Since the beginning of the development of Siberia by Russian Cossacks and military personnel in the XVII century, this region has remained closed to foreign subjects. English, Dutch, and Danish merchants who repeatedly applied to the Russian government for permission to visit Siberia on their own initiative or through representatives of their embassies were refused permission. The authorities, referring to the danger of the route, the inability to provide protection for merchants, constantly rejected such requests. Moreover, voivodes in Arkhangelsk and Mangazei (Ob Bay) were ordered to prevent foreign traders from entering the Siberian Region. The reason for this behavior of the authorities in the XVII century was economic, since Siberia received the export raw materials of Russia at that time - furs.

Subsequently, political motives were added to the economic ones. Siberia became a place of exile and concentration of political criminals, and foreign countries, primarily England and France, intensified their activities in the Far East. As a result, Nicholas I in 1841 once again confirmed the ban on foreigners to visit Siberia. It should be noted that during this period, from the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century, foreigners visited Siberia only in two cases. First, by entering the Russian civil service, and second, as prisoners of war; as Swedish soldiers during the Northern War, exiled to Western Siberia; or Japanese sailors who were shipwrecked off the Russian coast, whose place of concentration was Eastern Siberia (Irkutsk). Moreover, in the latter case, foreigners stayed in Siberia without the opportunity to return to their homeland.

But Russia's entry into the path of capitalism, the country's involvement in the international system of division of labor, the penetration of foreign capital into the country - all this raised the question of lifting the bans.

Keywords: Eastern Siberia, consulates, Irkutsk, Far East, Vladivostok.

On June 29, 1860, an imperial decree was issued to lift restrictions on foreigners visiting Eastern Siberia. At the end of 1860, American entrepreneurs proposed, in addition to the merchant house of the Boston merchant Boardman (he served the accounts of the military governor of the Primorsky Region as collateral from the money allocated by the Russian Treasury), to create several more American-Russian banking houses in the Russian Far East. The opening of new banks, they argued, would attract depository capital and increase the business activity of citizens of the North American United States in Siberia [GAIO, f. 24, op. 11/2, d. 65, l. 45-48].

However, attracting capital from abroad and expanding Russia's trade with the SAC was impossible without the introduction of legal guarantees for foreign entrepreneurs and, above all, the opening of consulates. Therefore, the Extraordinary Envoy

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On July 23, 1860, Pickens applied to the Russian Foreign Ministry for the establishment of an American Consulate General in the Amur Region. This proposal was politely rejected under the plausible pretext of "clarifying the circumstances concerning the transformations in the region" [GAIO, f. 24, op. 11/1, d. 129, l. 5-8].

At the same time, A. M. Gorchakov asked Irkutsk, which at that time was the administrative center of Eastern Siberia and the Far East, about the possibility of opening a Prussian consulate in the city of Nikolaevsk and appointing "merchant A. Ludorf"to the post of consul. In addition, under an agreement with the Foreign Ministry, the Russian Finance Minister granted German entrepreneur Stieglitz the exclusive right to provide Russian troops in Siberia with a number of goods.

Regional authorities opposed the opening of a German consulate in the Russian Far East. They said that before resolving territorial disputes with Japan, the opening of a European consulate would pose a threat to Russia's security in the region. In addition to the desire to prevent the strengthening of the position of foreign capital in the region, there was also a personal moment. "Mr. Ludorf," reported P. V. Kazakevich, the military governor of the Primorye Region, on June 23, 1862, " has been doing business in Nikolaevsk for about five years and enjoys an ambiguous reputation. The society of foreigners here considers him an unscrupulous person." Of course, no public opinion of foreigners in Eastern Siberia condemned Ludorf. On the contrary, he was described by German representatives as a person who could "benefit from the title of consul." Ludorf's "bad faith", as can be seen from the correspondence between the governor P. V. Kazakevich and the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia N. N. Muravyov, was expressed in the fact that this "nosy and restless" person sent letters to the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Prussian envoy in 1860, accusing them of hindering the German grain trade [GAIO, f. 24, op. 11/1, d. 129, l. 11 - 12, 15 - 16, 19].

