Paura rossa a Shanghai. Stranieri e nazionalisti uniti nella lotta anticomunista (1927-1937)

Based primarily on the archives of the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) – the police force of the International Settlement that, for nearly a century, symbolized British colonial rule in China – preserved at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), as well as on selected documents from the French Concession and the more recent scholarship on Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, this work aims to investigate the circumstances that led the Nationalist government to reverse its policy toward the foreign presence in Shanghai, following the establishment of the Municipality of ‘Greater Shanghai’ (Shanghai shi 大上海市) in July 1927. Although initially hostile to foreigners and to the existence of the concessions (particularly the International Settlement and the French Concession), the Nationalists shifted their stance due to the spread of communism and the need to confront this growing threat. Once communism was identified as the main enemy – a position that persisted even after the Japanese invasion – the Nationalists’ attitude toward foreigners underwent a transformation, making a kind of exchange possible. In fact, the increasingly invasive presence of the communists encouraged a rapprochement between the two sides, subsequently followed by a genuine policy of cooperation aimed at combating the ‘Reds’ (chizi 赤子).