Ebook: Hsü. The Ili crisis: a study of Sino-Russian diplomacy, 1871-1881

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965. — xvi; 230; maps, notes, bibliography, glossary & index.The Ili crisis is a subject of considerable significance in modern China's history. Its settlement in 1881 not only marked China's first diplomatic victory in the 19th century, but also made possible the establishment of a province in Sinkiang for the first time in two millennia. The resolution of the crisis also influenced the atmosphere in the Ch'ing court during its twilight years, and produced far-reaching effects on later Sino-Russian relations. My interest in the subject was aroused in the fall of 1958 when I learnt from Professor Charles Jelavich of the University of Califorhia, Berkeley, that he had acquired the papers of Nikolas K. Giers, the Russian assistant foreign minister who was in charge of the Foreign Office at the time of the Ili crisis.