Editing Russian Far East (section)

==History==
===Russian expansion===
{{Further|Russian conquest of Siberia|Outer Manchuria|Transcathay}}
[[File:Vladivostok in the 1900s 05.jpg|thumb|[[Vladivostok]] in the early 1900s]]
[[Russians]] reached the Pacific coast in 1647 with the establishment of [[Okhotsk]], and the [[Russian Empire]] consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century, after the [[Amur Annexation|annexation]] of part of Chinese [[Manchuria]] (1858–1860). [[Primorskaya Oblast]] was established as a separate [[administrative division of the Russian Empire]] in 1856, with its administrative center at [[Khabarovsk]].

===Administrative history===
Several entities with the name "Far East" existed in the first half of the 20th century, all with rather different boundaries:
* 1918–1922: the {{ill|Ukrainian Far Eastern Movement|uk|Український далекосхідний рух}}, which encompassed [[Green Ukraine]];
* 1920–1922: the [[Far Eastern Republic]], which included [[Transbaikal Oblast|Transbaikal]], [[Amur Oblast|Amur]], [[Primorskaya Oblast|Primorskaya]], and [[Kamchatka Oblast]]s and northern [[Sakhalin]];
* 1922–1926: {{ill|Far-Eastern Oblast|ru|Дальневосточная область}}, which included the [[Amur Governorate|Amur]], [[Transbaikal Governorate|Transbaikal]] and [[Kamchatka Governorate|Kamchatka]] [[Governorate (Russia)|Governorates]] and others;
* 1926–1938: [[Far-Eastern Krai]], which included the present-day [[Primorsky Krai|Primorsky]] and [[Khabarovsk Krai]]s.

Until 2000 the Russian Far East lacked officially-defined boundaries. A single term "Siberia and the Far East" ({{lang|ru|Сибирь и Дальний Восток}}) often referred to Russia's regions east of the [[Ural mountains|Urals]] without drawing a clear distinction between "Siberia" and "the Far East".

In 2000 Russia's [[federal subjects of Russia|federal subjects]] were grouped into larger [[federal districts of Russia|federal districts]], one of which, the [[Far Eastern Federal District]], comprised [[Amur Oblast]], the [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug]], the [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]], [[Kamchatka Oblast]] with the [[Koryak Autonomous Okrug]], [[Khabarovsk Krai]], [[Magadan Oblast]], [[Primorsky Krai]], the [[Sakha Republic|Sakha (Yakutia) Republic]], and [[Sakhalin Oblast]]. In November 2018 [[Zabaykalsky Krai]] and the [[Republic of Buryatia]] were added; they had previously formed part of the [[Siberian Federal District]].<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ru:Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации |language=ru |url=http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001201811040002?index=0&rangeSize=1 |access-date=2018-11-04 |website=publication.pravo.gov.ru |archive-date=February 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205162518/http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001201811040002?index=0&rangeSize=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since 2000, Russians have increasingly used the term "Far East" to refer to the federal district, though the term is often also used more loosely.

Defined by the boundaries of the federal district, the Far East has an area of {{convert|6.2|e6km2|sqmi||}}—over one-third of Russia's total area.

===Russo-Japanese War===
{{Further|Russo-Japanese War}}

Russia in the early 1900s persistently sought a warm-water port on the [[Pacific Ocean]] for the [[Imperial Russian Navy]] as well as to facilitate maritime trade. The recently established Pacific seaport of [[Vladivostok]] (founded in 1860) was operational only during the summer season, but [[Lüshunkou|Port Arthur]] (leased by Russia from China from 1896 onward) in Manchuria could operate all year. After the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (1894–1895) and the failure of the 1903 negotiations between [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] and the [[Tsar Nicholas II]]'s government, Japan chose war to protect its domination of [[Korean Empire|Korea]] and adjacent territories. Russia, meanwhile, saw war as a means of distracting its populace from government repression and of rallying patriotism in the aftermath of several general strikes. Japan issued a declaration of war on 8&nbsp;February 1904. Three hours before Japan's declaration of war was received by the Russian government, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the Russian [[Pacific Fleet (Russia)|1st Pacific Squadron]] at Port Arthur. Eight days later Russia declared war on Japan.

