Outer Manchuria

Outer Manchuria (Chinese: 外滿洲), also known as Outer Northeast [China] (Chinese: 外東北), is the territory ceded by China to Russia in the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking in 1860. The area comprises the present-day Russian areas of Primorsky Krai, southern Khabarovsk Krai, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Amur Oblast. Another interpretation also adds the island of Sakhalin.

In contrast to Outer Manchuria, the part of Manchuria that is still part of China, usually called simply "Manchuria", can also be referred to as "Inner Manchuria".

According to the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, the Sino-Russian border was the Stanovoy Mountains and the Argun River, giving Outer Manchuria to China. The Treaties of Argun and Peking, however, realigned the border on the Amur and Ussuri rivers, in Russia's favour. As a result, China lost access to the Sea of Japan.

Place names

Today there still exist certain reminders of the ancient Manchu domination in toponyms: for example the Shikhota Alin, the great coastal range, the Khanka Lake, Amur and Ussuri Rivers, Yam Alin, Miao-Shan Alin, Il-Kuri Alin, Great and Little Khingan and others small ranges and the Shantar coastal archipelago.

History

Different ancient nations lived in this area. The original inhabitants apparently were the Mohe and other Tungus tribes. Others were the ancient kingdoms of Koguryo and Parhae, who extended their territories from the Korean peninsula to inner and outer Manchuria.

According to the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, the Sino-Russian border was the Stanovoy Mountains and the Argun River, giving Outer Manchuria to China. However, Outer Manchuria was ceded by the Manchu Empire to Russia in the Treaty of Aigun of 1858 and the Treaty of Peking of 1860. From 1860 to 1920 Outer Manchuria was part of the Russian Empire. From 1918 to 1925 Outer Manchuria was occupied by the Japanese and briefly united with Inner Manchuria under Japanese domination. This temporary control included East Transbaikalia (the Ulan Ude-Chita sector). Some sources indicated that Japanese units patrolled to the East Urals and Central Asia. North Sakhalin was finally returned during 1925.

During the 1930s and World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army, Kwantung Army and other members of the Strike North Group (Japanese supporters of conquest of lands in Siberia) outlined the "Othsu or B" Operation, a plan to invade the Soviet Far East. The plan implied the occupation of Khabarovsk and the Primorsky Krai, the Okhotsk Sea coast, Kamchatka Peninsula, Ulan Ude (East Baikal area), and Outer Mongolia. The concept was of occupation, or a defensive buffer against the USSR.

Operations at Zhanggufeng (Changkufeng Hill), the Battle of Lake Khasan and fighting in the Nomonhan area, and some smaller Japanese land, sea and air incursions were part of an ambitious large-scale strategy. Ultimately, when the Japanese Army evaluated its outcomes against the Red Army and its Mongol allies, these plans were dropped. The Japanese Navy's strategy to strike south prevailed.

As Soviet Manchuria, Outer Manchuria formed part of the Far Eastern provinces of the USSR and was used as the launch-pad for the Soviet assault on Japanese occupied Inner Manchuria in 1945, when Manchuria was again briefly united under Soviet rule. In 1949, Inner Manchuria was returned to communist China.

In 1959 tension arose between Chinese Inner Manchuria and Russian Outer Manchuria over the interpretation of the treaties of Aigun and Peking. This was as much an attempt to undo European colonialism as an ideological split between Mao Tse-tung and Nikita Khrushchev.

In 2004, Russia agreed to turn Yinlong Island as well as one half of Heixiazi Island to China, ending a long-standing border dispute between Russia and China. Both islands are found at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, and were until then administered by Russia and claimed by China. The event has fostered feelings of reconciliation and cooperation, but it has also sparked some discontent on both sides, with some Russians unhappy about the loss of territory, and some Chinese unhappy that the Chinese government has effectively surrendered claims over the other half of Heixiazi Island by accepting the Russian offer. The transfer has been ratified by both the Chinese National People's Congress and the Russian State Duma but has yet to be carried out.

Irredentism

Today irredentism is popular in China, with many calling for the territory to be returned to China, whether by negotiation, subversion, military conquest, or demographic swamping. Russia also faces mounting problems with increasing numbers of Chinese immigrants pouring into relatively empty Outer Manchuria from crowded Inner Manchuria.