Settlement The first generation of
Harbin Russians were mostly the builders and employees of the
Chinese Eastern Railway. They moved to Harbin in order to work on the railroad. At the time Harbin was not an established city. The city was built almost entirely from scratch by the builders and early settlers. Houses were constructed, furniture and personal items were brought in from Russia. After the
Russo-Japanese War, while many Russians left Harbin, a lot of long-time residents decided to stay. By 1913, Harbin had become an established Russian colony for the construction and maintenance work on the
China Eastern Railway. A record shows Harbin had a total of 68,549 people, most of
Russian and
Chinese descent. There were a total of 53 different nationalities. Along with
Russian and
Chinese, there were 45 spoken languages used in Harbin at the time. Only 11.5% of all residents were born in Harbin. There were also lively religious activities, by the Russians (
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin), Ukrainians (
Church of the Intercession in Harbin), Poles (
Sacred Heart Cathedral of Harbin), Germans (
Harbin Nangang Christian Church), Danish (Danish Lutheran Church), Russian
Molokane, and others. A few kilometers from Harbin, around the railway station of Asheng (Ashihé), there was, until 1955, a settlement of hundreds of
White Russians. A large community, it had an orthodox church, independent college, library and social club. The common language was Russian, with some Siberian variations. Many Czarist Imperial officers amongst "old believers" contributed to maintain strong links to Russian culture, literature and music. Almost the entire population of Asheng emigrated to Australia and Brazil.
World War I and the Russian Revolution In the decade from 1913 to 1923, Russia went through
World War I, the
Russian Revolution, and the
Russian Civil War. In the 1920s Harbin was flooded with 100,000 to 200,000
White émigrés fleeing from Russia. They were mostly officers and soldiers involved in the
White movement, members of the White governments in
Siberia and
Russian Far East. There were both the
intelligentsia and ordinary people. While many fleeing the Russian Revolution and Civil War stayed in Harbin, large numbers merely used Harbin as a way point to other destinations across the Pacific. Harbin held the largest Russian population outside of the state of Russia.
Under Chinese control On September 8, 1920, the Republic of China announced that it would no longer recognize the Russian consulates in China. On September 23, China ceased relations with representatives of the
Russian Empire and deprived Russians of extraterritorial rights. Overnight, Russians in China found themselves
stateless. Shortly afterward, the Chinese government took over control of institutions in Harbin such as courts, police, prison, post office, and some research and educational institutions. In 1924, an agreement was signed in
Beijing regarding the control of the
Chinese Eastern Railway. The agreement stated that only
Soviet and Chinese citizens could be employed by the CER. This meant the Harbin Russians had to choose not only their nationality, but also their political identity. Many Harbin Russians took Soviet citizenship for
patriotic reasons or a genuine support for communism. However, there were also Harbin Russians who remained stateless who were eventually let go from CER. Gradually, the national and the political identity of the Harbin Russians split the group into opposing sides. This eventually led to a strongly pro-Soviet sentiment in Harbin. In 1929, the
Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception opened the
Lyceum St. Nicholas, which educated the Christian male elite until 1949.
Japanese occupation In the 1930s, the
Japanese occupied
Manchuria, and turned it into the
puppet state of
Manchukuo. In 1935, the
Soviet Union sold its share of the
China Eastern Railway to Japan via Manchukuo. In the spring and summer of 1935, thousands of Harbin Russians went on trains with their passports and belongings, and left for the Soviet Union. Many Harbin Russians returned to the
Soviet Union after 1935. After the return most of them were
arrested, accused of anti-Soviet activities and a large number of them were executed. Some Harbin Russians moved to other cities, such as
Shanghai,
Beijing,
Tianjin, and
Qingdao, and eventually left China. By the 1930s, Shanghai's Russian community had grown to 25,000. The anti-Communist Harbin Russians formed the
Russian Fascist Party (RFP). The RFP was anti-semitic and harassed the Jewish Harbin Russians with, among other things, kidnappings, and many Russian Jews therefore left Harbin. In 1934, the Japanese formed the , (BREM} who were nominally under the control of RFP; the BREM provided identification papers necessary to live, work and travel in Manchukuo. White General
Vladimir Kislitsin acted as BREM's chairman between 1938 and 1942. Ataman
Grigory Semyonov, himself much in favor with the Japanese, replaced him from 1943 to 1945. The Harbin Russians were left to choose between a Soviet citizenship or to remain stateless by support of the BREM. The stateless Russians were officially favored by the regime, but in reality, they were not trusted and exposed to a great risk of being arrested as spies for the Soviet Union. They were also often enlisted in the army for work along the border to the Soviet Union. After the
Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 they were in an even more sensitive situation. To separate the anti-Soviet Russians from the Soviet Russians, the former were ordered to wear a badge with the colors of the Czar — later, a white numbered disk of aluminum. The Soviet Russians were excluded from the Russian schools and their property was often confiscated, but they were under the protection of the Soviet Embassy.
After World War II In 1945, after the
Soviet Army occupied Harbin, the Soviets held a series of trials for all the Harbin Russians they identified as
White Guardists and those who had collaborated with the Japanese authorities; many were sentenced to labour camps. In 1949, following the establishment of the People's Republic of China — some Harbin Russians migrated to
Taiwan, the
United Kingdom, the
United States,
Canada,
Australia. After 1952, the Soviet Union initiated a second wave of repatriation of Harbin Russians. By the mid-1960s virtually all Harbin Russians had left Harbin, most of them immigrating to the USSR. There were several
Russian connections in Australia resulting from refugees leaving Harbin. A good portion of the Russian
Old Believers went to South America. ==See also==