KIAU-CHAU
In their various "voyages of discovery" and enterprises to extend their
trading operations, it was inevitable that the European nations should
endeavour to find an opening into China.
From being a dreaded volcano whence streams of lava in the shape
of devastating hordes constantly overflowed to upset the ideas of
culture as conceived by the nations who radiated the principles of
"civilisation" in succession to the fallen Empires of Greece and
Rome, China had retired into a seclusion, only to be disturbed when
"Progress" knocked at her doors.
She shut herself in and literally walled her borders, not so much to
keep out invasion but to retain for herself and her people her stoical
civilisation and the secrets in the arts and crafts of which she was
the sole possessor; for Chinese internal affairs concerned no one but
herself and her people, and her peculiar industries were conducted and
perpetuated on an apprentice system--father to son handing down by
word of mouth the methods of success in the various arts.
As European nations rose and fell--as the grandeur that was Spain
succeeded the glittering adventures of Portuguese navigators, as the
Dutch, French, and British struggled for mastery on the outer seas, and
while Europe resounded with the stern music of the tramp of Napoleon's
legions, China, with her centuries of arrested civilisation, maintained
an inscrutable attitude, and, slumbering in brooding silence, preserved
her aloofness from any interest without her borders.
The wave of European trade-expansion surged high upon her barrier of
inclusiveness before she awoke to what was to her a new era--the age in
which man might demand for man equable treatment in the way of trade,
upon a basis in the constitution of which China had no experience and
no say.
Hitherto China's conception of outer trade was merely the collection of
tribute, and her first association with trade with the "foreign devils"
from the outer world was quite in conformity with that idea, for her
piratical junks set out and joyously exacted toll indiscriminately.
But this was hardly the legitimate form intended by the merchants of
the West, and compensation for the misconceived acts of her subjects
being demanded, China was invited to subscribe to treaties which might
open her doors to the introduction of more cultured methods of barter.
Unreluctantly, however, as China assented to the development of trade
by foreign nations in her seas and along her coasts, for many years the
severest possible restrictions were placed upon Chinese leaving their
country for the purpose of trade.
"Treaties" were concluded with the Western nations for the sake of
peace, but by the Chinese in general these treaties were regarded as
mere subterfuges whereby to disarm the vigilance of the prey.
Treaties for the furtherance of trade were entered into with the
Western nations in turn from the end of the seventeenth century
onwards, but none of these entailed any territorial concessions nor
threatened "the integrity of China."
The thin end of the German wedge seems to have been inserted into
Chinese affairs by the conclusion of a secret treaty in 1880 between
Germany and China, whereby the latter, who was ready to grant or
promise any manner of concession in return for being left alone, gave
Germany trading privileges, which she had already granted to other
nations. But Germany's influence in China was nil until after the
Chino-Japanese War of 1894.
Russia, owing to her geographical position and to the intercourse of
her subjects with the Chinese, was chiefly interested in China, and the
Taiping Rebellion of 1850 firmly established France and Great Britain
in the exclusive Empire.
In 1894 war broke out between China and Japan, which resulted in a
complete and decisive victory for the latter.
Peace was signed by Li Hung Chang on behalf of China at Shimonoseki
on the 17th April, 1895, and the European nations realised at its
conclusion that in Japan a new Power had arisen in the Far East, and
that the beginning of a new epoch had begun.
The Peace Treaty entered into between Japan and China in 1895 provided,
for the absolute independence of Korea which had been a vassal of
China since 1882, the cession to Japan of the Island of Formosa and
the Liao-tung Peninsula at the foot of which lies Port Arthur (which
was then occupied by the Japanese), and the payment of an indemnity of
£30,000,000, pending the handing over of which Japan was to occupy the
Port of Wei-hai-wei on the Shantung Peninsula.
A further condition of the treaty was the opening of certain places to
foreign enterprise and commerce.
The conclusion of this treaty brought the European Powers on the scene.
For some time Russia had been intent upon the problem of securing
an ice-clear port on the Pacific Ocean as an outlet to her Siberian
possessions--an ambition which was considered by British statesmen
as not unreasonable--and therefore the occupation by Japan of all the
coastline of Korea by no means suited Russia. She, therefore, invited
the intervention of the Powers, and the invitation was accepted by
France and Germany, but declined by Great Britain.
