Russia полностью

Within ten years the extent of the Empire’s rail network grew by over 73 per cent, from little over 19,000 in 1890 to over 33,000 miles in 1900. By 1904 the lines extended over 38,000 miles. Thanks to the demand the project generated, pig-iron output rose three times over in the 1890s; steel production expanded tenfold. ²¹ There were huge expansions in coalmining, especially in southern Russia and Ukraine, and of iron in western Siberia, though textiles remained the Empire’s biggest industry of all. And, thanks to Vitte, the Empire’s finances remained stable throughout this period of disruptive change. Only, as he realized, a spirit of enterprise as well as capital and technical expertise were needed. Until they were found, Russia would still be in a position of dependence on more developed powers. Meanwhile, Vitte aimed to exploit the railway to promote further imperial expansion.

Three new provinces — Transbaikalia, the Amur and the Maritime Province — were created to organize these distant possessions. Further expansion in North America and the acquisition of California had been mooted in the 1820s and again in the 1830s, but Nicholas I had rejected the idea. The matter had been raised yet again in the 1850s. However, Count Muravev, governor of the furthest territories, who had himself annexed the lower Amur, understood that geography imposed limits to the growth of empires. Railway development reinforced him in the view. The wise men of St Petersburg concurred, and decided to limit the Empire to Europe and Asia. The strategic island of Sakhalin was occupied, but in 1867 Alaska, which had been acquired almost by default as a natural continuation of the exploration policy launched in the eighteenth century, was sold to the United States. ²² It was, after all, half a world away from St Petersburg, and boasted few obvious assets, yet funds had to be found for its administration and defence. It was a burden better disposed of.

Nevertheless, Vitte was minded to expand further into Asia, not only through territorial acquisition and direct rule, but, as great powers like Britain and America were now doing, through economic concessions and dominating influence. As he recalled in his memoirs, by May 1896, when royalty and statesmen gathered in St Petersburg for the coronation of Nicholas II,

Our great Trans-Siberian railway had almost reached Trans-Baikalia, and it became imperative to decide what route it should follow beyond that. It was quite natural that I should think of continuing it straight to Vladivostock, cutting through Mongolia and northern Manchuria [for] this would speed up its construction considerably In this way the Trans-Siberian would become … an artery of world-wide importance, connecting Japan and the … Far East with Russia and Europe. ²³

Vitte immediately sought out China’s chief minister, and struck a deal. Vladivostok duly became the terminus of the Trans-Siberian, and Manchuria opened up to Russian development. The price involved a commitment to defend China against attack from Japan.

Thanks to Vitte, Russia was also able to penetrate China economically, masterminding the foundation of the Russo-China Bank and negotiating controlling rights over the construction and running of the East China Railway. Military planning went hand in hand with economic penetration and diplomacy, and the military build-up in Transbaikalia and the Maritime Province on the Pacific played a part in China’s agreement two years later to cede the warm-water port of Lüshun (Port Arthur) on the peninsula dividing the Bay of Korea from the Gulf of Liautong to Russia for twenty-five years, and grant a concession to build a railway through southern Manchuria, which the Japanese had wanted to do. The achievement was the culmination of adroit Russian diplomacy over many months.

The encounters between Russians and Chinese which became much more frequent as a result were unusual in the history of imperialism. The Russian soldiers may have been under instruction not to antagonize the Chinese they encountered, and punishment for mistreating them was dra-conian (a soldier convicted twice for stealing was hanged). Even so, a visiting Englishman was astounded to find that ‘the Russians have no racial antipathy for the yellow race … The Russian soldiers and the Chinese fraternise as people belonging to the same race and the same class, and not only the soldiers but the officers treat the Chinese lower classes, and let themselves be treated, with great and good-natured familiarity.’ ²⁴ These soldiers presented a face of Russian imperialism that contrasted with the Cossack Khabarov’s bloody excursions through Dauria centuries earlier, and with the behaviour of Russian merchants in the region. China, of course, was a friendly power, but similarly humane and easygoing manners were to characterize Russians’ treatment of the Japanese, who were soon to be enemies.