Presentation on Shanghai's History as a treaty port after the 1st Opium War (1840-42) covering the International Settlement, the French Concession, the Fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Warlord Period, the Nanjing Republic, Japanese Occupation and the end of the Concessions in 1945. Discusses extraterritoriality, Self-Strengthening Movement, Boxer Rebellion, the Revolution of 1911, the Northern Expedition, 1932 Battle for Hongchew, the 1937 Japanese Invasion, the capture of the International Settlement, the Jewish Ghetto and Internment Camp at Lunghua CAC.

1. Treaty Port Shanghai 1842-1945
Shanghai High School International Division Senior Lecture
4/8/2023 Mr. Sven Serrano History Dept.
A 17th-century painting showing
the city wall of the Old City of
Shanghai and the river port
outside the wall.

2. Map of Shanghai
in 1553
5th-7th c. CE - Fishing village
develops where Suzhou Creek
enters the Huangpu River.
751 CE - Area becomes part of
Huating county.
976 CE - Longhua Temple rebuilt.
12th c. - Market town develops.
1216 - Jing'an Temple built.
1292 - Town becomes county
seat.
1294 - Wen Miao (temple)
active.[1]
1554 - City walls constructed.
1732 - Customs office relocated
to Shanghai from Songjiang.
1780 - Yu Garden opens.
1789 - Guyi Garden becomes
communal property.

3. 1842 -1st Opium War –
British Navy attacks,
occupies Shanghai!
The Battle of Wusong
(Woosung) (Chinese: 吳淞戰
役) was fought between British
and Chinese forces at the
entrance of the Huangpu River,
Jiangsu province, China, on
June 16th, 1842. The British
capture of the towns of
Wusong and Baoshan opened
the way to Shanghai, which
was captured with little
resistance on June 19th.

4. Treaty of Nanking in 1842 establishes Shanghai as
one of five Treaty Ports open to foreign trade
“For a hundred years, between 1843 and
1943, there existed in China a series of
treaty ports, created to serve as a vehicle
for British and other Western [imperial]
interests in trade, diplomacy, and
evangelism, and established in the face of
Chinese opposition …”
In most of the first treaty ports,
‘concessions’ or areas of land were
marked out and ‘rented’ by foreign
governments, who ‘sub-let’ to their
nationals.
In others, there were ‘settlements’ where
foreign residents rented land and
property directly from Chinese landlords.
In still others, there was neither a
concession nor a settlment: foreign
residents lived side-by-side with Chinese”

5. “To the Chinese, the existence
of the treaty ports on Chinese
territory, was deemed a form
of ‘semi-colonialism.’
It was imposed by force and
deprived the Chinese
government of authority over
settlements in many cities
and towns within China.
Many Chinese writers
mention the public gardens …
inscribed with regulations. ‘
No dogs or Chinese’ became a
stock phrase denoting the
insulting existence of these
public parks.”

6. Who ruled in
the treaty
ports?
• “In China, the British (and the French
and Americans who were close on
Britain’s tail) did not establish a
colonial government: in the treaty ports
there gradually developed a system of
local government in the municipal
councils, established by foreign
residents for their own convenience
and security.
• These were dependent on the
concept of ‘extraterritoriality’ (which
exempted the foreigner from local,
Chinese laws) first enunciated in the
Treaty of Nanking and more fully
defined in the Convention of Chefoo of
1876”

7. Foreign consuls and consulates
“There were, however,
representatives of the foreign
powers in China in all of the
treaty ports: the consuls. They
were answerable to their
foreign ministries at home
could not always control the
municipal council as they may
have wished.”

8. “Foreign regiments were also stationed in China for the
protection of foreign nationals and property, and foreign
naval gunboats anchored at the coastal ports and inland,
on China’s rivers, to the same end.”

