WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.819 Welcome to this custom -tailored deep dive, crafted 00:00:02.819 --> 00:00:06.559 specifically for you. You already know the European 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:09.160 theater of World War I inside and out. I mean, 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:11.500 if I say 1914, your mind probably goes straight 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.800 to, you know, the Somme, the muddy trenches of 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:17.420 France, the stalemate in Belgium. But today we're 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:20.199 diving into a geopolitical blind spot that completely 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:23.320 rewrote modern warfare. We are exploring a massive, 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:26.679 heavily fortified, really high stakes battle 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:29.920 of the First World War that didn't happen anywhere 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:31.739 near Europe, it happened in China. Right, which 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:34.119 is a profound departure from our traditional 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:36.780 very Euro -centric view of the conflict, because 00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:39.060 when we shift our focus to the Pacific, we see 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:40.679 a completely different type of war emerging. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:43.100 Yeah, and we have a really fascinating stack 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:45.700 of excerpts today from a detailed historical 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:49.380 article on the siege of Tsingtao. So our mission 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:51.979 for this deep dive is to extract the most critical 00:00:51.979 --> 00:00:55.520 insights from this 1914 clash between Japan, 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:58.140 Britain, and Germany. And we're going to explore 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:01.579 why this specific, often forgotten siege is just 00:01:01.579 --> 00:01:04.500 packed with incredible military firsts that really 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:06.920 set the stage for the rest of the 20th century. 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:10.140 OK, let's unpack this. How does a major World 00:01:10.140 --> 00:01:12.500 War I siege end up happening on the coast of 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:15.099 the Shandong province? Well, to understand the 00:01:15.099 --> 00:01:17.359 sheer scale of what unfolds here, we really have 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:19.459 to look at the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:22.719 This was an era defined by aggressive imperial 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:25.200 expansion. Right. You had the scramble for Africa, 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:27.439 but there was an equally intense scramble for 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.269 influence in China. European powers, along with 00:01:30.269 --> 00:01:32.650 the U .S. and Japan, were actively interfering 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:35.129 in local Chinese affairs, essentially carving 00:01:35.129 --> 00:01:37.689 the map into spheres of influence. It was a very 00:01:37.689 --> 00:01:40.250 delicate, highly combustible balance of power. 00:01:40.450 --> 00:01:43.030 And the spark that eventually ignites this specific 00:01:43.030 --> 00:01:45.489 region happens well before the World War even 00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:49.189 begins, right? Yes, exactly. The specific catalyst 00:01:49.189 --> 00:01:52.969 outlined in our sources occurred in 1897. During 00:01:52.969 --> 00:01:55.849 an event known as the Jew Incident, two German 00:01:55.849 --> 00:01:58.959 missionaries were killed in China. And Germany 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.680 used this as the perfect geopolitical pretext. 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:04.379 In response, they essentially forced the Chinese 00:02:04.379 --> 00:02:07.939 government to hand over a 99 -year lease on a 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:11.069 territory called Jiaozu Bay. And they didn't 00:02:11.069 --> 00:02:13.509 just set up like a small trading outpost either. 00:02:13.689 --> 00:02:15.490 I mean, from the descriptions in the text, they 00:02:15.490 --> 00:02:17.610 completely transformed the area. They engineered 00:02:17.610 --> 00:02:20.449 a fortress. Germany built up the city and the 00:02:20.449 --> 00:02:23.509 port of Qingdao or Xingtao, as it's often spelled 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:26.069 in historical documents. And they just poured 00:02:26.069 --> 00:02:28.889 immense resources into turning it into the heavily 00:02:28.889 --> 00:02:32.349 fortified home base for the German Imperial Navy's 00:02:32.349 --> 00:02:34.810 East Asia squadron. That's massive. Yeah, this 00:02:34.810 --> 00:02:36.930 wasn't just about trade. This was Germany firmly 00:02:36.930 --> 00:02:40.020 planting its flag and creating a strategic stronghold 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:42.879 to project naval power across the entire Pacific 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:45.240 Ocean. Which I can imagine the other global powers 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.419 operating in Asia weren't exactly thrilled about. 