A joint note was then presented to the Tokio Government by Russia,
France and Germany, under which Japan was recommended not to occupy any
of the Chinese mainland permanently.
The Japanese, finding this force arrayed against them, stated that they
"yielded to the dictates of magnanimity, and accepted the advice of the
three Powers."
Japan gave up the whole of her continental acquisitions under the war,
and retained only Formosa; so the "integrity of China" seemed to be
preserved for the time.
The Japanese people were shocked at this incident. The attitude of
Russia and France they could understand, but Germany, who had been
worming her way into Japan's good graces by professions of friendship
and who was wholly uninterested in the ownership of Manchuria, seemed
to have joined in robbing Japan of the fruits of her victorious war
merely to establish a title to Russia's goodwill, and to renew the
good relations with Russia which had been broken by the Franco-Russian
_entente_ of the years 1891-1895.
In pursuit of her aim of an outlet to Siberia, Russia assisted China
in the payment of the Japanese war indemnity, and obtained the right
to carry the Siberian railway to Vladivostock, this giving her a grasp
on Northern Manchuria. By a secret arrangement with Germany, Russia
subsequently obtained a "lease" of the Liao-tung Peninsula, giving
the assurance that Port Arthur would be an "open port" for the trade
of all nations; but as it transpired that Port Arthur was unsuited to
mercantile trade, it became solely a naval base and the "open port" was
established at Dalny.
On the 20th June, 1895, France entered into a convention with China
under which she obtained certain railway and mining rights in Kiang-si
and Yun-nan, and the signing of this convention brought China into
conflict with Great Britain.
Great Britain could hardly regard with equanimity the growth of Russian
influence in the north; she therefore demanded and obtained a lease of
Wei-hai-wei on the Shantung Peninsula, occupied Wei-hai-wei immediately
upon its evacuation by the Japanese, and threw the port open to outside
trade.
In the meantime Germany considered that she had received no reward
for her share in supporting France and Russia in compelling the
retrocession of Liao-tung; in fact China could not be brought to see
that Germany's place in "world politics" entitled her to annex any
portion of the Chinese Empire.
On 1st November, 1897, however, two Roman Catholic missionaries, who
were German subjects, were most conveniently murdered near Kiau-Chau,
and, ostensibly to get compensation for this outrage on German
_kultur_, Germany proceeded to seize Kiau-Chau.
This port was claimed by Russia, but on the face of it the synchronical
cession of Port Arthur to Russia points to the two countries having
come to an arrangement mutually satisfactory under the secret agreement
concluded by them, while Russian action respecting Port Arthur and
German action in regard to Kiau-Chau tallied at every point.
The proceedings in regard to Kiau-Chau were Hohenzollern to the last
degree--arrogant and theatrical.
Three German warships were dispatched to China and they landed marines
at Kiau-Chau while preparations for sending out reinforcements were
hurried on in Germany.
The squadron was placed under the command of the German Emperor's
brother, Prince Henry of Prussia, whom the Kaiser designated, in a
farewell speech at Kiel, as the "mailed fist" of Germany.
The German Emperor thus furnished a pleasing fancy for humoristic
journalists and caricaturists, for the comic side prevailed and the
mission rocked the world in the gentle throes of laughter rather than
stirred it with the tremulous quaking of dread.
On arriving at Kiau-Chau with his squadron, Prince Henry wrapped the
mailed fist in a parchment covering, demanding the "lease" of the town
and the neighbouring district to Germany for a period of ninety-nine
years; and, divining that Germany could rely on the support of Russia,
the Court of Pekin had no option but to bow to the inevitable, and the
lease of the territory demanded was signed on the 6th March, 1898.
The Shantung Peninsula, a maritime province of China on the Yellow Sea,
is the most densely inhabited part of China, and is celebrated as the
native province of Confucius and therefore sacred to both Chinese and
Japanese followers of the dictate of the sage's analects.
