Russian expansion in the early 1900s
Russians reached the Pacific coast in 1647 with the establishment of
Okhotsk, and the
Russian Empire consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century, after the
annexation of part of Chinese
Manchuria (1858–1860).
Primorskaya Oblast was established as a separate
administrative division of the Russian Empire in 1856, with its administrative center at
Khabarovsk.
Administrative history Several entities with the name "Far East" existed in the first half of the 20th century, all with rather different boundaries: • 1918–1922: the , which encompassed
Green Ukraine; • 1920–1922: the
Far Eastern Republic, which included
Transbaikal,
Amur,
Primorskaya, and
Kamchatka Oblasts and northern
Sakhalin; • 1922–1926: , which included the
Amur,
Transbaikal and
Kamchatka Governorates and others; • 1926–1938:
Far-Eastern Krai, which included the present-day
Primorsky and
Khabarovsk Krais. Until 2000 the Russian Far East lacked officially defined boundaries. A single term "Siberia and the Far East" () often referred to Russia's regions east of the
Urals without drawing a clear distinction between "Siberia" and "the Far East". In 2000 Russia's
federal subjects were grouped into larger
federal districts, one of which, the
Far Eastern Federal District, comprised
Amur Oblast, the
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the
Jewish Autonomous Oblast,
Kamchatka Oblast with the
Koryak Autonomous Okrug,
Khabarovsk Krai,
Magadan Oblast,
Primorsky Krai, the
Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, and
Sakhalin Oblast. In November 2018
Zabaykalsky Krai and the
Republic of Buryatia were added; they had previously formed part of the
Siberian Federal District. Since 2000, Russians have increasingly used the term "Far East" to refer to the federal district, though the term is often also used more loosely. Defined by the boundaries of the federal district, the Far East has an area of —over one-third of Russia's total area.
Russo-Japanese War Russia in the early 1900s persistently sought a warm-water port on the
Pacific Ocean for the
Imperial Russian Navy as well as to facilitate maritime trade. The recently established Pacific seaport of
Vladivostok (founded in 1860) was operational only during the summer season, but
Port Arthur (leased by Russia from China from 1896 onward) in Manchuria could operate all year. After the
First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the failure of the 1903 negotiations between
Japan and the
Tsar Nicholas II's government, Japan chose war to protect its domination of
Korea and adjacent territories. Russia, meanwhile, saw war as a means of distracting its populace from government repression and of rallying patriotism in the aftermath of several general strikes. Japan issued a declaration of war on 8 February 1904. Three hours before Japan's declaration of war was received by the Russian government, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the Russian
1st Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur. Eight days later Russia declared war on Japan. The war ended in September 1905 with a Japanese victory following the fall of Port Arthur and the failed Russian invasion of Japan through the Korean Peninsula and
Northeast China; also, Japan had threatened to invade
Primorsky Krai via Korea. The warring parties signed the
Treaty of Portsmouth on 5 September 1905, and both Japan and Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria and to return its sovereignty to China, but Japan was allowed to lease the
Liaodong Peninsula (containing Port Arthur and
Talien, aka
Kwantung Leased Territory), and the
Russian rail system in southern Manchuria with its access to strategic resources. Japan also received the
southern half of the island of
Sakhalin from Russia. In 1907 Japan forced Russia to confiscate land from Korean settlers (who formed the majority of Primorsky Krai's population) due to a fear of an invasion of Korea and of the ousting of Japanese troops by Korean guerrillas.
Soviet era Between 1937 and 1939, the Soviet Union under
Joseph Stalin deported
over 200,000 Koreans to
Uzbekistan and
Kazakhstan, fearing that the Koreans might act as spies for Japan. Many Koreans died on the way in cattle trains due to starvation, illness, or freezing conditions. Soviet authorities purged and executed many community leaders;
Koryo-saram were not allowed to travel outside of Central Asia for the next 15 years. Koreans were also not allowed to use the Korean language and its use began to become lost with the involvement of the
Koryo-mar dialect and the use of Russian. Development of numerous remote locations in the Soviet Far East relied on
Gulag labour camps during Stalin's rule, especially in the region's northern half. After the death of Stalin in 1953 the large-scale use of
forced labour waned and was superseded by volunteer employees attracted by relatively high wages.
Soviet–Japanese conflicts During the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Soviets occupied
Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island,
Yinlong Island, and several adjacent islets to separate the city of
Khabarovsk from the territory controlled by a possibly hostile power. Indeed, Japan turned its military attention to Soviet territories. Conflicts between the Japanese and the Soviets frequently happened on the border of Manchuria between 1938 and 1945. The first confrontation occurred in Primorsky Krai, the
Battle of Lake Khasan (July–August 1938) involved an attempted military incursion of Japanese-controlled
Manchukuo into territory claimed by the Soviet Union. This incursion was founded in the beliefs of the Japanese side that the Soviet Union had misinterpreted the demarcation of the boundary based on the 1860
Treaty of Peking between Imperial Russia and
Manchu China. Primorsky Krai was always threatened by a Japanese invasion despite the fact that most of the remaining clashes occurred in Manchukuo. The clashes ended shortly before and after the conclusion of
World War II (see
Soviet–Japanese War) when a war-weakened Japan found its territories of Manchukuo,
Mengjiang,
Korea, and
South Sakhalin invaded by Soviet and Mongolian troops (August 1945).
World War II Both the Soviet Union and Japan regarded the Primorsky Krai as a strategic location in World War II, and clashes over the territory were common. The Soviets and the other
Allies considered it a key location for the planned
invasion of Japan through Korea; Japan viewed it as a key location to begin a
mass invasion of Eastern Russia. The Primorsky Krai served as the Soviet Union's Pacific headquarters in the war to plan an invasion for allied troops of Korea in order to reach Japan. After the Soviet invasion, the USSR returned Manchukuo and Mengjiang to China;
Korea became liberated. The Soviet Union also occupied and annexed Japan's
Kuril Islands and southern Sakhalin. The planned Soviet invasion of Japan proper never happened.
Cold War During the
Korean War, Primorsky Krai became the site of extreme security concern for the Soviet Union.
Vladivostok was the site of the
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in 1974. At the time, the Soviet Union and the United States decided quantitative limits on various nuclear weapons systems and banned the construction of new land-based
ICBM launchers. Vladivostok and other cities in Primorsky Krai soon became
closed cities because of the bases of the
Soviet Pacific Fleet. Incursions of
American reconnaissance aircraft from
Alaska sometimes happened. Concerns of the Soviet military caused the infamous
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 incident in 1983.
Russian Federation Russian Homestead Act In 2016, President
Vladimir Putin proposed the
Russian Homestead Act to populate the Russian Far East. ==Demographics==