Taking into account the relationship between regional officials and foreign entrepreneurs engaged in maritime trade, it becomes clear that the local administration is unwilling to grant foreign merchants (who also often complained about the actions of regional officials directly to St. Petersburg) any special rights. Subsequently, the new military Governor of the Primorsky Region, Rear Admiral Furugelm, and the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Lieutenant-General M. S. Korsakov, recommended fighting the provision of any legal benefits to foreign entrepreneurs, including in the form of consular support. It was proposed to allow the presence of unofficial commercial agents in Nikolaevsk instead of consuls [AVPRI, d. 309, l. 12, 12 vol.].

The issue of consulates was raised once again in 1875 by the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Then, after the conclusion of the St. Petersburg Treaty of 1875, which transferred the southern part of Sakhalin to Russia and the Kuril Islands to Japan, the government requested the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia to allow a Japanese consular agent to enter the region or even open an official consular office. At the same time, the Japanese initiative was followed by a request from the American and German governments to open consulates in Petropavlovsk and Vladivostok [AVPRI, d. 309, l. 6, 6a, 9]. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation informed the Ministry of Internal Affairs in this regard that, given the port nature of cities, it does not find obstacles to the appearance of foreign consulates in them. After that, the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia. He stood on the old position of regional officials, which was to prevent foreign diplomatic agents from entering the region. Taking into account the position of Irkutsk, the Russian Foreign Ministry allowed the German government to authorize the Hamburg merchant Ludorf to perform the duties of a German commercial agent in the region. Ludorf was admitted to the post, in which he remained until 1879, when he left the region. After admitting German

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On July 9, 1876, after coordinating the issue with the new military governors, the head of the region allowed the opening of Japanese and American commercial agencies in Vladivostok [AVPRI, d. 309, l. 16, 20-20 vol.].

In 1881, when the Russian envoy Weber asked the Chinese Council of Ministers to allow workers from Chifu to leave for Russia, Li Hongzhang announced his readiness to resolve this issue. For his part, he suggested that the Chinese consul should be admitted to Vladivostok, so that he would report not to the Chinese envoy, but personally to Li Hongzhang [AVPRI, d.312, l. 3]. However, according to the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, expressed in a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of September 9, 1881, the appointment of a Chinese consul was contrary to the state interests of Russia, since in the conditions of the influx of Chinese migrants to the region, this would put the authorities of Eastern Siberia in an "impossible position" [AVPRI, d. 312, l.4 vol.].

On February 12, 1882, the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, D. G. Anuchin, that the Chinese envoy was requesting the opening of a consulate. On February 22, 1882, the Governor-General agreed only to the admission of a Chinese commercial agent [AVPRI, D. 312, l. 8, 9, 10]. On October 20, 1896, the Russian government decided to allow Pavel Meyer to serve as a German commercial agent in the Far East. Meyer was succeeded by Adolf Dattan [AVPRI, d. 309, l. 116, 132]. On December 27, 1895, at the initiative of the French Embassy in St. Petersburg, the issue of establishing a French commercial agency in Vladivostok was resolved [AVPRI, d. 309, l. 102-104].

In 1879, Japanese diplomacy achieved significant success. Japan supported the Russian side in the Russo-Chinese conflict. Therefore, Alexander II (contrary to the opinion of the Primorsky Military Governor), by decree of July 2, 1879, deigned "to recognize Kobayashi Tan Igi as the Japanese vice-consul in the port of Korsakov, on Sakhalin Island." Subsequently, this person, who was first recognized as an official representative of a foreign country operating on the territory of the Russian Far East, was replaced by Kuze Guen. On June 17, 1883, he headed the Vice-consulate in the port of Korsakov. On January 18, 1894, Suzuki became Vice-consul in Korsakov. At the beginning of the XX century. Japan has tried to open a consulate on the mainland. On December 24, 1900, instead of Futatsubashi, the 3rd secretary of the Kawakami mission was appointed agent in Vladivostok, and Nomura Motonobu was replaced as Vice-consul in the Korsakov port of Suzuki [AVPRI, d. 309., l. 136, 152]. On October 6, 1901, the Russian Foreign Ministry notified the Amur Governor-General that the Japanese envoy to the port of Suzuka was sent to the Russian Embassy in Vladivostok. The Russian Embassy in St. Petersburg petitions for the opening of a consulate in Vladivostok. He explained his request by the fact that 5 thousand Japanese live in the city.

