Elena Ivanovna Nesterova,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Opening of the Russian Consulate General in Harbin: Prehistory (1906–1907)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-3-5
The alliance treaty between China and Russia (05.22.1896), the contract for the construction and operation of the Chinese Eastern Railway (08.27.1896), and the convention on the Liaodong Peninsula (03.15.1898) made Russia’s priority in Manchuria obvious. However, the Russo-Japanese War changed the situation. After its end and the signing of the Japanese-Chinese agreement, the Chinese government decided to open a number of cities in Manchuria to foreigners from January 1, 1907. Thanks to this, any state could establish its own consulate in open cities. In the context of competition for the expansion of spheres of influence in China, the question of consulates acquired special importance. The very fact of their creation was an important means of strengthening the influence of a state both in the region and in the country. The specificity of Harbin was that by the time the Russian consulate was established, institutions (both Russian and Russian-Chinese) that partially performed consular functions had been operating there for several years. The article attempts to identify institutions that are significant in this aspect, to trace the conditions of their emergence, the scope of competencies and powers, and the mechanism of communication with regional and central Chinese authorities. The analysis of this subject allows us to further study the activities of the Russian consuls in Manchuria and to more clearly understand the situation in which they had to protect the interests of the Russian Empire and its subjects.
Publishing: 28/06/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 01/03/2023
How to cite: Nesterova E.I. Opening of the Russian Consulate General in Harbin: Prehistory (1906–1907) // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 3 (29), pp. 67–79. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-3-05.pdf]
Links: Issue 3 2023
Keywords: Harbin; Russian Consulate; diplomatic agent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Manchuria; mixed courts; D.D. Pokotilov; V.F. Luba