Entangled Empires

Sören Urbansky is Professor of East European History at Ruhr University Bochum.Martin Wagner is Lecturer in East European History at Kiel University and Research Associate at the Free University of Berlin.

"Sören Urbansky and Martin Wagner explore the convoluted story of Russo-Chinese relations from the moment in the mid-17th century that roving Cossack bands bumped up against Siberian tribes who owed fealty to Beijing up to the latest performative amity between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Their conclusions, in a nutshell, are that the two nations' association has never been defined by genuine friendship or ideological unity but rather by recurring patterns of dominance, asymmetric dependency and rivalry, dressed up in the language of brotherhood: Florid proclamations of friendship are undoubtedly a façade behind which historic rivalries persist."Owen Matthews, The Spectator"If you want to understand current relations between China and Russia, this is the book that tells you how they got there. Authoritative, beautifully written and full of new and surprising insights."Caroline Humphrey, University of Cambridge"The world order is changing and this book appears at an ideal moment. Deeply researched and analytically trenchant, it explores the history of relations between the two empires over more than four centuries, looking at territorial expansion, war, diplomacy, trade, migration and cultural exchange. If cultural misunderstanding and animosity emerge as a major theme in their relations, so does a tendency to form an alliance in the face of third-party threats."Steve Smith, University of Oxford"No one can know how relations between Russia and China will develop in the future. But how changeable and full of surprising twists and turns they have been over the centuries since their first encounter, and how they could be again at any time, can be learned from this excellently researched and densely written history."Karl Schlögel, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)"Sören Urbansky and Martin Wagner have written a lucid, fast-paced and much-needed history of more than four centuries of Sino-Russian relations. Although the Cold War alliance and the current strategic friendship might outwardly look like threats to the world, the two countries have historically maintained a difficult relationship marred by clashing visions of imperial greatness, mutual resentment, competing expansionist policies, territorial disputes and diverging geostrategic interests in the world."Lorenz Lüthi, McGill University"Urbansky and Wagner have managed to pull off a remarkable balancing act: their book is source-based, well-researched, and analytically precise – and at the same time written with a narrative lightness that makes it accessible to a broad readership. It shows how history can sharpen our understanding of the present without determining it - and invites us to take a sharper look at the global order of the future."Süddeutsche Zeitung"[Urbansky and Wagner] have not only succeeded in shedding light on a complicated relationship, but also in characterising two countries that appear to function very differently from Western Europe or America."Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"Sören Urbansky and Martin Wagner have produced a truly outstanding book at just the right time."Portal für Politikwissenschaft

• IntroductionBeijing 1618 — Gathering knowledgeNerchinsk 1689 — Setting boundariesAigun 1858 — Expanding empiresHarbin 1898 — Experiencing imperialismShanghai 1921 — Stoking revolutionMoscow 1950 — Pledging friendshipBeijing 1956 — Decoding de-StalinisationDamansky 1969 — Testing boundariesTashkent 1982 — Seeking rapprochementBeijing 1989 — Losing controlShanghai 2001 — Toppling world orderKyiv 2022 — Interpreting warEpilogueAcknowledgementsList of sourcesTimelineList of illustrations and maps