From January 18 to February 1, 1902, a special meeting was held in Vladivostok under the chairmanship of the military governor of the Primorye region, Chichagov [AVPRI, d. 309, l. 170-171 vol.]. The Meeting found it undesirable to establish a Japanese consulate in Vladivostok for the following reasons: 1. Granting Japan the right to have a consul in Vladivostok will entail demands from other powers, which is especially undesirable in relation to China, since the Chinese population, which in Vladivostok alone reaches 15,000 people, and in the entire region up to 40,000, requires special administrative and police measures, which the presence of a consul will prevent 2. Japan sent numerous artisans to the region, who took many crafts into their own hands. The appearance of the consul will consolidate the economic success of the Japanese population and will contribute to the continuation of Japanese economic expansion; 3. The Consulate, using a diplomatic code, will turn into a spy bureau; 4. The Consul will be able to incite the Japanese to commit anti-state acts. The reason for conflicts between the Russian and Japanese populations could be the Fishing Rules of 1899, which limited the rights of Japanese fish producers; 5. The Japanese actually only 2216 people in Vladivostok, and in other parts of the region - 1000. In addition, Japanese ships did

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in 1901, 69 flights and transported 5% of the region's trade turnover, while 30% of cargo was transported under the English flag, 17% under the German flag, and 12% under the Norwegian flag. So the Japanese do not play a dominant role in the economic life of Primorye [AVPRI, D. 309, L. 172-174].

The next wave of foreign demands for the opening of consular offices in the region began with the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which further drew Western and Eastern Siberia into the system of domestic and international trade.

On November 30, 1902, the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, in a letter to the Irkutsk Governor-General, noted that foreign governments were applying for permission to appoint consuls to Vladivostok, Irkutsk and Omsk. The head of the police department himself was not against opening consulates, because he believed that this would "turn secret foreign agents into vowels" [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 1]. The Governor-General was against opening consulates in Siberian cities and suggested opening only trade representative offices there [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 2]. However, after a similar request was made by the Belgian envoy, the Russian Foreign Ministry replied to the Governor-General that the emperor could not reject the requests of foreign powers to open consulates, and recommended that he stop expressing an opinion that contradicted the highest [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 51-52]. On December 16, 1907, the Belgian consulate was opened in Irkutsk, and on March 23, 1907, Vilmont was appointed French commercial agent in Irkutsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 9-10]. On November 30, 1909, the Governor of Irkutsk reported to the Governor-General's office that he had no politically or morally unfavorable information about the French agent in Irkutsk, Pavel Karlovich Wilmont, and added that Wilmont had served for many years as a teacher in local secondary educational institutions. After that, Wilmont was confirmed in the post [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 36].

On March 20, 1908, the Spanish Consulate headed by Count Vinosa was opened in Irkutsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 23]. On March 9, 1909, the Swedish Consulate headed by Consul K. F. Lange was established in Omsk, and on November 3, 1910, the British Vice-consulate headed by Horace Iosifovich Stosard Sykes was opened in Krasnoyarsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 40]. Sykes, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Yenisei province, lived in Krasnoyarsk for 14 years, being engaged in the supply of agricultural implements to the region. In total, nine British subjects permanently resided in Krasnoyarsk, who owned two gold-mining enterprises and a copper mine. In addition, Krasnoyarsk maintained a permanent sea connection with Great Britain via the Yenisei and the Kara Sea. During the navigation period, several ships usually entered Krasnoyarsk for trade purposes and "up to 100 - 150 Englishmen" stayed in the city [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 44].

Later, the vice-consulate became a consulate. There are typical contradictions between regional and central authorities on this issue. This is indicated by a circular letter from the First Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sent on April 26, 1911. To the Irkutsk Governor-General. It stressed that as a result of the decision No. 11 of February 20, 1911, in which the Irkutsk Governor-General expressed the opinion that it was desirable to admit foreign commercial agents to Krasnoyarsk, and not consuls, as the British Government had requested, the Russian Foreign Ministry had requested the opinion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on this subject. At the same time, the attention of State Secretary Stolypin was drawn to the fact that as early as 1907, the government recognized that it was possible to abandon the previously existing view on the issue of non-admission of consular agents to the cities of Siberia. Therefore, in accordance with this, requests for admission to Omsk and Irkutsk of consular representatives of foreign powers were granted at the time by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by prior agreement.-

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cooperation with local authorities. In view of this, the Moscow authorities recognized that there is no reason to prevent foreign consuls from visiting Krasnoyarsk or other Siberian cities. The admission of commercial agents instead of consuls, according to St. Petersburg, will not solve the issue, since the latter, as a rule, assumed the powers of consuls. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the admission of an English representative to Krasnoyarsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 55].