The peninsula is a mass of mountain ranges which rise to a height of
5,000 feet. The ranges are intersected by fertile valleys which provide
sustenance at a minimum expenditure of toil.
Kiau-Chau is a splendid harbour and, in regard to Pekin, of great
strategical importance. The German occupation of the harbour and as
much of the surrounding territory as they could bring under their
influence was, they declared, only to provide a gateway to China and an
open door for German trade.
The trade did not, however, progress under German administration of the
territory. There were no means of transport, and until railways could
be constructed the port could only supply and draw from its immediate
neighbourhood.
Only Germans frequented Kiau-Chau and trade decreased, as the natives
cordially disliked the inquisitorial ways of the official system.
The chief value of Shantung is in its mineral deposits--principally
coal, and coal easily takes the first place amongst articles of export.
Iron ore, gold, galena (lead and silver), and copper are found in
considerable quantities.
The principal agricultural products are wheat, millet, Indian corn,
pulse, arrowroot, castor-oil, vegetables, and fruit.
Wax is a considerable article of trade, while seri-culture (silk) forms
an important industry.
Silkworms are fed on mulberry, oak, lettuce, or vine leaves; and the
nature and quality of the silk depends upon the character of the food.
The worms fed on mulberry and lettuce leaves produce the lighter forms
of silk, those on vine leaves a silk of a deeper yellow colour verging
on red, while the oak-leaf-fed worms produce the well-known pongee,
chifu or Shantung silks. This latter is not as fine as the mulberry or
lettuce silk but is of more practical use and of better wear.
The soya bean, cultivated so extensively and profitably in Japan, the
oil cake made therefrom, and cotton are also produced by the Chinese in
the Shantung province.
The exports from Kiau-Chau, according to Chinese statistics, amounted
in 1912 to about £1,250,000; while the exports reached £1,750,000.
Germany brought under her sway in the Shantung Peninsula an area of
about 120 square miles.
The German population in Kiau-Chau, exclusive of troops, was only about
2,100 in 1913, but the peninsula was strongly garrisoned. The Chinese
population centred about Tsingtau and amounted to nearly 54,000.
Immediately after their occupation of the Shantung province the Germans
entered into negotiations (which were probably conducted in the usual
Prussian way) with the Chinese authorities, and a concession was
granted for the continuation of the Shantung railway to a junction with
the great cross-country railway Pekin-Hankau, the German object being
of course to establish a direct Kiau-Chau-Pekin trade.
In 1914 a new service of steamships via the Suez Canal from Hamburg
to the American Pacific coast was inaugurated, and the liners calling
at Tsingtau, in order to carry goods to the United States and Canada
without reshipment, provided a fortnightly service for Tsingtau.
A German writer says: "The mountainous neighbourhood of Tsingtau is,
thanks to German afforestation, beginning to get a different character.
Where formerly only rough open country was to be seen, timber and
orchards are filling the slopes. The Chinese _work voluntarily_ for
the Government, and receive payment in seeds, shrubs, and trees for
their own property."
The Germans made every effort for the germanisation of Shantung, and
schools were established where science and technical science were
taught; and the students, according to the same writer, "first learned
German and in this way became messengers of German civilisation all
over China," for which blessing China has not, seemingly, exhibited any
marked degree of gratitude.
Kiau-Chau and Tsingtau were fortified and made as impregnable
fortresses as modern science could construct, and all German
proceedings indicated that any "ultimate retrocession to China" of the
province was extremely problematical.
The outbreak of the war of 1914 gave Japan an opportunity of paying
off to Germany both the capital and accumulated interest of the score
she had held to Germany's debit ever since the latter's unwarrantable
intrusion into her sphere.
The capital consisted of an announcement in the early stages of the war
of Japan's intention to take action to protect the general interests
in the Far East, "keeping especially in view the independence and
integrity of China," and in the delivery on the 15th August of an
ultimatum to Germany.
The interest was provided by the ultimatum being couched in almost
identical terms with Germany's ultimatum to Japan sixteen years
previously.
The following is the text of the ultimatum:
"We consider it highly important and necessary in the present situation
to take measures to remove the causes of all disturbance of peace in
the Far East, and to safeguard general interests as contemplated in the
agreement between Japan and Great Britain.
