By the Trans-Siberian Railway to the East: the visit of Minister of Finance V.N. Kokovtsov to the Priamurskiy Military District in 1909

Using sources from the NA RF and RSHA FE, this article examines the history of the 1909 visit by V.N. Kokovtsov, Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire, to the Priamurskiy Military District. This visit was one of the key developments in discussions between War Minister V.A. Sukhomlinov and Minister of Finance V.N. Kokovtsov, not only regarding improvements to the defense capabilities of the Russian Far East before World War I, but also concerning general questions over the recovery of the Russian Army after the war with Japan and its sponsorship. Kokovtsov was an ambiguous character. Many contemporaries believed that he was a talented financier, but in military circles his reputation was entirely negative. The reason for this was not so much the regular shortfalls in the Treasury funds provided to the military because of budgetary deficits, as it was the Minister's regular interference in exclusively military questions and questions of military technology, as well as his attempts to resolve questions of national defense and insist on his own solutions to the Emperor. There were therefore regular disputes between V.N. Kokovtsov and V.A. Sukhomlinov which spread after World War I throughout the pages of the former Ministers' memoirs. One problem which was being discussed particularly fiercely following the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 was improvement to the defense capabilities of the Russian Far East. Two questions stood out as being of greatest importance. The first was the upgrading of defenses on the Amur, and the second was a radical reinforcement of the Vladivostok Fortress, which involved the building of a new main line of defenses on the land side, and the building of a lot of new batteries on the seaward side of the fortress. Discussions between the War Ministry and the Treasury over this question were drawn out to great length. As a result, it was in fact the Japanese Ambassador who reminded the Russian Emperor about the situation by calling on him not to reinforce the fortress at all. After this, Nicolas II sent V.N. Kokovtsov in person to the Priamurskiy Military District in October 1909 to investigate the situation on the ground. This investigation of archival materials shows that the military's accusations were entirely correct. In his most extensive report concerning the visit, the Minister of Finance did indeed interfere in the sphere of military, naval and military-technological questions and even in foreign policy questions. He described in detail his opinion on every question but was not able to understand many obvious realities which were matter of course to any officer. V.N. Kokovtsov had a one-track mind and in such situations looked at every question from the position of "the desperate necessity to completely axe the Treasury expenses". As a consequence of this situation, the War Ministry and the Admiralty were obliged to explain every little question, a circumstance which greatly inhibited their adjudication on much more important matters, including questions over the reinforcement of Vladivostok Fortress. The ministers were not able to keep national interests over departmental interests, and so the situation was reduced to one wherein each minister was fighting on the side of his own department instead of engaging in collective work for the good of the commonwealth.

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