On March 5, 1911, a Greek trade representative office opened in Irkutsk, and E. Marinakis, a 47-year-old merchant who had lived in Irkutsk since 1900, became vice-consul. Marinakis headed the Mutual Credit Society and two trading companies. A total of 29 Greek subjects lived in Irkutsk at that time [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 50]. On May 2, 1911, the Dutch Consulate headed by R. E. Stang was opened in Tomsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 56-58]. On January 30, 1912, a German consulate was opened in Tomsk, headed by the diplomat R. Stang [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11. d. 2, l. 66]. On October 7, 1913, I. M. Lead, director of the trade association, was appointed Norwegian consul in Krasnoyarsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, D. 2, L. 74]. On December 21, 1912, the Swedish diplomatic mission in St. Petersburg notified the Russian Foreign Ministry that it would like to replace the consul in Omsk. The answer was given that "if a person does not belong to the Jewish religion, then the imperial government does not meet objections to the exequatur of a new diplomat" [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 69].

Japan has been very active in opening consulates in eastern Russia. Based on article 15 of the 1907 Treaty on Trade and Navigation. she demanded that the Russian Foreign Ministry give permission to open Japanese consulates in Irkutsk, Chita, Blagoveshchensk and Khabarovsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 19]. On October 15, 1907, the military governor of the Trans-Baikal Region reported to the Irkutsk Governor-General: "At the beginning of September of this year, I was visited by the Japanese Consul in Vladivostok, M. Nomura, on his way to Irkutsk. From my explanations with him, I came to the conclusion that on the basis of our trade treaty with Japan, which was highly ratified on July 18 of this year, the Japanese, using the rights of the most favorable nation, will soon begin to improve themselves in the Trans-Baikal region. One of the Japanese now living in Chita, a confidant of the said consul, recently applied to me with a request to allow him to open an information bureau for his compatriots in Chita, which I refused, since the opening of such institutions in Russia is not provided for in the trade treaty with Japan. In order to possibly reduce the influx of Japanese in Transbaikalia, it would be imperative, in accordance with Article 15 of the aforementioned Treaty on Trade and Navigation, to recognize the admission of Japanese consular officials in the area entrusted to me as inappropriate, along with other foreign powers" [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d.2, l. 19].

Other governors have also expressed similar opinions about Japanese consulates. Therefore, the Russian government, considering that after the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. Japan is a threat to Russia's Far Eastern possessions, imposed martial law in the region and on this basis rejected Japanese harassment until the First World War. On February 13, 1915, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed the Amur Governor-General that the Japanese government had asked St. Petersburg to establish a consulate in Irkutsk (previously consulates were opened in Vladivostok and Nikolaevsk). Irkutsk was recommended to support the opening of the consulate due to political circumstances-Japan was an ally of Russia in the war. A total of 17 Japanese men and 5 Japanese women laborers, 32 male laundresses and 9 Japanese laundresses, three Japanese merchants, two Japanese cigarette printers, a Japanese tailor, a photographer, a mechanic, two hairdressers, an officer, and four Japanese prostitutes lived in Irkutsk at that time. In total, there were 60 Japanese and 18 Japanese women in Irkutsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 90].

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On June 24, 1915, the Russian Foreign Ministry notified the Irkutsk Governor-General that the Chinese government, following the Japanese government, had applied for permission to open a Consulate General in Kyakhta and consulates in Irkutsk and Chita. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs intended to reject the request to establish consulates in Kyakhta and Chita, as there were no foreign consulates in these cities. As for Irkutsk, it was supposed to allow the opening of Japanese and Chinese consulates [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 95].

