At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, trying to forestall the threat of Chinese and Japanese expansion, Russia decided to implement the Zheltorosiya project. The basis of the project was the Kwantung region with the port of Dalny and the naval base Port Arthur (created in 1899), the alienation zone of the CER, Cossack military guards and the settlement of the lands by Russian colonists. As a result, the struggle of the great powers for Manchuria-Yellow Russia became one of the reasons for the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. The Japanese Empire, with the support of Great Britain and the United States, was able to take up and occupy dominant positions in northeastern China and Korea. Russia also lost Port Arthur, the Kuriles and South Sakhalin. In 1945, the Soviet Army will take revenge for previous defeats, and the Soviet Union will temporarily restore its rights in China. However, soon, due to considerations of supporting the "younger brother" (communist China), Moscow will give up all territorial and infrastructural rights in Zheltorussia. Because of Khrushchev's anti-national policy, this concession will be in vain, since China will become a power hostile to Russia.
How Russia was dragged into Chinese affairs
In 1894, Japan, which needed sources of raw materials and sales markets, began to build its colonial empire and attacked China. The Japanese military-political leadership, with the help of Western advisers, modernized the country, paying particular attention to the transport infrastructure, army and navy. However, the Japanese islands had few resources. Therefore, the Japanese decided to create their own sphere of influence and turned their attention to the weakest neighbors - Korea and the degraded Chinese Empire. In addition, the Japanese, with the support of the Anglo-Saxons, wanted to test the Russian Empire, which had weak positions in the Far East (military infrastructure, undeveloped communications, a small population).
Russian devotees have created all the prerequisites for the creation of a world Russian superpower. Russia organically reached the Pacific Ocean, Russian passionaries marched forward indomitably, forced the Bering Strait, mastered the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, entered modern Canada, mastering present-day Oregon and stopped only in Northern California. Fort Ross, located just north of San Francisco, became the extreme point of the Russian advance in the Great (Pacific) Ocean region. Although there was an opportunity to occupy the Hawaiian Islands, or part of them. In the south of the Far East, the Russians reached the borders of the Chinese Empire. Russia has become a neighbor of two of the greatest Eastern empires and civilizations - the Chinese and Japanese.
The best minds of the empire understood that Russia needed, while there was still time, to gain a foothold on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. N. Muravyov, who was appointed governor-general of Eastern Siberia, believed that the only way for Russia to remain in the midst of the great powers was a wide access to the Pacific Ocean, the intensive development of "Russian California", and the active establishment of the Russians in the Far East. This had to be done immediately - until the great European powers and America got ahead of Russia. Muravyov took the initiative and created the Trans-Baikal Cossacks, attracting the descendants of the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks there. He mapped out the way out to the Great Ocean and founded new cities. However, St. Petersburg diplomats, many of whom were Westernizers and focused on Austria, England and France, put a spoke in their wheels. Like Karl Nesselrode, who served as foreign minister of the Russian Empire longer than anyone else. They were afraid of complications with the European powers and America. And they preferred to spend all the attention and strength of the empire on European affairs, which were often far from the true national interests of Russia, and not to develop Siberia, the Far East and Russian America.
Strategists in St. Petersburg were afraid of overstrain. While the Anglo-Saxons were building a global empire, capturing entire continents, sub-continents and regions with small forces, St. Petersburg politicians were afraid to even develop those lands that the Russian pioneers annexed so as not to anger their neighbors. Although, taking into account the location of the lands of the Russian Empire, Petersburg could become a leader in the Great Game ("king of the mountain") and establish control over the northern part of the Great Ocean. As a result, fearing for the looseness of their possessions, for the vulnerability of the huge Russian Pacific borders, the government of Nicholas sold Fort Ross, and the government of Alexander II made a terrible geopolitical, strategic mistake by selling Alaska to the Americans. Thus, Russia lost Russian America and lost the colossal potential opportunities that promised these territories in the present and especially in the future.
However, the problem of an ice-free port on the Pacific coast has not gone away. The Black and Baltic Seas gave a limited outlet to the World Ocean, which, on occasion, could be blocked by neighbors. For many centuries, the goal of the Russian government was to find an ice-free port for guaranteed communication and trade with the whole world. A big step in this direction was taken on November 14, 1860, when Beijing abandoned the eastern part of Manchuria in favor of Russia, from the Amur River to the Chinese border with Korea. Russia received the Amur region, the lower reaches of the Amur - a mighty water giant, vast territories (larger in area than France together with Spain) up to the border with Korea. As a result, the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Empire first moved from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. Then, studying the Pacific coast, Governor Muravyov founded a port with a very iconic name - Vladivostok, which became the main base of the Russian fleet on the Great Ocean.
