In 1898, Russia obtained a lease of twenty-five years from China of
Point Arthur and Ta-lien-wan with the adjacent seas and territory
to the north. To this the name of Kwang-Tung was given in 1899. Port
Arthur, the capital, is a naval station for Russian and Chinese
ships. At the end of the port a new town, Dalni, has been founded;
it is connected by rail with the Trans-Siberian railway system.
Russia's history in 1903 was marked by general disquietude and
turbulence. The disorders among the peasantry in 1902 led to a
special committee being appointed to inquire into and ameliorate
their condition and also to improve agriculture. On March 11, 1903,
the Tsar issued a manifesto promising reform in the government of
local towns and tolerance in religion. As little or no improvement
was noticed, strike riots resulted in Slatoust (Ufa) and at
Nijni-Novgorod, and riots also broke out in the university of St.
Petersburg. In May, the Governor of Ufa was assassinated. To these
disturbances, the Anti-Semitic outrages were encouraged at Kishineff
(Bessarabia) when forty-five Jews were killed, 484 injured, 700
houses demolished, and 600 houses sacked. Strike riots also broke
out in South Russia and the Caucasus, particularly in the towns of
Kief, Odessa, Baku, Rostov, Nikolaieff. Many smaller towns also
suffered loss of life. Military troops were called out to quell
the rioters. The policy of Russification was carried on in Finland
as well as in the more recent acquisitions. The chief interest,
however, lay in the extension of Russia's diplomatic and military
policy in the Far East under Admiral Alexeieff (appointed August
13, 1903).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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