The brilliant victory over China and then the military-diplomatic humiliation, when Japan had to yield under pressure from Russia, Germany and France, caused an explosion of surprise, hatred and a thirst for revenge in the Japanese Empire. Part of the Japanese military was even ready for a suicidal battle with three world giants and discussed a plan for a campaign from Port Arthur to Vladivostok. There was an idea - to take revenge or die. The authorities had to imprison fanatics who were ready to attack foreigners.
The Japanese elite acted in the same direction, but soberly and prudently. Japan did not have a single modern battleship, and the regular army numbered only 67 thousand people. There were no chances in the fight against Russia, France and Germany. It was necessary to beat the enemy separately and find allies (Britain). Tokyo realized that the main obstacle to domination in Asia is the West and Russia. They decided to strike the first blow at Russia, which itself set itself up, sharply intensifying its expansion in Korea and Northeast China. Now the indemnity received from China (and China received the money from Russia, that is, the Russians de facto partially financed the militarization of Japan) went not to the creation of strategic railways in Korea and Manchuria, as Tokyo first planned, but to a huge order of warships in Britain. They were to become the most powerful and modern in Asia. The fleet was a priority in the plans for the future expansion of the Japanese Empire in the region.
The unity of the Japanese nation played an important role. The Japanese were confident that they could defeat even a strong enemy. Japan has shown a fanatical determination to take over the region. And Japan showed great success: the population grew from 34 million people in 1875 to 46.3 million in 1904. Foreign trade in the same period increased 12 times - from 50 million yen to 600 million yen. Moreover, 85% of Japan's exports accounted for manufactured goods. That is, the country has shown impressive successes in industrialization. It is also worth noting the high level of education in the country.
Russia, on the other hand, openly challenged the growing ambitions of the Japanese Empire and was the most accessible and vulnerable enemy. Petersburg promised China protection from Japan and assistance in paying the indemnity. In the shortest possible time, the Russian-Chinese Bank was created, which had the right to issue currency and collect taxes on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Finance, build railways within Manchuria, and conduct telegraph communications. Russia has also strengthened in Korea. The Korean king actually lived in a Russian residence, and Russian merchants and industrialists took advantage of the weakness of the Korean political and economic system. The Russians secured the first concessions from the northern borders of Korea to the mouth of the Yalu River in the west and the mouth of the Tyumen River in the east, covering an area of 3,300 square miles. In May 1897, the original owner of the concession, Julius Brunner, sold it to the imperial court. The court schemers - Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Captain Alexander Bezobrazov, planned to create a powerful East Asian Company, an analogue of the British East India Company, from which British power in Asia began. It was about creating a mechanism for promoting Russian political and economic interests in the greater Far East. This was a very dangerous undertaking, since Russia was already several decades late with such an expansion. The Russian Far East did not have the military-economic, demographic and transport-infrastructure potential for such an offensive policy in Korea and China.
Thus, the Japanese Empire at this time was on the rise, and diplomatic defeat from the great powers only strengthened the desire of the Japanese to achieve their goals. Of all the markets in the world, Manchuria was the most important for Japan. And Russia at that time climbed headlong into Northeast China. Also, Russia prevented Japan from taking Korea - "a knife aimed at the heart of Japan" (strategic foreground-bridgehead). And Japan demonstratively began to prepare for a war with Russia
Great Siberian Way
The two main pillars of the Russian Empire in Manchuria-Yellow Russia were the Chinese Eastern Railway (Chinese-Eastern Railway) and Port Arthur. For the first time the idea of building a railway in Siberia was submitted by Count N. N. Muravyev-Amursky. In 1850, he proposed a project for the construction of a wheel track here, which was later to be replaced by a railroad. But due to a lack of funds, this project remained on paper, although in 1857 all the necessary research was done. And after Muravyov signed the Peking Treaty in 1860, he immediately began "attacking" Petersburg, outlining the idea that a railway going from the capital to the East would change the fate of Russia. Thus, the idea to build a railway from the European part of Russia to the Pacific Ocean appeared in a timely manner and the implementation of this project could really change the history of Russia, make it a leading power in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the start of this plan was delayed until the 1880s.
