Russian invasion of Manchuria

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Russian invasion of Manchuria
Part of the Boxer Rebellion
Russian cannons firing at Beijing gates during the Battle of Peking, 14 August 1900
Date June – November 1900 Location Manchuria, China Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire	Yìhéquán (Boxers) China
Commanders and leaders
Yevgeni Alekseyev Dyean Subotich Konstantin Tserpitsky Pavel Mishchenko Nikolay Orlov	Shoushan [zh] (a descendant of Yuan Chonghuan)
Strength
58,000[1]-100,000 Imperial Russian Army soldiers and Cossacks[2][3]	Manchu Bannermen, Boxers, Honghuzi bandits
Casualties and losses
242 killed, 1,283 wounded (per Russian sources)[2]	Unknown, at least in the thousands[2]

The Russian invasion of Manchuria or Chinese expedition (Russian: Китайская экспедиция)^[4] occurred in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) when concerns regarding Qing China's defeat by the Empire of Japan, and Japan's brief occupation of Liaodong, caused the Russian Empire to speed up their long held designs for imperial expansion across Eurasia.

In the five years preceding the invasion, the Russian Empire established a network of leased territories in Manchuria. This began with the Triple Intervention in 1895. From 1898, after which Russia received Liaotung from Japan, it built and operated the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER). As with all other major powers in China, Russia demanded concessions along with the railroad, enforced through unequal treaties.

With the building of a southern branch of the CER (later the South Manchuria Railway), Mukden (now known as Shenyang) became a Russian stronghold. During the Boxer Rebellion, the Russian military temporarily evacuated from and immediately reoccupied Mukden.^[5][6]

The Russian Empire's full invasion of Manchuria occurred concurrent with its participation against the Boxer Rebellion. The pretext of the invasion was the defense of the railroad against Boxer rebels.

Russia became involved in the Eight Nation Alliance due to its presence in the foreign legations. Russian Cossacks formed part of the relief forces during the Seymour and Gaselee expeditions while Russian forces were also present inside the legations during the sieges in Beijing and Tianjin. These forces operated separately from those involved in the invasion of Manchuria, with the entire Manchuria operation exclusively directed by Russians.

The invasion concluded with the full occupation of Manchuria by Russia, causing tensions that led to the Russo-Japanese War.