Günter Dinhobl (Hrsg.): Sonderband 7. Eisenbahn/Kultur – Railway/Culture (2004)
II. Die Wahrnehmungen von Raum / The perceptions of space - Robert Lee: Railways, space and imperialism
Railways, space and imperialism Defeat, however, meant that these railways would be built on foreigners’ rather than on China’s terms, and all the railways begun in the late 1890s were built by foreign engineers, were under foreign day-to-day management, and were completely financed by foreign capital. Some of them even served foreign political interests and directly threatened Chinese sovereignty. The most notable examples of these were the Russian railways in Manchuria and the French railway linking Haiphong in Vietnam with Kunming in Yunnan. Only after 1900 did Chinese capital and expertise begin to be invested in railways, culminating in the completion in 1909 of the Beijing-Kalgan line under the direction of a Chinese engineer. In addition, in 1908 the Chinese government succeeded in borrowing funds from an international consortium to unify its railways under a central administration. This brought most Chinese railways under Chinese rather than foreign management, even though the capital remained largely foreign. Revolution and warlordism, however, meant that it was not until after 1928 that China’s railways began to be extended and integrated into a national network. Thus, China had a long wait until its railways began to be used for purposes of national integration. In Siam, the territorial pressures on the integrity of the traditional state from colonialist powers were similar to those on China. However, the response of the traditional elite more resembled that of Japan. Thus Siam, in part by astute railway building, was able to avoid the humiliating fate of the far more powerful China. The Siamese even more resolutely ensured that they did not follow the Burmese path into national self- destruction. Railway building was not the only element in the preservation of Siamese national sovereignty in the era of intense Western imperialism, but it certainly was an important one. Fortunately for the Siamese, the establishment of the French protectorate over Vietnam and the British annexation of Burma in 1885 coincided with a period of political stability and strong leadership in the Bangkok monarchy. This ensured that Siam did not suffer the fate of its two neighbours. King Chulalongkom (reigned 1868— 1910) and other members of his family were Western educated (as is well known through the writings of his tutor Anna Leonowens) and so far better equipped to cope with the railway age than the traditionally educated Chinese leadership. Railways, which could help determine a port’s hinterland and also move troops, seemed to offer a solution to both threats confronting Siam. Because of their semi- Western education, members of the Siamese elite like Chulalongkom were much better equipped both to analyse the threats and to manipulate Western rivals than their Chinese contemporaries. They therefore adopted a dual policy. Negatively, they refused, 101
