In Case of War With a Sworn Friend (Russia's Chinese Political Projects in the Military Agents' Reports at the Turn of the 20th Century)

The article aims to analyse the Russian-Chinese relations through the eyes of the Russian military agents who, at the turn of the 20th century, came to China, Mongolia, Manchuria with military and scientific purposes. Being professional military servicemen, they built their strategy towards China, whose priority was the power pressure on the nearest neighbour. They believed it would clarify the situation with determining the political leader in the Far East. The main sources of the material for the article were military agents' reports published by the Military-Scientific Committee of the General Staff under the "top secret" seal. The reports were complete geographical, geological, economic, ethnographic investigations. Their authors considered any trifle thing to be decisive at war. The authors of the article divided the reports into two groups: those written before the 20th century and in the 20th century. The two events that separate the groups of the reports were the Boxer Rebellion suppressed with the participation of Russia and the Russo-Japanese War which questioned Russian military strength. The latter influenced the intonation of the reports, it became aggressive as military actions were supposed to restore the unsteady Russian prestige. The main issues discussed in the reports were the relief of the future military activity area, fighting efficiency, the Chinese Mongolian tribes' sentiment and their attitude towards Russia. The investigations aimed at clarifying the possibility for Russian forces' movement, the conscripted Mongolian tribes' behavior and their loyalty to the potential conqueror. Examining the military agents' analysis, the authors came to the following conclusions. The military agents considered war activities to be the main means to strengthen Russia's prestige in the East even at the end of 19th century with the public believing the two powers would develop peaceful relations. There was no doubt in Russia's victory in case of a war with China: the Russian army had a high fighting efficiency; China had conflicts with the minor peoples of the Middle Empire. Russia mainly hoped for Mongolia as an ally in the war against China. According to the projects, Mongolia would willingly get rid of the Chinese protection and accept the Russian patronage. The Mongolian Independence Declaration after the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 demanded building a strategy of relations with the new trading partner. In order to force out the rivals from the Mongolian market, Russia had to create a transport infrastructure on its territory, leaving China behind. The construction of the Kyakhta railway branch through Mongolia to Urga, which was to be connected to the Trans-Siberian railway, did not give the economic competitors any chance to dominate in the Mongolian economic area.

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