Russian Pioneers of Virgin Lands from China: Re-Emigrants in Eastern Siberia in 1954–1955
Research Article
How to Cite
Datsyshen V.G. Russian Pioneers of Virgin Lands from China: Re-Emigrants in Eastern Siberia in 1954–1955. DEMIS. Demographic Research. 2025. Vol. 5. No. 1. P. 40-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/demis.2025.5.1.3 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The article is devoted to the problems of the history of the resettlement of the Russian-speaking population of North-Eastern China to the regions of Eastern Siberia for the development of virgin and fallow lands. In 1954–1955, the leadership of the USSR organized the repatriation of the Russian-speaking population from the People's Republic of China to their historical homeland. The repatriation was formalized in the form of resettlement for the development of virgin and fallow lands, Russian re-emigrants arrived in the regions of Russia and Kazakhstan as virgin land settlers. The easternmost regions of the Soviet Union where the re-emigrants were settled were the Irkutsk Region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The study was conducted based on office documents stored in the regional archives of Eastern Siberia, as well as personal sources and the recollections of the re-emigrants themselves. The mass and voluntary relocation of Russians from the PRC to the USSR began after the adoption of the resolution of the CPSU Central Committee in 1954 "On the further increase in grain production in the country and on the development of virgin and fallow lands", but this issue was resolved at the level of Soviet-Chinese relations back in 1953. The settlers from the PRC made up only a few percent of the total number of virgin land settlers, and a significant part of them already in 1954–1955 left agricultural enterprises, practically not taking part in the development of virgin and fallow lands. The problems of preparing the repatriation of the Russian-speaking population to the USSR, as well as their actual participation in the development of virgin and fallow lands, indicate that resettlement to develop virgin lands was a form of repatriation, with a concomitant solution to the problems of developing virgin and fallow lands. The resettlement of re-emigrants from China became an important factor in the development of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region, not only in terms of developing virgin and fallow lands in these regions. Resettlement to develop virgin lands turned out to be the optimal repatriation of Russians from China to their historical homeland in form and content.
Keywords:
Russian re-emigrants, repatriation to the USSR, development of virgin and fallow lands, resettlement from North-Eastern China to Eastern Siberia
References
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2. Zandanova, L. V. Problemy issledovaniya repatriatsii grazhdan iz Kitaya v SSSR posle Vtoroy miro-voy voyny (1946 – nach. 60-kh gg.) [Problems of studying the repatriation of citizens from China to the USSR after World War II (1946 – early 60s)]. In: Vostok i Rossiya: vzglyad iz Sibiri [East and Russia: a view from Siberia] : Materials and abstracts of reports for a Scientific and Practical Conference, Irkutsk, May 16–18, 1996 / Irkutsk State University; Administration of the Irkutsk Region. Irkutsk : Ltd Izdatelstvo Ottisk Publishing House, 1996. Pp. 391–394. (In Russ.).
3. Zandanova, L. V. Repatriatsiya grazhdan iz Kitaya v SSSR v 1947–1960 gody [Repatriation of citizens from China to the USSR in 1947–1960]. In: Vzaimootnosheniya narodov Rossii, Sibiri i stran Vostoka: istoriya i sovremennost’ [Relations between the peoples of Russia, Siberia and the countries of the East: history and modernity] : Preparatory materials for the Second International Scientific and Practical Conference, Irkutsk, September 23–26, 1997. Irkutsk : Irkutsk State Pedagogical Institute Publishing, 1996. Pp. 183–204. (In Russ.).
4. Ablazhey, N. N. Rasseleniye repatriantov iz Kitaya, Yaponii i Bolgarii na territorii Sibiri vo vtoroy polovine 1950-kh gg. [Resettlement of repatriates from China, Japan and Bulgaria in Siberia in the second half of the 1950s]. In: Etnokul’turnyye vzaimodeystviya v Sibiri (XVII–XX vv.) [Ethnocultural interactions in Siberia (XVII–XX centuries)] : Abstracts of reports and communications of the International Scientific Conference, Novosibirsk, June 19–20, 2003. Novosibirsk : Novosibirsk State University Publishing, 2003. Pp. 268–271. ISBN 5-94356-139-0. (In Russ.).
