Russian Emigrants in Manchuria and the Japanese New Order: The Collapse of Hopes

In imperial studies, the inclusion of diasporic groups, fragments of vanished empires, into newly formed imperial spaces remain considerably underexplored. This article is devoted to the problem of the integration of the Russian emigrant colony into the multinational community of the quasi-sovereign state of Manchukuo (1932–1945), which was a product of Japanese pan-Asian imperial construction. The option of integrating emigrants with the status of a national-cultural autonomy into the society of early Manchukuo generally suited the emigrant community. This option of maximum integration corresponded with the special role of emigration as the heir of Russian colonisers of the Manchurian region and the bearer of the mission of preserving Russian culture in exile. Very quickly, the integration process ran into an insurmountable contradiction between the ideal model of organising Manchukuo on the principles of national-cultural federalism and the real imperial practice of governing the peoples ruled by Japan. Japanese pan-Asian nation-building, which after the late 1930s turned towards the creation of a single East Asian nation, began to threaten emigration with the loss of national identity. This threat, along with the forcible politicisation and mobilisation of the colony to solve Japan’s imperial problems, intensified protective tendencies in the emigrant environment and contributed to some emigrants refusing integration strategies. Almost the only successful example of the inclusion of emigrants into Manchukuo society was the so-called frontier integration of the Russian Cossack population of Sanhe Qu (so-called Three-River Region) bordering the USSR. Another important factor that stimulated the refusal of emigrants to integrate was the growth of pro-Soviet patriotism during the Great Patriotic War. The article is based on materials from periodicals and other print media of Russian emigrants in China, documents from emigrant organisations and Japanese special services, and emigrant ego-documents.