 The National Broadcasting Company at its affiliated stations present the Pacific story. This is the story of the Pacific. The drama of the millions of people who live around this greatest sea, but the United States is now committed to a long-term policy of keeping the peace. This, as another public service of the National Broadcasting Company, is the background story of the events in the Pacific and their meaning to us and to the generations to come. Russia, the new power in the Pacific. Russia has at last reached the sea. Today, Russians stand on the Kuril Islands, on all of the island of Sakhalin, and in the ports of Dairon and Port Arthur. That means that things are going to be different in the Pacific so far as Russia is concerned. It means that Russia, our nearest overseas neighbor, has one control of the shores of Asia from the bearing straits to the islands of Japan, and then some. To fortify the Kuril Islands, we will make them a screen of steel. Russia has planned. Henceforward, the Kuril Islands will stand guard against future Japanese aggression and will assure freedom of the Pacific Ocean for the Soviet motherland. The Soviet has at last broken out of its isolation. As the Americans strove westward to reach the Pacific, the Russians strove eastward. And as it took the Americans more than a century, so also it took the Russians. It must be remembered, Russia is nearly three times as large as the United States. The greatest land mass on Earth. It is four times the size of France. It is one-sixth the land surface of the Earth. One-sixth the land surface of the Earth. But until now, our country was landlocked. We have many rivers, four of the longest in the world, but none gives us an outlet to the Great Oceans. The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea. The Yenisei in the Lena flow northward into the Arctic Ocean. And the Amur River flows into the Sea of Acha. All these rivers are great rivers. They have for centuries been the lines of communication through the great territories of Russia. Down these rivers came the settlers from Europe. Cossacks, convicts, peasants, soldiers of fortune. That river is endless. There is a sea beyond us. Sometimes I wonder. Some of our own people have seen it. Dezhnev saw it. Dezhnev lived 200 years ago. How do we know he saw it? Cossacks and Kovalev and Zenobia saw it 50 years later. They even made settlements on Konchatka. The natives burned their ports and drove them out. But they went back. Wilderness. Rivers and wilderness. Will we ever see anything else? The settlers moved eastward. Rivers and the tributaries then overland. Then in boats again. Then over rocky heartbreaking terrain. And at last Konchatka Peninsula. And the ice-free port they had heard of. Petropavlovsk. There it is. Warmed by the Japanese current and ice-free the year round. Petropavlovsk. It is real. That is the open Pacific you see there. Then across that ocean must be America. A new world. Petropavlovsk. That will be our outpost on the Pacific. The Russians had a nice free port on the open Pacific. But it was situated on a lonely peninsula with access to the mainland difficult. And thousands of miles of wilderness between it and the cities of European Russia. In relation to European Russia it was like a nice free port in Alaska in 1850 in relation to New York. Some day perhaps it would mean something. Some day when Siberia had been developed and when adequate communications had been built. But in 1850 the most it could become was the center of the Russian Pacific naval squadron. The attention of the world was again focused on the Far East. Russia and Britain were on bad terms and relations were growing worse. They were in conflict in the Crimea. They were also in conflict in Asia. Count Muravyok who was Governor-General of Siberia went back to Europe to confer with its arm. Britain is trying to checkmate us, Your Highness. Why is this? After a trade monopoly in the Far East. Can Russia compete with Britain in the Far East? Count Muravyok, Your Highness. Siberia is a land of untold resources. We cannot dream the extent of this wealth. Minerals, timber, fishing, furs. It will take us generations to develop it. But it is of no value to us unless we can trade with it. And for this we must have outlets. We must have ports. We must have markets. And these we cannot have as long as Britain continues to block us. Yes, we must have outlets. But we need more than that. Armed forces? Your Highness, if the British should attack our possessions in the East how could we defend them? We must have more strength in the East. Yes. Britain has already forced an entry into China. Now she's trying to secure a similar monopoly throughout all