9. Terms of the Treaty of Nanking – 1842
The start of “100 Years of Humiliation”
• The Treaty of Nanking ceded
Hong Kong Island to Britain in
perpetuity and stipulated that
five ports were to be opened
to foreign trade:
• Canton (Guangzhou),
• Amoy (Xiamen),
• Foochow (Fuzhou),
• Ningpo (Ningbo), and
• Shanghai

11. On November 8,
1843 Captain
George Balfour
arrived as
Britain’s first
Consul in
Shanghai
aboard the
steamer
Medusa. He
was offered a
large, 52 room
house to rent
from a
sympathetic
Cantonese
named Yao and
moved in. It
became the
new British
Consulate and
the epicenter
of the new
British
Settlement.

12. USA, France demand, receive
similar treaties and privileges
Sino-American Treaty of Huangxia 1844
• The United States received the same
privileges with China that Great
Britain had achieved under the
Nanjing Treaty in 1842.
• The United States received additional
privileges as well,
• including the right to cabotage (the
right to operate sea and transport
services within China) on preferential
terms
• the expansion of extraterritoriality.
Sino-French Treaty of Whampoa 1844
• China was to grant the same privileges
to the Kingdom of France
• The privileges included
• the opening of five harbors to French
merchants,
• extraterritorial privileges French
citizens in China,
• a fixed tariff on Sino-French trade and
• the right of France to station consuls
in China.

13. The Opium Trade in Shanghai
– David Sassoon & Sons
The Sassoons were originally Iraqi Jewish merchants
from Baghdad who left the Ottoman Empire to do
business in Bombay in British India.
They arrived in Shanghai in 1845 and set up an office
on the Bund.
‘Bund,’ a Hindi word means ‘muddy bank’ and
became the name for the Shanghai Huangu
waterfront, the home of the great trading houses
and banks built up by the foreigners.
David Sassoon placed his many sons as heads of
newly established branches of his company.
During the 1860s David Sassoon & Co. started to
dominate the opium trade between India and China.
By purchasing unharvested crop directly from Indian
producers it was able to undercut British
competitors which had obtained supplies from
middlemen.
For the fast transport of the opium David Sassoon &
Co. ran its own so called ″opium clippers".

14. Chinese merchants thrive in Shanghai –
the rise of the compradors
• “From the beginning, those
Chinese that had the most to do
with the foreigners (apart from
household servants) were the
compradors.
• The name, derived from the
Portuguese for ‘purchaser’ was
the Chinese manager of a
foreign firm, serving as a
middleman in the company’s
dealings with the Chinese.

15. The key links provided by the Compradors
• “The Compradors were also wealthy
merchants in their own right, their
wealth, whether in tea, silk, or land,
provided security for their foreign
employers.
• A comprador was required to
• know pidgin English for
communicating with his employers,
• to guarantee the Chinese banks and
Chinese firms with which he arranged
business, and
• to sort out the complexities of the
varying sytems of weights and
measures in different parts of China
and the varying silver taels, silver
dollars, money certificates and credit
bills issues by native banks.

16. Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) –
a gold mine for foreign real-estate speculators
• The outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion
forced thousands of Chinese people to
flee to Shanghai and to the former
foreign settlements for refuge.
• Many foreigners seized on the
commercial opportunities,
constructing and selling houses to the
Chinese.
• The distinctive lilong and later
shikumen urban Shanghai residences
are a combination of Western and
Chinese architecture.

17. Foreign speculators became rich overnight
while Shanghai gained a distinct architecture

18. Shanghai becomes a magnet for Chinese migrants
“Because of its quick development and
the wealth that increasingly accumulated
within its walls, Shanghai worked as a
magnet for impoverished population
from the countryside from all over the
country.
The reputation of the city had reached
China’s furthest confines. As a result,
there was a constant stream of poor
people who made their way to Shanghai
with the hope to get rich or simply find a
decent job.
These populations settled down in hand-
made straw and mud huts. They were
known as the penghu population
(squatter) that the foreign authorities
expelled regularly from their territories.
As a result, they congregated in the
Chinese municipality.”

20. Shanghai becomes a center of the
‘Self-Strengthening’ movement
• The goal of "self-strengthening" of China during the late Qing
Dynasty was expressed by Feng Guifeng (1809–1874) in a series of
essays written in 1861.
• Feng obtained expertise in warfare commanding a volunteer corps in
Qing government's campaign against the Taiping rebels.
• In 1860 he moved to Shanghai, where he was much impressed by
Western military technology.
• The first phase,from 1861 to 1872, emphasized the adoption of
Western firearms, machines, scientific knowledge and training
of technical and diplomatic personnel through the establishment
of a diplomatic office and a college.

