– English Lyrics

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[English]

Introduction timestamp The First World War  

is best known for its European and  Middle Eastern theatres of conflict,  

but while the Great Empires of Europe clashed  against one another in their home countries,  

so too did their various colonies and concessions  in the Far East be drawn into the war. One nation  

which had territorial interests in Asia during the  time was the Empire of Germany, whose ambitions in  

the region brought it into conflict with the  continent’s fastest-growing military hegemon,  

Imperial Japan. Indeed, Japan would arguably be  one of the greatest victors of World War One,  

expanding her influence over China, gaining  numerous possessions, increasing her trade and  

becoming recognized as a Great Power. Of all  her actions during the war, none were greater  

than besieging one of Germany’s fortified holdings  in her leased territory of Jiaozhou Bay. Welcome  

to our video on the 1914 siege of Tsingtao,  the decisive clash between Japan and Germany,  

thirty years before geopolitics would draw them  into the infamous alliance we all know today.

The Anglo-Japanese alliance, first signed in 1902,  encouraged the Japanese Empire to enter the First  

World War on the side of Britain, making it an  enemy of Germany. At the outbreak of the war,  

Britain feared the Imperial German Navy’s East  Asiatic Squadron would raid her merchant shipping  

in the east, and planned to run the Germans out  by destroying their bases and communications.  

Within the first week of the war, Britain  requested assistance from Japan to identify  

German shipping. However, Japan held  larger ambitions in the Asia-Pacific  

and instead offered to enter the War and join  the Entente. Britain reluctantly accepted this,  

but privately warned Japan not to seize German  islands in the South Pacific, for the British  

wanted those territories to be taken by their  dominion territories of Australia and New Zealand.

Japan’s war aims were to capture the German  base at the Chinese port of Tsingtao as well  

as the German colonies of the Marshall, Caroline,  and Marianas islands. Furthermore, Japan wanted  

to hunt down Germany’s East Asiatic Squadron. On  August 15th, Japan issued an ultimatum to Germany,  

demanding that her warships withdraw from  Chinese and Japanese waters and transfer  

control of the harbour city of Tsingtao to  Japan. When the ultimatum expired on the 23rd,  

Japan declared war on Germany. Hoping that  their garrison in Tsingtao would be able to  

hold out against the Japanese until the war in  Europe was won, the German government instructed  

Governor Alfred Meyer-Waldeck of Tsingtao  bay to defend his settlement to the last.

German defense of Tsingtao timestamp When the First World War broke out,  

most of the warships of the Imperial German Navy’s  East Asia Squadron, under the command of Vice  

Admiral Maximilian von Spee, were dispersed across  the vast waters of the Pacific. Consequently,  

Meyer-Waldeck assembled all the available warships  he could. These consisted of the torpedo boat S90,  

the unprotected cruiser Cormoran, the  gunboats Luchs, Tiger, Jaguar, and Iltis,  

and the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser  Kaiserin Elisabeth. This meagre German defence  

fleet was absolutely dwarfed by the Imperial  Japanese Navy, which dispatched the second  

squadron under Vice Admiral Sadakichi Kato on  August 27th, supported by some British warships .

The German fortifications on land consisted  of the port, town and three defensive lines,  

the first extending from the Kaiserstuhl  to the Litsuner Heights. The second line  

lay across the steep hills from Prinz Heinrich  to Kuschan. The third line consisted of three  

fortified hills, Mount Moltke, Mount Bismarck and  Mount Iltis, each equipped with guns of various  

calibre . Furthermore, the town of Tsingtao  itself possessed seaward and landward defences  

consisting of four batteries and five redoubts.  In terms of manpower, Meyer-Waldeck commanded over  

1300 marines of the 3rd Seebataillon, 750 naval  gunners, 180 naval personnel staff, 400 sailors,  

1500 reservists and 100 Chinese policemen,  totalling nearly 4,000 men. They had 90 artillery  

guns of various calibres, 120 machine guns,  28 automobiles and two Etrich Taube aircraft.

