The Shanghai International Settlement (Chinese: 上海公共租界; pinyin: Shànghǎi Gōnggòng Zūjiè; Shanghainese: Zånhae Konkun Tsyga) originated from the 1863 merger of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, parts of the Qing Empire held extraterritorially under the terms of a series of Unequal Treaties. The settlements were established following the defeat of the Qing army by the British in the First Opium War (1839–1842). Under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking, the five treaty ports including Shanghai were opened to foreign merchants, overturning the monopoly then held by the southern port of Guangzhou (then known as Canton) under the Canton System. The British also established a base on Hong Kong under an extensive lease. American and French involvement followed closely on the heels of the British and their enclaves were established north and south, respectively, of the British area. Unlike the colonies of Hong Kong and Weihaiwei, which were sovereign British territories, the foreign concessions in Shanghai originally remained Chinese sovereign territory. However, during the Small Sword Society uprising of 1853–55, the Qing government gave up sovereignty in the concessions to the foreign powers in exchange of their support to suppress the rebellion. In 1854, the three countries created the Shanghai Municipal Council to serve all their interests, but, in 1862, the French concession dropped out of the arrangement. The following year the British and American settlements formally united to create the Shanghai International Settlement. As more foreign powers entered into treaty relations with China, their nationals also became part of the administration of the settlement, but it always remained a predominantly British affair until the growth of Japan's involvement in the late 1930s. The international settlement came to an abrupt end in December 1941 when Japanese troops stormed in immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor. In early 1943, new treaties signed by Chiang Kai-shek's Republican government formally ended the extraterritorial privileges of Americans and Britons, although its terms were moot until the recovery of Shanghai following Japan's 1945 surrender. The French later surrendered their privileges in a separate 1946 agreement.

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