21. Begun as an ironworks base with machinery purchased from abroad, the Jiangnang shipyard and
arsenal in Shanghai was developed primarily by Zeng Guaofan and Li Hongzhang . During the 1860s
and 1870s it was the most successful arsenal in East Asia and one of the greatest in the world.

22. Westerners were initially employed to instruct the Chinese laborers in the manufacture and use of the arms.
In 1868 the Jiangnan Arsenal produced the first modern Chinese steamship.
Its translation bureau, directed by the Englishman John Fryer, translated more than 160 foreign works into
Chinese.
The arsenal was managed by Chinese and staffed at one time by some 3,000 Chinese workmen, who were
paid four to eight times better than the average farmer or coolie laborer.

23. The creation of the
Shanghai Municipal Council
• On 11 July 1854 a committee of Western businessmen met and held the
first annual meeting of the Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC) and laid
down the regulations which established the principles of self government.
The aims of this first meeting were to assist in the formation of roads,
refuse collection, and taxation across the disparate Concessions.
• In 1863 the American Concession – land on the Huangpu River to the
northeast of Suzhou Creek joined the British settlement to become the
Shanghai International Settlement.
• The French Concession remained independent.
• The Chinese retained control over the original walled city and the area
surrounding the foreign enclaves

24. S.M.C. City Services
• The SMC had a practical monopoly over all
the city’s key services by the 1880s.
• It bought up all the local gas-suppliers,
electricity producers and water companies.
• Then, during the 20th century it took control
overll non-private rickshaws and the
Settlement tramways.
• It also regulated opium sales and prostitution
until their banning in 1918 and 1920 (those
services then moved to the French
concession or the Chinese district).
Water works
1917

25. Shanghai’s own army – The Volunteer Corps
• The Shanghai Volunteer Corps was
created on 12 April 1853 during the
Small Swords Society's uprising.
• It saw action alongside British and
American military units in the 1854
'Battle of the Muddy Flat', when
Qing imperial troops besieging the
rebel-held city ignored demands to
move away from the foreign
concessions.
• The Corps was disbanded in 1855
but reestablished in 1861.In 1870
the Shanghai Municipal Council took
over the running of the SVC .

27. SVC - the International
Settlement’s Defense Force
and Riot Squad
• The SVC was made up of nearly twenty
battalions, all organized on national or ethnic
lines: British, American, Chinese, Japanese,
German, Austrian, White Russian, Jewish.
• The SVC was mobilized in 1900 during the
Boxer Rebellion and in 1914 for World War I
• It was put on to the streets during riots in the
city in the 20s and to protect the international
settlement in 1932 and 1937 when fighting
between the Japanese Imperial Army and the
Chinese Nationalists ravaged Chinese-
controlled Shanghai.
• It did not resist the Japanese takeover of the
International Settlement in December of 1941
and immediately disbanded

28. An opulent lifestyle in old
treaty port Shanghai
Foreign residents, businessmen,
officials, and missionaries lived a
comfortable life in Shanghai, residing in
large, comfortable homes built behind
high walls, attended by a small army of
Chinese servants, cooks, and
groundskeepers.

29. Communication through
‘Pidgin’ English
A pidgin is defined as a language used between peoples
who have no shared language. Chinese pidgin became a
combination of simple English and French words with
Chinese pronunciation, very simple grammar and
repetitions.
It sounded like baby-talk and in many respects it was. But
nearly everyone in the Treaty Ports everyone could speak
it and it became the ‘lingua franca’ It disappeared in 1949,
never to return.
The children’s poem Little Jack Horner in pidgine
Littee Jack Horner
Makee sit inside corner,
Chow-chow he Clismas pie;
He put inside t’um,
Hab catchee one plum,
“Hai yah ! what one good chilo
my!” [chilo = child]

30. Shanghai – The First
among Treaty Ports
• By 1900 Shanghai was the
biggest and most important in a
network of Chinese treaty ports,
coastal and inland river towns all
with
• foreign concessions
• trading houses
• Christian missions
• garrisons
• gunboat wharves

