Commercial port of Vladivostok in the system of transport links of the Entente countries in the World War I

Based on the central and regional archive materials, the paper examines the role of the commercial port of Vladivostok in the system of transport links between the Russian Empire and the Entente allies as well as the neutral states during the World War I. With the outbreak of war, Vladivostok has become the most important receiving and processing point for foreign cargo delivered by the allies within military-technical cooperation. Foreign deliveries of weapons and ammunition have become a way to eliminate the armament crisis in the Russian army, and production equipment supplies have been a major factor in the development of the military industry. For these reasons, the Imperial government systematically purchased the material resources abroad. Vladivostok along with Arkhangelsk was a key point in the transport communication system of the Russian Empire and the allied states. The volumes of weapons and strategic resources deliveries to Russia ultimately depended on the level of the port development and its efficiency in the acceptance and handling of goods. Therefore, a set of measures had been taken to develop the port infrastructure, which allowed Vladivostok to become an important element in the system of transport links between the Entente states.