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영어

My dissertation is the historiographic attempt to trace the economical policy of the Finance Minister S.Iu.Witte in regard to Korea during the late-19 to early 20th century. The author concentrated his attention on studying the ways of exporting the Russian capitals into Korea, linked with the programs of railroad construction and establishing the Russo-Korean Bank in Seoul. This study is also the first to review the Russian naval program in the Far East, closely linked to the intended strengthening on the Russian Navy in the Pacific and establishing a naval base on the Korean shore in the harbor of Masampo. That projected base was considered inside the naval Naval ministry as the way to solve the problem of the 'Yellow Bosphorus', offering the Russian Navy an open access to the Pacific. The author used materials provided by 20 funds of four state archives in St.Petersburg an Moscow(RGIA and RGAVMF in St.Petersburg; AVPRI and GARF in Moscow). The study incorporated a variety of yet unpublished sources, often never before considered by scholars. A comparative study of the policies promoted by the Finance and Naval Ministries allowed for clarifying such a vital aspect of the Russian approaches toward the Far East as the interaction between the financial capital and naval shipbuilding program. All this has led the author to the conclusion that although Russia had started its expansion in the Far East in order to secure markets for Russian Products, in the end it stimulated the military industry development, strengthening the Pacific Fleet, and pushing Russia further along the road of the arms race.