RUSSIAN AND GERMAN ACTIVITIES IN RELATION TO THE CHINESE TERRITORIES AT THE END OF THE XIX CENTURY: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Abstract

The paper focuses on comparison of the Sino-German treaty respecting the lease of Kiao-Chau (1898) and the Sino-Russian convention for lease of Port Arthur and Talienwan (1898), on an analysis of Russian and German plans in relation to Chinese territories, on considering the dynamics of solutions in this direction, preliminary agreements with the Qing Empire. The topicality stems from the need to detail the imperial past of the powers, to clarify how each empire approached the process of mastering the territory of the other state. The chosen angle allowed to draw attention not only to the similarities between the foreign policies of Russia and Germany in relation to the Qing Empire, but also to identify significant differences. The study was based on the methods of source analysis, comparative analysis. Russia and Germany concluded lease agreements with the Qing Empire, which differed significantly in a number of terms. According to Sino-Russian convention, supreme rights to the territory remained with the Qing state; the lease term was 25 years; the clause about railway construction widened the scope of the concession already granted. In the Sino-German treaty the transfer of supreme rights to the kaiser state, the lease term of 99 years, and an agreement to build railway lines that extended well beyond the leased territory were all recorded. Both powers had occupied the Qing domains before the agreements were concluded, but they went about legislating in different ways.