The establishment of the Russian consulate in Uliassutai in the context of the strategic interaction between the Russian and Qing empires of the early 20th century

The present work deals with one of the understudied issues of the history of Russian-Chinese-Mongolian interaction in the late 19th century - the early 20th century related to the establishment of the Russian consulate in Uliassutai (now Uliastai, Mongolia). This city, along with Kalgan (Zhangjiakou), Urga (Kulun) and Kyakhta, was an important node of the Russian-Chinese trade’s “western” route and center of the Qing military administration in Mongolia (the residence of the Uliassutai jiangjun). However, despite the significance of this city, the large number of Russian traders in the vast territory of Western Mongolia and their strong need for consular protection since the 1850s, as well as Russia’s right to open new consulates obtained under the treaty of St. Petersburg (1881), the imperial consulate in Uliassutai was officially established not earlier than 1909. By this time the only Russian consulate (in Urga, est. in 1861) operated in Mongolia. This study helps to reconstruct the process of creation of the first Russian consulate in Western Mongolia, the complicated negotiations with the Qing government and the work of the diplomat V.V. Dolbezhev, who unofficially performed consular duties in Uliassutai in 1906-1909. The analysis based on a wide range of mostly unpublished archival sources indicates that the establishment of this consulate was the result of a considerable diplomatic effort and interaction of a whole number of institutions from both the Russian and Qing sides in the context of the significant difference between two states’ interests and diplomatic approaches. In unfavorable international circumstances defined by the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan’s further activity and the advancement of other “great powers” in the Far East along with Beijing’s hard line against new “outposts” of Russia’s influence and military strengthening of Altai, Russia, through the tireless work of diplomats in Petersburg, Mongolia and China finally managed to reach agreement with the Qing on the terms of a new consulate’s establishment. Having realized the necessity of the consulate in Uliassutai for defending Russia’s political and economic interests in the region, the Russian government in the next few years used efforts to open the additional consular offices in Khobdo (Khovd) and Shara-Sume (Chenghua). These measures significantly strengthened the protection of Russian interests in Western Mongolia and Altai, contributed to the resolution of numerous problems related to economic activities of Russian subjects in Mongolia, streamlined contacts with the local Manchu (later - with Chinese) and Mongol authorities, and in many respects made possible the prominent role of Russian consular officers in Mongolia's development and in mediation of Mongolian-Chinese contradictions in the 1910s.

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