Getting Stuck in for Shanghai

When war began in Europe in 1914, Shanghai remained a cosmopolitan treaty port in which British, German and other foreign residents continued to meet through commerce, clubs and municipal institutions. Robert Bickers explains how this local culture initially softened the divisions created by distant battlefields and complicated official efforts to mobilise British patriotism.

As casualty lists grew and reports of submarine warfare reached China, social coexistence gave way to suspicion and hostility. The book follows recruitment, fundraising, propaganda and the experiences of Shanghai volunteers who left for military service. This concise study shows how the First World War reached an Asian city whose international character did not fit neatly into European national camps.