Japanese invade Jiaozhou Bay Timestamp On August 22nd, the SMS Lauting and the  

S90 were attacked by the British warship HMS  Kennet while mining. They raced back to port,  

with the S90 scoring two hits on the Kennet, which  peeled off when a 4-inch shore battery in Tsingtao  

began to fire upon her. On the 27th, the Imperial  Japanese Navy’s 2nd squadron, led by Vice-Admiral  

Sadakichi Kato, began a blockade of Jiaozhou.  The fleet quickly seized three coastal islands  

and began minesweeping. On the 30th, a storm drove  the IJN destroyer Shirotaye aground on a coastal  

island, allowing the German SMS Jaguar to come out  and destroy her. On September 2nd, the Japanese  

began landing 23,000 soldiers of Major General  Mitsumo Kamio’s 18th infantry division, along  

with 142 pieces of artillery . They fanned the  area, finding no enemy north of the Paisha River.  

The region was experiencing a terrible flood,  making the Japanese advance across the territory  

a muddy nightmare. The local Chinese protested  the breach of their neutrality in the conflict,  

but offered no real opposition. By the 7th, an  advance guard was riding to Tsingtao. Meanwhile,  

the British were suspicious that the Japanese  intended to seize all of Shandong province,  

so they dispatched a symbolic force of 1500  men under Brigadier General Nathaniel Walter  

Barnardiston from Tientsin. They would be  followed up by 500 men of the 36th Sikhs.

Meyer-Waldeck responded to the landings  by withdrawing his forces to the two inner  

defensive lines. On the 5th, the Imperial Japanese  warship Wakamiya launched a Farman seaplane that  

scouted the port and town. The pilot reported  that the East Asiatic squadron was absent,  

prompting the IJN to dispatch two  fast squadrons to hunt them down.  

The next day, the Wakamiya launched another  Farman, which unsuccessfully attacked the  

Jaguar and Kaiserin Elisabeth in Jiaozhou Bay  with bomblets . In response, both cruisers  

had guns removed from them to be added to the  land defences, establishing Battery Elisabeth.

On the 13th, Japanese cavalry ran into a German  outpost at Jimo, causing them to flee after a  

short skirmish. The Japanese seized the  small town of Jiaozhou and, on the 14th,  

cut the Shandong railway. However, the flooding  and mud were so terrible that Kamio knew it would  

take weeks to move his entire division over the  peninsula, so he took a calculated risk. Kamio  

ordered his 24th infantry brigade to re-embark as  his cavalry, engineers and 23rd infantry brigade  

continued their advance to Jimo, thus abandoning  the bridgehead. Kamio ordered the rest of his  

forces to land in Lau Shan Bay. On the 17th,  the Japanese attacked Wang-ko-huang , causing  

the Germans to withdraw from the town during the  night. The next day, the Japanese arrived at Jimo  

exhausted and nearly starving as IJN cruisers  bombarded the empty beaches of Lau Shan Bay,  

allowing the 24th infantry brigade to land.  With Jimo secured, Kamio ordered his forces  

to seize the Hotung pass, driving back another  small German outpost. After a cavalry company  

of the 24th brigade made contact with the  forces at Jimo, Tsingtao was now surrounded.

On the 19th, the Japanese seized Mecklenburg  House, a mountain spa, and broke through the  

outermost defensive line. Kamio now deduced the  Germans would only mount a defence within the  

city’s fortifications, so he ordered his forces  to close in, causing German patrols to withdraw  

inwards. The Japanese began constructing piers at  Lau Schan and an airfield at Jimo. On the 21st,  

the Imperial Japanese Army launched four Farman  planes from Jimo to survey, bomb and shoot down  

the German aircraft. In late September, Japanese  Farmans performed the first night-time bombing  

raid in history. The Germans had accidentally  crashed one of their Taube aircraft, leaving  

only one to be operated by Lt Gunther Plüschow.  Plüschow performed daily reconnaissance flights  

and attempted to bomb Entente vessels, becoming  the first aviator in history to be fired upon  

and receive damage from flak from naval ships.  In late September, Plüschow ran into a Farman  

performing reconnaissance over Tsingtao harbour  and claimed he shot the pilot with his pistol,  

causing the aircraft to crash. If true, this would  be the first claimed aerial victory ever recorded.

