| Summary/Abstract |
IN THE SECOND HALF of the 19th century, amid a growing rivalry between colonial powers in China and Southeast Asia, the Russian Empire continued to strengthen its positions in the Far East, in particular on its Pacific coast. The newly established Pacific Squadron made long sea voyages. Merchant ships of the Russian Steam Navigation and Trading Company and the Russian Volunteer Fleet plied between Vladivostok and Black Sea ports. Under those circumstances, the port city of Saigon, a rapidly growing center of French Indochina located at the intersection of the main sea routes, was bound to attract the attention of the Russian tsarist authorities.
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