On July 25, 1919, the Soviet Russian diplomat Garrahan issued the Declaration of the Government of the North and South of China under the authorization of Lenin. In this declaration, Soviet Russia declared that it would abandon the unequal treaties signed with China during the Russian Empire and give up the land obtained by Tsarist Russia by means of aggression in China.
However, we also know that after all, the territory did not come back, so what did Soviet Russia calculate? Why?
Map of the territory of the Qing Dynasty
In 1858, the Qing government signed the Treaty of Aihui with Tsarist Russia, ceding 600,000 square kilometers of land on the mainland.
In 1860, the Qing government signed the Treaty of Beijing with Tsarist Russia, ceding about 400,000 square kilometers of land.
In 1864, the Qing government signed the "Treaty on the Survey and Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary" with Tsarist Russia, ceding 440,000 square kilometers of land; By the time of the issuance of the Galahan Declaration, Tsarist Russia had occupied about 1.5 million square kilometers of land in China.
Lenin
Not only in 1919, but also in 1920, in 1923, the USSR twice reaffirmed the declaration. However, in the end, the occupied territories did not return, and this has to start with the establishment of Soviet Russia.
When Soviet Russia was founded, Russia was still participating in World War I, and suddenly, the Tsarist regime collapsed and a communist state was formed. After the end of World War I, European countries decided to strangle Soviet Russia and not allow the birth of communist countries, not to mention that Russia's withdrawal from World War I also made Britain and France miserable. At this time, the head of the Beiyang government of China was Duan Qirui, and he also decided to send troops to attack Soviet Russia and recover part of the occupied land.
Duan Qirui
Soviet Russia was in danger, and Lenin decided to return the land that had been occupied by Tsarist Russia during the period of China. From the present point of view, the return of Chinese land is nothing more than an expedient measure by Soviet Russia to stabilize the regime.
Lenin died in 1924. In 1928, after the victory of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek sent Soong Ziwen as a diplomatic envoy to the Soviet Union to discuss the return of the territory. At this time, the head of the Soviet Union was Stalin. "There is no territory at all" was Stalin's answer at that time, and in this way, Soong Ziwen returned to China in disgrace after being given a cold reception by the Soviet Union.
Stalin
Many people think that if Lenin was still alive when Soong went to the Soviet Union, he might have been able to get a lot of land that had been invaded and belonged to China. However, judging from the historical development of Russia, this is almost impossible, after all, the Soviet Union signed contracts with Nazi Germany and Japan during World War II.