The siege of Tsingtao Timestamp Meyer-Waldeck realized the Japanese were  

maneuvering past the mountain line unmolested, so  he ordered a counterattack as his artillery began  

firing up to 1500 shells upon the incoming enemy  per day. On the 25th, a German force of 130 men,  

two field guns and four machine guns raided an  outpost on Kletter Pass. The Japanese stood their  

ground and forced the Germans back. Meanwhile, the  British began landing at Lau Schan. On the 26th,  

Kamio ordered a general advance, causing the  Germans to pull back to their second line  

completely. To help their withdrawal, the Jaguar  and S90 came up the harbour side and bombarded the  

Japanese right flank. As the Germans withdrew,  the outer mountain outposts fell one by one,  

nearly bloodlessly. The Kaiserin Elisaeth, Jaguar  and S90 continued to shell the harbour flank,  

prompting Kamio to assign a field battery  to engage them. The German ships managed  

to destroy an observation post and  neutralize the battery. Kamio then  

requested Vice Admiral Kato to bombard the  German land batteries to cover his advance,  

but Kato refused to comply and instead bombarded  the German sea batteries. During this era,  

interservice rivalry was emerging within the  Japanese military that would become infamous  

during World War II. Back on the German side,  Meyer-Waldeck knew they would soon have to  

abandon the second line. He ordered his engineers  to prepare a small outpost on the crest of Prinz  

Heinrich Hill. They connected a telephone  and heliograph to its heavy land batteries.  

Sixty men with four machine-guns manned the  outpost with provisions for a 2-month siege.

On the night of the 27th, Kamio ordered the 46th  infantry regiment, reinforced with an engineer  

platoon, to climb the hill in the middle of a  typhoon. They reached the crest by dawn and were  

quickly pinned down by German machine gun fire.  The Japanese charged the outpost numerous times,  

receiving heavy casualties, until the German CO  decided to negotiate. He offered to surrender  

the peak if the Japanese would allow his  men to withdraw to Tsingtao. The Japanese  

refused and simply seized the CO. The Germans  surrendered after suffering six deaths, with 54  

men captured. On the other side, the Japanese  suffered 24 deaths, with 150 total casualties.

Meanwhile, the Kaiserin Elisabeth, Leopard  and S90 shelled the Japanese right flank,  

prompting the IJN and IJA field  artillery to counterfire. On the 28th,  

the Japanese were closing in on the German  inner line, and engineers began constructing  

concrete platforms upon Prinz Heinrich Hill  for heavy artillery deployment. Meyer-Waldeck  

ordered land batteries and Plüschow to hit the  Japanese rear. That same day, the Cormoran,  

Iltis and Luchs were scuttled. On October 2nd,  three German companies performed a night raid  

against the Japanese right flank. It quickly fell  apart, resulting in 29 Germans killed and six  

captured. After gaining this ground, the Japanese  began digging trenches a kilometre away from  

the German line as the British advanced to the  front line. After some friendly fire incidents,  

the British were given Japanese overcoats  to distinguish them from the Germans.

On 6th and 10th, Entente blockading ships  duelled with Tsingtao’s coastal batteries,  

but were driven off. On the 14th, the entire  fleet performed a massive bombardment,  

during which the British HMS Triumph  took light damage. On the 15th,  

flash floods drowned 25 Japanese within their  trenchwork. On the 17th, Meyer-Waldeck ordered  

the S90 to attempt an escape. The S90 slipped  out of the harbour during the night, but ran  

into the IJN cruiser Takachiho. The S90 fired  a torpedo, detonating the Takachiho’s magazine,  

sinking the cruiser and claiming the lives of 256  men. The S90 attempted to flee, but was interned  

at a Chinese port further down the coast. On  the 21st, the 36th Sikh landed at Lachan Bay.

On the 22nd, Meyer-Waldeck ordered another raid,  deploying 80 German soldiers to creep towards the  

Japanese trenches, only for them to be turned  back when sentries opened fire. By the 25th,  

the IJA artillery was all in position, with 15  days' worth of ammunition each. Beginning on the  

31st, Kamio ordered them to each fire 80 shells  per day. Meanwhile, Japanese engineers formed  

platoons with rifle grenades and bamboo tubes  filled with explosives. The Entente fleet drew  

close and on October 31st, the birthday of Emperor  Taisho, 100 field guns and naval guns began a mass  

bombardment, directed by balloons, Farmans  and the observation post atop Prinz Heinrich  

Hill. The first day destroyed Tsingtao’s land  batteries as sappers drew 300 meters forward.  

The Redoubts were particularly hit hard by  artillery, and to the left of the German line,  

100 Chinese in the village of Taotungchien were  unfortunately caught in shell fire. The next day,  

Meyer-Waldeck had Kaiserin Elisabeth and Jaguar  scuttled as their crews joined the garrison.

