Former Concessions in Tianjin
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Former Concessions in Tianjin. The Concessions in Tianjin were concession territories ceded by the Chinese imperial Qing Dynasty to the great powers in Tianjin. Tianjin's position at the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Peiho River connecting Beijing to the Bohai Bay made it one of the premier ports of northern China. Foreign trade was approved there for the British and French by the 1860 Peking Convention. Its importance increased even further when it was connected to the Tangshan coal fields by the Kaiping Tramway, the railroad that eventually connected all of northern China and Manchuria. Between 1895 and 1900, the two original powers were joined by Japan, Germany, Russia, and by Austria-Hungary, Italy and Belgium – countries without concessions elsewhere in China – in establishing self-contained concessions each with their own prisons, schools, barracks and hospitals. The European settlements covered 5 square miles (13 km2) in all, the riverfront being governed by foreign powers. ** Austro-Hungarian concession (1901–1917) During the Boxer rebellion and its aftermath 1899-1901, Austria-Hungary participated in the Eight-Nation Alliance and helped in suppressing the rising. However, Austria-Hungary together with Italy sent the smallest force of any of the combatant nations. Four cruisers and 296 Hungarian enlisted soldiers were dispatched. ** Belgian concession (1902–1931) The former Belgian Concession was established in 1902. Located on the eastern bank of the Hai River (Hai He), the Belgian government and business community did not invest in concession development, therefore there were not many buildings constructed in this area, and those that were built are no longer extant. ** British concession (1860–1943) The British concession, in which the trade centres, was situated on the right bank of the Hai River below the native city, occupying some 200 acres (0.81 km2). It was held on a lease in perpetuity granted by the Chinese government to the British Crown, which sublet plots to private owners in the same way as was done at Hankou. The local management was entrusted to a municipal council organized on lines similar to those in Shanghai. The seat of government was the stately Gordon Hall, situated on Victoria Road (now Jiefang Lu). ** French concession (1860–1946) The former French concession was established in 1860. After more than 100 years, almost every prominent building in the original concession is still extant, including the French Consulate, the Municipal Council, the French Club, the Catholic Cathedral, the French Garden and many others. Many of the bank buildings along the financial street (currently Jiefang Lu, formerly the Rue de France) are still in existence today. ** German concession (1899–1917) Germany by the late 1870s was on a course of extensive economic involvement in several Chinese provinces, among them the Tientsin area. The German enclave south of the Hai River was situated between the British and one of the Japanese concessions. In July 1877 xenophobic groups threatened the life and property of German merchants in Tientsin. Local unrest intensified, mainly due to poor harvests and resulting famine, and Tientsin business interests requested armed protection. The German admiralty then dispatched the corvette SMS Luise to China. This initial show of support eventually evolved into a permanent presence in Chinese waters by initially modest German naval forces. ** Italian concession (1901–1947) On September 7, 1901, a concession in Tientsin was ceded to the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia) by the Qing Dynasty of China. On June 7, 1902, the concession was taken into Italian possession and administered by an Italian consul. After World War I the Austro-Hungarian section was added to the Italian, doubling its size. It became the headquarters of the Italian Legione Redenta (an "Italian legio" made of irredentist troops in the defeated Austro-Hungarian empire), that fought in 1919 against Lenin's Sov...