Almost simultaneously with Count Muravyov, the English engineer Dul proposed to build a horse-drawn railway from Nizhny Novgorod, through Kazan and Perm, and then through the whole of Siberia to one of the ports on the Pacific Ocean. But this proposal, unfortunately, did not evoke sympathy from the Russian government. Although the Siberian route linked the entire Russian Empire into a single whole and made it possible to begin the capital development of Siberia and the Far East, make them powerful raw material bases for the empire, create the first industrial centers, speed up the process of industrialization, and increase the flow of population to the East. Russia could take a dominant position in Korea and Northeast China, but already relying on a serious base on Russian territory, in Siberia and the Far East.
In 1866, Colonel E. V. Bogdanovich, sent to the Vyatka province to help the starving, announced the need to build a railway from the inner provinces to Yekaterinburg and further to Tomsk. In his opinion, this road could have prevented famine in the Ural Territory and, being then laid through Siberia to the Chinese border, would have received major strategic, trade and economic importance. Colonel Bogdanovich's idea was approved, research began, and by the end of the 1860s. there were already as many as three projects on the direction of the Siberian railway.
However, despite the military-strategic, economic importance of the project and the attention given to the proposal of Colonel Bogdanovich by Tsar Alexander II, the projects of the future road did not go beyond the scope of special literature and scholarly discussions. Only in 1875 the question of building the Siberian railway began to be discussed in the government, but it was planned to build it only within the European part of Russia and, in the future, no further than Tyumen. In the end, a compromise decision was made - to create a water-railway route to Siberia.
Real actions in the European part of Russia began only after 1880. Emperor Alexander III decided that the railroad had to be laid to Siberia. But the matter moved extremely slowly and the tsar noted with sadness: “It is sad to observe that nothing significant has yet been done in the direction of conquering this rich, but untouched country; over time, something will have to be done here. But several more years passed before Petersburg moved from words to deeds.
In 1883-1887. great work was carried out on the construction of the Ob-Yenisei water system with the clearing and straightening of a number of channels of small rivers, the construction of a canal, the construction of a dam and sluices. Thus, the opportunity was created to transport goods and passengers along a huge water-railroad: from St. Petersburg along the Volga-Baltic water system to Perm, then along the Perm-Yekaterinburg-Tyumen road, then along the Obsko-Yenisei and Selenginsky water systems and further along the Amur all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The length of this path was more than ten thousand kilometers. However, the use of this route was entirely dependent on natural and weather conditions. As a result, the journey was long and difficult, and at times risky. The development of Siberia and the Far East required a railway.
In 1887 it was decided to build a road. At the same time, it was assumed that it would not be continuous, but mixed, water-railroad. Only in February 1891 was a decree issued on the construction of a "continuous railroad across the whole of Siberia" from Chelyabinsk to Vladivostok. Its construction was declared a “great national deed”. The highway was divided into seven roads: West Siberian, Central Siberian, Circum-Baikal, Transbaikal, Amur, North Ussuri and South Ussuri. Later, the Sino-Eastern Railway appeared. On May 19, 1891, the construction of the Great Siberian Route began in Vladivostok. In November 1892 the government allocated 150 million rubles for top-priority and 20 million rubles for auxiliary work. The construction was supposed to be completed in the following terms: Chelyabinsk - Ob - Krasnoyarsk - by 1896; Krasnoyarsk - Irkutsk - by 1900; the line Vladivostok - Grafskaya - by 1894-1895. The preliminary cost was determined at 350 million rubles in gold, or 44 thousand rubles per kilometer. From 1892 on all roads, except for the Amur, exploration and construction work began.
