Japan Declares War on Germany

Japanese Army, 22,980

Lieut. General Kamio
Major General Horiuchi
General Yamada
General Johogi
Vice-Admiral Kamimura

English Force, 1369
Col. N. W. Barnanlisten

German Garrison, 5,000 Marines
Admiral Meyer-Wahleck

Another nemesis confronted Germany in the Far East, on August 15, 1914, when Japan delivered an ultimatum to Emperor William, demanding the evacuation of the fortressed city of Tsingtau, on the tip end of the Shantung peninsula in China, which Germany had taken from China in 1898 on a "lease" of 99 years.

Japan also demanded the withdrawal of all German warships from Asiatic waters and the restoration to China before September 15, 1914, of the province of Kiau-chau, on the Shantung Peninsula, which Germany had acquired by "concession" in 1897.

Causes of the War

Japan had acted in this matter upon request of Great Britain, with which nation she had signed a treaty of alliance, on August 12, 1905, having for its object the maintenance of peace in Eastern Asia and India, the preservation of the independence and integrity of the Chinese Empire, and the defence of their special interests in the Far East.

But the principal motive which influenced Japan was the desire to retaliate upon Germany for having outraged her sovereignty after the close of the China-Japanese War. Japan, during that war, had captured Port Arthur, but Germany compelled her to relinquish this prize of war to Russia, and then seized the province of Kiau-chau as her share of the spoils.

There followed a scramble among the European nations to seize desirable sections of China. England took possession of Weihau-wei, France acquired control of Kwanchow Bay, Germany held Tsingtao, and Russia regained Port Arthur, while Japan was left out in the cold. These acts of spoilation led up to the Boxer rebellion in China, in 1910, when several missionaries and other Europeans were put to death. It was then that Germany confirmed her seizure of Kiau- chau by compe...