Shandong

Germany in 1898 obtained railway and mining rights in Shantong, which made that province a German sphere.

In fact, by an Anglo-German agreement of September first and second, eighteen ninety-eight, British financial interests formally recognized the German right to a monopoly of railway construction in Shantung and the Hoangho Valley in exchange for German recognition of a British monopoly in the Yangtze Valley and the province of Shansi, north of the Yangtze and just west of Shantung, which was needed to connect the Yangtze with Peking and North China.

Similarly, Great Britain and Russia agreed not to compete, but only after a lively contest which is worth summarizing here.

In eighteen ninety-seven, a Belgian syndicate obtained a concession to connect Peking in North China with Hankou on the Yangtze by rail, and it was reported later that Belgian interests were to build railways across Central China from east to west.

You should inform the Tsungli Yamen..."

That is the Chinese government.

"That Her Majesty's Government cannot possibly continue to cooperate in a friendly manner in matters of interest to China if, while preferential advantages are conceded to Russia in Manchuria and to Germany in Shantung, these or other powers should also be offered special openings or privileges in the region of the Yangtze."

When China, not daring to offend France and Russia, sanctioned the Belgian concession for the Peking-Hankou line, the British fleet was menacingly concentrated, and Mr. Balfour instructed the British Minister at Peking to demand reparation in the form of concessions for British capital and to threaten that if such concessions were refused...

The lectures were held at the Yangji City Gymnasium and nearly 4,000 people attended.

During the lectures, a couple and their two children from a village in Shandong province sat next to me.

The older child was five and the younger one was two.

They told me they had come from a rural area, travelling all the way by train in hard seat class so they could attend the lecture series.

Furthermore, if capitalists of one country build a railway to open up a certain region, they do not wish capitalists of another country to construct a competing line into the same region.

For instance, when in 1898 Great Britain obtained the lease of Wei Highway, she informed Germany that there was no intention of competing with German railway construction in the province of Shantung.

Railway building thus led naturally to the marking out of spheres of interest.

France, as we have seen, laid claim to the three southern provinces of China, south of the Yangtze Valley, as her sphere for railway construction and mines, as early as 1895.

Germany in 1898 obtained railway and mining rights in Shantung, which made that province a German sphere.

In fact, by an Anglo-German agreement of September 1st and 2nd, 1898, British financial interests formally recognized the German right to a monopoly of railway construction in Shantung and the Huangho Valley, in exchange for German recognition of a British monopoly in the Yangtze Valley and the province of Shansi, north of the Yangtze and just west of Shantung, which was needed to connect the Yangtze with Peking and North China.

Similarly, Great Britain and Russia agreed not to compete, but only after a lively contest, which is worth summarizing here.

In 1897, a Belgian syndicate obtained a concession to connect Peking in North China with Hankou on the Yangtze by rail, and it was reported later that Belgian interests were to build railways across central China from east to west.

Subsection, the leased ports.

Germany, meanwhile, had been inactive, but German experts had been considering which port on the Chinese coast would be most desirable as a Far Eastern naval base, and had selected Qingdao on Jiaozhou Bay on the southern coast of Shandong Peninsula.

Though the Russians had earmarked Qingdao for themselves, in 1897 the German emperor, in his most casual and friendly manner, obtained the Russian czar's approval of the German plan, Qingdao for Germany and Port Arthur for Russia.

By a coincidence that well-suited German ambitions, two German missionaries happened to be murdered in November 1897 by Chinese in Shandong, the very province which had been selected as the stage for German imperialism.

Promptly, the Kaiser sent Prince Henry of Prussia with a German squadron to display the German mailed fist in such a manner as to inspire respect for Germans in China.

That the Kaiser, a Protestant, should have been so energetic in avenging the murder of Roman Catholic missionaries was a little surprising, but when Prince Henry proceeded to anchor in Jiaozhou Bay and land troops on its shores, and when Germany demanded the lease of that bay, the German government's motives became clear.

All the advantages of annexation were obtained without the appearance of territorial greed, but Jiaozhou Bay was not only to be a naval base.

It was to serve as an opening for German economic interests.

They had practically taken in possession of the whole of Shangqing province and Manchuria, and still they want Beijing province.

Germany had taken Zhajiu and a large strip of valuable land from Shandong province and and now she wants more she wants the whole province and god alone knows what else she is after great britain took hong kong and then wei hai wei and lately grabbed kowloon and for some time past her covetous eye has been firmly fixed on the yangtze valley France made seizure of Annam and Tonkin several years ago, and since then she has been scheming to extend her northern boundary line far into the Guangxi and Yunnan provinces.

She is planning soon to grab the beautiful island of Hainan.

Japan has become insatiable.

That ship was docked in a shipyard.

Qingdao is in Shandong province in Eastern China.

It's big, big trade hub has one of the busiest ports of the world.

Uh, it is home to a very, very important, strategically important naval base for China.

Yeah.

So there was maintenance going on in the shipyard in Shandong, Qingdao.

It's one of the main cities in China.

Yes.