ABSTRACT
After the signing of the Treaty of St. Petersburg in 1881, events in Chinese Turkistan were comparatively quiet. Additional agreements with Russia concerning national boundaries and frontier trade were signed. Soviet influence was then mainly confined to trade as the Soviets had not concerned themselves with Chinese politics. In 1934 the Tungan forces under Ma Chung-yin besieged Urumchi, capital of the province, and brought it to the verge of surrender. Soviet influence was then mainly confined to trade as the Soviets had not concerned themselves with Chinese politics. Sinkiang was the first to feel the repercussions of the Russian Revolution in 1917 owing to its geographical proximity. The White Russians insisted on securing a passage through Tacheng on pretext of protecting the Russian Consulate there.
