Manchuria (Franco-American War)

The Kingdom of Manchuria (满洲国) is a sovereign state in eastern Asia. It borders Japan, Korea, Mongolia, China, and Siberia, as well as the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia and the semi-sovereign Primorsky. It is a very rich nation, benefitting from trade with most of its immediate neighbors.

Early history
Parts of Manchuria were originally owned by numerous states, including Siberian natives, the Korean kingdom of Balhae, and various Chinese dynasties, all of which helped create the ethnic composition of modern Manchus. From 698 to 926, the Korean kingdom of Balhae occupied the northern Korean peninsula as well as parts of Manchuria and Primorsky consisting of mostly people of the recently fallen Goguryeo's aristocratic class. Balhae was an early feudal medieval state of Eastern Asia, which developed its industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, and had its own cultural traditions and art. The Balhae kingdom maintained cultural contact with China and Japan throughout its life. Primorsky settled at this moment by Northern Mohe tribes were incorporated to Balhae Kingdom under King Seon's reign (818–830) and put Balhae territory at its height. After the fall of Balhae, parts of Manchuria were conquered by the Chinese Liao and Jin dynasties. The Liao dynasty was created by Khitan-speaking Manchu peoples. In the early 12th century the Tungusic Jurchen people (the ancestors of the later Manchu people) originally lived in the forests in the eastern borderlands of the Liao Empire, and were Liao's tributaries. They later overthrew Liao and formed the Jin, who went on to control parts of northern China and Mongolia. The Jin dynasty collapsed after Mongols annexed their nation. Days earlier, the last emperor committed suicide because he was unable to escape the besieged capital. During the reign of the Mongol Yuan dynasty, Manchuria was administered under the Liaoyang province. The world's earliest known cannon, dated to 1282, was found in parts of what was Mongol-held Manchuria.

Ming & Qing dynasties
The Ming dynasty took control of Liaoning in 1371, just three years after the expulsion of the Mongols from Beijing. Mighty river fleets were built in Jilin City, and sailed several times between 1409 and ca. 1432. After the death of the Yongle Emperor, expansion policy of the Ming was replaced with that of retrenchment in southern Manchuria. During the 1440s, the Ming built a defense wall around Manchuria to prevent a Mongol invasion. From 1467 to 1468 the wall was expanded to protect the region from a potential northeast invasion as well. During this time, Chinese cultural and religious influence spread to the Manchu tribes living in the area at the time. Starting in the 1580s, a Jianzhou Jurchens chieftain Nurhaci (1558–1626), originally based in the Hurha River valley northeast of the Ming Liaodong Wall, started to unify Jurchen tribes of the region. The Jurchens are the ancestors of the modern-day Manchus. In 1616, a Manchu warrior declared himself khan, founding the Later Jin dynasty, which went on to become the Qing Dynasty. In 1644, the Manchus took Beijing, overthrowing the Ming dynasty and establishing the Qing Dynasty. During the Qing era, Manchuria was known as the "three eastern provinces", though they were never actually established as provinces as the Russians took the area over before the would-be provinces were established. For decades the Manchu rulers tried to prevent large-scale immigration of Han Chinese, but they failed, further bringing Chinese culture to Manchuria. In 1860, at the Treaty of Peking, the Russians managed to acquire a large slice of Manchuria, east of the Ussuri River. This area became known as Outer Manchuria. Since then the Qing government further encouraged Han citizens to move out of Manchuria.

Modern Manchuria
The history of the modern-day Manchu state can be traced back to the Manchurian War, which lasted from 1907 to 1908. The end result of this war was Russian annexation of Inner Manchuria and Korea falling under a Russian sphere of influence. After the Qing Dynasty was ousted, Puyi, the former emperor of China, moved to Manchuria. When the Russian Civil War broke out, Puyi noticed the amount of ethnic groups declaring independence from the dying empire, so he did too, creating the Manchu Empire, a "continuation" of the Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1917 until 1933 when it was conquered by the Japanese and replaced by Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet which still had Puyi as head of state. During this time, the Manchu Free State was established, a state which claimed control over all of Manchuria but was only limited to the northeast. Manchus played a major part in the Japanese Imperial War, restoring Manchu independence from Japan and creating the modern-day democracy. As Puyi had died the year before, his widow Li Yuqin was installed as empress until her death in 2001. She was later succeeded by Puyi's other widow, Tan Yuling. Today a minor insurgency is occurring in Outer Manchuria; ethnic Russian forces have declared Outer Manchuria as an independent state; Primorsky.