@秦楚刊号
The repossession of the concession has always been what Chinese have been looking forward to. Even the wealthy Chinese, who enjoyed the benefits of the concession, did not want their land to be imprisoned by outsiders. After World War I, the Chinese government took back the German Concession, and since then, it has spent another 28 years to reclaim all the concessions one by one.
But the way the concession was taken back was different. The repossession of the British Concession was made by means of the demonstrations of the citizens and the efforts of the Hankou government; the repossession of the German Concession was by war; and the repossession of the Russian Concession was quite unexpected: it was almost sent back by the Soviet regime of the time. This recycling process is as fun as a big drama.
In 1917, during World War I. The October Revolution broke out in Russia. The cannons of the October Revolution ended the era of Saudi rule and established Soviet power. It was the first socialist country in the world. Two years later, in July 1919, the Russian Soviet Government issued a declaration: the abolition of the unequal treaty between the Tsarist government and China, and the renunciation of all land seized from China by the Tsarist government by aggressive means.
It was a pleasure to take back the concession without much effort.
But the fatal thing is that the sincerity of the Soviet government did not make the Chinese officials happy. The Western powers of the time had no intention of welcoming the newly born Soviet regime, preferring the original sand to sit on the stage. This attitude of Britain, France, and the United States is in itself a pressure on the Chinese authorities, and even more so on the abolition of unequal treaties. The Chinese government can only continue to recognize the ousted Tsarist regime. Russian consulates in China also remain on the side of the oustered government. None of them seemed to believe that the nascent Soviet regime could stand up in this world.
By 1920, the Chinese government, seeing the increasing consolidation of the position of the Soviet regime and the strong demand of the Chinese people to reclaim its territory, secretly surveyed the Russian concessions in the provinces and the situation of the Russian expatriates, so that it was ready to take back the Russian concessions at any time. But the foreigners in Han were so opposed that they joined forces to hold meetings, protested, and negotiated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry. On September 25, Hubei negotiator Wu Zhongxian went to the Russian consulate in Hankou on the orders of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform them
On the 29th, when the office was stopped and documents were prepared and ready for handover, the Russian consul immediately convened a meeting of the overseas Chinese in the Russian Concession, and they unanimously decided to lower the flag at half-mast on the 28th to mourn, and passed a "letter of love" and submitted it to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It was at this time that the Soviet Government issued its second declaration on China, declaring: "Renounce the chinese territory and the Russian concessions in China that have been seized and occupied, and return to China forever without remuneration the Tsarist government and the Russian bourgeoisie who have plundered them from China." Even though this declaration is in hand, Britain, France, the United States and other forces supporting the Russian government are still in the forefront. They sent a note to the Beiyang government on October 11 opposing the permanent abolition of the privileges of the Russians in China and demanding that they work with the Chinese government to manage the interests of the Russian diaspora in China. Fortunately, this unreasonable proposal was rejected by the then Foreign Minister. The most interesting thing is the French side, they proposed that the Russian Concession in Hankou is part of the French Concession, and any change in the Russian Concession must be agreed by the French consul.
The Beiyang government's own position in China is not too stable, and coupled with the chaotic shouting and screaming of these overseas strongmen, it is estimated that it is also anxious and afraid, and it is too annoying to do it. On October 22, the Chinese government declared that the Russian concession was "managed on behalf of the Chinese government" and that "there is no change in all administration in the territory" and sent a telegram to the Hubei Negotiation Bureau, saying that "the acceptance of the Russian concession this time is of an escrow nature and not a repossession." In this way, although the Chinese side has set up a "temporary office for the management of the Russian border", has also sent personnel to the Russian concession, and even the patrol house has been converted into a police station, in fact, the power of these custodians is extremely limited, and there has not been much change in the concession.
A few years have passed. Everyone can see that the new Soviet regime has gained a firm foothold in this world, and the Saudis and White Russians have long been scattered, and they cannot be expected to revive the mountains and rivers. Diplomatic exchanges between China and the Soviet Union also began to thaw and deepen during this period. On May 31, 1924, China and the Soviet Union signed a treaty in Beijing, stipulating: "The Soviet government allows to abandon all concessions, concessions, and trade that the former Russian government has acquired anywhere in China under various conventions, treaties, agreements, etc."
Privileges and concessions for easy circles and barracks, etc. ”
Faced with such a situation, the consuls and White Russians of the Hankou Russian Concession knew that it was unlikely that they would continue to rely on this.
On June 27, russian consul Beyler Chengkuo moved out of the Russian consulate and moved into the apartment of the Russian Ministry of Industry. A few days later, on July 1, representatives of China and the Soviet Union went to the Consulate of the Russian Concession together and went through the handover formalities on three heads and six sides. On the same day, the Chinese flag was raised in the building of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Industry. Since then, the Russian concession in Hankou has been officially reclaimed.
The bustling tea market of Russian businessmen in Hankou is also becoming increasingly depressed. SF and Fuchang Brick Tea Factories, both closed after 1917, Xintai Brick Tea Factory struggled for some years, and finally subleased to British merchants in 1932, who renamed it Pacific Brick Tea Factory. The monopoly of Russian businessmen in hankou tea market came to an end.
Time passed, and the Russians withdrew from Hankou like a tide. In Hankou, the place where they once made a fortune and enjoyed, only these old houses remain, and it is they who still firmly embed the past in the memory of the Hankou people. - Hankou Concession.
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