The essential objective of this study was to reveal the degree to which one man, Nicholas Muraviev, was instrumental in bringing about Russia's annexation of The Amur basin, as well as the territory that became the Maritime Province of Siberia. Introductory chapters provide: a) a background summary of Muraviev's education and of his career prior to his service in Siberia and b) a brief historical survey of the area in which his achievements raised Russia to the position of a Far Eastern Power. The main body of the study comprises an analytical narrative of Muraviev's activities during the decade that culminated in the Chinese capitulation at Aigun in 1858. Closing chapters explain the factors that turned the newly acquired territories into a burden for the Russian Government until it decided to build the trans-Siberian railway, and set forth some conclusions regarding the historical significance of Muraviev's role as Russia's pro-consul in Eastern Siberia. Extensive use was made of the prime single source of information on Muraviev's life, Ivan Barsukov's Graf N. N. Muraviev-Amurskii, po ego pismam, ofitsialnym dokumentam, razskazam sovremmenikov it pechatnym istochnikam (materialy d1ia biografii). Also of significant assistance was the bibliography contained in J. L. Sullivan's doctoral dissertation, Count N. N. Muraviev-Amurskii, a full-scale biography. Sullivan's dissertation preceded two important works bearing on the Muraviev period in Siberia and drawn on extensively in the present study; R. K. I. Quested's The Expansion of Russia in East Asia, 1858-1860, and P. I. Kabanov's Amurskii Vopross. Among other particularly valuable sources was P. V. Schumacher's long article, K istorii priobretenia Amurai. Snoshenias Kitaem s 1848 po 1860 g.” contained in Russki Arkhiv, which, together with Russkaia Starina and Krasny Arkhiv, also contain numerous other documents, memoirs and contemporary accounts that were consulted. Of signal value, too, among the special studies, surveys and reference works consulted was the introductory chapter of Andrew Malozemoff's " Russian Far Eastern Policy, 1881-1904. A complete selected bibliography is included. The research undertaken for this study has led to the conclusion that had it not been for Muraviev's imagination and ingenuity, his willingness, on occasion, to flout authority and his dedication and extraordinary stamina, the annexation to Eastern Siberia of almost 400,000 square miles of territory might never have taken place. Muraviev was sometimes impatient, perhaps sometimes insufficiently impressed by broader politico-military considerations that dictated what he regarded as an inexcusably over-cautious attitude toward Russo-Chinese relations in St. Petersburg. He also tended to exaggerate the immediate benefits that would accrue to Russia once she acted boldly on the Amur. Yet the salient fact remains that it was the intensity with which he pursued his idee fixe, both with words and actions, the years of his methodical preparation, with minimal support from the Russian Government, that made it possible for that Government to nullify the Treaty of Nerchinsk and to extend the Russian Empire's realms on the Pacific's shores down to the Korean frontier. It took important external factors, such as the Crimean War, and the resulting replacement of Muraviev's nemesis, Nesselrode, and his clique, with more capable and far sighted officials, to bring Muraviev's plans to fruition. But to say this is simply to say that the authorities in St. Petersburg, viewing the confluence of events on the international scene, finally recognized that in Muraviev they had the right man at the right place at the right time.

x, 94 p. : col. ill. / Siberia is a space that is more ideologic than it is geographic; it lacks defined physical boundaries and has no precise date of founding. Throughout its contemporary history as a Russian territory, the Siberia of public imagination has been dictated primarily by the views and agendas of external actors, and its culture and literature - despite having multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, and multi-religious roots - have been subsumed by the greater Russian tradition to which they are uneasily tied. Using an historical framework, this thesis establishes that there is, in fact, a canon of Siberian literature that stands apart from the Russian canon and that incorporates not only Russian texts but also other European and local indigenous ones. Furthermore, I contend that this canon has both been shaped by and continues to shape a pan-Siberian identity that unifies the border-less, ideologic space in a way that physical boundaries cannot. / Committee in charge: Dr. Katya Hokanson, Chairperson; Dr. Julie Hessler, Member; Dr. Jenifer Presto, Member

The thesis deals with the oral, or folk epic of the non-Slavonic peoples inhabiting Siberia, excluding the so-called Palaeosiberians. It is divided into four main parts, as follows: I. Essay on the historicity of epics, in general terms, but with special reference to those of Siberia. II. Discussion of the epics of the two main groups, Mongolian (Burjat) and Turkic, which latter includes the Yakut of the north. Form and construction of the epics, with remarks on their versification, mode of presentation, and content, in general. III. Details of the content, shown in summaries of the stories of selected epics. IV. A short account of the Soviet attitudes towards folk literature, and conclusion. The appended bibliography lists the major works in the field, both primary and secondary, and the Glossarial Index gives excursi upon several topics and motifs regularly met with. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

Studies of the role of East-West trade in Soviet economic development often assume that Siberia and the Far East play an important role in trading relations, but few studies have examined the extent of that role and the relationship between trade and economic development within the region. This study addresses two interrelated questions: firstly, what is the role of Siberia and the Far East in trade with the West, and secondly, what is the role of East-West trade in Siberian development. Regional trade participation data are not available. The study therefore examines the composition of Soviet trade with the West and the industrial structure of the Siberian economy, in order to deduce the extent of regional participation in trade. Soviet exports to the West are dominated by natural resources, while imports from the West comprise machinery and equipment, manufactured goods and agricultural products. Analysis of the Siberian economy reveals a specialisation in the production and processing of natural resources. Estimates of export participation show that since the late 1970s the region has become the Soviet Union's most important source of foreign currency. Imports of Western technology are shown to play an important part in natural resource production and in the creation of Siberia's Territorial-Production Complexes. In many instances compensation agreements tie the use of imports to export production. Overall the value of Siberian exports exceeds the cost of imports of Western technology, so that the region generates a sizeable foreign currency surplus. In conclusion, a simple model of the trade and development process is presented which relates the pattern of foreign trade participation to the process of regional development. The impact of Western imports is felt mainly in the European core region where they provide additional resources to feed the population and renovate the industrial base; the impact of exports to the West is felt mainly in Siberia and the Far East where they increase demands for natural resource production. Thus, East-West trade serves to perpetuate the existing core-periphery pattern of Soviet regional development. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This study examines how travelogues by the Russian author Anton Chekhov, an American, George Kennan and a British citizen, Harry de Windt, contributed towards establishing the image of Siberia towards the end of the 19th century, juxtaposing their individual views against the commonly perceived view of the region at the time. In examining the texts, a literary analysis is merged with elements of other approaches, through a strong thematic focus, centring on the cultural and ideological assumptions implied in the texts. The findings reveal that both native inhabitants and foreigners are capable of expressing a justifiable opinion on a locality, resulting in different versions of what is observed, from divergent points of view. Although the three writers in this study appear to support a negative view of Siberia, closer investigation show evidence of optimism about the eventual destiny of a region in a stage of transition. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Russian)

This study examines how travelogues by the Russian author Anton Chekhov, an American, George Kennan and a British citizen, Harry de Windt, contributed towards establishing the image of Siberia towards the end of the 19th century, juxtaposing their individual views against the commonly perceived view of the region at the time. In examining the texts, a literary analysis is merged with elements of other approaches, through a strong thematic focus, centring on the cultural and ideological assumptions implied in the texts. The findings reveal that both native inhabitants and foreigners are capable of expressing a justifiable opinion on a locality, resulting in different versions of what is observed, from divergent points of view. Although the three writers in this study appear to support a negative view of Siberia, closer investigation show evidence of optimism about the eventual destiny of a region in a stage of transition. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Russian)