The Russo-Chinese Bank as an Instrument of Russian Eastward Expansion (at the Turn of the XX Century)

Abstract

The article attempts to define the role of the Russo-Chinese Bank in strengthening Russian influence in one of the regions of Qing China - Mongolia. Russia, which earlier practiced military and diplomatic methods to control territories in the sphere of its influence, in the late 19th century realized that the former ways of expansion did not meet the needs of the time. The Qing Empire, which was in political and economic crisis after its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, was seen by the Tsarist autocracy as the most attractive location for capital. The main mechanism for incorporating Mongolia into the orbit of Russian influence was the Russo-Chinese Bank, which was established as Russia's financial intermediary in Asia. The Russian Empire's goals were political in nature: Mongolia was seen as a potential theatre of military action in a possible clash with China. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the process of Russia's development of a banking network in Mongolia during the industrial boom of the empire at the turn of the 20th century. The analysis of documents preserved in the funds of the State Archives of the Republic of Buryatia and the business correspondence of the military governor of the Transbaikal Region showed that the appearance of the Russo-Chinese Bank in the Mongolian financial market contributed to the development of Russia-Mongolia relations, the growth of trade and industrial production in Mongolia and the frontier areas and the making of the credit and financial system of Mongolia. The Russian banking institution also accomplished its political mission of allying with the ruling circles of the empire and facilitating Russian economic expansion in Inner Asia.