Russian invasion of Manchuria

Russian invasion of Manchuria
	Part of the Boxer Rebellion
	; Russian cannons firing at Beijing gates during the Battle of Peking, 14 August 1900
Date	June – November 1900
Location	Manchuria, China
Result	Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire	Yìhéquán (Boxers); China
Commanders and leaders
Yevgeni Alekseyev; Dyean Subotich; Konstantin Tserpitsky; Pavel Mishchenko; Nikolay Orlov	Shoushan (a descendant of Yuan Chonghuan)
Strength
100,000 Imperial Russian Army soldiers and Cossacks	Manchu Bannermen, Boxers, Honghuzi bandits
Casualties and losses
242 killed, 1,283 wounded (per Russian sources)	Unknown, at least in the thousands

The Russian invasion of Manchuria occurred in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) when concerns regarding Qing China's defeat by the Empire of Japan, and Japan's brief occupation of Liaodong, caused the Russian Empire to speed up their long held designs for imperial expansion across Eurasia.

In the five years preceding the invasion, the Russian Empire established a network of leased territories in Manchuria. This began with the Triple Intervention in 1895, in which Russia received Liaotung from Japan. From 1897 Russia obtained from the Qing government leased territory to build and operate the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER). As with all other major powers in China, Russia demanded concessions along with the railroad, enforced through unequal treaties.

With the building of a southern branch of the CER (later the South Manchuria Railway), Mukden (now known as Shenyang) became a Russian stronghold. During the Boxer Rebellion, the Russian military temporarily evacuated from and immediately reoccupied Mukden.^[3]^[4]

The Russian Empire's full invasion of Manchuria occurred concurrent with its participation against the Boxer Rebellion. The pretext of the invasion was the defense of the railroad against Boxer rebels.

Russia became involved in the Eight Nation Alliance due to its presence in the foreign legations. Russian Cossacks formed part of the relief forces during the Seymour and Gaselee expeditions while Russian forces were also present inside the legations during the sieges in Beijing and Tianjin. These forces operated separately from those involved in the invasion of Manchuria, with the entire Manchuria operation exclusively directed by Russians.

The invasion concluded with the full occupation of Manchuria by Russia, causing tensions that led to the Russo-Japanese War.

^ ^a ^b ^c Pronin, Alexander (7 November 2000). Война с Желтороссией (in Russian). Kommersant. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^ Jukes, Geoffrey (June 6, 2014). "Introduction". The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1003-8.
^ The Century illustrated monthly magazine, Volume 68. NEW YORK: The Century Co. 1904. p. 581. Retrieved July 6, 2011.(Original from Harvard University)
^ Making of America Project (1904). The Century: a popular quarterly, Volume 68. NEW YORK: Scribner & Co. p. 581. Retrieved July 6, 2011.(Original from the University of Michigan)

[km-1] Pronin, Alexander (7 November 2000). Война с Желтороссией (in Russian). Kommersant. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

[2] Jukes, Geoffrey (June 6, 2014). "Introduction". The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1003-8.

[The_Century_Co-3] The Century illustrated monthly magazine, Volume 68. NEW YORK: The Century Co. 1904. p. 581. Retrieved July 6, 2011.(Original from Harvard University)

[Making_of_America_Project_1904_581-4] Making of America Project (1904). The Century: a popular quarterly, Volume 68. NEW YORK: Scribner & Co. p. 581. Retrieved July 6, 2011.(Original from the University of Michigan)

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