Russia Research In Northeast China From The End Of The 19th Century To The Beginning Of The 20th Century

In the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries,as Russia’s capitalist economy grew stronger and the international situation changed,Russia turned to the East in its foreign strategy and carried out a great deal of research to gather information about the north-east of China,which had previously received less attention.Russian investigators in various capacities entered the north-east of China to conduct research in various forms and fields,including physical geography,demography and customs,and economic development.This article takes the Russian investigations in Northeast China from the end of the19 th century to the beginning of the 20 th century as its research content,and analyses the economic and political motives behind the Russian investigations through the study of historical documents,investigation reports and other primary sources.The paper then briefly describes the economic and political motivations behind the survey activities,summarises the characteristics of the surveys and their political motivations,and explores the results and perceptions of the surveys,and summarises the impact of the findings on the perceptions and actions taken in Russia towards north-eastern China.The study of Russian investigations into north-eastern China in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries is divided into three main sections.The introduction outlines the state of research on the subject by scholars at home and abroad,as well as the features and innovations of the paper.The main text is divided into four chapters: Chapter 1 analyses the historical background and motivation of Russia’s intensified research efforts in Northeast China;Chapter 2 examines the Russian investigations in Northeast China from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century and explores the characteristics of these investigations;Chapter 3 summarises the content of Russian investigations in Northeast China and the information obtained;Chapter 4 summarises the understanding gained from these investigations and their implications for Russia’s domestic and international relations in Northeast China.Chapter 4 summarises what was learned from these investigations and what impact they had on Russian domestic perceptions of north-eastern China and on the decisions of the Russian hierarchy towards China.The concluding remarks suggest that the large number of investigations Russia was able to carry out in north-eastern China between the end of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century was closely linked to the changing situation in Russia and abroad.Although the scope and form of these investigations differed,the official background of the investigators and the political orientation of the investigations with the fundamental aim of controlling north-eastern China were the common defining features of these investigations.On the one hand,these surveys obtained important first-hand information and data on the physical conditions of the north-east,the size and distribution of the population,the life and customs of the various ethnic groups in the north-east,and the development of agriculture in the north-east,which provided important information for the understanding and study of China within Russia;on the other hand,these surveys obtained information on the state of the roads,the distribution of the Chinese army,the trade data between the two countries,and the information presented by the surveyors in their reports,such as On the other hand,the information obtained from these surveys on the state of the roads,the distribution of the Chinese army,the trade data between the two countries,and the ideas and suggestions made by the surveyors in their reports on how to "conquer" north-eastern China eventually provided references and "ideas" for the Tsarist regime’s foreign expansion policy and influenced the formulation of Russian decisions on China.