July 31, 1915 The Irkutsk Governor-General in a letter to the Russian Foreign Ministry noted:: "I believe that the Chinese Government will also be able to use for this purpose the presence of its representative in Irkutsk, who could combine the activities of a number of secret agents at all points along the route of Chinese immigrants, and that in these cases it is important for China to have a consulate in any of the cities of Siberia. In addition, the insignificance of Chinese commercial enterprises in Irkutsk suggests that the role of the future consul was mainly reduced to awareness-raising activities. The presence of such a Chinese government agent in the administrative center of Siberia is especially undesirable when there are many issues that are still far from being resolved (Uriankhai). Undoubtedly, the information that the consulate can deliver to the Chinese government can be used against us to inflate Russophobic sentiments" [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 96].

In response to this opinion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sazonov, telegraphed to the Irkutsk Governor-General on August 20, 1915. The message read: "By the triple agreement of May 25 (1915), the Chinese Government has the right to appoint its own commissioner in Usu and an assistant commissioner in Kyakhtu, Uliassutai and Kobdo. These individuals will obviously be better able to inform the Peking government about the state of affairs in the Uriankhai region and the Prikosogolsky district than the consul in Irkutsk, and to counteract the strengthening of Russian interests there, if the Chinese government takes this path, it will use its agents in Mongolia... On the other hand, the Chinese government has recently given evidence of a desire to get closer to us, which, in view of China's benevolent neutrality in the European war and its security guarantees, makes it impossible to refuse China the establishment of a consulate in Irkutsk. Therefore, you need to reconsider your position on the establishment of a Chinese consulate in Irkutsk and determine the boundaries of the consulate " [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 97]. According to the minister, the refusal to establish Chinese consulates in Siberia is undesirable, because "it will give the Chinese the impression of undeserved resentment" [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 99].

On December 26, 1915, the Chinese Consulate opened in Irkutsk and was headed by Guan Shang Ping, a native of Suzhou, Jiansu Province. Under the Chinese envoy Hu Wei Du, he was a member of the Chinese mission in St. Petersburg, then in Beijing he held the position of clerk of the Customs Department, spoke Russian and German. Since August 1912, Guan was assistant Secretary of the Department of Security Lists (Department of Economic Affairs), then head of the Department of Official Ceremonies [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 106]. Then he was replaced by Wei Wo, also a native of Jiansu, who received a law degree in St. Petersburg University in Russia in 1904, then returned to China in 1911 where he worked as a clerk of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Since August 1917, he was sent as a consul to Irkutsk [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 121].

In addition to the Chinese one, other consular offices operated in Irkutsk during the First World War. Thus, on March 4, 1915, an official in the diplomatic department of the Irkutsk Governor-General wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that in response to the letter No. 11129 of August 4 last year, he notified the Second Department that the Irkutsk Governor-General had the following full-time consuls and vice-consuls. There is a non-standard Belgian consulate in Irkutsk, Consul Stravin-

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Russian citizen. There was also a Greek vice-consulate in the city, which was headed by the Vice-Consul of Marinaki, a Greek subject. In addition, there was a non-standard Norwegian vice-consulate in Krasnoyarsk, headed by a Norwegian citizen Lead [GAIO, f. 25, op. 11, d. 2, l. 82].

So, the regional authorities did not want to provide additional benefits and special legal status to foreign merchants. This position of the regional authorities blocked the initiatives of foreign authorities and entrepreneurs to open consular offices in the region. In particular, until 1907, foreigners could not open consulates in the continental part of the Amur General Government, despite the fact that St. Petersburg's opinion on this issue was quite favorable for foreigners.

Only after the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 was it decided to allow the opening of foreign consulates in the region. In the period from 1907 to 1915, there were a dozen and a half consulates of Japan, Germany, Italy, Greece, Denmark, China, the United States, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary and other countries located in Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Petropavlovsk, Nikolaevsk, Omsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk.

list of literature

Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI). Fund. Official in the diplomatic department under the Amur Governor-General. Inventory 579.

State Archive of the Irkutsk Region (GAIO). Foundation 24. Official in the diplomatic department of the East Siberian Governor-General. Inventory 11/1. Case 129; Inventory 11/2. Case 65. Foundation 25. Official in the diplomatic department under the Irkutsk Governor-General. Inventory 11. Case 2.

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