colony · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Kwantung Leased Territory

1905 CE – 1945 CE · capital Ryojun (Port Arthur), Dairen

Japan's foothold at the tip of the Liaodong peninsula, base of the South Manchuria Railway and of the Kwantung Army that seized Manchuria in 1931.

Origins

By the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 Japan took over Russia's lease of Kwantung Oblast, including Port Arthur (Ryojun) and Dalny (Dairen), together with the railway south of Changchun. A Kwantung Government-General was set up in 1906 under Ōshima Yoshimasa.

Rule and society

Dairen became one of East Asia's busiest ports and the headquarters of the South Manchuria Railway Company, which ran mines, hotels, research bureaus and towns along its line. The Twenty-One Demands of 1915 extended the lease to ninety-nine years. The garrison, renamed the Kwantung Army in 1919, acted with growing independence and in 1931 staged the Mukden Incident, leading to the creation of Manchukuo.

Decline and legacy

Soviet troops occupied the territory in August 1945. The Soviet Union kept a naval base at Port Arthur until 1955, when the area was handed to the People's Republic of China; it is now part of Dalian.

Lineage

Kwantung Oblast 1898 CE – 1905 CEKwantung Leased Territory

Connections (2)

  • Kwantung Leased Territory was a colony of Empire of Japan1905 CE – 1945 CE
  • Kwantung Leased Territory was conquered by Soviet Union1945 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kwantung Leased Territory. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kwantung-leased-territory
MLA
“Kwantung Leased Territory.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kwantung-leased-territory. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kwantung Leased Territory.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kwantung-leased-territory.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kwantung Leased Territory’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kwantung-leased-territory (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