Asia. Count Muravyok, Russia is facing war with Britain here in Europe. Under these conditions it is doubtful that we could support also a military operation in the Far East. Therefore we must... General Muravyok went back to Siberia. To him with almost empty hands fell the task of stopping the British in the Far East. 2,000 miles up the Armour River he assembled a nondescript force. Hurry! Get those horses into the boat! Get over there! Get in there! Get up there! Get up there! Get us down on the boat! Here, get this man up to hand many the cannon in the boat! Hurry! All together now! Lift! Lift! Up into the boat! Careful! Don't drop those guns! You'll go through the bottom! Get those horses up there! Come on! Out of the way! Immunization coming through! Immunization coming through! General Muravyok, sir? Yes? The boat's loaded and secured by daylight. Is the food stored safely? As safe as anything can be in these boats, sir. These boats were not built to carry horses and cannon. They must do with what we have. Yes, sir. How many men will we have? About 1,000. Perhaps a few less. Take every precaution. We have a long journey before us. We will sail adorned. Yes, sir. But... Yes? What about the Chinese? The Chinese regard the Armours their river. Yes? If they should use force to prop a field. They'll deal with that when it comes. Now, get those provisions aboard and clear the doors of the earth. Before the sun was up, the makeshift invasion fleet was moving down the river. Horses, cannon, ammunition, provisions, crowded into the boats with the men. There is the Chinese force ahead of us there, at the bend of the river, sir. I know they're called the world. Do they have gunboats there, sir? Yes. Chinese gunboats are in the stream to stop us. Do we fire around them, sir? Now, raise the flag and signal them to come over here. Yes, sir. With the Russian fleet of boats scattered over the Great River, the Chinese gunboat came up alongside General Muravyov's boat. All these boats are Russian? All of them. This river is a Chinese stream. No Russian force has a right to sail on it. I'm carrying out a mission for his Imperial Majesty. It's ours. You will order your boats to land at the port. I have 8,000 men in this force. 8,000? Yes. It would be difficult for us to affect the landing. Is it not so? Yes, it would be difficult. The boats sail down. Muravyov sailed down the river. His makeshift invasion force sped out for a hundred miles. At the point where the armor turns northward, he unloaded his force. And horses, men, cannon, munitions, provisions started across the wilderness of what is now the maritime province of Soviet Asia. Down to the Gulf of Chattery they went, this nondescript harness. On the barren shore of the wilderness, Muravyov had assembled a fleet of small ocean-going vessels. He embarked his force and sailed for the peninsula of Kamchatka for the ice-free port of Petropavlov. I'm carrying out fire from the shore, sir. It's fantastic. How could they have shore batteries hidden in this gulf for a second wilderness? I don't know, sir, but the cannon they're using is as big as ours or bigger. How could they have gotten guns and ammunition of this caliber out here to Petropavlovsk? Certainly not around the Cape of Good Hope. No, sir. And the garrison and the ammunition and provisions and all the rest. They have brought it out across Siberia. Are you hurt, sir? Are you hurt? No, no. Give the order to break off. We will have to withdraw. Yes, sir. She's firing. She's firing. Russia had served notice of her impasse in the Pacific. If Petropavlovsk had fallen, the story might have been different. Britain, for the time, was repulsed. But there was still the matter of the boundary dispute with China. Murabiyev built fortified posts on the north bank of the Amor River. Chinese troops are gathering across the river, sir. They will not strike. They seem a strong force. China is having too much trouble with the Taiping rebels within and with England and France from without took out trouble with us. Yes, sir. Here on the north bank of the Amur, we have taken our stand, and here we will stay. The Amur must be the frontier. We must never again permit ourselves to be denied the use of the Amur. See who it is. Yes, sir. The Chinese courier has a message for Count Murabiyev. Bring him in. You will come in with me. Yes, sir. Here on Murabiyev, this Chinese courier brings you a message. Prince Nishon, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese forces on the Amur, sends his compliments and this request. Let me have it. Is there a reply, sir? Yes. Inform Prince Nishon that it will confer with him as he requests at Taigun. Yes, sir. The prince will be most