“The Blagoveshchensk Panic” of the Year 1900: the Version of the Authorities

Abstract

The article considers an incident which took place in the early July in 1900 in the Amur region and which tragically culminated in the deportation of the Chinese subjects living in Blagoveshchensk and its surroundings, known as “Blagoveshchensk ‘Utopia’.” It is shown how these events appear in the testimony of direct executors and witnesses of the incident recorded in the first inquest that was conducted by the order of the military governor, as well as in the presentation of the persons responsible for the expulsion of the Chinese from the city. All these documents drawn up in the wake of the events let us clarify the scope of the tragedy and significantly expand the understanding of the role of local authorities and of forming of the offi cial version of what happened.