For strategic reasons, the track was wide. The desire to speed up the work and the conditions of the territory (virgin forests, rocks and powerful water barriers) led to the fact that the road was single-track. The scale of the work was titanic. Already the Ob, Irtysh and Yenisei, not to mention Lake Baikal, could discourage all the desire to build a road. For half a year, the soil was frozen by almost two meters. A whole army was formed for the construction: in total, more than 100 thousand people were employed at the construction site at the same time (tens of thousands of laborers, thousands of masons, carpenters, liners, carriages, ferrymen and technicians). Workers were recruited in the poorest provinces of Russia and from local residents. Local peasants cut down timber, brought up land, ballast and building materials. The prisoners were attracted. At first they were bad helpers. But then they began to read them 8 months in a year. And the criminal record after two years of work was cut in half. Free builders were given 42 acres of land. Most of the work was done by hand. The main tools were shovels, crowbars, axes and saws.
The wide scope of work at the expense of the state made it possible to expediently maneuver the workforce. This gave an advantage over the private method, when construction is carried out by disparate, competing joint-stock companies whose goal was profit at any cost. The use of a huge number of people in the construction of railways from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean has made it possible to constantly increase the pace of construction of the Transsib. As a result, between 1892-1895. the highway was advanced at a speed of about half a thousand kilometers a year. The growing external threat forced the pace of construction to be accelerated in 1895.a spurt was made a thousand kilometers a year. The empire literally tore at its veins to stretch the iron route to the Great Ocean.
In the spring of 1891, construction began on the Ussuriyskaya line. In 1893, two years ahead of schedule, the government opened funding for the construction of the Central Siberian railway. An important event was the construction of a bridge across the Ob. A village appeared near the bridge, which later turned into the city of Novosibirsk. The Central Siberian railway started from the eastern abutment of the bridge and ended in Irkutsk. It was removed from transport communications, from Central Russia it was necessary to deliver not only workers, but also equipment and materials. Other large rivers were also large barriers, through which large bridges had to be built, including 515 m across the Tom and 950 m across the Yenisei.
In the summer of 1896, work began on the section from Irkutsk to Baikal. This part of the Transsib was accepted into permanent operation in 1901. Here the construction reached the peak of difficulties - in the area of Lake Baikal - the world's largest fresh water reservoir. It took 47 days to go around the lake in 1900. Due to the complexity of the relief, the distance of the supply and other reasons, the cost overrun during the construction of this section reached 16 million rubles, and a kilometer of the road cost 90 thousand rubles. With monstrous efforts, the workers built a grandiose ferry that ran three times a day. The rolling stock was transported by powerful icebreaker ferries "Baikal" and "Angara", which regularly ply the 73-kilometer ferry. The icebreakers were built by the British company "Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co", then the ships were delivered in disassembled form to Baikal. The maximum capacity of the ferry crossing was 27-40 wagons per day. The ferry crossing ran from Listvennichnaya pier to Mysovaya pier. Then the road went to Verkhneudinsk.
Ferry icebreaker "Baikal" on Lake Baikal, 1911
However, such a mixed method of transportation subsequently proved to be insufficiently effective, especially in the pre-war and war period, when it was required to quickly transport a mass of troops, weapons, equipment to the Far East, as well as organize their full-fledged supply. In winter frosts, the troops had to cross the huge lake on foot on ice, making stops for heating. From time to time storms raged and the north wind broke the ice, which led to the death of people. Engineers set up a railway track, but the locomotive could not pass on the ice and the wagons with weapons, the horses were dragged with supplies. An ice highway was laid parallel to the railway line. But the pace of such a crossing was extremely low. This forced the question of the final survey and construction of the Circum-Baikal railway to be raised.
Back in 1891, two options for bypassing Lake Baikal were considered - northern and southern. The northern one seemed simpler. But the expedition of OP Vyazemsky found that the southern option, despite its complexity, is still preferable, since the area is better inhabited here. Therefore, we settled on it. The path went along a rocky coast, skirting Baikal. Russian builders have accomplished another feat. On the Circum-Baikal Railway, 260 km long, 39 tunnels with a total length of 7, 3 km, 14 km of retaining walls, 47 safety galleries, viaducts, breakwaters, numerous bridges and pipes were built. This road is unique in the concentration of various artificial structures, becoming a visual encyclopedia of engineering and construction art. Only the volume of earthworks during the construction of the road amounted to over 70 thousand cubic meters per kilometer. Not surprisingly, this line was built for six years. The selfless labor of the builders made it possible in 1905 (a year ahead of schedule) to start regular train traffic. At the same time, the ferry service existed for almost 20 more years. For this, a new pier, Baranchuk, was built near the Baikal station.