pleased. They met at Taigun, on the banks of the Amur. The Chinese commander-in-chief and his staff, and Count Murabiyev often his staff. In the interest of close and friendly relations, we agree first that the entire north bank of the Amur River shall be Russian territory. And second, that navigation on the Amur shall be confined entirely to Chinese and Russian vessels. This was the Treaty of Aigun. It settled the boundary dispute between Manchuria and Siberia. It opened to the Russia, Russia, the trade of all of northern Manchuria, and it vastly strengthened Russia's influence in the Far East. Russia had scored another victory. But as she moved toward the Pacific, now she met another antagonist. A Japan has, for years, had commercial relations with the Ainu people of Sakhalin. Russia has no right to penetrate this island. Sakhalin is not a Japanese island. Japan has prior rights. A Russian expedition crossed the Straits of Tartary from the mainland of Siberia to the island of Sakhalin years ago. We know of this expedition. The expedition explored the island and brought back complete reports. On the basis of these reports, Russia is engaged in trade with the people of Sakhalin. It would be a mistake for Russia to neglect Japan's rights on Sakhalin. The Russians pushed into Sakhalin. The Japanese stirred up the native Ainu against them. The Russians fought the Ainu and fought the Japanese. Sakhalin, only five miles off the mainland of Siberia, would mean protection for nearly 900 miles of Russia's maritime province. And it would mean access to the open Pacific. The Russians issued a pronouncement. The island of Sakhalin, being a prolongation of the basin of the Amur River, incontestably belongs to Russia. The Japanese ignored this. More Russians came to the northern part of the island. More Japanese to the southern part. And at the same time, the same thing was happening in the Kuril Islands, the chain of islands 600 miles long, reaching from the southern tip of Kamchatka to Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. If the Japanese gained these islands, it meant that the entire area of the Sea of Arkutsk would be hemmed in. The conflict increased. Russia proposes that Sakhalin be exchanged for the Kuril Islands. The entire island of Sakhalin going to Russia, and the entire chain of Kuril Island going to Japan. It was settled for the time. The Russians took over Sakhalin. The Japanese took over the Kurils. But now the die was cast. Russia's and Japan's struggle for power was coming to a halt. Japan was also in conflict with China. The world was astounded in 1894 when little Japan, only a few decades removed from feudalism, attacked giant sprawling China and soundly defeated it. As a prize of the war, Japan took the southernmost tip of Manchuria. The area known is the Laodong Peninsula. By this maneuver, the Japanese have not only won a strong foothold on the mainland of Asia, but they have locked us in. If you permit the Japanese to occupy this territory, you will have no possibility of a warm water outlet to defeat. The Japanese have taken this area from China. You must not permit them to take it. Are we in a position to stop them? Neither Germany nor France wish any more than we do to see Japan and southern Manchuria. Uh-huh. I understand. I understand. The Russians pulled the strings. They lined up France and Germany, both of which had ambitions in the Pacific, against Japan. Belong Hayashi. In our considerable opinion, the possession of the Laodong Peninsula by Japan would be a menace to the capital of China at the King. To make sure that the Japanese knew what they meant, the Russians sent the biggest squadron of warships to the Far East that had ever been assembled in Chinese waters. They swallowed their pride for now and did not take the Laodong Peninsula. The Russians then played their next card. They went to the Chinese. We were of course happy to help China regain the Laodong Peninsula. The Chinese listened apprehensively. And we were happy to raise 100 million francs to help China pay her debt to Japan. The Chinese listened. Now we must ask China's help. We ask that China permit us to build a railroad across Manchuria to Vladivostok. Russia was pushing a trans-Fibrian railroad across the wilderness to the sea. To cut across Manchuria would save them some 350 miles. The Chinese agreed. This map here will show you. The railroad will enter Manchuria up here at Manchuria. Here in northwestern Manchuria. And it will cut diagonally across Manchuria down to here. And at this point, cross the frontier and proceed to Vladivostok. This short cut across Manchuria was to be the Chinese eastern railroad. It was to be in the years to come the center