The Impact of the Great Depression on Manchuria

• Start date: 20 November 2004
• End date: 19 November 2005

This project aims to analyse the impact of the Great Depression of the 1930s on Manchuria. It is part of a larger project on the impact of the Depression on China as a whole, and beyond that articulates with broader studies of the world wide impact of the Depression. Manchuria was the region of China most closely linked in to the world economy, and stood at the cusp of Sino-Japanese relations.To achieve its broad aim, the project has the objectives of compiling and analysing a series for the GDP of Manchuria between 1925 and 1937; and specifically of studying the impact of the Depression on Manchuria's staple soybean trade, the differences in the experiences of Chinese enterprises (using silver currency) and Japanese enterprises (using gold currency) during this period, and the impact of the expansionary policies of the Japanese government in Manchuria. To achieve these objectives, the project will rely on the collection of published and archival materials in Chinese, Japanese and English, such as the reports of the South Manchurian Railway Company, compilations such as the Yearbook of Manchurian Economic Statistics, the Customs publications, and gazetteers of provinces and counties in Manchuria.