Transsib. Near Khilok station. 1900 year
Construction of the Siberian route
Construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway
After the Transbaikal road (Mysovaya - Sretensk), at first it was planned to build the Amurskaya road. In accordance with this, in 1893-1894. conducted surveys from Sretensk to the village of Pokrovskaya on the Amur and further to Khabarovsk. However, the complexity of conditions, the severity of the climate, and most importantly geopolitics, the seizure of Port Arthur by Russia forced to take another decision - to lead the railway to Port Arthur and Dalny.
Witte played a leading and fatal role in this decision. He proposed to conduct the final part of the route through Chinese territory, saving half a thousand kilometers of the route to Vladivostok. The main reason with which Petersburg convinced Beijing was military assistance from Russia to China in a possible struggle with Japan. Witte told Chinese Minister Li Hongzhang that “Thanks to us, China has remained intact, that we have proclaimed the principle of China's integrity, and that by proclaiming this principle, we will stick to it forever. But, in order for us to be able to support the principle we have proclaimed, it is necessary first of all to put us in such a position that, if something happens, we can really help them. We cannot provide this assistance until we have a railway, because all our military power is and will always be in European Russia. … Thus, in order for us to maintain the integrity of China, we first of all need a railway, and a railway passing along the shortest direction to Vladivostok; for this it must pass through the northern part of Mongolia and Manchuria. Finally, this road is also needed economically, since it will raise the productivity of our Russian possessions, where it will pass, and also the productivity of those Chinese possessions through which it will go."
After some doubts, the Chinese government, in gratitude for its help in the fight against the encroachments of Japan, agreed to build a section of the Trans-Siberian Railway - the Sino-Eastern Railway (CER), through Manchuria. Russia received the right to build a railway through Mongolia and Manchuria to Vladivostok. The direct bribery of the leading minister of the Qing empire Li Hongzhan also played a role (he received a huge amount - 4 million rubles). This was a phenomenon traditional for the then China, high dignitaries and generals took bribes, promoting the interests of Western powers and companies.
“Thus,” Witte noted, “a road of the greatest political and commercial importance was handed over to our hands … It was supposed to serve as an instrument of rapprochement between the Eastern and European nations.” The finance minister believed that this road would contribute to the peaceful conquest of Manchuria. Witte believed that the Great Road would be the Russian answer to the construction of the Suez Canal and to the creation of the Trans-Canadian railway. England already controlled two-thirds of the Chinese ports, and Russia had one way to strengthen its position in the region - to include Manchuria in its sphere of influence and to bring the road to Vladivostok and Port Arthur. The strengthening of the Japanese Empire in the Far East, which threatened the interests of the Russian Empire in China, also played in favor of this option. In addition, the CER, according to its supporters, made it possible for Russia to enter new sales markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
One of the most influential and odious dignitaries of the Qing Empire, Li Hongzhang. He signed the Shimonoseki Peace Treaty with Japan (1895) and the Allied Treaty between the Russian Empire and China (1896)
The Minister of Finance of Russia and the "governor" of the CER Sergei Yulievich Witte
However, this road also had opponents. In China, there was an increase in unrest and discontent with foreigners who enslaved the great Asian empire. That is, the road was under threat and it had to be not only built, but also protected, having allocated a whole building for this. The future uprising of the "boxers" will confirm this threat. The Chinese rebels will destroy about 900 out of 1,300 versts, the damage will amount to over 72 million rubles. Russia will have to create the Zaamur Border Guard District.
In Russia itself, supporters of the option of passing the Great Siberian Route along the Amur justified it by the subsequent increase in the possibilities of economic and social development of the Russian territories of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. The Amur Governor-General S. M. Dukhovsky stated that even if Manchuria was annexed to the Russian Empire, the importance of the Amur railway for Russia would remain enormous, as well as its "colonization and basic organizational significance." He emphasized that in no case should the previously planned construction of a railway line along the Amur be stopped. In addition, the construction of the road through Chinese territory contributed to the development of the Chinese rather than the Russian population. From a military-strategic point of view, this road was threatened by the rebellious Chinese population, and in the event of a war with Japan, by the Japanese army. To protect the road, it was necessary to allocate an additional large military contingent and keep it on foreign territory.