of bitter wrangling and controversy. In effect, it gave the Russians an opening wedge into northern Manchuria. While it was building, the Tsar suddenly made an announcement. Occupy Port Arthur and Daling Yuan on the Laodong Peninsula. Your Imperial Majesty, if we are to develop our commercial interest in Manchuria, we must retain China's friendship. Besides, we have just regained the Laodong Peninsula from China from Japan. Our transports and warships are already on the way. So, Russia moved into Daling Yuan and Port Arthur. The Chinese were astounded. Why have you done this? It is only to protect Port Arthur and Daling Yuan against Germany. With the Germans and Gao Zhou, these strategic points will need protection. It ended up that the Russians were interested in more than the two ports of Daling Yuan and Port Arthur. From China, they secured a 25 years lease to the entire Laodong Peninsula. Russia lined up France and Germany against us and prevented us from taking the Laodong Peninsula. Now they have moved in and taken it themselves. War between Russia and Japan was now inevitable. Correspondents sensing big news in the making went to the Laodong Peninsula. So, you've changed the name of Daling Yuan to Daling Yuan. It is a Russian name. Tremendous improvements here. When we took over this place, it was no more than a small fishing village. Now, you see, we have transformed it into a fine harbor and look at the city. Ten streets radiating out from the central circle. Yes. What about railroad connections? You know, of course, that the Chinese eastern has been completed across northern Manchuria. Yes. Now we are building a branch southward from the Chinese eastern down to here. Connecting with Port Arthur? Yes. That will give us a warm water outlet to the sea. Well, we have to take a run over to the sea, Port Arthur. That will not be permitted. Because it is being fortified? It is not open to visitors. We were also fortifying Dali here. And isn't that contrary to your agreement with China? Wasn't Dali supposed to be an open port? It was. But thousands of Russian troops garrisoned it. The British objected. Britain is not opposed to the lease by Russia of an ice-free port connected by rail to the Trans-Siberian Railroad. But questions of an entirely different kind are opened if Russia develops a military port in the neighborhood of Beijing. Russia gave in. Opened Dali to the world, but not Port Arthur. The tension grew between Russia and Japan. Suddenly, it broke. While negotiations between Russia and Japan were still in progress, Japan today without declaring war unexpectedly attacked the Russian naval squadron in the Port Arthur area. The assault came so suddenly that the Russians were caught completely unprepared. Three of Russia's first-class warships were disabled. The Japanese Navy is now in a position of bait advantage. Russia is under a cover of a blanket of... Transferred fleas of the Laodong Peninsula to Japan. Russia agrees to cede the southern section of the Manchurian Railroad to Japan. Russia agrees to cede the southern half of the island of Sakhalin to Japan. Russia was crushed. She had lost her foothold on the Laodong Peninsula. She had lost the ports of Dali and Port Arthur. She had lost the section of Railroad that connected with her Chinese eastern and linked the ports with the interior. Again, she was landlocked. Again, she was without a warm water outlet to the ocean. The Japanese took over the Laodong Peninsula. Hereafter, the port of Dali will be known as Direm. Well, you haven't lost any time in building it up. We will make Direm the most important seaport on the mainland of Asia. We've got everything you need here. Good natural port and the railroad coming right down to the waterfront. We will make the South Manchuria Railroad the most important railroad on the mainland of Asia. Uh-huh. Then Japan has big things in mind for the Laodong Peninsula. It could be thought of in that way. As the Russians had tried to develop the Laodong Peninsula as a gateway and outlet to the ocean, the Japanese developed it as a door into the continent of Asia. Through its ports and up through its railroads, the Japanese pumped blood and money into Manchuria. Japanese influence with its roots in the Laodong Peninsula spread upward, branched like an evil plant throughout all Manchuria and blossomed out in a hundred places. The Russians on the north bank of the Amur looked on. Let us realize that the Japanese have no thought of extending their power only to the Amur. They have locked us in, but they have done more than that. They have secured a base from which they can when the time suits them take all of Manchuria. And even that is only part of their plan. The Russian misgivings took form in 1918. 