After Tsingtao’s land batteries were neutralized,  the Japanese bombardment targeted redoubts  

and barbed wire fields. On November 2nd, the  sappers advanced another 300 meters. On the 3rd,  

redoubts were systematically pulverized, barbed  wire was flattened, and the Tsingtao power station  

was obliterated. By the 4th, the Japanese  had a parallel assault line dug, and at dawn,  

Japanese infantry and engineering platoons  assaulted the water pumping station. They  

seized the station, capturing 21 prisoners.  Now Tsingtao had no well water. That night,  

the Japanese sappers advanced another 300  meters, while their British counterparts  

failed to keep up with them, suffering 26  casualties from small arms fire. On the 5th,  

the Fleet closed in to point-blank range and the  IJN Suwo destroyed the Huitschuen huk, killing  

eight men and that of the last sea battery. Barbed  wire lay crushed, and redoubts had been pulverized  

or abandoned. Tsingtao lay defenceless by land  or sea. On the night of the 6th, the Japanese  

dug their final assault line running between  100 and 1000 meters from the German trenches.

By the 6th, Meyer-Waldeck knew it was the end and  ordered Plüschow to fly his final dispatches back  

to Berlin. Plüschow flew 250 kilometres before  crash-landing in a rice paddy. He burned his Taube  

and would make an incredible 9-month journey via  Shanghai, San Francisco, New York, and Gibraltar,  

where he was captured and sent to a POW camp  in London. He escaped the POW camp and then  

travelled to the Netherlands and finally back to  Germany in August of 1915, earning quite a bit of  

fame. Meanwhile, Kamio gave the British sappers  time to dig their approach next to his parallel  

line as his units probed the German lines for weak  points. A Japanese company led by Major General  

Yoshimi Yamada assaulted Redoubt 4, causing the  Germans to launch a bayonet charge, pushing them  

back. Meyer-Waldeck ordered reinforcements to  head over to Redoubt 4, but before they arrived,  

a second Japanese company surrounded the redoubt,  forcing their surrender. Two hundred prisoners  

were seized as the flag of the rising sun was  hoisted over the Kaiser’s territory. The German  

reinforcements arrived at the scene and performed  a counterattack, but were crushed quickly.

Meanwhile, the Japanese stormed Redoubt 3,  surrounding and firing into its loopholes  

and cracks until the Germans surrendered. A local  German reserve force launched a counter-attack,  

overwhelming a Japanese flank outpost before  the main force crashed down upon them. Japanese  

platoons then spread out along the trench lines.  Redoubt 2 was attacked from both flanks and rear,  

falling quickly. Three hours of battle saw  numerous courageous bayonet charges from  

both sides, as all the Redoubts were stormed  and captured, excluding Redoubts one and five,  

which held out desperately. Kamio then  ordered the general assault to begin as  

the Japanese forces charged through a gap  in the German center line and fanned out.

At 5:10 AM on the 7th, the north battery of  Shaotan Hill was captured. Half an hour later, the  

east battery of Tahtungehin and Fort Chungchiawa,  the base for the German right wing, was seized.  

As the Japanese surged forward, a company stormed  up Iltis Hill. Searchlights poured down upon them,  

and soon the Japanese charged into the Germans  and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat,  

wielding bayonets and katanas. Two opposing  officers duelled with a Katana against a  

German dress sword, resulting in the Japanese  officer cutting down his opponent. After this,  

the Germans upon Iltis surrendered.  Another company stormed Bismarck Hill,  

resulting in a quick surrender as men atop Iltis  cheered. Meyer-Waldeck knew it was over and,  

seeking to save lives, ordered Major von Kayser  with a small force to march out of Redoubt One  

and Five, waving white flags. On the morning  of the 7th, on an ironically beautiful day,  

Japanese and British troops entered  Tsingtao with shouts of Banzai.

Conclusion timestamp As the Japanese entered the city,  

the Germans looked on with curiosity. Upon seeing  the British, the Germans turned their backs and  

spat in contempt. The Japanese had suffered 733  deaths and 1282 wounded. The British had 12 deaths  

and 53 wounded. On the German side, there had  been 199 deaths and 504 wounded. Beyond these,  

98 Chinese civilians were killed, 30 more wounded,  and countless incidents of rape against Chinese  

women by Japanese soldiers were reported. A  memorial service was held in Tsingtao as the  

Germans buried their dead. 4700 Germans were  taken to POW camps in Japan and were famously  

treated well there until 1919. 170 of the German  prisoners would remain in Japan after the war,  

having found wives or new lives. To this day,  little remains of German influence in Qingdao.  

