Editing Jewish Autonomous Oblast (section)

=== Background ===

==== Annexation of the Amur Region by Russia ====
Prior to 1858, the area of what is today the Jewish Autonomous Oblast was ruled by a succession of [[Dynasties in Chinese history|Chinese imperial dynasties]]. In 1858, the northern bank of the [[Amur River]], including the territory of today's Jewish Autonomous Oblast, was split away from the [[Qing dynasty|Qing Chinese]] territory of [[Manchuria under Qing rule|Manchuria]] and became incorporated into the [[Russian Empire]] pursuant to the [[Treaty of Aigun]] (1858) and the [[Convention of Peking]] (1860).

==== Military colonization ====
In December 1858, the Russian government authorized the formation of the [[Amur Cossacks|Amur Cossack Host]] to protect the south-east boundary of Siberia and communications on the Amur and [[Ussuri]] rivers.<ref name=pereltsvaig/> This military colonization included settlers from [[Transbaikalia]]. Between 1858 and 1882, many settlements consisting of wooden houses were founded.<ref name="russianamur">{{Cite book |last=Ravenstein |first=Ernst Georg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_XEEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA156 |title=The Russians on the Amur: its discovery, conquest, and colonization, with a description of the country, its inhabitants, productions, and commercial capabilities ... |publisher=Trübner and co. |year=1861 |page=156 |author-link=Ernst Georg Ravenstein}}</ref> It is estimated that as many as 40,000 men from the Russian military moved into the region.<ref name=russianamur/>

Expeditions of scientists, including geographers, ethnographers, naturalists, and botanists such as [[Mikhail Ivanovich Venyukov]], [[Leopold von Schrenck]], [[Karl Maximovich]], [[Gustav Radde]], and [[Vladimir Leontyevich Komarov]] promoted research in the area.<ref name=pereltsvaig/>

==== Construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway ====
{{Multi image
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Trans siberian railroad large.png
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = Map of the Trans-Siberian Railroad: original route in red, Baikal-Amur Mainline in green.
| image2            = Yevrey03.png
| total_width       = 250
| caption2          = The Jewish Autonomous Oblast with the administrative center of Birobidzhan underlined.
| align             = right
| width             = 250
}}
In 1899, construction began on the regional section of the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]] connecting [[Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai|Chita]] and [[Vladivostok]]. The project produced a large influx of new settlers and the foundation of new settlements. Between 1908 and 1912, stations opened at Volochayevka, [[Obluchye]], [[Bira, Russia|Bira]], [[Birakan]], [[Londoko]], [[In, Russia|In]], and [[Tikhonkaya, Jewish Autonomous Oblast|Tikhonkaya]]. The railway construction finished in October 1916 with the opening of the {{convert|2590|m|adj=on}} [[Khabarovsk Bridge]] across the Amur at [[Khabarovsk]].

During this time, before the [[Russian Revolution|1917 revolution]], most local inhabitants were farmers.<ref name=pereltsvaig/> The only industrial enterprise was the Tungussky timber mill, although gold was mined in the Sutara River, and there were some small railway workshops.<ref name=pereltsvaig/>

==== Russian Civil War ====
In 1922, during the [[Russian Civil War]], the territory of the future Jewish Autonomous Oblast became the scene of the [[Battle of Volochayevka]].<ref>[https://www.prlib.ru/en-us/History/Pages/Item.aspx?itemid=990 Anniversary of the Battle of Volochayevka]</ref>

==== Soviet policies regarding minorities and Jews ====
Although [[Judaism]] as a religion ran counter to the [[Bolsheviks|Bolshevik party]]'s policy of atheism and their crackdown on organized Jewish communities by closing synagogues and harassing believers, [[Vladimir Lenin]] also wanted to appease minority groups to gain their support and provide examples of tolerance.<ref name=siegel/>

In 1924, the unemployment rate among Jews exceeded 30 percent,<ref name="komzet">{{Cite web |last=Kipnis |first=Mark |title=Komzet |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_11427.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116155108/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_11427.html |archive-date=16 January 2017 |website=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |publisher=Encyclopaedia Judaica}}</ref> as a result of USSR policies against private property ownership, which prohibited them from being craftspeople and small businessmen as many had been prior to the revolution.<ref name="sadandabsurd">{{Cite web |last=Masha Gessen |date=September 7, 2016 |title='Sad And Absurd': The U.S.S.R.'s Disastrous Effort To Create A Jewish Homeland |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/09/07/492962278/sad-and-absurd-the-u-s-s-r-s-disastrous-effort-to-create-a-jewish-homeland |publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref> With the goal of getting Jews back to work to be more productive members of society, the government established [[Komzet]], the committee for the agricultural settlement of Jews.<ref name=komzet/> The Soviet government entertained the idea of resettling all Jews in the USSR in a designated territory where they would be able to pursue a lifestyle that was "socialist in content and national in form". The Russians also wanted to offer an alternative to [[Zionism]], the establishment of the [[Mandate for Palestine|Mandate of Palestine]] as a Jewish homeland. [[Socialist Zionist]]s such as [[Ber Borochov]] were gaining followers at that time, and Zionism was the favored ideology in the world's political economy to the Yiddish interpretations, which were essentially incompatible with the USSR because of the Yiddish movement's growing opposition (e.g. [[Emma Goldman]]) to the very ethno-nationalism which constituted and structured Soviet states.<ref name="pereltsvaig" />

[[Crimea]] was initially considered in the early 1920s, when it already had a significant Jewish population.<ref name="pereltsvaig">{{Cite web |last=Asya Pereltsvaig |author-link=Asya Pereltsvaig |date=October 9, 2014 |title=Birobidzhan: Frustrated Dreams of a Jewish Homeland |url=https://www.languagesoftheworld.info/russia-ukraine-and-the-caucasus/birobidzhan-frustrated-dreams-jewish-homeland.html}}</ref> Two Jewish districts ({{lang|ru|raiony}}) were formed in Crimea and three in south Ukraine.<ref name=komzet/><ref name="Yaacov Ro'i 1995 193">{{Cite book |last=Yaacov Ro'i |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJBH5pxzSyMC&pg=PA193 |title=Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union |publisher=Frank Cass & Co. |year=2004 |isbn=9780714646190 |page=193}}</ref> However, an alternative scheme, perceived as more advantageous, was put into practice.<ref name=pereltsvaig/>{{Multiple image
| image1            = Rosja 1990.jpg
| caption1          = A child playing in the JAO.
| image2            = Chapel of St. Dmitry Donskoy.jpg
| caption2          = The Chapel of St. Dmitry Donskoy.
| image3            = Волочаевский бой фото5.jpg
| caption3          = A monument to the Volochaevsky battle.
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 250
| align             = right
| image4            = Government-hq.jpg
| caption4          = A Yiddish-Russian sign on the JAO government headquarters.
}}