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:50.219 Germany building a massive, state -of -the -art 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:52.900 naval fortress right in their backyard. Oh, they 00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:56.599 viewed it with deep, abiding suspicion. Britain 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:59.520 countered by leasing their own naval port and 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.259 coaling station nearby at Wei Highway. Russia 00:03:02.259 --> 00:03:05.319 leased Port Arthur. France secured Guangzhou 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:07.849 1. So it's just getting packed. It became an 00:03:07.849 --> 00:03:09.990 incredibly crowded, tense neighborhood where 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:11.750 everyone was heavily armed and watching each 00:03:11.750 --> 00:03:14.330 other constantly. But if we connect this to the 00:03:14.330 --> 00:03:17.310 bigger picture, World War I wasn't just a European 00:03:17.310 --> 00:03:20.129 conflict. The assassination in Sarajevo instantly 00:03:20.129 --> 00:03:23.090 triggered a global chess match. Because 12 years 00:03:23.090 --> 00:03:27.909 earlier, in 1902, Britain and Japan had signed 00:03:27.909 --> 00:03:31.180 the Anglo -Japanese alliance. which Japan initially 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:33.360 saw as a deterrent against their main rival at 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:35.639 the time, which is Russia. But that piece of 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:38.020 paper is the trigger for what happens in Kingdow. 00:03:38.139 --> 00:03:40.780 Because when war officially breaks out in Europe 00:03:40.780 --> 00:03:44.199 in August 1914, Britain realizes they need help 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:46.439 securing the eastern sea lanes, and they call 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:49.120 on Japan to honor that alliance. Exactly. Which 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.099 sets the stage for an immediate, massive escalation 00:03:52.099 --> 00:03:54.879 far beyond Europe's borders. The speed at which 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.340 this localized European conflict becomes a Pacific 00:03:57.340 --> 00:04:00.639 war is staggering. It really is. The clock starts 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:04.159 ticking almost immediately. On August 15th, Japan 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:07.460 issues a formal ultimatum to Germany. They demand 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:10.580 that Germany withdraw all its warships from Chinese 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:13.580 and Japanese waters. But the real kicker is that 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:16.279 they demand Germany hand over complete control 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:18.860 of the prized port of Qingdao. And they gave 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:21.620 them a very narrow window to comply. The ultimatum 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:24.740 was set to expire on August 23rd. Yeah, and knowing 00:04:24.740 --> 00:04:26.579 what we know about the German Empire at the time, 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:29.100 they weren't exactly about to quietly pack up 00:04:29.100 --> 00:04:31.180 and abandon their crown jewel of the Pacific. 00:04:31.449 --> 00:04:33.670 Our sources include a quote from Kaiser Wilhelm 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.589 II that really underscores the intense psychological 00:04:36.589 --> 00:04:39.290 stakes of this standoff. He made the defense 00:04:39.290 --> 00:04:41.670 of King Dao an absolute top priority, declaring, 00:04:42.189 --> 00:04:44.290 It would shame me more to surrender Singtau to 00:04:44.290 --> 00:04:47.149 the Japanese than Berlin to the Russians. That 00:04:47.149 --> 00:04:49.129 statement tells you everything you need to know 00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:51.990 about the imperial mindset. He is directly equating 00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:54.910 a colonial leasehold in China with the very capital 00:04:54.910 --> 00:04:57.750 of the German Empire. It was a matter of profound 00:04:57.750 --> 00:05:00.610 national pride. Surrender was simply not an option 00:05:00.610 --> 00:05:03.410 on the table. So the August 23 deadline comes 00:05:03.410 --> 00:05:06.509 and goes. The ultimatum expires. Japan declares 00:05:06.509 --> 00:05:09.670 war and the Pacific theater instantly ignites. 