Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China: An International History

Northeast Asia Seminars

by Bruce A. Elleman, Stephen Kotkin (Editor)

The railways of Manchuria offer an intriguing vantage point for an international history of northeast Asia. Before the completion of the Trans-Siberian railway in 1916, the only rail route from the Imperial Russian capital of St. Petersburg to the Pacific port of Vladivostok transited Manchuria. A spur line from the Manchurian city of Harbin led south to ice-free Port Arthur. Control of these two rail lines gave Imperial Russia military, economic, and political advantages that excited rivalry on the part of Japan and unease on the part of weak and divided China. Meanwhile, the effort to defend and retain that strategic hold against rising Japanese power strained distant Moscow. Control of the Manchurian railways was contested in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5; Japan's 1931 invasion and establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo; the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II in Asia; and, the Chinese civil war that culminated in the Communist victory over the Nationalists. Today, the railways are critical to plans for development of China's sparsely populated interior. This volume brings together an international group of scholars to explore this fascinating history.

Genres: History, China

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

Bruce Allen Elleman is William V. Pratt Professor of International History at the Naval War College. He received his B.A. in 1982 at UC Berkeley, completed his M.A. and received the Harriman Institute Certificate in 1984, his Master of Philosophy in 1987, the East Asian Certificate in 1988, and his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1993. In addition, he completed the Master of Sciences at the London School of Economics in 1985, and the Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies (with Distinction) at the U.S. Naval War College in 2004.

Reviews

[Andrew Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly specific monograph on the railways until PRC

Many high quality and eminently readable papers, but there was a couple that made me doubt their reliability - specifically the "Technology Transfer" one stunk of nationalism and bias. It is ridiculous that the author Chang Jui-te did not bother to read the rest of the book, because he blatantly edits out a lot of history that the reader has already read, so his work comes across as nakedly manipulative and misleading. His conclusions do not follow the evidence, because he selectively chooses his facts. Its super weird and lazy for a historian to label the UK, England - since that's not at all the same thing.
Ultimately his contribution is not without merit, as reading such a biased tract forces the reader to critically engage with the work and think carefully about which narrative is credible.

Good source for researchers, probably too narrow and specific for any casual readers. Definitely not a reasonable choice if you haven't read a couple books on this time period in China.