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Russia in the Far East
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2017
Extract
Slow, but very steady, was the advance of Russia into Siberia. For centuries did the Russians move onward, gradually driving back, conquering or assimilating the Mongolian aborigines. For a very long time Siberia seemed only a vast wilderness and a happy hunting ground for the fur trader and trapper. Later, and mainly on account of its great distance from European Russia, the Siberian country was used by the Tsars for purposes of penal colonization. Thus, there grew up that sad reputation, which clung to Siberia for many generations, of a bleak land of exile, where human suffering attained its very limit. The famous book of George Kennan, Siberia and the Exile System, helped much to popularize these ideas, bringing home to the outside world the worst sides of the former autocratic régime of Russia.
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- Copyright © American Society of International Law 1923
References
1 Typical for this period was the Russo-Chinese treaty of Kiakhta, signed October 21,1727, ’which formed for more than a century the basis of the mutual relations between these two countries. The text of this treaty can be found in the collection of Sir Edw. Hertslet, Treaties, etc. between Great Britain and China; and between China and Foreign Powers, (London,1908) vol. I; or in the official publication of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Recueil des Traitts (Sbomik Traktatof) (St. Petersburg, 1902), vol. I. An impartial and detailed history of the early Russian expansion eastward can be found in the volume of F. A. Golder, Russian Expansion on the Pacific (Cleveland, 1914).
2 This is the agreement, known as the Kouldja Treaty of July 25,1861. Cf. Hertslet,op. cit., vol. I, p. 305; and Sbomik, vol. I, no. 32, p. 242.
3 Treaty of Aighoun, May 16, 1858; cf. Hertslet, op. oil., p. 310; Sbomik, no. 33, p. 247.The demarcation of the Mongolian boundaries was agreed upon by a special conference in 1864; cf. Hertslet, op. tit., p. 329.
4 June 13, 1858; cf. Hertslet, op. cit., p. 311; Sbomik, no. 34, p. 249.
5 Treaty of Peking, November 14,1860; cf. Hertslet, op. cit., p. 318; Sbomik, no. 35, p.255. Hertslet also publishes the text of a revised convention for land trade, signed in Peking,April 27,1869, which is not mentioned in the Russian Sbomik; this convention restates the privileges of the Eussian trade in China and reaffirms all the advantages granted to the Russian merchants.
6 Treaty of St. Petersburg of February 24,1881; cf. Hertslet, op. cit., p.340;Sbomik, no.36, p. 264. The history of the transactions preceding the signature of the Treaty of 1881 is given in detail by Cordier, H.,HisUrire des relations de la Chine(Paris, 1902), Vol.II, ch.ix-xii. Google Scholar
7 English translation in MaeMurray, J. V. A.,Treaties and Agreements with and concerning China, 1894-1919(New York,1921), Vol.I, p.18. Google Scholar
8 The enumeration and details of these loan agreements, 1894-1896, can be found in MacMurray, op. cit., Vol. I; cf. also Willoughby, W. W.,Foreign Rights and Interests in China(Baltimore,1920).Google Scholar
9 Cf. MacMurray, op. cit., and Willoughby, op. cit.
10 It is often quoted by historians and politicians, though H. Cordier in his Histoire des relations de la Chine, has long ago pointed out the vagueness and incoherence of the newspaper text.
11 August-September, 1896. Cf. MacMurray, op. cit., vol. I, p. 74.
12 Cf. MacMurray, ibid.
13 Ibid., vol. i, p. 81.
14 Bernstein, Cf. Herman,The WiUy-Nicky Correspondence(New York, 1917)Google Scholar, and Levine, Isaac Don ,Letters from the Kaiser to the Tsar(New York, 1920)Google Scholar.
15 Germany actually signed the agreement with China a few days earlier than Russia,March 6 and 27, respectively
16 Cf. MacMurray, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 112 el seq.; also Willoughby, Foreign Rights and Interests in China, (Baltimore, 1920).
17 Details of the cited transactions between Russia and China are given in MacMurray,op. cit., vol. I, pp. 326 et seq.
18 The treaty of peace was signed at Shimonoseki on April 17, 1895, and already, on November 8 of the same year, Japan had to “retrocede”to China the Liaotung peninsula with the coveted fortress of Port Arthur. Cf. MacMurray, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 18, 50.
