Russia’s Successes in The Far East

A work by Engels exposing Russian aggression and expansion in the Far East. Published as an editorial in New-York Daily Tribune, No. 5484, 18 November 1858. In 1938, it was included in Marx and Engels on China, published by Wuhan China Publishing House, translated by Fang Naiyi under the title was; in the same year, it was included in the Collection of Reviews on the Chinese Question, compiled by Yang Kezhai and published by the Shanghai Zhulin Bookstore.

During the 1850-1860s, Britain, France, Russia, and other European powers launched a war against China, which is known as the Second Opium War. In order to deeply criticize the abhorrent acts of the Russian Tsardom for invading China, expose its cunning tactics, and support the Chinese people’s resistance, Engels wrote this article in English around 25 October 1858. In this article, Engels exposed the use of cruel wars, cunning diplomatic deals, and unequal treaties by European powers involved in aggression to maximize their interests in China. He used a lot of historical evidence to prove that Russian Tsardom was the greatest threat to China and other Asian countries. He especially revealed the concealment, deception, and harmfulness of Russian means of aggression and its tactics to become the biggest profiteer. Engels compared the means of aggression of Britain and Russia with an intend to reveal the ugly faces of the great powers who were both in conflict and collusion in seizing more interests in China. He pointed out that, compared with Britain and France, Russia not only earned profits through the means of war but also skillfully and covertly used diplomatic means to maximize its interests. While England and France undertook an expensive contest for their interests within China, Russia remained neutral, and only stepped in at the last stage pretending to act as a selfless protector of the weaker Chinese. When China was defeated and was forced to conclude an unequal peace treaty with Britain and France, Russia acted as a mediator, as a result of this role, Russia gained equal rights and interests comparable to that of Britain and France in respect to China. In addition, Russia’s conquest of Central Asia and the annexation of Manchuria increase her semi-colonial dominions by an extent of country as large as all Europe exclusive of the Russian empire and brings her territory down from snowy Siberia to the temperate zone. At the end of the article, Engels pointed out that Russia’s occupation of Asian territories will not stop, and its ultimate goal is to occupy China and India, the two largest countries of Asia.

Russia’s Successes in The Far East was written in the course of the invasion of Asian countries by European powers, and it timely exposed the sinister faces of aggressors, which has played a positive role in helping the people of China and other Asian countries to recognize the real face of the invaders, and it was of great guiding significance for the struggles of the oppressed nations of the world, which were then in a weak position.