31. Shanghai
in 1900

33. On the cusp of a Historic moment
• By 1900 Shanghai was a booming port metropolis (pop.1 million), linked to
the Western imperial and global economy, with Yangtze River barges
unloading cotton, tea, rice, silk and human hair (for wigs) from the interior
while foreign steamships brought modern manufactured bicycles,
refrigerators, telephones, and automobiles from Europe and America
• The ruling Qing Dynasty, fatally weakened by backward policies, corruption,
and the refusal of Empress Dowager Ci Xi to modernize, was nearly
finished.
• Young Chinese, men and women, flocked to the treaty ports and to
Shanghai to get access to modern Western education, technology, and
business opportunities.
• Som joined secret societies and openly plotted the overthrow of the
Dynasty. When the moment came Shanghai would play a part in the 1911
Revolution which ushered in the first Chinese Republic.

34. International settlement- French Concession –Chinese City

35. Momentous decade
1910-1920
• Four events, in China and outside,
would have a profound impact on
the fate of Treaty Port Shanghai.
They were:
• The 1911 Xinhai Revolution and the
creation of the Republic of China
• World War I -and with it the
incursion of Japanese Imperialism
• The 1917 Revolution in Russia
• The Treaty of Versailles and the
resulting May 4 Demonstrations

36. Xinhai Revolution in
Shanghai
“Shanghai's contribution to the 1911
revolutionary movement lay in its relatively
favorable environment, which allowed it to
become a regional center.
The Shanghai movement had more
continuity and vitality than those in the
provinces because it enjoyed the protection
of the International Settlement and because
modernization that had initially stimulated
radical ideas was furthest advanced there.
Radicals from many provinces were
attracted to Shanghai, and some of their
organizations had more than purely local
significance.
Radical influences spread out from the city to
give impetus and a little cohesion to
revolutionaries throughout the Lower
Yangtze provinces.”

37. Sun-Yat Sen
proclaimed
President in
Shanghai
The fighting in Shanghai was confined to the
Jiangnang Arsenal and was over in one day.
Sun Yat Sen Arrived in Shanghai on a
steamship from America and was declared
President of the Republic of China on New
Year’s Day. The city was immediately awash
in the new five-striped flag of the Republic.

38. World War I and China
• The outbreak of War in Europe in August 1914
pulled China in as a participant
• Japan joined the Allies at the request of Great
Britain and immediately attacked, besieged, and
then occupied the German colony at Tsingtao in
Shandong
• Japan then used the cover of the War to issue
the Twenty-One Demands to China. If enacted
they would essentially make China a Japanese
protectorate
• China, now openly threatened by Japan, decided
to join the War in 1915 on the side of the Allies
in order to get a say in the peace negotiations
and prevent Japan’s incursions
• China’s contribution would be in the form of a
Labor Corps, mostly men from Shandong, who
were sent to Europe to construct trenches,
roads, and support facilities of the Western Front
in France

39. WWI in Shanghai
In Shanghai, German and Austria-
Hungarian banks and businesses
were seized in 1917 when China
officially joined the War as a
member of the Allies.
Their citizens were the first
Westerners to be deprived of
extraterritoriality and were expelled
after the War in 1918.

40. The Russian Revolution
of 1917
• The February Revolution which overthrew the
Czar and the October Revolution which set a
Worker-Peasant government under the
Bolsheviks, had a profound echo in Shanghai.
• Chen Duxiu ,(later supported by Li Dazhao)
founded New Youth magazine here Shanghai,
supporting the New Culture Movement and
giving Marxism a key platform within China.
• After Russia’s 1917 October Revolution, the
magazine became increasingly bold in its
promotion of Marxist ideas in pieces such as
“My View on Marxism,” “The Victory of
Bolshevism,” and “Marxist Theory.”
• The Communist Party of China held its first
meeting in a small room in Xintiandi on July 23,
1921. A Beijing University Librarian, from a
peasant family in Hunan, Mao Tse-tung was
present.