Manchuria on the map of the Qing Empire in 1851, before the annexation of the Amur and Primorye to Russia
But the main "window" of the Russian Empire in the Pacific Ocean also had flaws. Firstly, for three months a year, this port was frozen, and the ships were frozen, plus the north wind, interfering with navigation. Secondly, Vladivostok did not go directly to the ocean, but to the Sea of Japan. And in the future, the rapidly developing island Empire of Japan with its network of islands could isolate the Russian port from the open ocean. Thus, access to the Pacific Ocean depended on relations with Japan. The Japanese could control the La Perouse Strait (near Hokkaido) to the north of Vladivostok, the Tsugaru Strait (between Hokkaido and Honshu) in the east, and the Tsushima Strait (between Korea and Japan) in the south.
Russia was looking for a way out of this natural isolation. Russian sailors immediately drew attention to the Tsushima Island, which stood in the middle of the Tsushima Strait. In 1861 the Russians occupied this island. However, the British reacted immediately - they sent a military squadron to the region. Only a few years have passed since the Crimean War, and Russia did not bring matters to the point of confrontation. Under pressure from a leading Western power, Russia was forced to yield. Later, the British captured the port of Hamilton, a small island on the southern approach to Tsushima, in order to control the sea communications going to the Russian Vladivostok. The Japanese followed this conflict closely. Seeing Russia's weakness in the Far East, Japan immediately began to dispute Sakhalin's belonging to Russia. However, the forces of the Asian empire had not yet reached the Russian level, and in 1875 the Japanese temporarily renounced their encroachments on southern Sakhalin.
Albeit slowly, but Russia strengthened its position in the Far East. New cities appear, old ones grow. The population of Siberia and the Far East grew to 4.3 million people in 1885. By 1897, the population of the eastern part of Russia had grown to 6 million people. The Russians established control over Sakhalin, built the forts of Nikolaevsk and Mariinsk at the mouth of the Amur.
An "Eastern" party is being formed in St. Petersburg, which saw the future of Russia in the creation of the Great Eastern Empire, which could become a new center of the world. Fyodor Dostoevsky already sensed this opportunity promising colossal changes: “With a turn to Asia, with our new outlook on it, we may have something like something that happened to Europe when America was discovered. For truly, Asia for us is the same America of that time that was not yet discovered by us. With an aspiration to Asia, we will revive the rise of spirit and strength … In Europe we were hangers-on and slaves, and in Asia we will appear as masters. In Europe we were Tatars, and in Asia we are Europeans. Our civilizing mission in Asia will bribe our spirit and take us there."
The poet and geopolitician V. Bryusov considered the Western liberal-democratic ideal of political structure unsuitable for the vast Russia if she hopes to defend her identity, her special place on Earth, both in the West and in the East. Bryusov singled out two world antagonists, the two main forces of the world's foreign policy evolution - Britain and Russia, the first as the mistress of the sea, and the second - of the land. Bryusov, by virtue of his poetic (deep) and geopolitical vision, set before Russia a "non-Western" task: in the XX century. mistress of Asia and the Pacific”. Not a merger with the West, but a concentration of forces to turn the Pacific Ocean into "our lake" - this is how Bryusov saw a historical perspective for Russia.
It was obvious that in Europe Russia looked like a backward power, an importer of capital and technology, a supplier of raw materials (bread), calling on Western capitalists and managers. In Asia, Russia was an advanced power that could bring progress and modernization to Korea, China and Japan.
The idea of one of the main builders of the "Eastern Empire" - Minister of Finance S. Yu. Witte, outlined to Tsar Alexander III in 1893, was very tempting: "On the Mongol-Tibet-Chinese border, major changes are inevitable, and these changes can harm Russia, if European politics prevails here, but these changes can be infinitely blessed for Russia if it manages to enter Eastern European affairs earlier than Western European countries … From the shores of the Pacific Ocean, from the heights of the Himalayas, Russia will dominate not only Asian development, but also over Europe. Being on the borders of two so different worlds, East Asian and West European, having firm contacts with both, Russia, in fact, is a special world. Its independent place in the family of peoples and its special role in world history are determined by its geographical position and, in particular, by the nature of its political and cultural development, carried out through lively interaction and a harmonious combination of three creative forces, which manifested themselves in this way only in Russia. The first is Orthodoxy, which has preserved the true spirit of Christianity as the basis of upbringing and education; secondly, autocracy as the basis of state life; thirdly, the Russian national spirit, which serves as the basis for the internal unity of the state, but free from the assertion of nationalist exclusivity, to a great extent capable of friendly comradeship and cooperation of the most diverse races and peoples. It is on this basis that the entire building of Russian power is being built, which is why Russia cannot simply join the West … Russia appears before the Asian peoples as the bearer of the Christian ideal and Christian enlightenment not under the banner of Europeanization, but under its own banner."
