page_title: Harbin Russians
section_title: World War I and the Russian Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: Harbin Russians / History / World War I and the Russian Revolution
caption_attribution_description: 中文: 哈尔滨圣·索菲亚教堂 Русский: Софийский собор в Харбине 日本語: ハルビンの聖ソフィア聖堂。1907年3月、帝政ロシアの兵士の軍用教会として創建された。日露戦争（1904年（明治37年）2月6日～1905年（明治38年）9月5日）の終戦2年後にあたる。その後もロシアの茶商人などが出資し、拡張工事が行われ、1932年に現在の姿になった。現在は教会としては使用されず、ハルピンの開拓期の写真をはじめ、絵画、教会堂などの模型が展示されており、観光名所となっている。高さ53.35ｍ、建築面積721㎡、ビザンチン型式建築の影響を強く受けており、平面がラテン十字形であり、約2000人が収容できる規模である。最上階の鐘楼には音の異なる7つの鐘がある。内部の壁は痛みが激しく、色褪せ所々剥落しており古色蒼然たる趣がある。窓ガラスにはステンドグラスなどは一切使われていない。ダ・ヴィンチの『最後の晩餐』のレプリカなどが飾られ、豪華なシャンデリアは特に壮大である。 周囲はデパートなど商業施設が建ち並ぶ近代的な繁華街であり、当教会はその中で異彩を放っている。また、結婚式の写真撮影のメッカともなっており、ウェディングドレス姿の花嫁の姿がしばしば見られる。 English: The Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom of God in Harbin Deutsch: Sophienkathedrale (Harbin)
context_page_description: The term Harbin Russians or Russian Harbinites refers to several generations of Russians who lived in the city of Harbin, China from approximately 1898 to the mid-1960s. Harbin, a major junction city on the Chinese Eastern Railway, came successively under the control of the Qing dynasty, the Republic of China, Manchukuo and the People's Republic of China in this period.
  The people in the Soviet Union used the terms "KVZhDist" and "Harbinets" to refer to a person with any type of ties to the China Eastern Railway.
context_section_description: In the decade from 1913 to 1923, Russia went through World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the Russian Civil War. In the 1920s Harbin was flooded with 100,000 to 200,000 White émigrés fleeing from Russia. They were mostly officers and soldiers involved in the White movement, members of the White governments in Siberia and Russian Far East. There were both the intelligentsia and ordinary people. Harbin held the largest Russian population outside of the state of Russia.
  On September 8, 1920, the Republic of China announced that it would no longer recognize the Russian consulates in China. On September 23, China ceased relations with representatives of the Russian Empire and deprived Russians of extraterritorial rights. Overnight, Russians in China found themselves stateless. Shortly afterward, the Chinese government took over control of the institutions in Harbin such as courts, police, prison, post office, and some research and educational institutions.
  In 1924, an agreement was signed in Beijing regarding the control of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The agreement stated that only Soviet and Chinese citizens could be employed by the CER. This meant the Harbin Russians had to choose not only their nationality, but also their political identity. Many Harbin Russians took Soviet citizenship for patriotic reasons. However, there were also Harbin Russians who remained stateless who were eventually let go from CER. Gradually, the national and the political identity of the Harbin Russians split the group into opposing sides. This led to a strong Soviet presence in Harbin.
  In 1929, the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception opened the Lyceum St. Nicholas, which educated Christian male elite until 1949.
caption: Russian Orthodox Saint Sofia Church built in 1907, Harbin
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