41. ‘White’ Russians fled from
the Revolution and created a
new community in Shanghai
‘Shanghai first saw the arrival of Russian émigrés in
the early 1920s, with the first wave of Russian
immigrants in the cosmopolitan port city numbering
more than four thousand. The vast majority were
soldiers and sailors and their families, who had
battled against the Red Army in Central and Eastern
Siberia and in the Far East during the Russian Civil
War.
They departed from Vladivostok for Shanghai on
ships. Loaded with supplies and fuel, the White
Russians’ Far Eastern Flotilla sailed to the East China
Sea by way of the Korean peninsula in the winter of
1922.
There were also small numbers of civilians and
intellectuals who feared communist rule or had
become disenchanted with the Bolsheviks. They also
fled Russia on board these ships.”

42. Humiliation at Versailles 1919 • China sent a delegation to Versailles. They demanded
the return of Shandong Peninsula to China and for an
end to extraterritoriality,legation guards, and foreign
leaseholds. The Western powers refused these claims
and allowed Japan to retain territories in Shandong.
• The apparent weak response of the Chinese
government led to a surge in Chinese nationalism.
Student demonstrations on May 4,1919, in Beijing were
followed by support from students and workers in
Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou,
Wuhan and Jinan. This uprising came to be known as
the May Fourth Movement.

43. Shanghai in the 1920s
• Shanghai and the foreign
concessions, International and
French, became a refuge for
Chinese from the constant
battles and looting by the
Warlords in China’s interior.
• In Shanghai and in the other
Treaty Ports, Chinese at last
fully embraced Western
culture,architecture, dress,
education, and even music!

46. Modern Chinese film, literature thrives in Shanghai

49. In May 1925 labor unrest sparks riots and a
SM police massacre of protesters
• On May 30, 1925 Shanghai Municipal Police
arrested 15 leaders of Chinese student protests
against foreign-run industries
• Sun Yat-sen had died in March, and now both the
KMT and the CPC were organizing against foreign
control of the Chinese economy
• Police fired into a huge crowd outside amassed
outside their station, killing four outright with five
more dying later
• The incident shocked and galvanized the nation.
Shanghai businesses and workers went on strike
• Now known as the May 30th Movement violent
demonstrations and riots, spread across China

50. The Northern Expedition marches against the
Warlords, reaches Shanghai in 1927
• As the KMT Army approaches, CPC leader (and future PRC
Prime Minister) Zhou En-Lai leads a general strike of
Shanghai workers, which topples the warlord administration
in the city
• Two days after the army arrives, Chiang Kai-Shek, in league
with the Green Gang of Shanghai organized crime, moves
against the communists in the city, disarming their militias
• The Western foreign powers lend support to Chiang
• When street protests begin the next day, KMT troops open
fire with machine guns killing nearly 1000
• CPC activists are rounded and executed in public
• Mao Tse-tung will lead the remnants of the movement into
the countryside and from there will organize the revolution
that will eventually win victory in 1949

51. The KMT will rule in Shanghai for ten years until 1937. This period,
known as the ‘Nanjing Republic’ saw the Nationalists enact a
program of modernization in Shanghai while the Foreign Concessions
profited from trade during this ten years of relative peace

54. The French
Concession in the
20s and 30s
By the 1920s, the French Concession was developed
into the premier residential area of Shanghai.
In particular, the expansive and initially sparsely
populated "New French Concession" obtained under
the second expansion of 1914 became popular for
foreign nationals of all nationalities, and later well-to-
do Chinese residents as well, to build houses on
larger plots of land than they could obtain in the
more crowded original concessions.
As demand grew, numerous apartment buildings at
varying levels of luxury were built, as well as some
shikumen residences to meet demand from the
increasing number of Chinese residents. Vibrant
commercial areas also developed, helped by the
influx of White Russians after the Russian Revolution.