Yet the old brewery in Qingdao still produces  the pre-war-style German beer titled “Tsingtao.”

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Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
siege /siːdʒ/ B2	noun - a prolonged military blockade of a city or fortress verb - to surround and isolate a place with armed forces
battalion /bəˈtæl.jən/ C1	noun - a large military unit typically composed of several companies
fortification /ˌfɔːr.tɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ C1	noun - a defensive structure built to protect a place from attack
alliance /əˈlaɪ.əns/ B2	noun - a formal agreement or partnership between nations or groups
hegemony /hɪˈɡɛməni/ C2	noun - dominant influence or leadership of one state or group over others
navy /ˈneɪvi/ B1	noun - the branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations at sea
artillery /ɑːˈtɪlər i/ C1	noun - large-caliber guns used in warfare on land
casualties /ˈkæʒuəl.tiz/ B2	noun - people killed, wounded or missing in a war or accident
empire /ˈɛm.paɪər/ B1	noun - a group of countries or territories under a single supreme authority
territory /ˈtɛrɪtəri/ B1	noun - an area of land under the jurisdiction of a sovereign state
reconnaissance /ˌrekənˈæns/ C1	noun - military observation of enemy forces or terrain
scuttled /ˈskʌtld/ C2	verb - to deliberately sink one's own ship
garrison /ˈɡærɪsn/ C1	noun - a body of troops stationed at a particular location
bombardment /ˈbɒmbərdmənt/ C1	noun - the continuous attack with bombs, shells or artillery fire
colonial /kəˈloʊniəl/ B2	adjective - relating to colonies or colonial rule

Key Grammar Structures

• The First World War is best known for its European and Middle Eastern theatres of conflict, but while the Great Empires of Europe clashed against one another in their home countries, so too did their various colonies and concessions in the Far East be drawn into the war.

  ➔ Parallel structure with 'so too... as'

  ➔ The phrase 'so too... as' is used to draw a parallel between two clauses, emphasizing similarity in action or situation.

• Japan would arguably be one of the greatest victors of World War One, expanding her influence over China, gaining numerous possessions, increasing her trade and becoming recognized as a Great Power.

  ➔ Use of 'arguably' for tentative statements

  ➔ The word 'arguably' is used to express an opinion that is open to debate or not universally accepted.

• On August 15th, Japan issued an ultimatum to Germany, demanding that her warships withdraw from Chinese and Japanese waters and transfer control of the harbour city of Tsingtao to Japan.

  ➔ Use of 'that' in a noun clause

  ➔ The word 'that' is used to introduce a noun clause, which functions as the object of the verb 'demanding'.

• Meyer-Waldeck commanded over 1300 marines of the 3rd Seebataillon, 750 naval gunners, 180 naval personnel staff, 400 sailors, 1500 reservists and 100 Chinese policemen, totalling nearly 4,000 men.

  ➔ Use of 'over' with numbers

  ➔ The word 'over' is used to indicate a quantity slightly more than the stated number.

• The region was experiencing a terrible flood, making the Japanese advance across the territory a muddy nightmare.

  ➔ Use of gerund phrase as subject complement

  ➔ The gerund phrase 'making the Japanese advance... a muddy nightmare' functions as a subject complement, describing the effect of the flood.

• Kamio ordered his 24th infantry brigade to re-embark as his cavalry, engineers and 23rd infantry brigade continued their advance to Jimo, thus abandoning the bridgehead.

  ➔ Use of 'as' to indicate simultaneous action

  ➔ The word 'as' is used to indicate that the action of the cavalry, engineers, and 23rd infantry brigade continuing their advance happened at the same time as the 24th infantry brigade re-embarking.

• Plüschow performed daily reconnaissance flights and attempted to bomb Entente vessels, becoming the first aviator in history to be fired upon and receive damage from flak from naval ships.

  ➔ Use of '-ing' form as a participial adjective

  ➔ The '-ing' form 'becoming' is used as a participial adjective to describe Plüschow's achievement.

• The Japanese had suffered 733 deaths and 1282 wounded. The British had 12 deaths and 53 wounded. On the German side, there had been 199 deaths and 504 wounded.

  ➔ Use of past perfect for completed actions before another past action

  ➔ The past perfect 'had suffered' and 'had been' are used to describe actions completed before the moment of speaking in the past.