00:05:10.449 --> 00:05:12.470 Let's look at the actual forces lining up for 00:05:12.470 --> 00:05:15.050 this confrontation, because the asymmetry described 00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:18.639 in the text is just striking. What kind of defensive 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.300 force did the Germans actually have inside this 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:24.379 fortress? Inside the garrison at Kingdow, it 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:26.980 was a surprisingly modest and incredibly mixed 00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:30.060 group. The defense was commanded by a naval officer, 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:32.980 Governor Alfred Meyer Waldeck. He had a total 00:05:32.980 --> 00:05:37.199 force of just 3 ,625 men. That's not a lot. No, 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.439 and this wasn't a cohesive unit of regular army 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:41.920 infantry. It was a patchwork of Marines, naval 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.680 personnel, Chinese colonial troops, and a rather 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:47.540 unexpected contingent of Austro -Hungarian sailors. 00:05:47.819 --> 00:05:49.360 Yeah, that stood out to me as well in the reading. 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:52.339 Why were Austro -Hungarian sailors manning the 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:54.759 barricades in a German colonial port? It was 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:56.600 really just a matter of timing and location. 00:05:57.420 --> 00:06:00.399 The Austro -Hungarian cruiser, the SMS Kaiser 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.800 and Elizabeth, happened to be stationed in the 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:04.970 port when the war broke out. being part of the 00:06:04.970 --> 00:06:07.129 central powers, they were instantly drawn into 00:06:07.129 --> 00:06:10.430 the defense. So you have fewer than 4 ,000 men, 00:06:10.610 --> 00:06:13.350 a mix of different nationalities and naval backgrounds, 00:06:13.870 --> 00:06:16.129 preparing to hold the line. And what exactly 00:06:16.129 --> 00:06:18.519 is bearing down on them from the outside? An 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:21.579 overwhelming, highly organized Japanese force. 00:06:22.100 --> 00:06:24.740 The Japanese army deployed their 18th Infantry 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:28.540 Division. We are talking about 23 ,000 hardened 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:32.420 soldiers, fully supported by 142 pieces of heavy 00:06:32.420 --> 00:06:36.180 artillery. Wow. That is roughly a 6 to 1 advantage 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:38.579 in manpower alone. Not even factoring in the 00:06:38.579 --> 00:06:41.000 artillery. But the text notes that Japan didn't 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.279 show up to this siege entirely alone. Britain 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:47.000 also sent troops. Though reading between the 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:48.699 lines, it doesn't sound like they were there 00:06:48.699 --> 00:06:51.600 to be helpful battlefield allies. It was a highly 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.360 cynical political deployment. The British government, 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:56.259 despite being the one to invoke the alliance 00:06:56.259 --> 00:06:58.779 with Japan in the first place, was actually deeply 00:06:58.779 --> 00:07:01.699 anxious about Japan's long -term imperial ambitions. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:04.959 They feared Japan would use the siege as a convenient 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.379 excuse to seize vast swaths of Chinese territory 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:11.360 for themselves. So to get a very close eye on 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.519 their own ally. Britain sent a symbolic contingent 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:19.060 of just 1 ,500 men. Just 1 ,500? Yeah, comprised 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:21.779 of 1 ,000 soldiers from the South Wales borderers 00:07:21.779 --> 00:07:25.259 and 500 from the 36th Sikhs. It's essentially 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:28.879 sending a tiny detachment to babysit an enormous 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:31.779 Japanese army. And that complete lack of trust 00:07:31.779 --> 00:07:34.540 leads to some severe logistical nightmares on 00:07:34.540 --> 00:07:37.399 the ground. There's a detail in the source material 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:39.300 about the British and Japanese forces suffering 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:41.279 from friendly fire incidents because they were 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.100 operating in the same chaotic theater. Yes, the 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:46.459 situation on the ground was incredibly confused. 00:07:46.980 --> 00:07:49.180 Japanese sentries not recognizing the British 00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:51.319 uniforms in the terrain were mistakenly firing 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:53.800 upon the British troops. Which forces the British 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.079 to improvise just to survive their own coalition. 