He article examines, on the basis of a wide range of sources, the views of the most prominent representatives of Russia’s supreme military administration in relation to Manchuria, the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) and the prospects for the colonization of the Russian Far East in the period preceding the First World War. The author shows that the desire to strengthen Russian economic influence in Manchuria was demonstrated primarily by the Amur governor generals. Noting in general the Chinese authorities’ hostile attitude towards Russia, they were confident that the Amur region, having received a rapid communication with the administrative and trade centers of China and Japan after the introduction of the Chinese Eastern Railway in the early 20th century, will be involved in sphere of international political and trade interests in the Far East. Thus, the railway that cut through Manchuria became not only a vehicle for Russian military influence, but also turned into a kind of trade route for Russian industry. At the same time, the article shows that the position of the leaders of the military department was reduced to attempts to create such a way of Manchuria management, which would make the region free from the influence of the Beijing government, and at the same time would not have external signs of full subordination to Russia. The Ministry of War throughout the entire period preceding the First World War sought to preserve Russian positions on the CER, asking for surplus credits from the government for the purpose of creating defensive fortifications on the railroad. Realizing the impossibility of joining Manchuria to Russia, Russia’s supreme military bureaucracy put forward the need to preserve the occupied position in this region of China and to strengthen the overall position in the Russian Far East.