mobilization

Based on archival materials introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the article analyzes the previously unexplored problem of draft dodgers and deserters from the Russian army in China during the First World War. The entry of the Russian Empire into the First World War caused serious changes in the life of the state. The mobilization of a huge number of subjects into the army had a drastic impact on the economic, political and social life of the empire. Despite the patriotic upsurge of the majority of the population in the first months of the war, a significant part of Russian citizens did not share these sentiments and sought to avoid being sent to the front, fearing involvement in military operations. Among the draft dodgers were representatives of different segments of the population and ethnic groups. Evaders and deserters moved inland to Siberia and the Far East, and subsequently left the empire. The main focus of the escapes was China, which occupied a neutral position in the war until 1917. The lower ranks of the Russian police and border guard service, as well as the Russian and Chinese local populations, helped the dodgers in organizing their escapes abroad. A network of clandestine migration routes from Russia to China gradually developed. Having arrived in China, as a rule, by rail, the fugitives settled in Harbin, Tianjin, Changchun, and Dalny, then received new documents and financial assistance from employees of German concessions, Russian nationals who settled in China, who were opposed to the Russian authorities, as well as from various criminal elements. The latter have gradually established an illegal business selling forged documents. After receiving new documents, the draft dodgers and deserters sought to leave China and followed first to the Philippine Islands, Hong Kong, and then, as a rule, to the United States. Some stayed in China and joined the American army units based here. The problem of Russian draft dodgers and deserters testifies to the serious crisis of the Russian Empire during the First World War, and also demonstrates the important nuances of its relations with neighboring countries of the Far Eastern region.