The war ended in September 1905 with a Japanese victory following the fall of Port Arthur and the failed Russian invasion of Japan through the Korean Peninsula and [[Northeast China]]; also, Japan had threatened to invade [[Primorsky Krai]] via Korea. The warring parties signed the [[Treaty of Portsmouth]] on 5 September 1905, and both Japan and Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria and to return its sovereignty to China, but Japan was allowed to lease the [[Liaodong Peninsula]] (containing Port Arthur and [[Talien]], aka [[Kwantung Leased Territory]]), and the [[South Manchuria Railway|Russian rail system in southern Manchuria]] with its access to strategic resources. Japan also received the [[Karafuto Prefecture|southern half of the island]] of [[Sakhalin]] from Russia. In 1907 Japan forced Russia to confiscate land from Korean settlers (who formed the majority of Primorsky Krai's population) due to a fear of an invasion of Korea and of the ousting of Japanese troops by Korean guerrillas.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===Soviet era===
Between 1937 and 1939, the Soviet Union under [[Joseph Stalin]] deported [[Koryo-saram|over 200,000 Koreans]] to [[Uzbekistan]] and [[Kazakhstan]], fearing that the Koreans might act as spies for Japan. Many Koreans died on the way in cattle trains due to starvation, illness, or freezing conditions. Soviet authorities purged and executed many community leaders; [[Koryo-saram]] were not allowed to travel outside of Central Asia for the next 15&nbsp;years. Koreans were also not allowed to use the Korean language and its use began to become lost with the involvement of the [[Koryo-mar]] dialect and the use of Russian.

Development of numerous remote locations in the Soviet Far East relied on [[Gulag]] [[labour camp]]s during Stalin's rule, especially in the region's northern half. After the death of Stalin in 1953 the large-scale use of [[forced labour]] waned and was superseded by volunteer employees attracted by relatively high wages.

====Soviet–Japanese conflicts====
{{Main|Soviet–Japanese border conflicts}}

During the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]] in 1931, the Soviets occupied [[Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island]], [[Yinlong Island]], and several adjacent islets to separate the city of [[Khabarovsk]] from the territory controlled by a possibly hostile power.<ref>The [[People's Republic of China]] recognized Russian possession of the eastern half of these lands in [[Complementary Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on the Eastern Section of the China–Russia Boundary|the treaty of 2004]], whereas the western half then reverted to China.</ref>{{Better source needed|date=July 2023}}

Indeed, Japan turned its military attention to Soviet territories. Conflicts between the Japanese and the Soviets frequently happened on the border of Manchuria between 1938 and 1945. The first confrontation occurred in Primorsky Krai, the [[Battle of Lake Khasan]] (July–August 1938) involved an attempted military incursion of Japanese-controlled [[Manchukuo]] into territory claimed by the Soviet Union. This incursion was founded in the beliefs of the Japanese side that the Soviet Union had misinterpreted the demarcation of the boundary based on the 1860 [[Treaty of Peking]] between Imperial Russia and [[Manchu China]]. Primorsky Krai was always threatened by a Japanese invasion despite the fact that most of the remaining clashes occurred in Manchukuo.

The clashes ended shortly before and after the conclusion of [[World War II]] (see [[Soviet–Japanese War]]) when a war-weakened Japan found its territories of Manchukuo, [[Mengjiang]], [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]], and [[South Sakhalin]] [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invaded by Soviet and Mongolian troops]] (August 1945).

====World War II====
{{main|Pacific War|Soviet–Japanese War}}

Both the Soviet Union and Japan regarded the Primorsky Krai as a strategic location in World War II, and clashes over the territory were common. The Soviets and the other [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] considered it a key location for the planned [[Operation Downfall|invasion of Japan]] through Korea; Japan viewed it as a key location to begin a [[Hokushin-ron|mass invasion of Eastern Russia]]. The Primorsky Krai served as the Soviet Union's Pacific headquarters in the war to plan an invasion for allied troops of Korea in order to reach Japan.

After the Soviet invasion, the USSR returned Manchukuo and Mengjiang to China; [[Liberation of Korea|Korea became liberated]]. The Soviet Union also occupied and annexed Japan's [[Kuril Islands]] and southern Sakhalin. The planned Soviet invasion of Japan proper never happened.

====Cold War====
During the [[Korean War]], Primorsky Krai became the site of extreme security concern for the Soviet Union.

[[Vladivostok]] was the site of the [[Strategic Arms Limitation Talks]] in 1974. At the time, the Soviet Union and the United States decided quantitative limits on various nuclear weapons systems and banned the construction of new land-based [[intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBM]] launchers. Vladivostok and other cities in Primorsky Krai soon{{when|date=November 2020}} became [[closed cities]] because of the bases of the [[Soviet Pacific Fleet]].

Incursions of [[United States|American]] [[reconnaissance aircraft]] from [[Alaska]] sometimes happened. Concerns of the Soviet military caused the infamous [[Korean Air Lines Flight 007]] incident in 1983.

===Russian Federation===
====Russian Homestead Act====
In 2016, President [[Vladimir Putin]] proposed the [[Russian Homestead Act]] to populate the Russian Far East.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/on-russia-s-far-eastern-frontier-acres-of-free-land-but-little-interest/30848156.html|title=On Russia's Far Eastern Frontier, Vast Stretches Of Free Land, But Little Interest|website=RFE/RL|date=20 September 2020}}</ref>