Files Related To Russian History in the Far East


Russian history in the Far East is intricately bound up with that of China , Korea and Japan , and to an extent which varied over the time period with that of the United States , France , Britain , and Germany , whilst other countries such as Austria and Italy occasionally played a part . Therefore in order to fully understand Russia's actions and place in Far Eastern history we need sometimes to consider the role other countries played independent of any Russian involvement.
Vladivostock , 'Lord of the East'

Up to the end of the eighteenth century Russia's expansion had been largely over the greater land mass of Siberia , and into Kamchatka and Alaska , fuelled by merchants , trappers and hunters. The 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk had delineated the spheres of interest of the Chinese and Russian empires , and with modifications (such as the 1727 Kiakhta treaty) this agreement remained in force up until 1843.
Chemulpo , Western Korea

In the early nineteenth century Russia's interests were mainly concerned with establishing control over the Kuril Islands , and in expanding trade in the as-yet open lands of the Western North American continent. The declaration of 1823 by the United States president , what became known as the 'Monroe Doctrine' effectively ended Russia's political interests in California . Having already been repulsed by Hawaii's king (1815) Russia's main focus came to be upon the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan.
The city of Vladivostock

By the 1840s the Russian Empire was becoming worried at French and , especially , British pressure upon China which was not only threatening to undermine Russian priveleges from Nerchinsk and Kiakhta but upset the whole balance of power in the region. Over the next decade Russia effectively invaded the Amur Maritime province of China , later retrospectively securing China's cession of this area under an agreement made in the shadow of the Opium Wars in which China had been defeated by Britain and France.
Russian warships at Port Arthur , 1904 Russia also joined Britain , France and the United States in making greater efforts to open up Japanese ports and markets to foreign trade.

Russia's main diplomatic efforts centred around the mission of Putiatin , who over a period of 15 years journeyed to both China and Japan , securing Russia's interests and negotiating a series of important agreements. This mission was briefly interupted by the Crimean War (1854-56) which saw a curious campaign in the Far East , but by 1858 Russia had secured agreements with Japan (including a division of the Kuril Islands) and China (including agreement over the Amur Maritime Province where the port of Vladivostock was to be built).
With the spheres of influence over disputed territpry now sketched out , the later nineteenth century would see the interested parties seeking to extend these at the expense of the increasingly weakened Chinese Empire. Sissoi Veliki , a veteran of the Far Eastern station
she returned there in 1905 to be sunk at TsuShima

By the mid 1880s China and Japan were both so heavily involved in Korea , a Chinese vassal kingdom , that it appeared as if war would be the inevitable result. However , cool heads prevailed and in the Treaty of Tientsin both countries agreed to evacuate their armed forces from Seoul and to give prior warning to the other should they feel that their national interests required intervention within Korea - this warning would be used to allow the other party to send a corresponding number of troops into the kingdom.
The cruiser Askold , one of six present at Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War. For ten years the Treaty of Tientsin preserved the peace in the region

In 1894 events in Korea snowballed into a situation which saw China and Japan at odds with one another.China had , at the king of Korea's request , intervened to crush a general rebellion. Japan had , as per the Treaty of Tientsin , landed her own troops. With the resolution of the crisis China proposed a joint withdrawal , but Japan alarmed by Korea's weakness refused to comply. War was to be the outcome.
The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was an unmitigated disaster for China. Japanese troops over-ran Korea , invaded Manchuria , occuped the Liaotung Peninsular (including Port Arthur) and additionally made a swift conquest of Shantung province. The Chinese navy was sunk at Wei-Hai-Wei , later to be raised and repaired by the Japanese who incorporated most of the ships into her own fleet The Japanese cruiser Hei Yen , a prize of the Sino-Japanese War

The Treaty of Shimonoseki ended the Sino-Japanese War and included in it the cession of Port Arthur from China to Japan. Russia and Germany , plus a rather more reluctant France , forced Japan to back down upon this issue , Japan instead gaining an extra sum of money added to her indemnity from the Chinese. Japan was to use this money in a mass expansion of her fleet , ordering state-of-the-art vessels from British shipyards.
Togo , a captain in the Sino-Japanese War , he was the fleet commander in the Russo-Japanese War

In the years after China's devastating defeat in the Sino-Japanese War , European powers pushed their own agendas within the seriously weakened Chinese Empire. Germany secured the lease of Kiaochau in Shantung whilst Britain and France both made gains in the South. Russia for her part professed to act with Chinese interests at heart in her exploitation of Manchuria , establishing rail links and securing Chinese assent to her occupation of Port Arthur.

By 1900 the situation within China had become such that an anti-foreigner rising , the so-called Boxer Rebellion , swept the Imperial Court from Peking and attacked foreign interests throughout the country. The response of the interested foreign powers was to assemble a joint naval force to assault the Taku forts guarding the approach to Peking , and after carrying them advance a large force upon the capital city to relieve their besieged legations.
Alekseev , Viceroy of the East

The ending of the Boxer Rebellion restored to power a much-weakened Chinese Imperial court , further undermined by the punitive damaged the victors imposed upon it. The next few years saw Japan and Russia become increasingly at odds over Korea ,which since 1895 had been recognised as an independent state. Russia had in addition promised to evacuate Manchuria but reneged upon this deal and with Russian economic interests , especially along the Yalu River , impinging upon Japan's sense of security within Korea , conflict between the two states appeared inevitable .
Rudnev , captain of the cruiser Variag
, which the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War found at the Korean port of Chemulpo 		The history of the Russo-Japanese War can be found at :-



Associated Files



History of the Kuril Islands
Putiatin's missions to China and Japan
The Crimean War in the Far East
Brief history of the Sino-Japanese War
Japanese Prizes of the Sino-Japanese War
The Boxer Rebellion