Chinese occupation of Austro-Hungarian Tientsin | |||||||||
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Part of World War I | |||||||||
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China | |||||||||
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Sun Yat-sen | Hugo Schumpeter | ||||||||
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Following the end of the Boxer Rebellion, Austria-Hungary was rewarded with a concession of the city of Tianjin (at that time known as Tientsin). Austria-Hungary maintained guards there, unlike the rest of the foreign concessions in Tianjin.[1]
After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Austria-Hungary's concession was relatively isolated. The electricity supply was guaranteed from the Belgian concession, and the water supply was guaranteed by a British company in Tientsin, China. Also, Four hundred Austrian sailors landed in Tianjin and snuck their way to the siege of Qingdao to assist the German forces. While this was happening, the Allies were spying on the Central Powers concessions.[2]
The recount by the Austrian consul states that at 10:30 in the morning, he said, the German consul informed him by telephone that China had declared war on Austria-Hungary and Germany and that the Dutch delegate would arrive in Tianjin later that day. At 11:30 a Chinese delegate arrives with a request to cancel the concession and subordinate the naval detachment. Since it was not possible to agree on ammunition, the sailors destroyed them. Completely free to move, they then traveled to Beijing in uniform with their equipment. The Dutch delegate persuaded the consul to accept the Chinese ultimatum, and the concession was handed over in the most formal manner at 16:00. From four to six hundred police then entered the concession, and the Chinese flag was raised on the administration building.cash ( anywhere from two to three thousand dollars) was transferred to China; the bank account belonged to the consulate[1]
The Chinese recount states that at 16:00 the Chinese authorities fully occupied of the concession and stationed policemen and the Chinese flag was raised at the barracks and administration building.[1]
Austria and Hungary both officially gave up claim to the concession in the Treaty of Trianon and the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The concession was then turned into "Second Special District", which was placed under the permanent administration of the Chinese government.
Many of the buildings from Austro-Hungarian rule are still located there, such as the consulate building and the Yuan Shikai villa.