THE IMPACT OF RUSSIA AND JAPAN ON CHINA

Russian influences significantly affected the course of

Chinese history during the first half of the twentieth

century, especially in the period prior to the Russo-Japanese

War, 1904-1905, during the mid 1920's, and certain pivotal

junctures after 1944; however, their effects on China pale

by comparison with the devastating impact on China of Japan's

emergence as the dominant economic and military power in East

Asia and its massive intervention in China before 1945.

Russian and Japanese Rivalry in China (1900-1919)

At the turn of the century, China and the inept Manchu

regime lay prostrate before the imperial ambitions and

depredations of Russia and Japan. Between 1900 and 1904,

Russia seized control of the 1300 mile Chinese Eastern Railway,

a key link with the Trans-Siberian Railway, fortified Southern

Manchurian ports and exerted pressure on Korea. Chubb said

that "by armed force, Russia had displaced the Manchu

governmental structure in Manchuria" (1971, p. 129).

Russia's southern expansion threatened Japan's dominant

position in Korea and its interests and aspirations in

Manchuria, Japan's main source of iron and coal and a potential

outlet for its rapidly increasing population. After securing its

flank by entering into the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of 1902, Japan

launched a surprise attack at Port Arthur and inflicted a

. . .
it [the Soviet Union] established in November 1921 a puppet republic in Outer Mongolia" (1993, p, 201). Russia regained tenuous control over the railways in Northern Manchuria but had to contend with the anti-Soviet and pro-Japanese machinations of the local warlord, Marshall Chang Tso-lin. The Soviet Union aligned itself with the forces of revolutionary nationalism in China. After the Russian Revolution, "some of China's brightest minds were drawn to the doctrines of Marxist socialism" (Spence, 1990, p. 272). Before Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, the Soviets forged an alliance with Sun's Kuomintang or Nationalist party to which it supplied millions of dollars in cash, substantial military assistance and political advice. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which had been founded in 1920 with the help of Soviet agents, was ordered by Stalin to cooperate with the Nationalists. Ultimately, Sun's successor, Chiang Kai-shek, broke with the communists, many of whom were massacred in Canton in 1927. Michael Borodin and other Soviet advisers were expelled. This represented a "dreadful reversal for Stalin
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, Chiang Kai-shek, Manchuria Tsou, Western Allies, Sino- Soviet, West Pelissier, War Wei, Nationalist China, Eastern Railway, Korea Chubb, soviet union, china russia, chiang kai-shek, influence china, northern manchuria, university press, spence 1990, coox 1978 313, 1920's china, chinese nationalism, soviet influence, chinese eastern railway,
Approximate Word count = 1787
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)