00:07:56.699 --> 00:07:59.019 First, they try tying white cloths to their helmets, 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:01.519 which doesn't work. Eventually, the British troops 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:03.720 are forced to wear Japanese raincoats and smocks 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:06.120 over their own uniforms. just so the Japanese 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:08.399 forces can identify them as friendly. It's a 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:10.540 striking image. Right. It's like showing up to 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:13.259 a high stakes group project where nobody trusts 00:08:13.259 --> 00:08:15.439 each other and you have to wear your rival's 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:17.379 jacket just to avoid getting kicked out of the 00:08:17.379 --> 00:08:19.920 room. Exactly. And beyond the immediate danger, 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:23.019 that uniform mix -up is a glaring historical 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:26.120 red flag. It perfectly illustrates the fragile 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:29.180 transactional nature of this alliance. These 00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:31.939 two empires are ostensibly fighting a common 00:08:31.939 --> 00:08:35.950 enemy. But there is zero innate trust. It really 00:08:35.950 --> 00:08:38.269 foreshadows the eventual breakdown of the Anglo 00:08:38.269 --> 00:08:40.730 -Japanese alliance and hints at the shifting 00:08:40.730 --> 00:08:43.289 power dynamics that would completely consume 00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:45.649 the Pacific during the Second World War. Here's 00:08:45.649 --> 00:08:47.970 where it gets really interesting, because while 00:08:47.970 --> 00:08:50.549 this tense political drama is playing out in 00:08:50.549 --> 00:08:53.509 the mud, in the skies directly above them, the 00:08:53.509 --> 00:08:56.779 entire future of warfare is being written. This 00:08:56.779 --> 00:08:59.559 siege isn't just a clash of infantry. It serves 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:02.240 as a live -fire testing ground for brand -new 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.139 aviation technology. We are looking at absolute 00:09:05.139 --> 00:09:08.399 world -changing aviation first here. The Japanese 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.460 Navy brought a ship called the Wakamia to the 00:09:10.460 --> 00:09:13.220 blockade. The Wakamia was a seaplane carrier, 00:09:13.220 --> 00:09:17.080 and in September of 1914, airplanes launched 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:19.740 from the deck of this ship conducted the world's 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:22.740 very first naval -launched air raids, dropping 00:09:22.740 --> 00:09:25.419 munitions on the German positions in Kindau. 00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:28.330 When you think about how utterly dominant aircraft 00:09:28.330 --> 00:09:30.909 carriers would become in the Pacific just a few 00:09:30.909 --> 00:09:34.409 decades later at Midway at Pearl Harbor, it is 00:09:34.409 --> 00:09:37.070 staggering to realize the entire concept of projecting 00:09:37.070 --> 00:09:39.769 air power from a naval vessel was born right 00:09:39.769 --> 00:09:42.669 here at Kingdow. It is. And the innovation didn't 00:09:42.669 --> 00:09:45.490 stop with daytime raids. The historical record 00:09:45.490 --> 00:09:48.029 notes that these Japanese aviators also pulled 00:09:48.029 --> 00:09:50.649 off another unprecedented milestone, which was 00:09:50.649 --> 00:09:53.129 a nighttime bombing raid. They were pushing the 00:09:53.129 --> 00:09:55.529 absolute limits of what these fragile early flying 00:09:55.529 --> 00:09:58.210 machines could do. Meanwhile, the Germans are 00:09:58.210 --> 00:10:00.389 trapped inside the fortress. Do they have any 00:10:00.389 --> 00:10:03.399 response in the air? Barely. The German garrison 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:05.659 originally possessed two Ettrick Taub airplanes, 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:07.980 but early in the campaign, one of them crashed, 00:10:08.100 --> 00:10:10.299 which left the entire German aerial defense to 00:10:10.299 --> 00:10:13.139 a single airplane piloted by Lieutenant Gunther 00:10:13.139 --> 00:10:16.360 Pluchot. A lone pilot facing down an entire fleet. 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:19.960 The imagery of Pluchot flying his wooden canvas 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:22.980 plane over this massive Japanese blockade is 00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:25.539 just incredible. He is making daily reconnaissance 00:10:25.539 --> 00:10:27.720 flights, gathering intelligence, but he's also 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:30.950 making nuisance attacks. The text describes him 00:10:30.950 --> 00:10:34.110 literally dropping improvised ordnance down onto 00:10:34.110 --> 00:10:37.090 the enemy ships from the open cockpit. Hand -dropping 00:10:37.090 --> 00:10:41.309 bombs. It highlights how incredibly raw and experimental 00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:44.210 warfare was at this specific moment in 1914. 