"In order to secure firm and enduring peace in Eastern Asia, the
establishment of which is the aim of the said agreement, the Imperial
Japanese Government sincerely believes it to be its duty to give advice
to the Imperial German Government to carry out the following two
propositions:--
"(1) Withdraw immediately from Japanese and Chinese waters the German
men-of-war and armed vessels of all kinds, and to disarm at once all
those which cannot be withdrawn.
"(2) To deliver, on a date not later than 15th September, to the
Imperial Japanese authorities without condition or compensation the
entire leased territory of Kiau-Chau with a view to the eventual
restoration of the same to China.
"The Imperial Japanese Government announces at the same time that in
the event of its not receiving by noon on 23rd August an answer from
the Imperial German Government signifying unconditional acceptance of
the above advice offered by the Imperial Japanese Government, Japan
will be compelled to take such action as it may deem necessary to meet
the situation."
The ultimatum caused a sensation in China, as it was stated that
China was fully of the intention "eventually" to regain possession of
Kiau-Chau by her own resources. The Chinese Government in perturbation
expressed the opinion that the only course for Germany was to cancel
the lease of Kiau-Chau and hand the territory back to China.
The United States of America intimated, as an expression of their view,
that the United States would have been better pleased if the word
"eventually" in the ultimatum had been better defined.
On the 23rd August Japan declared war upon Germany, and immediately
proceeded, with the assistance of British warships and men, to blockade
the harbour of Kiau-Chau and invest Tsingtau, which was the key to the
situation.
The German cruiser _Emden_ was at Tsingtau on the outbreak of war and
got to sea before the blockade.
The _Emden_ had a short but by no means inglorious career. Under her
resourceful, gallant and courteous Commander, Von Müller, she cruised
the Bay of Bengal and destroyed British shipping to the value of over
£1,000,000; she bombarded Madras, causing appreciable damage, and
her final exploit of note was to steam boldly into the British port
of Penang, disguised by rigging up a dummy extra funnel and flying
the Japanese flag, where she sank a Russian cruiser and a French
torpedo-boat destroyer.
On 10th November, however, she arrived off Cocos Islands, and while
a landing party was busy destroying the wireless and cable apparatus
there she was discovered by the Australian cruiser H.M.A.S. _Sydney_,
by whom she was engaged, driven ashore and burnt.
The Shantung German possession made a strenuous resistance, but after
two months' investment by land and blockade by sea, surrendered to the
joint British and Japanese force, and the dream of a German Empire in
the Far East was dissipated.
The fall of Tsingtau and Kiau-Chau was a rending blow to German
prestige in the East, and its severity excited bitter comments on this
extinguishment of what was in German papers described as "a shining
testimony to German culture."
Poor old _kultur_! It has of late had many a heavy burden to bear and
is now entrusted with the final destruction of Japan, for according
to a leading German paper: "The Japanese have assisted England in
destroying the most brilliant work of German colonisation (save the
mark!). England will reap the harvest sown by her short-sighted
Government in a time not so far distant.
"Germany has lost Kiau-Chau, but not for ever; and when eventually the
time of reckoning arrives then as unanimously as what is now a cry of
pain will a great shout of rejoicing ring through Germany--'Woe to
Nippon.'"
So both England and Japan had better look out.
