The Intelligence Gatherers
The secret history of how Imperial Russia kept an eye on its Chinese neighbor
Russia and China recently agreed to be partners “without limits,” but from the 17th to the 19th century, their relationship wasn’t so warm. As Georgetown historian Gregory Afinogenov writes in his recent book, Spies and Scholars, pencil-pushing Russian bureaucrats posted in China or along the border doubled as spies. These career apparatchiks succeeded at gathering intelligence on the Qing dynasty from their quotidian positions at diplomatic offices, religious missions, and frontier outposts, though they never seemed to get much credit for their work. The irony is that while the intelligence they shared bought Russia greater prestige among European powers, these encounters with European ideals of intellectualism also radically changed what kind of “intelligence” was considered worthwhile. This episode originally aired in 2020.
Go beyond the episode:
- Gregory Afinogenov’s Spies and Scholars: Chinese Secrets and Imperial Russia’s Quest for World Power
- Itching to learn Manchu? Check out the Manchu Studies Group, which includes examples of Manchu script
- For 20th-century Russian spying, no one beats John le Carré, in life or fiction
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