What Happened at Tsingtao?

Japanese Depiction of the Siege of Tsingtao

The Chinese port city of Tsingtao—modern-day Qingdao—came under German rule in 1897. During WWI, it was to become the site of a fatal siege and the cause for continuing antagonism in the east for decades. When China was reeling from the fall of the Qing dynasty and had become an easy prey for foreign powers, who snapped up key ports along the Chinese coast. One of them was Germany, a newcomer to colonial adventures and a rising power eager for its “place in the sun.” In 1897, Germany seized on the murder of two German missionaries to grab Tsingtao and force China to grant a 99-year lease on the Yellow Sea port.

By the time the war came to Asia, Tsingtao had evolved from a fishing village into a modern city with German infrastructure, schools and its key naval base in Asia and the Pacific, where it also had possessions in far-flung New Guinea, Samoa and the Marshall Islands. To protect the strategic port, German governors built three lines of defense along the steep hills that encircled the town and stationed a garrison of some 4,000 men. All of this alarmed Germany’s rivals in the scramble for control of the Far East, chief among them Britain and Japan.

Japanese Forces Arrive

When the war in Europe began in August 1914, Britain promptly requested Japanese assistance. On 15 August, Japan issued an ultimatum, stating that Germany must withdraw her warships from Chinese and Japanese waters and transfer control of its port of Tsingtao to Japan.  Japan’s aim was to tighten its grip on China. For Britain, it was a case of nipping Germany’s East Asian expansion in the bud.

On 15August 15, just twelve days after the start of the war in the West, Japan issued an ultimatum demanding that Germany give up the port of Tsingtao. Berlin flatly refused. Kaiser Wilhelm II made the defence of Tsingtao a top priority, saying that "it would shame me more to surrender Tsingtao to the Japanese than Berlin to the Russians."

German Defenders

The Germans were braced for attack. Chinese labourers had been enlisted to build fortifications along the city's steep hills, dig trenches and position artillery. The Japanese navy soon blockaded the port, and on September 2 General Mitsuomi Kamio's 18th Division of 23,000 men backed by 142 guns began bombarding German positions. Two-thousand British troops were also deployed.  The Japanese effort was methodical and notable for its use of seaplanes for effect reconnaisance and some bombing raids. The German garrison was able to field only a single Taube aircraft during the siege, flown by Lieutenant Gunther Plüschow. 

The ultimatum expired on 23 August, and Japan declared war on Germany. At the beginning of hostilities, the ships of the East Asia Squadron under Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee were dispersed at various Pacific colonies on routine missions. Spee's ships rendezvoused in the Northern Mariana Islands for coaling. SMS Emden then headed for the Indian Ocean, while the rest of the squadron made their way to the west coast of South America. 

Japanese Officers Observe Arriving British Soldiers

The city came under siege. For two months it was pummelled from land and sea. Bombs rained down from the new weapons of war - aeroplanes. Overwhelmed by force and without sufficient reinforcements, Germany eventually capitulated on 7 November 1914. Casualty numbers   pale in comparison with the carnage that would soon unfold in the West, but the battle's implications were far-reaching.An estimated 450 men died in the siege, 40 of them were Chinese labourers.

Politically the siege had enormous ramifications. Tsingtao was not returned to Chinese rule, but instead the Japanese victors held on to their territory. After the war the world powers met in Versailles to negotiate the terms of global peace. Japan refused to relinquish Tsingtao and China refused to sign the treaty, setting off a chain of events which lead to war 20 years later.

Sources: BBC; France 24