You can agree with many things here and even subscribe. The problem was that Russia was already late with the mission of cultural and material enlightenment and progress of the East. This should have been taken care of a few decades ago, when it was possible to build friendly, mutually beneficial relations with Japan, before its "discovery" by the West and Westernization under the influence of the Anglo-Saxons; when they had not yet sold Russian America, when they annexed the Amur region and could expand the sphere of influence in China without the resistance of competitors. However, in the 1890s - early XX century, the West already conceptually controlled the Japanese Empire and sent a "samurai ram" against China in order to enslave it even more. And against Russia, in order to play off the two great Asian powers and knock the Russians out of the Far East, again directing their energy to the West, where the Anglo-Saxons were gradually preparing a great war between the Russians and the Germans. The West beat the Celestial Empire in the "opium wars", turned it into its semi-colony, and it could not independently choose a course of strategic rapprochement with the Russians. Russia could not rely on China. Thus, St. Petersburg was late with the project of active development of Asia. Intensive penetration into China and Korea led to a war with Japan, behind which stood the powerful British Empire and America. It was a "trap" aimed at diverting Russian resources from internal development, "bury" them in China and "present" to Japan, as well as play off Russia and Japan. The conflict led to the destabilization of the Russian Empire, the revolution, which was supported by behind-the-scenes world centers, Western intelligence services and Japan. De facto, it was a dress rehearsal of the First World War, the main goal of which was the destruction of the Russian Empire and civilization, the capture and plundering of the resources of vast Russia by Western predators.
However, this did not bother the representatives of the "Eastern" party. Russia followed the path of the capitalist countries, but was somewhat late. Russian capitalists needed sales markets, sources of cheap raw materials and labor. All this Russia could teach only in the East, since the Russian Empire could not compete on equal terms with the Western powers in Europe. Supporters of Russian expansion in the East believed that trade with China would be one of the cornerstones of Russian power: the West's connection with a huge part of Asia would depend on Russia, and this would raise its strategic importance. With the help of economic and diplomatic ties, Russia will become a de facto protectorate of China. Ahead were bright prospects of custody of Asia. Petersburg forgot that Britain and France had already put the Celestial Empire under their control, that America, Germany and Japan were rushing to China. They did not intend to let Russia into China, except as a "junior partner" against whom the Japanese and the Chinese could be incited.
Relations with Japan did not work out. The Japanese Empire was "discovered" by the Westerners at gunpoint and followed the path of Westernization; its policy followed the global policy of the Anglo-Saxons. Early attempts by Russia to mend relations with Japan were unsuccessful. Nicholas II missed the last chance. He had a personal reason to dislike the Japanese. Tsarevich Nicholas traveled around the world, and in 1891 a small squadron of the heir to the throne arrived in Japan. In one of the Japanese cities, the unexpected happened. Tsuda Sanzo attacked Nikolai with a sword and wounded him. As a result, the impression of Japan as an irrational hostile force was deposited in the memory of the future king. Even in official documents, Nikolai, who was a very polite person, called the Japanese "macaques." Japan, on the other hand, copied not only the technologies of the West, but also its policies. The Japanese began to create their colonial empire, claiming the place of the main predator in the Asia-Pacific region. To begin with, the Japanese decided to knock out the "weak links": the main Asian competitor - the decrepit and enslaved by the West, the Celestial Empire, and Russia, whose main economic centers and military forces were in the west of the empire. China, Korea and Russia were to provide the Japanese predator with the necessary resources for further growth and expansion.
The Japanese have skillfully adopted Western experience. The fleet was modernized under the leadership of the British. Admiral Nelson's ideas - to suddenly beat enemy fleets in their own ports, were revived by the Japanese. The army was improved by Prussian-German instructors, from whom the Japanese adopted the idea of "Cannes" - maneuvers to envelop and encircle the enemy's army (the Japanese generals skillfully applied this concept against the Russian army, forcing it to consistently retreat with their roundabout maneuvers). Thus, the West created a "Japanese ram", which should stop the movement of Russians in the Pacific Ocean.
In Russia, almost all but the most far-sighted (Admiral Makarov) missed Japan's phenomenal growth. Petersburg did not notice how Japan, after a period of explosive and successful Westernization in the field of economy and military affairs, became our main enemy in the Far East. The Anglo-Saxons themselves did not intend to fight the Russians in the Pacific Ocean, but trained and used the Japanese as their "cannon fodder". The transformative role of the Meiji revolution in St. Petersburg was underestimated. The ease of conquering the feudal-slave-owning Turkestan, the victory in the last Russian-Turkish war, the looseness and weakness of China played a cruel joke on the Russian imperial machine. Plus the traditional calculation of "maybe", "shapkozakidatelstvo". They say that huge Russia can easily cope with small Japan, which was not seen as a serious threat. Even Japan's quick and easy victory over China (1895) did not lead to an overestimation of the capabilities of the island empire. This underestimation of the enemy and even contempt for him ("macaques") cost Russia dearly.
