morphed—into an ugly, brutal, years-long insurgency. The same U.S. troops who claimed to be liberators turned occupiers. Villages were torched. Civilians slaughtered. Concentration camps. Water torture. The same tools of empire the Spanish once used—now painted red, white, and blue. This episode isn’t just about a short war with a big legacy. It’s about the moment the United States became an empire and Spain, well, Spain was no longer an empire.Further ReadingThe Spanish War: An American Epic... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393303047?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_shareHow to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States https://a.co/d/4cvz3Czhttps://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/spanish-american-war-war-plans-and-impact-on-u-s-navy.htmlMornings on Horseback: The Story... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671447548?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Today is Sunday 15 June, just two days after Operation Rising Lion - Israel’s decisive strike against Iran that began in the early hours of June 13th, 2025. We’re going to discuss everything that I’ve been able to gather over the last 48 hours. It’s been hard figuring out fact from fiction, but I think I’m close.The world had been holding its breath for years. Watching. Waiting. Betting on diplomacy, back channels, and fragile agreements to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions before it was too late. But on June 13th, 2025, that waiting ended. Israel made a choice no one else had the nerve to make. With little warning, without alliance approval, without fanfare—they launched a precise, high-stakes strike deep inside Iran’s nuclear program. Targets that the world had argued over for decades turned to rubble in hours. This wasn’t a message. It was a line drawn in concrete and fire. Deterrence didn’t just fail—it died.Iran was blindsided. The region wasn’t. Everyone knew this moment was coming. The only mystery was the timing. In this episode, we’ll pull back the curtain on what happened, why it happened, and the far-reaching consequences still shaking capitals from Tehran to Tel Aviv to Washington. No spin. No distance. Just the cold, hard truth.     

The Spanish American War 1898: The War of Empires w/ Drew DornstadterThe sun was setting on the Spanish Empire—bloated, brittle, and running on fumes. Four hundred years of conquest and gold, galleons and God, unraveling like an old coat in a storm. And just as the curtain was falling, America showed up. Young, loud, hungry. 1898. The Spanish-American War. It lasted only four months, but it changed everything. One empire dying. Another one being born. Not with ceremony—but with guns, headlines, and a healthy dose of manifest destiny. They said it was about liberation—Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico. Freedom from tyranny, all that jazz. But let’s be honest: it was about markets, military bases, and planting flags on islands most Americans couldn’t find on a map. This wasn’t just about Teddy Roosevelt’s rough riders or stirring speeches in Congress. It was about sugar, about strategy, about making damn sure America wasn’t left behind in the global game of empire. And when the dust settled, Cuba got a sort-of freedom, wrapped in American strings. Puerto Rico became a possession. But in the Philippines, things went dark fast. Because the war didn’t end there. It morphed—into an ugly, brutal, years-long insurgency. The same U.S. troops who claimed to be liberators turned occupiers. Villages were torched. Civilians slaughtered. Concentration camps. Water torture. The same tools of empire the Spanish once used—now painted red, white, and blue. This episode isn’t just about a short war with a big legacy. It’s about the moment the United States became an empire and Spain, well, Spain was no longer an empire.Further ReadingThe Spanish War: An American Epic... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393303047?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_shareHow to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States https://a.co/d/4cvz3Czhttps://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/spanish-american-war-war-plans-and-impact-on-u-s-navy.htmlMornings on Horseback: The Story... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671447548?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share