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6. Ablazhey, N. N. Repatriants from Chinese Peoples Republic to the Virgin Lands Region (1954–1962). Humanitarian Sciences in Siberia. 2008. No. 2. Pp. 104–106. (In Russ.).
7. Taskina, E. P., Mukhin, I. A. Destiny Of Russians Repatriated from China in 1940–1950th. Far Eastern Studies. 2009. No. 2. Pp. 91–99. (In Russ.).
8. Chernikova, L. P. Repatrianty iz Kitaya: razmeshcheniye v sovetskikh sibirskikh gorodakh i seleniyakh i problemy adaptatsii [Repatriates from China: placement in Soviet Siberian cities and villages and adaptation problems]. In: Sibir’ v fokuse istoricheskikh, vostokovednykh i pravovykh issledovaniy [Siberia in the focus of historical, oriental and legal research] : Materials of the first All-Russian Scientific Conference Dedicated to the memory of A. V. Startsev (1956–2019), Barnaul, October 29–30, 2020. Barnaul : Barnaul Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, 2021. Pp. 137–145. (In Russ.).
9. Novoselov, M. Yu. Problemy zanyatosti i trudoustroystva russkikh reemigrantov iz Kitaya v 50-kh gg. XX v. [Problems of employment and job placement of Russian re-emigrants from China in the 50s of the XX century]. In: Vostok i Zapad: istoriya, obshchestvo, kul’tura [East and west: history, society, culture] : Collection of scientific materials of the I International Scientific And Practical Conference, October 15, 2012. Krasnoyarsk : Krasnoyarsk Regional Scientific and Educational Center for Cultural Personnel Publishing, 2012. Pp. 108–110. ISBN 978-5-9733-0045-6. (In Russ.).
10. Novoselov, M. Yu. Re-Emigration from China to the Territory of the Krasnoyarsk Region (Re-Emigrants Contribute to the Development of the Region). Siberian Journal of Life Sciences and Agriculture. 2013. No. 9–1(45). Pp. 64–76. (In Russ.).
11. Novoselov, M. Yu. Russkaya reemigratsiya iz Kitaya na territoriyu Krasnoyarskogo kraya v 1950-ye gg. [Russian re-emigration from China to the territory of Krasnoyarsk Krai in the 1950s]. In: Narody Sibiri i Dal’nego Vostoka s drevnikh vremen do nashikh dney [Peoples of Siberia and the Far East from ancient times to the present day] : Proceedings of the IX Siberian Historical Forum, Krasnoyarsk, September 14–16, 2022. Krasnoyarsk : Siberian Federal University Publishing, 2022. Pp. 1152–1155. (In Russ.).
12. Piskunov, S. A. Repatriatsiya russkoyazychnogo naseleniya iz KNR v sel’skuyu mestnost’ RSFSR (opyt 1954 g.) [Repatriation of the Russian-speaking population from the PRC to the rural areas of the RSFSR (experience of 1954)]. In: Obshchestvo i vlast’ v SSSR i postsovetskoy Rossii [Society and power in the USSR and post-Soviet Russia] : Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific Readings dedicated to the memory of Professor E. N. Burdzhalov, Moscow, May 17 2013 Moscow: Buki-Vedi, 2013. Pp. 376–385. ISBN 978-5-4465-0386-5. (In Russ.).
13. Bocharova, Z. S., Krotova, M. V. The Harbin Polytechnic Institute as a Center of Russian Science and Education in China (1920–1950s) RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019. Vol. 18, No. 4. Pp. 779–803. DOI 10.22363/2312-8674-2019-18-4-779-803. (In Russ.).
Article
Received: 22.10.2024
Accepted: 31.03.2025
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Datsyshen, V. G. (2025). Russian Pioneers of Virgin Lands from China: Re-Emigrants in Eastern Siberia in 1954–1955. DEMIS. Demographic Research, 5(1), 40-53. https://doi.org/10.19181/demis.2025.5.1.3
Section
Historical Demographics
