Kwantung Leased Territory

Kwantung Leased Territory 關東州
1905–1945
Flag (1905–1945) Crest
Leased territory (colony) of the Empire of Japan
Capital	Dalian
Governor
• 1905–1912 (first)	Ōshima Yoshimasa
• 1944–1945 (last)	Otozō Yamada
Historical era	Empire of Japan World War II
• Treaty of Shimonoseki	17 April 1895
• Triple Intervention	23 April 1895
• Treaty of Portsmouth	5 September 1905
• Surrender of Japan	2 September 1945
Preceded by Succeeded by Russian Dalian Dalian
Today part of	China Liaoning (Dalian)

The Kwantung Leased Territory (

In Japanese, Kwantung is pronounced Kantō and it is often referred to as Kantō-shū to avoid confusion with the Kantō region surrounding the capital Tokyo.

History

In

The

In December 1897,

Japan established the Kwantung Governor-general (關東都督府, Kantō Totokufu) to administer the new territory, and based the Kwantung Garrison to defend it and the railway. The Kwantung Garrison later became the Kwantung Army, which played an instrumental role in the founding of Manchukuo. In negotiations with the Republic of China under the Twenty-One Demands, the terms of the lease of the Kwantung Leased Territory were extended to 99 years.

After the foundation of Japanese-controlled Manchukuo in 1932, Japan regarded the sovereignty of the leased territory as transferred from China to Manchukuo. A new lease agreement was contracted between Japan and the government of Manchukuo, and Japan transferred the South Manchurian Railway Zone to Manchukuo. However, Japan retained the Kwantung Leased Territory as a territory apart from the nominally-independent Manchukuo until its surrender at the end of World War II in 1945.

After World War II, the Soviet Union occupied the territory and the

Administration

In a reorganization of 1919, the Kwantung Garrison was renamed the Kwantung Army and separated from the civilian administration of the territory, which was designated the Kwantung Bureau (關東廳, Kantō-cho). The Kantō-cho initially directly reported to the office of the Prime Minister of Japan; later it was subordinated to the Ministry of Colonial Affairs. Internally, the Kwantung Leased Area was divided into two districts, with two cities and nine towns. The city assemblies were in part elected, and in part appointed by the governor.^[3]

Economy

Massive capital investment was concentrated in Dairen (now the capital of the territory), wherein Japanese firms developed a significant industrial infrastructure, as well as creating a first class port out of the mediocre natural harbor. The facilities of the port at Dairen and its

In the Japanese national census of 1935, the population of the Kwantung Leased Territory was 1,034,074, of whom 168,185 were Japanese nationals. The numbers excluded military personnel. The area of the territory was 3,500 square kilometres (1,350 sq mi).

Governors

See also

• China–Japan relations
• Japanese colonial empire
• South Manchuria Railway
• Manchukuo
• Russian Dalian
• Russo-Japanese War
• Ryojun Guard District

Notes

References

• ISBN 0-8047-1835-0
  .
• Hsu, Immanuel C.Y. (1999). The Rise of Modern China. Oxford University Press.
  ISBN 0-19-512504-5
  .
• Low, Morris (2005). Building a Modern Japan: Science, Technology, and Medicine in the Meiji Era and Beyond. Palgrave Macmillan.
  ISBN 1-4039-6832-2
  .
• Quigley, Harold S (2007) [1932]. Japanese Government and Politics. Thomson Press.
  ISBN 978-1-4067-2260-4
  .
• Young, Louise (1999). Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism. University of California Press.
  ISBN 0-520-21934-1
  .
• Young, C. Walter. The International Legal Status of the Kwantung Leased Territory (1931) online

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39°10′N 121°45′E / 39.167°N 121.750°E / 39.167; 121.750