INDEX
A
Africa, East, 84
----, area and features, 97
----, British explorers, 86
----, German exploitation, 98
----, Germans engineer rebellion, 95
----, Germany annexes, 91
----, Germany obtains Kilima 'Njaro, 93
----, history, 84
----, jewel of German possessions, 107
----, Portuguese status, 93
----, products, 101
----, railways, 101
----, terrorism of natives, 96
Africa, German wireless, 66
Africa, South West, 36
----, area, 69
----, boundaries, 65
----, British operations, 82
----, Herero rebellion, 70
----, physical features, 73
----, products, 74
----, railways, 76
Africa, West, 109
----, Germany annexes Togoland, 112
----, Germany's entry into, 110
----, history, 109
Agadir crisis, 30
Angra Pequena, British subjects' position, 55
----, H.M.S. _Boadicea_ at, 59
----, possession of, 41
Arrowroot, 180
Asbestos, 75
Australia in the Pacific, 129
Australian Colonies, conference on the Pacific Islands, 133
Austria, emulation of Prussia, 19
B
Bananas, 121, 161
Bêche-de-mer, 166
Bechuanaland, Boer action, 64
----, Rhodes's steps, 65
Belgian Congo, 87
Bernhardi, General von, on Germany's "place in the sun," 28
----, views on Colonies, 32
Beyers, General, defeat and death, 82
----, rebels, 81
Birds, 162
Bismarck, Otto von, 18, 19, 21, 22, 29, 45, 57, 91, 111
Boers, the, as pioneers, 39
----, in South West Africa, 77
----, Republics in Bechuanaland, 64
----, view of Germans, 47
Bönn, Dr, on native policy, 33
Botha, General Louis, 79
----, takes field, 82
British policy in Africa, 41
---- sea supremacy, 28
---- vacillation, 24, 53
C
Cape Colony, danger of being shut in, 50
Caprivi Treaty, 25, 66, 77, 83, 94
Carbonate of soda, 107
Carnarvon, Lord, refuses to annex New Guinea, 132
Castor-oil, 180
Cazou, 106
Chillies, 106
China and trade treaties, 174
---- and the Western nations, 172
----, German wedge inserted into, 174
----, the "mailed fist," 179
----, war with Japan, 175
Coal, 180
Cocoa, 117, 121, 154, 166
Coffee, 101, 102, 154, 166
Congo Free State, 88
Cook, Captain, 128
Copper, 75, 180
Copra, 102, 120, 154, 162, 166
Cotton, 101, 117, 120, 166
D
Damaraland, 41
Dar-es-Salaam, 95
---- bombarded, 108
De Wet, General, defeat and capture, 82
----, rebels, 81
Diamonds, 75
Dutch in Pacific, 127, 130
E
Elliott, Major, stops rebellion in South West Africa, 70
_Emden_, the, 184, 185
F
France in the East, 176, 177
---- in West Africa, 109
Frere, Sir Bartle, 42, 46, 53, 90
G
Galena, 75, 180
German Colonial Empire limits, 31
---- Colonial trade, 27
---- Colonisation Society, 20
---- Confederation of 1814, 17
---- East African Society, 91
---- Emperor, 18
---- Emperor, letter to Lord Tweedmouth, 31
---- industries, 26
---- native policy, 31
---- naval aspirations, 31
Germans and natives, 34
---- as colonisers, 32
---- in America, 33
---- in Brazil, 33
---- in Cape Colony, 33
German South West Africa, 24
Germany and native treaties, 91
---- annexes South West Africa, 62
----, aspirations in Rhodesia, 55
----, aspirations in South Africa, 53
---- at Angra Pequena, 56
---- "a world Power," 28
----, deprecatory spirit, 31, 61
----, emigration, 21
---- enters colonisation field, 23
----, false conception of Boer character, 79
----, first German Colony, 44
----, ideas of expansion, 26
---- in the Pacific, 25, 124
---- in West Africa, 110
Germany in Zanzibar, 24, 89
----, native policy, 70
----, naval demonstration at Zanzibar, 92
----, place in Moroccan affairs, 29
----, population, 20
----, secret treaty with Russia _qua_ China, 178
----, threat to Japan, 176, 185
----, ultimatum to Japan, 176