70,000 proofs they have sent here into Vladivostok. Yes, three types of keeping order. How can we get them out? We cannot now. Our revolution is only a year old. They will stay here indefinitely if we do not get them out. They will not only stay here in the vicinity of Vladivostok, they will also try to occupy the whole maritime area of Siberia. They will try to take Kamchatka and the Commander Islands and the Chukot Islands. Then they will push inland as far as the Urals. We must get them out or Soviet Asia will be lost. We will get them out. It took four years to get the Japanese out of Siberia. By 1922 it was plain that a new conflict was brewing between Japan and Russia. Russia was still weak and Japan was not ready. Not for war against Russia. But she was strong enough for the intermediary step. The Russians looked on from the north bank of the Amur. The incident has passed to the two places that moved them. And now they have taken all of Manchuria. Yes. Now there is only the Amur River between us and them. We can see the Japanese sentries across the river. Yes. This box is completely from many outlets to the sea through Manchuria. Yes. Do you think they will attack us? As soon as they dispose of China, the events to come were taking form. In 1935, the Russians sold the Chinese eastern railroad to the Japanese. This marked an important change in Russian policy. It means the Russians are pulling out of Manchuria and building up their power back of their sealed borders in Siberia. They are digging in along the Amur and in the hinterlands they are getting ready for what they are sure lies ahead. Reports filtered out of Siberia of a new railroad. The Baikal Amur Magistral said to run parallel to the Trans-Siberian, some hundreds of miles north. Inform the authorities out here in the Far East. See the B.A.M. as this railroad is called as an ace in the hole. If the Japanese should attack across the Amur and cut the Trans-Siberian, the Soviets would still have the B.A.M. running all the way to the Pacific. And reports filtered out of another railroad. This one running along the coast of the Sea of Akkutsk from the Trans-Siberian railroad northward to the Kamchatka Peninsula. If it is true that they are building this railroad, it means that the Soviets are going to develop their own ice-free port at Petropavlovsk on the east coast of Kamchatka. The building of such a railroad shows their dire need for a warm water year the round port. The terrain over which this railroad would have to be built is almost impossible. It was a race for time. The Russians knew when Japan attacked China that they were next. Fighting flared along the 2,000 mile frontier. By 1938 there had been more than 2300 separate bloody skirmishes. The rest of which was in the Lake Hassan area near Vladivostok. The Japanese are trying to isolate Vladivostok. They will smash them. And the Russians did. But the next year the Japanese made an even greater attack at Kalkin Gold. They are trying to break into Soviet territory and cause a Trans-Siberian and cut off the far east from Russia. They will smash them. And they did. And back of the border the Soviets worked day and night for the showdown which would decide whether Russia would lose the far east to Japan or would break out of her isolation and become a power in the Pacific. Today the Japanese are defeated. Russia has won. After more than a century of struggle a political bickering and connivory and intrigue, a bloody fighting and wanton suffering, the Russians stand on the Kuril Island, on all of the island of Sakhalin, and in the ports of Dairin and Port Arthur we will fortify the Kuril Island into a screen of steel. We will develop the north eastern Pacific coast. We shall take whatever steps necessary to assure freedom of the Pacific Ocean to the Soviet motherland. Russia has at last reached the sea. You have been listening to the Pacific story presented by the national broadcasting company and its affiliated independent stations and public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the cost currents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific story program, send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. May I repeat? For a reprint of this Pacific story program, send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific story is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso, your narrator, Gane Whitman. Programs in this series of particular interest to servicemen and women are broadcast overseas through the worldwide facilities of the armed forces radio service. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is the national broadcasting program.