The Austro-Hungarian concession of Tianjin (,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''österreichisch-ungarische Konzession'', Hungarian: ''osztrák – magyar Tiencsini koncesszió'') was a territory (concession) in the Chinese city of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, occupied colonially by

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

between 1904 and 1917. It had been obtained by Austria-Hungary after the signing of the Boxer Protocol at the conclusion of the conflict between China and the

Alliance of Eight Nations The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove f ...

. Although the Austro-Hungarian occupation corps had been present from the previous year, the concession formally began on December 28, 1904. It is the shortest lived concession, having existed for only 13 years.

History

Establishment The Austro-Hungarian concession, with an extension of 60 hectares, was one of the minor concessions given by the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

to the victorious powers after the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

. This was due to the limited Austro-Hungarian participation in the international expeditionary force: four cruisers and 296 soldiers. The concession borders the

Hai River The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea. The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the S ...

in the west, across the bridge from Tianjin City, to the

Jingshan Railway Jingshan may refer to the following locations: *The Jing Mountains (), Hubei *Jingshan, Hubei (), county-level city of Jingmen, Hubei *Jingshan Park (), in Beijing *Beijing Jingshan School, in Beijing * Beijing–Shanhaiguan railway, or Jingshan rai ...

in the east. Contrary to what was done by the other European powers, The administration made to a council up of local people, the imperial government and the commander of the military, which included 40 sailors from the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

and 70 Austrian policemen called ''Shimbo''. The two Austro-Hungarian representatives had the majority right in the council meetings. In the concession were built a theater, spa, school, pawnshop, barracks, prison, hospital and cemetery. The relatively short presence, about 13 years, left traces of the Habsburg style still found today in that area of the city. World War One During the start of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the

including 3 cruisers, 5 patrol boats and 52 sailors were sent on a mission to occupy the Japanese Weihaiwei on 22 December 1914, but failed. On 14 August 1917 China entered the war alongside the

Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...

against the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

and fought against the Austro-Hungarian concession, then annexed it. At the end of the world conflict, with the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, two separate treaties were necessary to ratify the revocation. Austria renounced the rights on the concession on 10 September 1919 with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Hungary renounced them on 4 June 1920 with the Treaty of Trianon. In June 1927, the concession was incorporated into the Italian concession following a series of clashes between opposing Chinese factions.

Development

The Austria-Hungarian Empire’s trade with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

as itself was extremely limited, and the concession was located at the northernmost end of the Haihe River, which was conducive to shipping. Therefore, the concession was not an important financial and trading area. However, the Austrian Concession was located between the old city and the

Tianjin Railway Station The Tianjin railway station () is the principal railway station in Tianjin, China. It was established in 1888, rebuilt in 1987-1988, and restructured in 2007-2008. Its Chinese big title was written by Deng Xiaoping in 1988, for celebrating 100t ...

. Soon after the concession was delimited, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Shichang Tram and Electric Company constructed a tram line from the east gate of the old city to the railway station, and at the same time rebuilt the east pontoon bridge into an iron bridge.

Gallery

File:原奥匈帝国驻天津领事馆.jpg, The former Austro-Hungarian consulate File:The villa of Yuan Shikai in Tianjin.jpg, The villa of Yuan Shikai

List of consuls

* Carl Bernauer (1901–1908) * Erwin Ritter von Zach (1908) * Miloslav Kobr (1908–1912) * Hugo Schumpeter (1913–1917)

References

Concessions in China Former Austrian colonies 20th century in Tianjin History of Tianjin Former colonies in Asia European colonisation in Asia History of Austria-Hungary

History

Development

Gallery

List of consuls

See also

References