19 There was made, however, one exception, namely for the treaty of May 7,1875, which was to continue in full force. This was the treaty that settled the dispute between Russia and Japan concerning Sakhalin and the Kuriles Islands.
20 The text of this treaty can be found in the Sbomik, published by the Russian Foreign Office, Vol. I, no. 65, p. 500. A similar treaty was concluded with England in 1894 (Kimberley-Aoki), also abolishing extraterritoriality
21 It was also in glaring contradiction with the alliance with China, mentioned above.
22 Cf. MacMurray, op. c it., Vol. I, pp. 221,230,278,300.
23 Cf. Memoirs of Hayashi and Eckardtstein
24 Besides, numerous reports of the Russian military attache in Tokyo had the same influence on the Tsar.
25 Cf. Staatsarchw, Vol. 69, pp. 212, et seq.; Horabeck, Stanley K. ,Contemporary Polities in the Far East (N. Y.,1916), ch.xiv, p.243.Google Scholar
26 Sergiei Witte, Memoirs (N. Y., 1921), p. 123.
27 Cf. MacMurray, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 522.
28 MacMurray, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 557 et. seq.
29 Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 612-803.
30 Ibid., Vol. I, p. 657.
31 It is only vaguely referred to in later treaties.
32 The object of recognizing China's independence and territorial integrity seems only to have been a blind for the exclusion of any other power.
33 For details see Abbott, J. F.,Japanese expansion and American Policies(N. Y.,1916),ch. hi, p.65.Google Scholar
34 Cf. MacMurray, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 803; the alleged secret treaty of that date was published by the New York World in a series of articles by Capt. Schreiner and B. von Siebert, in the spring of 1021; the text runs as follows:“To confirm and further develop the provisions of the Secret Treaty of June 17-30,1907,the Russian and the Japanese governments agree to the following provisions: “Article 1. Russia and Japan recognize as the boundary of their specific spheres of interest in Manchuria the line of demarcation as defined in the supplementary article of the Secret Treaty of 1907.“Art. 2. The two contracting parties agree mutually to recognize their special interests in the areas set forth above. Each of them may also, each within its own sphere of interest,take such measures as shall be deemed necessary for the maintenance and protection of these interests.“Art. 3. Each party undertakes to place no obstacle of any kind in the way of the confirmation and future development of the special interests of the other party within the boundary lines of such spheres of interest.“Art. 4. Each of the contracting parties undertakes to refrain from all political action within the sphere of interest of the other party in Manchuria. Furthermore, it has been decided that Russia shall seek no privileges and concessions in the Japanese zone, and Japan none in the Russian zone, that might be injurious to the special interests of either party and that both Governments are to recognize the rights acquired in their spheres of interest, as defined in Article 2 of the Public Treaty of today's date.“Art. 5. To ensure the working of the mutual stipulations, both parties will enter into an open and friendly exchange of opinions on all matters concerning their special interests in Manchuria. In case these special interests should be threatened, the two Governments will agree on the measures that may become necessary for common action or mutual support in order to protect these interests. “Art. 6. The present treaty will be kept strictly secret by both Governments.”
35 For example, the Convention for reciprocal protection of industrial property in China, signed in Tokyo on June 23,1911, or the Convention of August 14,1911, concerning railway connections in Manchuria.
36 The texts of both agreements are published by Murray, Mac, Vol.II, p.1327-1328.Google ScholarCf. also Spargo, J.,Russia as an American Problem,1920 Google Scholar, ch. IV.
37 The treaty had been renewed twice, in 1891 and 1901, without any difficulty
38 The details were enumerated in a special Protocol, annexed to the treaty; cf. MacMurray,op. til., Vol. II, pp. 992-996.
39 This Journal, 1916, Vol. X, p. 798, contains an excellent article on the subject by Williams, E. T.,The Relations between China, Russia and Mongolia Google Scholar
40 The events of those fateful years in Mongolia are described, for example, by Perry-Ayscough and Otta Barry, With the Russians in Mongolia.
41 Cf. Isvestia, August 10 and 12,1921.