International Settlement

Nothing really suggests that these are not Liverpool or London, or Cleveland for that matter. Nonetheless, the photos above are Shanghai, China in the late 1930s. Few people know that Shanghai was the most western of cities with a British, French and American Population of near 100,000. The major influence in Shanghai were the British who created a progressive city of commerce and trade. They built cathedrals and spectacular movie theatres (all showing films made in Hollywood), gothic museums and department stores. Shanghai was 8000 miles away from London, but it was hard to tell them apart.

The British and Americans by the mid 1930s had acquired unbelievable wealth. The International Settlement, an area completely under the jurisdiction of the British and Americans, had manor homes and estates unequaled in the world: marble facades, swimming pools, Rolls Royces and Cadillacs; it was opulence like few have ever experienced.

In 1938, though, the Japanese were at war with China. World War II had begun. China was ill-prepared to defend itself and America had yet to choose sides.

When the Japanese invaded and conquered Shanghai, they realized that the city depended on the enterprise and business created by the British and the Americans. They surrounded the settlement with walls and barbed wire. The Residents were allowed to come and go through the checkpoints as they pleased, but the Chinese were not allowed to enter the Settlement. This precarious arrangement lasted until December 7, 1941. As the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, forcing the Americans into the war, they simultaneously stormed the International Settlement and took all the Americans and British prisoner. For four years these citizens of the US and England were held in internment camps with little food, water or the necessities of life.

Tomorrow we will begin the Steven Spielberg film Empire of the Sun. The life of JG Ballard as a 12 year old is similar to that of Ralph's or Piggy's. Here is another great story of survival. This time, though, what we see is real. Prompt: In you journals I want you to compare Jim to the boys on the island. Who does he remind you of? (Actually, the correct grammar would be: Of whom does he remind you?) Tke note of the details you see in the film and carefully analyze your comparison.


It's interesting that in the mere 60 years since the end of the war, Shanghai, once the most western of Asian cities, has become again essentially Chinese, indeed it has become one of the premier cities of the world.