Synopses & Reviews
In 1898, near the projected intersection of the Chinese Eastern Railroad (the last leg of the Trans-Siberian) and Chinas Sungari River, Russian engineers founded the city of Harbin. Between the survey of the site and the profound dislocations of the 1917 revolution, Harbin grew into a bustling multiethnic urban center with over 100,000 inhabitants. In this area of great natural wealth, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and American ambitions competed and converged, and sometimes precipitated vicious hostilities.
Drawing on the archives, both central and local, of seven countries, this history of Harbin presents multiple perspectives on Imperial Russias only colony. The Russian authorities at Harbin and their superiors in St. Petersburg intentionally created an urban environment that was tolerant not only toward their Chinese host, but also toward different kinds of “Russians.” For example, in no other city of the Russian Empire were Jews and Poles, who were numerous in Harbin, encouraged to participate in municipal government. The book reveals how this liberal Russian policy changed the face and fate of Harbin.
As the history of Harbin unfolds, the narrative covers a wide range of historiographic concerns from several national histories. These include: the role of the Russian finance minister Witte, the building of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, the origins of Stolypins reforms, the development of Siberia and the Russian Far East, the 1905 Revolution, the use of ethnicity as a tool of empire, civil-military conflict, strategic area studies, Chinese nationalism, the Japanese decision for war against the Russians, Korean nationalism in exile, and the rise of the soybean as an international commodity. In all these concerns, Harbin was a vibrant source of creative, unorthodox policy and turbulent economic and political claims.
Synopsis
“This outstanding work, the first scholarly history of the formative years of the city of Harbin, is much more than urban or regional history. It responds to a need to understand...a unique experience, where local, national, and world cultures, economies, and politics intersected.”—Thomas Lahusen, Duke University
Synopsis
Wolff's study presents a fascinating insight into Imperial Russia's only colony.
About the Author
David Wolff is the co-editor, with Stephen Kotkin, of Rediscovering Russia in Asia and editor of the Cold War International History Project Bulletin.
Table of Contents
Introduction; 1. Constructions; 2. Interministerial rivalry as a way of life; 3. Manchurian colonization: policy, results and feedback; 4. War, revolution and politics: Harbin, 1904-1908; 5. Know thine enemy, know thyself: Russian orientology in the borderlands; Conclusion; Appendix; Notes; Bibliography; Index.