Thus, the construction of the railway through Chinese territory was fraught with a very high strategic risk. However, Witte, who, according to some researchers, was associated with the masters of the West and was their high-ranking "agent of influence" in Russia, managed to overcome this resistance, and the CER went south across Manchuria. Only defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. demonstrated to the tsarist government the strategic fallacy of this decision, which accelerated the construction of the Amur railway
In December 1895, on the initiative of the Minister of Finance S. Yu. Witte, the Russian-Chinese Bank was established with an initial capital of 6 million rubles. For its formation, 15% of the funds were provided by the St. Petersburg International Commercial Bank, and 61% came from 4 French banks. On May 22 (June 3), 1896, the secret Russian-Chinese treaty on the alliance of Russia and China against Japan (Moscow Treaty) was signed. On the Russian side, S. Yu. Witte and Prince A. B. Lobanov-Rostovsky signed the treaty, and on the Chinese side, Li Hongzhang. Russia and China have entered into a defensive alliance, “which must be implemented in any Japanese attack on the Pacific possessions of Russia, on China or Korea. In this case, both contracting parties undertake to support each other with all land and sea forces that they currently have, and as far as possible to help each other in supplying the same forces with various supplies. The treaty gave Russia the right to build a railway through the territory of Manchuria: “In order to facilitate the Russian troops access to points that would be threatened by an attack, and to provide the means for the subsistence of these troops, the Chinese government agrees to the construction of a railway through Manchuria … During hostilities, Russia has the right to freely use this road to transport and supply their troops. In peacetime, Russia enjoys the same right …”.
On August 27 (September 8), 1896, the Chinese envoy to the Russian Empire, Xu Zengcheng, signed an agreement with the board of the Russo-Chinese Bank, valid for 80 years, on granting the bank the right to build a railway through Manchuria and on the creation of a joint-stock "Society of the Chinese Eastern Railway ". The secret treaty was ratified in Beijing on September 16. The concession contract stipulated that the gauge of the CER should be the same as on Russian railways. The lands belonging to the Society, as well as its income, were exempted from all duties and taxes. The company was given the right to independently set railway tariffs. Of particular importance was the Society's right to "unconditional and exclusive management of its lands," that is, the entire strip of alienation. The terms of the concession agreement turned this strip into something like a large Russian territory stretched along the road. The CER society has even set up its own armed guards. After 80 years, the railway line was supposed to go free of charge to the Chinese government. After 36 years, it acquired the right to buy the road. The supreme supervision of the Chinese Eastern Railway was concentrated in the hands of the Russian Minister of Finance. For some time, Witte became the real ruler of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and in fact, of the whole of Manchuria.
Thus, the Russian Empire in the Middle Kingdom ranked second in the construction of railways, second only to Britain. By the end of 1898, the British Empire received concessions from China for the construction of a railway with a total length of 2,800 miles, Russia - 1,530 miles, Germany - 720 miles, France - 420 miles, Belgium - 650 miles, the USA - 300 miles.
August 16 (27), 1897 was the day of the beginning of the construction of the CER. In 1898, circumstances changed somewhat. Russia occupied Port Arthur, and now it was required to build a road not only to Vladivostok, but to build a branch to Port Arthur. In June 1898, Russia received a concession for the construction of the southern branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway (later known as the South Manchurian Railway), which was supposed to provide an exit to the port of Dalniy (Dalian) and Port Arthur (Lushun), located on the Liaodong Peninsula.
In the summer of 1898, the Russians arrived in a miserable village that soon became a major center called Harbin. Banks, stone houses, hotels, a telegraph office were erected here very quickly, and Harbin became the center of Russian influence in northeastern China.
Source: A. Shirokorad. The Lost Lands of Russia: From Peter I to the Civil War