55. A center of
Shanghai social
life was the
Canidrome –
the greyhound
racing track – in
the French
Concession –
inside the
clubhouse was
a famous dance
hall that stayed
open until
dawn

56. French Concession police in
their distinctive uniforms
alongside Vietnamese
patrolmen recruited by the
French from their colony
The French, ever bribable, were more
tolerant towards organized crime. While
Opium was suppressed in Chinese Shanghai
and in the International Settlement the sale
and consumption of the drug was legal in
the French Concession up until WWII

57. Gangs and Gangsters of Shanghai
Shanghai was a magnet for refugees and escapees of all kinds as no visa
was required to enter and take up residence. With a false passport or
identity card to begin a new life in Shanghai
It was Chinese gangsters
who ruled the streets at
night, however. And the
most powerful and feared
was the ‘Green Gang,’ led
by Du Yuesheng (22
August 1888 – 16 August
1951), nicknamed "Big-
Eared Du. Its HQ was in
the French Concession
where Du enjoyed
protection.

58. The Green Gang and the KMT partnership
• The Green Gang focused on opium (which was supported by
local warlords), extortion, gambling, and prostitution.
Shanghai the vice capital of the world at that time.
• The Green Gang was often hired by Chiang Kai-shek's
Kuomintang to break up union meetings and labor strikes.
Carrying the name of the Society for Common Progress,it was
responsible for the White Terror massacre of approximately
5,000 pro-Communist strikers in Shanghai in April 1927.
• Chiang granted Du Yuesheng the rank of general in the
National Revolutionary Army later.
• The Green Gang was a major financial supporter of Chiang
Kai-shek, who became acquainted with the gang when he
lived in Shanghai from 1915 to 1923.
• Chiang Kai-shek's brother-in-law and financial minister T. V.
Soong used the pro-Chiang Green Gang to pressure Shanghai
banks to buy up national securities. The Green Gang
continued to pressure big business to buy up national bonds,
as a means of compensating for the lack of corporate tax
imposed by the government.

59. In Shanghai and in all of
China the preferred
currency was the Mexican
silver dollar or the ‘Mex.’
With no single respected
Chinese currency or
banknote available during
the inter-war period and
with the values of local
Chinese money varying
wildly at any given time due
to the fortunes of war the
‘Mex’ was the go-to coin for
all banks, businesses, and
consumers.

60. Japan in Shanghai
• After 1922, the Japanese civilian government
overruled the Army and withdrew from
Shandong.
• This brief period, known as ‘Taisho
Democracy’ saw the Japanese government
try to play by international diplomatic norms.
• In Shanghai Japanese businesses competed
alongside Western enterprises for a share of
the Chinese market.
• Japanese writers and intellectuals also took
up residence here and contributed to the
Treaty Port culture
• But the Japanese military was here also with
Marines and Navy warships. Soon they
would make their presence known.

61. 1932 – First battle of
WWII in North Shanghai?
• The Great Depression had little effect in Shanghai and
China but in Japan it was devastating. The loss of foreign
export markets (silk especially) created unemployment and
hardships
• Extreme elements in the Japanese Army had an answer –
push the Western powers out of China and seize its
resources – starting with Manchuria
• Manchuria fell swiftly and because Chiang Kai-Shek
refused to commit his army to fight Japan – Protests broke
out in the rest of China and a national boycott of Japanese
goods began
• In the Northern sector of the International settlement a
Japanese monks were attacked by a paid-off gang – This
incident spiraled into full scale urban warfare between
Japanese Marines and the KMT 19th Route Army
• The fighting went on for four weeks and devasted the
districts of Hongkou and Zhapei – As many as 20,000
Chinese civilians were killed
• The League of Nations negotiated a ceasefire and the
boycott of Japanese goods ended ended.

62. Life went on – Shanghai’s sights attracted famous
visitors like Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein

63. Round-the-World Cruise ships would dock for
24 hours letting tourists enjoy a day in China

65. By the late 1930s cruise ships would bring
new passengers – Jews escaping the Nazis
Arriving without money almost 20,000 were given shelter and charity by established Jewish families like the Kaldoories
and the Sassoons. Later during WWII the Japanese authorities would confine the Jews to a ‘ghetto’ in the rebuilt
Hongkou District where they would wait out the end of the War

66. 1937 - the Beginning of the End of the Treaty Ports
- full scale war between Japan and China breaks out

