The Construction And Influence Of The Hulan-hailun Railway During The 1920s

The Hulan-Hailun Railway is a self-built national railway designed and constructed by Chinese,which was completely funded by Heilongjiang government of the Republic of China and the people.The southern end of the railway was Majiachuankou,in the north shore of Songhua River,Harbin.And it went northward to Hailun in the hinterland of Heilongjiang via Hulan,Kangjinjing,Shirencheng,Suihua and Xinglong Town.There had been the motion about the construction of Hulan-Hailun Railway since the late Qing Dynasty.At the beginning of the twentieth century,the tsarist Russia grabbed the wealth of the northeast through the China-Eastern Railway,controlled the economic lifeline of the northeast and intended to colonize Northeast China.Faced with the grim situation,the officials and people in Heilongjiang proposed a plan to construct a railway from Majiachuankou in the north shore of Songhua River,Harbin northward to Aihui(now Heihe)via Hulan,Suihua and Hailun in order to fight for the rights against big powers,and safeguard national independence and territorial integrity.However,due to the long route and the difficulties in fund raising,it failed at last.Later,the parliament of Heilongjiang passed the resolution about the construction of the railway from Majiachuankou to Hailun.But it was unsettled because of the difficulties in fund raising and the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911.In the later decades,after experiencing the frustrations like being forced to sign Russia-Asia contract by Russia and being deceived by Russian traders Segis brothers,the officials and people in Heilongjiang decided to construct the Hulan-Hailun Railway all by themselves instead of borrowing foreign capital.In August,1925,it finally began to construct the Hulan-Hailun Railway.After the construction of over two years,the whole railway line was opened to traffic in December,1927.In the paper,there are mainly three parts to study and introduce the construction background,construction process of the Hulan-Hailun Railway and the impact on the regions along the railway.In the first part,it is the construction background of the Hulan-Hailun Railway.The successful construction of the Hulan-Hailun Railway is mainly due to the strong desire of the government and people in Heilongjiang to construct the railway.As for the desire,on the one hand,it is to resist the economic aggression of the big powers against the northeast.On the other hand,it is to develop the local economy and improve the income and living standards of the people along the railway.Besides,it should also depend on the valuable experience accumulated and relevant professionals trained in the railway construction of the past twenty years in the northeast.In addition,the support and promotion of government officials like Wu Junsheng also provided significant assistance for the construction of the Hulan-Hailun Railway.In the second part,it is about construction process of the Hulan-Hailun Railway.In order to construct the Hulan-Hailun Railway,Heilongjiang government successively founded the Head Office of Hulan-Hailun Railway and Engineering Bureau of Hulan-Hailun Railway,two administration and operation institutions.The former is responsible for fund raising and the latter is responsible for the specific matters ofconstruction.The third part is the impact after the construction of the railway.To some extent,the opening of Hulan-Hailun Railway divides the economic interests of the China-Eastern Railway and promotes the economic development and urbanization of the regions along the railway.Besides,the opening to traffic of Hulan-Hailun Railway is of great significance to strengthen the public security and frontier defense in the northern part of Heilongjiang Province,and rescue the refugees and victims inside Shanhaiguan.