----, wireless system in Africa, 66
Gold, 75, 107, 167, 180
Grain, 101
Granville, Lord, and Bismarck, 57, 111
Great Britain in Africa, 36
Great Namaqualand and Cape Colony, 61
Guano, 74
Gum-copal, 101
H
Heligoland, exchange for Zanzibar, 25, 92
Hides, 73, 102
I
Iron, 75, 180
Ivory, 102, 154, 166
J
Japan, German ultimatum, 176
----, her claims in China, 175
----, ultimatum to Germany, 183
K
Kalahari Desert, 41
Kamerun, 24, 109, 113, 119, 120, 122
Kiau-Chau, 172, 178, 179, 180
----, fall of, 185
----, Japan's ultimatum to Germany, 183
Kiel, 18
Kilima 'Njaro, 25, 88, 93
L
Lead, 75
Lebaudy, M., 88
Leopold, King of the Belgians, 87
Luderitz, Herr, at Angra Pequena, 55
----, at Santa Lucia, 64
Luderitzbucht, 64, 82
M
Magellan, 130
"Mailed fist," the, 178
Maize, 118
Marble, 74
Maritz, General, 79
Merriman, John X., 54
Mica, 107
Mohair, 73
Morocco, 29
N
Nachtigal, Dr, 111
Namaqualand, Great, 41
Natives, German exploitation of, 116
New Guinea, 25, 130, 166
---- and Queensland, 132
New Zealand offers to protect Samoa, 144
O
Oil, 167
P
Pacific Islands, 124, 129, 131, 133
Palm kernels, 117
Palm-oil, 102, 117, 120, 154, 162
Pea-nuts, 106
Penguin eggs, 74
Peters, Dr Carl, 90
Phosphates, 156, 166
Portugal, 36, 93, 109, 124, 126
Prussian militarism, 17
Pulse, 180
Q
Queensland and New Guinea, 132
R
Rhodes, Cecil, 19, 54
Rhodesia, German efforts, 55
Rubber, 73, 101, 102, 117, 154, 166
Russia in China, 174
S
Sago, 161
Samoa, 131, 133, 136, 144, 150, 154
----, _Calliope_ and hurricane, 142
----, German annexation, 147
----, the British occupy, 168
Sandal-wood, 166
Schleswig-Holstein, 18
"Scramble for Africa," 24
Seal skins, 74
Seddon, Hon. R., 148
Silk, 180
Silver, 74
Sisal hemp, 101
South Africa, 34, 53
Stanley, H. M., 87
Stevenson. R. L., 149
St Lucia Bay, 30
Swakopmund, 82
T
Tangier, German Emperor's visit to, 29
Tannin, 107
Tasmania, 24
Timber, 107, 115, 121, 167
Tin, 75
Tobacco, 154, 166
Togoland, 66, 109, 112, 114, 117
Tortoise-shell, 166
Transvaal, German aspirations, 30
Treaty, Anglo-German, 94
Treitschke, von, and "Greater Germany," 28
Trepang, 166
U
Upington, Sir Thomas, 54
V
Van Diemen, 130
Von der Decken, 87
Von Weber, Ernst, 45
Von Wissmann, Captain H., 95
W
Walfisch Bay, 41
Warren, Sir Charles, 54
Warren expedition, 54
Wax, 180
----, bees', 101
Wei-hai-wei, Great Britain's lease, 177
Whales, 74
Wheat, 180
Wireless, Togoland, 118
Wool, 73
"World Power," 29
Z
Zanzibar, 85, 90, 94, 96
* * * * *
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY THE NORTHUMBERLAND PRESS, THORNTON STREET,
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE
FOOTNOTES:
[A] "Modern Germany," by J. Ellis Barker.
[B] _Ibid._
[C] "Modern Germany," by J. Ellis Barker.
[D] Government Paper C--4265, 1884.
[E] _Rooi-Nek_, Red Neck, served to describe Englishmen owing
to their exposed necks burning brick-red under South African suns.
[F] _Machela._--Hammock slung on a bamboo which is carried
on the shoulders of six or eight boys, according to the weight of
the traveller; a form of travelling universal in Central and Eastern
Africa.
[G] Even to-day the business of the Portuguese Colonies on the
East Coast of Africa is carried on with Lisbon via Goa.
[H] From H. B. M.'s Consular Report, 1910.
[I] "In Far New Guinea," by Henry Newton. Seeley Service & Co.
Price, 16s.
Transcriber's notes:
- Different spelling of 'resistance' and 'résistance' results from
different usage and languages.
- Ligatures '[ae]' converted - as used/possible in Latin texts - to 'ae'.
End of Project Gutenberg's Germany's Vanishing Colonies, by Gordon Le Sueur