Halfway through the war between the two countries over a piece of land, it suddenly occurred to him that the land was China's, and when Mrs. Cheha's life came to an end, he might have thought of that summer 14 years ago. That summer, he traveled from Moscow through Siberia to Sakhalin, the hell on earth in the hearts of Russians.
In the three months of Sakhalin's life, his outlook on life in the previous 30 years was completely changed, and the hypocrisy and warmth of society were pierced by the harsh reality. The horrors of the hard labor made him want to write something.
The following year, "Sakhalin's Travels" was published, and Sakhalin Island has since become synonymous with the dark politics of Tsarist Russia, representing the pain of a generation of Russians.
However, Chekhov probably did not expect that his Sakhalin Island is not only the pain of a generation, but also a soft place in the hearts of the people of the three countries. Sakhalin also has two well-known nicknames: Sakhalin and Taitao.
Sakhalin Island Past
Sakhalin Island is located in the northeast of China, the area is about equal to the sum of Hainan Island + Taiwan Island, and it is the largest island that has been ruled in The history of China. There are still about half a million people living on the island, mostly Russian immigrants. Now, the island belongs to Russia.
For Chinese, Sakhalin Island is not only a hell on earth written by Chekhov, it represents the most unforgettable and unbearable past in our country.
The culprit who let this treasure island be torn apart is one of the most incompetent silverfish in the "I Qing", the absolute sinner of the nation - Yishan.
Speaking of the name Yishan, many people will have a familiar feeling, but if you see him in the history books, then the things recorded must be bad.
His life experiences, including but not limited to: the city of Guangzhou deceived and signed the Treaty of Guangzhou with the British; in Ili, he saw the Russians and signed the Treaty of Yaohun on two wars.
The former made the British see the incompetence of the Qing government and greatly stimulated the aggressive ambitions of the British. The latter cut off land and pay compensation, using the country's land to satisfy the appetite of the enemy, and was the most unequal treaty in Chinese history.
It was through the adoption of the Treaty of Elhun that Tsarist Russia acquired the nominal jurisprudence of Sakhalin Island. From our current perspective and data, this is a conspiracy that Tsarist Russia has been plotting for decades.
I'm afraid of thieves
Just as Jerusalem is to Westerners, the ice-free port is synonymous with Jerusalem in the Russian mind. From Ivan the Terrible to Catherine II, the Russians often played with several surrounding countries for a non-freezing port.
When a large island with abundant resources and a vast area appears in front of them, what reason do they have not to be impressed?
Beginning in 1805, the Russians began to plan for the invasion of Sakhalin Island. During the Kangxi Dynasty, they were stopped at the Heilongjiang River Valley by the Battle of Yaksa. However, during the Daoguang period, the weakness of the Qing Dynasty after the British moved was seen by the great powers. At this point, the Russians began their own action.
After acquiring Sakhalin Island, the Russians began construction. They exiled many serfs and criminals from the country to Sakhalin Island, and used these people as the main force of construction, which can be described as cheap and easy to use. In this way, Sakhalin Island went from Chinese treasure island to a bitter cold hell among the Russian population.
But the Russians did not expect that they were not the only country that remembered Sakhalin Island. Next to Sakhalin Island, there is also a thief thinking about this vast land. This thief is the Japanese.
The Russo-Japanese War hit the dog's brain
Sakhalin Island was not a good piece of land for the original Japan. Compared with the neighboring north Korea, Sakhalin Island does not have much working population, nor does it have much land to be developed, in order to grab such a poor place to go to war with the Qing Dynasty, is that not a head problem?
But time has come to modern times. After the development of the Russians, the situation on Sakhalin Island has been greatly improved, and even precious resources such as oil have been found on the island.
After the Meiji Restoration and the Sino-Japanese War, Japan gradually became stronger and had military confidence. The treasure land is on the other side of the sea, the Qing Dynasty people are weak and powerless, why can't Japan touch it when Russia touches it?
With this in mind, the Japanese government decided to touch Tsarist Russia. In 1904, Japan took the lead in waging war against Tsarist Russia and made a surprise attack on Lushun. After a year of war, the Japanese were pleasantly surprised to find that Tsarist Russia was actually a paper tiger. In this way, Japan obtained half of Sakhalin Island through a paper contract bounded by 50° north latitude.
After separating the island from Tsarist Russia, Japan adopted the same policy as Tsarist Russia, sending immigrants to the island. These immigrants, mainly criminals, were involved in the development of Japanese companies on Sakhalin Island.
The two great empires are happy, so how does the island's natives feel? These indigenous peoples experience things that we cannot imagine. The living standards of the Sakhalin islanders under Tsarist Russia and Japan can be summed up in one sentence: they are worse than black slaves.
Before Sakhalin Island was divided, the main task of the island's indigenous people was to exchange the island's specialties for other necessary means of subsistence. But in the eyes of the Russians and Japanese, they were not human beings, just a herd of livestock.
Livestock and humans are treated differently. People can be abused but not killed, and livestock can not only abuse but also kill.
In this way, indigenous peoples were not only enslaved by the colonizers, but also often experienced life risks. When night came, if the sound of Cossack horseshoes came from outside the mountains, then a tribe would have to migrate deeper into the mountains. If they don't, then their fate will be even worse than that of the black slaves.
For the Russian and Japanese top brass, Sakhalin's greatest role is the island's resources and the military value of the island itself, and how well people live on the island is not in their consideration.
Against this backdrop, Sakhalin island is simply a primitive society that uses modern technology. The people on the island only look at force and talk about nothing else.
The pain of Japan
By 1918, the Japanese had taken the whole island into their pockets. In 1942, the Japanese Ministry of the Interior directly divided Sakhalin Island into the Ministry of the Interior.
But as World War II progressed, the Soviet Union awoke from German blitzkriegs, and the United States confronted Japan thousands of miles away. Japan gradually lost control of Sakhalin Island.
In the end, Japanese rule over Sakhalin Island was crushed to smithereens by the iron fist of the Soviet August storm. In the Treaty of San Francisco, the Japanese gave up their sovereignty over Sakhalin Island in disgrace. Since then, Sakhalin Island has been reintroduced by the Soviet Union and continues to this day.
As the junction of Japan, Russia and China, Sakhalin Island has suffered a lot in modern times, and the island's indigenous people have disappeared.
For Chinese, Sakhalin Island can be said to be the epitome of modern China. As a great power, it is a great shame to be unable to resist foreign aggression and even to watch two other countries compete for their own territory.
For the Japanese, Sakhalin Island symbolizes their most glorious moment, although all this has been wiped out with the collapse of militarism, but the so-called thief's heart is not dead, and to this day, many Japanese people will go to Hokkaido to cry across the sea from Sakhalin Island.
And the Russians, who eventually occupied Sakhalin Island, did not have a good result. The sluggish domestic economy has forced the Russians on Sakhalin to choose a new way out, leaving their homeland for a new urban life.