Russian entrepreneurs in exile: Manchuria, 1920s

• Published in: Исторический журнал: научные исследования no. 5; pp. 138 - 147
• Main Author: Nechaeva, Anzhelika Sergeevna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2023
• ISSN: 2454-0609; 2454-0609
• DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2023.5.43696

The article examines the main directions and problems of the development of Russian entrepreneurship in Northeast China in the 1920s. Based on the analysis of the emigrant press and reference literature of the 1920s, documents of Soviet foreign policy, as well as the results of scientific research, the author assesses the activities of entrepreneurs and the difficulties that complicated it. The question describes the activities of the white emigrant industries established before the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War on the territory of the former Russian Empire (1917–1922); the impact of European and North American business on the development of the economy of Manchuria in general and on Russian business in particular; the impact of the multinational composition of the Russian diaspora on the specifics of the development of white immigrant entrepreneurship; the activities of charitable organizations that actively supported emigrants in difficult life situations; the growing needs of the population in connection with the improvement of the quality of work and the growth of production activity. Summing up the research, the author notes the following points that caused difficulties in the sphere of entrepreneurial activity of Russians: unstable financial market; the presence of competition in the face of European merchants; restrictions on the part of local authorities caused by the growth of Chinese nationalism; the Soviet-Chinese conflict over the status of the CER, which not only brought regular income to white immigrants, but also provided many jobs; as well as an increase in the number of Hunghuz gangs due to weak protection of the North-eastern suburbs. Despite all the existing problems, the Russian diaspora in the 1920s made a significant contribution to the economy of the region, engaging in trade, the development of new industries, the creation of the banking system, participation in charity events.