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The Russian Commercial Fleet in the Treaty Ports of China in the Second Half of the 19th Century
- Authors: Hamzin I.R.1
-
Affiliations:
- Ural Federal University
- Issue: Vol 21, No 1 (2022): Far Eastern Cross-Border of Russia
- Pages: 19-33
- Section: FAR EASTERN CROSS-BORDER OF RUSSIA
- URL: https://journals.rudn.ru/russian-history/article/view/30359
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8674-2022-21-1-19-33
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Abstract
The article offers a comprehensive analysis of the activity of the Russian merchant fleet in China in the second half of the 19th century. This historical issue is particularly relevant in connection with the active development of modern foreign trade in China and the strengthening of Russian-Chinese trade and economic ties. The historical research is based on the materials of the central archives of Russian Federation (including the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire and the Russian State Historical Archive). The methodology is based on a comparative analysis of Russian shipping in China and similar activities of other foreigners, and a system analysis that allows us to study the issue in the context of the overall development of Russian-Chinese trade. An important component of the article is the statistical analysis of data on the development of maritime Russian-Chinese trade, foreign shipping in China, and freight rates. The article considers the development of the organization of maritime Russian-Chinese trade in Odessa and the Far East directions. On the example of several treaty ports (Hankou, Shanghai, and Chifu), the features of the development of Russian commercial navigation in Chinese waters and the accompanying complexities of this process are shown. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that there is a direct correlation between the level of infrastructure development in the Russian Far East and the expansion of the presence of the Russian merchant fleet in the treaty ports of China at the end of the 19th century.
Full text / tables, figures
Table 1
The total tonnage of the Chinese ports for 1864–1897
Флаг / Flag | Год / Year | |||
1864 | 1877 | 1887 | 1897 | |
Британия / Great Britain | 2 862 214 | 6 497 382 | 14 171 810 | 21 891 043 |
Германия / Germany | 580 570 | 496 908 | 1 480 083 | 1 658 094 |
США / USA | 2 609 390 | 556 112 | 66 539 | 269 780 |
Франция / France | 93 099 | 163 389 | 180 890 | 423 122 |
Япония / Japan | 756 | 115 263 | 306 169 | 660 707 |
Норвегия / Norway | 38 195 | 19 635 | 41 162 | 619 742 |
Россия / Russia | – | 5 058 | 51 335 | 145 660 |
Другие страны / Other countries | 396 673 | 155 330 | 231 550 | 264 234 |
Китай / China | 64 588 | 3 974 544 | 5 670 123 | 7 819 980 |
Всего / Total | 6 635 485 | 11 983 591 | 22 199 661 | 33 752 362 |
Source: Chong S. The foreign trade of China. New York, 1919. P. 295.
Table 2. Russian merchant ships arriving at the port of Hankou during 1886–1891
Year | Date | Steamship |
1886 | May 14 | “Carica” |
May 16 | “Rossiya” | |
June 3 | “Car” | |
1887 | May 16 | “Rossiya” |
May 23 | “Peterburg” | |
June 13 | “Moskva” | |
1888 | May 18 | “Moskva” |
May 28 | “Rossiya” | |
June 23 | “Kostroma” | |
June 27 | “Peterburg” | |
1889 | May 23 | “Moskva” |
June 2 | “Rossiya” | |
June 19 | “Kostroma” | |
June 27 | “Peterburg” | |
1890 | May 23 | “Orel” |
May 31 | “Peterburg” | |
June 12 | “Kostroma” | |
June 16 | “Москва” | |
June 23 | “Rossiya” | |
1891 | May 22 | “Orel” |
May 30 | “Peterburg” | |
June 8 | “N. Novgorod” | |
June 14 | “Moskva” | |
June 29 | “Kostroma” |
Source: Archive of foreign policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI), f. 143, op. 491, d. 396.
Table 3
Export of tea from Hankou to Odessa on Russian and foreign vessels
Year | Number | Goods sent, | Number | Goods sent, | Total |
1884 | 5 | 11 088 872 | 1 | 1 739 576 | 12 828 448 |
1885 | 4 | 6 588 893 | 1 | 2 047 780 | 8 636 673 |
1886 | 3 | 6 882 355 | 1 | 3 566 548 | 10 448 903 |
1887 | 3 | 7 424 104 | 2 | 4 921 938 | 12 346 042 |
1888 | 4 | 10 712 338 | 2 | 5 901 235 | 16 613 573 |
Source: AVPRI, f. 143, op. 491, d. 396, l. 60.
Table 4. Russian steamships in Shanghai in 1886–1888
Year | Steamship | Company | Arrival date |
1886 | “Baikal” | Shevelev & Co | March 11 |
“Baikal” | Shevelev & Co | April 14 | |
“Kostroma” | Dobrovol'nyi flot | June 22 | |
“Baikal” | Shevelev & Co | November 10 | |
1887 | “Vladivostok” | Dobrovol'nyi flot | March 6 |
“Baikal” | Shevelev & Co | March 19 | |
“Vladivostok” | Dobrovol'nyi flot | March 16 | |
“Baikal” | Shevelev & Co | April 11 | |
“Baikal” | Shevelev & Co | November 14 | |
1888 | “Baikal” | Shevelev & Co | March 10 |
“Vladivostok” | Dobrovol'nyi flot | March 16 | |
“Vladivostok” | Dobrovol'nyi flot | March 31 | |
“Baikal” | Shevelev & Co | April 18 | |
“Nizhnii Novgorod” | Dobrovol'nyi flot | June 7 |
Source: Russian state historical archive (RGIA), f. 20, op. 5, d. 45, l. 2 оb.
Table 5
The number of foreign vessels that visited the port of Chifu in the late 19th century
Флаг / Flag | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 |
Британский / British | 594 | 512 | 667 | 675 | 583 | 619 |
Китайский / Chinese | 217 | 147 | 330 | 348 | 362 | 409 |
Германский / German | 167 | 173 | 114 | 131 | 145 | 203 |
Японский / Japanese | 34 | 13 | 82 | 73 | 108 | 201 |
Шведско-Норвежский / Swedish-Norwegian | 32 | 33 | 59 | 50 | 43 | 46 |
Российский / Russian | 16 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 26 | 160 |
Американский / American | 1 | 4 | – | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Австрийский / Austrian | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | – | – |
Датский / Danish |
| 2 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 |
Голландский / Danish | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | – |
Французский / French | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
Корейский / Korean | – | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Всего / Total | 1065 | 905 | 1269 | 1297 | 1281 | 1646 |
Source: Russian state historical archive (RGIA), f. 560, op. 29, d. 172, l. 17.
About the authors
Ildar R. Hamzin
Ural Federal University
Author for correspondence.
Email: ildar.hamzin1991@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4967-0705
PhD in History, Junior Fellow of laboratory of natural sciences research in humanities
51, Lenin St., Yekaterinburg, 620000, RussiaReferences
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