67. A full scale battle for Chinese Shanghai begins
the neutral International Settlement is bombed!

68. While foreign residents sought to evacuate
Chinese refugees poured into the concessions

69. Thousands ended up living and sleeping on the streets of the
Concessions and some died there from exposure and starvation.
The Japanese defeated the Nationalists after a month of fighting
then moved inland to attack Nanjing. Thus began eight long years of
brutal Japanese occupation of Chinese Shanghai – A puppet
government was established by KMT turncoat Wang Jing-wei

70. Waiting for the
Inevitable • After the Battle of Shanghai many foreign
businesses continued operations, trading
now with the new Japanese overlords
• In September 1939 War broke out in Europe
• British residents raised money for the war
effort, pooling funds to buy planes for the
R.A.F.
• In 1940 the French Concession pledged
loyalty to the Vichy France government
• By 1941 War with Japan and the Allies
loomed but Shanghai residents were
confident any conflict would end with a
swift victory.
• Some foreign residents evacuated to ‘safe’
destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore, and
Manila

71. The End came swiftly on
the morning of
December 8, 1941
• The Japanese Imperial Army marched in and
occupied the International Settlement with no
resistance from the Shanghai Volunteer Corp
• One British gunboat, the H.M.S Peterel, refused
to surrender and after a brief 20 minute
firefight with a Japanese cruiser it sank with the
loss of six dead crewmen
• The US gunboat Wake was captured intact
• In the French Concession, already aligned with
the Axis, it was business as usual
• Allied SMC officials, journalists and other
suspected agents were rounded up by the
Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police and
viciously interrogated and tortured at their
Shanghai HQ ‘Bridge House.’

72. Allied civilians now were ‘enemy aliens’ and wore ID armbands.
Neutrals (Sweden, Spain, Swiss) were allowed to live ‘normally.’
For almost everyone jobs were gone and food was scarce –
Japanese victories in 1942 ended all feelings of superiority

73. In April of 1943 the Japanese ordered all Allied
civilians to move to “Assembly Centers” –internment
camps in Shanghai for the rest of the war
• 2000 were
held under
Japanese
guard at
‘Lunghua
C.A.C.’ today
your Shanghai
High School
International
Division

75. In the ‘Free China’ capital of Chongqing a treaty
was signed – ending the International Settlement
• In February 1943, the International
Settlement was returned to the
Chinese as part of the British–Chinese
Treaty for the Relinquishment of
Extra-Territorial Rights in China and
• American–Chinese Treaty for
Relinquishment of Extraterritorial
Rights in China with the Nationalist
Government of the Republic of China
under Chiang Kai-shek.
• Shanghai would be all Chinese again
following the defeat of Japan
• The concession came to an end in
1943, when Vichy France under
German pressure signed it over to the
pro-Japanese Reorganized National
Government of China in Nanjing.
• These were handed over to the Wang
Jingwei Government on 5 June 1943,
with the Shanghai Concession
following on 30 July.
• After the war, the post-war
government of France acknowledged
that it was a fait accompli in the Sino-
French Accord of February 1946.

77. Legacy of Treaty Port Shanghai was carried into exile by
foreign residents and Chinese after 1949 – becoming a
mysterious place in the world imagination

78. Sources
• Henriot, Christian “Shanghai and the experience of war: The refugee
problem,” Premier Congrès du Réseau Asie24-25 September 2003Paris,
2003, pp.25. ffhalshs-00004065
• Keller, Wolfgang, Javier Andres /Santiago, Carl H. Shire “China’ domestic
trade during the Treaty Port Era” Draft Dec. 7 2008,
www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0
• Rankin, Mary Backus, Early Chinese Revolutionaries Radical Intellectuals in
Shanghai and Chekiang, 1902-1911
• Wood, Frances, No Dogs & Not That Many Chinese – Treaty Port Life in
China 1843-1943, John Murray, London, 1998
• Zhang, Liao, the Formation of the Russian Émigré Community in Shang,
1920s-1930s, Peripheral Histories

79. Christian Henriot. Shanghai and the
experience of war: The refugee problem.
Premier Congrès du Réseau Asie24-25
September 2003Paris, 2003, pp.25. ffhalshs-
00004065