00:10:45.250 --> 00:10:47.330 There's a detail in the text regarding Cluchot 00:10:47.330 --> 00:10:50.070 that almost defies belief. During the siege, 00:10:50.250 --> 00:10:52.090 he claimed what is considered the first aerial 00:10:52.090 --> 00:10:54.590 victory in all of aviation history. Wait, but 00:10:54.590 --> 00:10:56.710 he didn't have machine guns synchronized to fire 00:10:56.710 --> 00:10:58.610 through his propeller, right? That technology 00:10:58.610 --> 00:11:00.389 didn't exist yet, so how does he bring down an 00:11:00.389 --> 00:11:02.809 enemy plane? He claimed to have downed a Japanese 00:11:02.809 --> 00:11:05.269 farm and seaplane using his personal pistol. 00:11:05.429 --> 00:11:07.529 That is wild. He is leaning out the side of his 00:11:07.529 --> 00:11:09.610 aircraft, hundreds of feet in the air, shooting 00:11:09.610 --> 00:11:12.259 at another pilot with a handgun. It sounds like 00:11:12.259 --> 00:11:14.360 a scene from an action movie, but it perfectly 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:17.159 captures the era. It was an era of profound, 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:20.399 rapid transition. You have massive industrial 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:22.740 -scale armies maneuvering on the ground below, 00:11:23.059 --> 00:11:25.899 while up above, individual pilots are engaging 00:11:25.899 --> 00:11:28.419 in what amounts to airborne cavalry duels with 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:31.200 sidearms. Let's shift our focus to that ground 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:33.980 war, because while Pusho is dodging bullets in 00:11:33.980 --> 00:11:36.720 the sky, he must have had a terrifying view of 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:39.440 the net closing around Kingdow. Walk us through 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:41.899 the timeline of how the Japanese actually squeezed 00:11:41.899 --> 00:11:44.980 this fortress. The physical squeeze began in 00:11:44.980 --> 00:11:47.899 September. The Japanese forces made their initial 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:51.129 landings at Lungkow. It was a brutal amphibious 00:11:51.129 --> 00:11:54.629 operation hampered by severe autumn floods. Now 00:11:54.629 --> 00:11:57.289 interestingly, these landings violated Chinese 00:11:57.289 --> 00:11:59.809 neutrality. The Chinese government officially 00:11:59.809 --> 00:12:01.970 protested the incursion into their territory. 00:12:02.190 --> 00:12:04.049 But they don't militarily intervene to stop it. 00:12:04.289 --> 00:12:07.110 No, they couldn't. China simply lacked the military 00:12:07.110 --> 00:12:09.049 power to challenge either the Japanese or the 00:12:09.049 --> 00:12:11.870 Germans, so they were forced to stand by as their 00:12:11.870 --> 00:12:14.070 sovereign territory became the staging ground 00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:16.250 for a foreign war. That's a tough position to 00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:19.539 be in. Very. And as the massive Japanese army 00:12:19.539 --> 00:12:22.740 began its advance, Governor Meyer Waldeck recognized 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:25.179 he couldn't hold the vast outer perimeter with 00:12:25.179 --> 00:12:27.899 his limited troops. He made the tactical decision 00:12:27.899 --> 00:12:30.320 to pull his defenders back to the innermost line 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:33.179 of steep, heavily fortified hills closest to 00:12:33.179 --> 00:12:36.919 the town, Mount Multke, Mount Bismarck and Mount 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:39.480 Altus. And while the infantry is digging into 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:42.419 those hills, there is an intense, high stakes 00:12:42.419 --> 00:12:44.820 naval cat and mouse game happening right off 00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:47.169 the coast in the harbor. Right. The German East 00:12:47.169 --> 00:12:49.950 Asia Squadron's main, most powerful ships had 00:12:49.950 --> 00:12:52.110 wisely departed the region before the war officially 00:12:52.110 --> 00:12:54.850 began. But there were still several vessels trapped 00:12:54.850 --> 00:12:57.639 behind the Japanese naval blockade. We mentioned 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:00.019 the Austro -Hungarian cruiser Kaiser and Elizabeth 00:13:00.019 --> 00:13:03.120 earlier. Early in the siege, it attempted a desperate 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.460 sortie against the blockade, but was unsuccessful. 00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:07.860 Realizing the ship was trapped, the commander 00:13:07.860 --> 00:13:10.460 sent half of its crew ashore to fight as infantry. 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:12.960 And they actually dismantled the ship's heavy 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:15.779 guns, dragging them onto land to create a defensive 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:18.320 position they called the Battery Elizabeth. That 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:20.899 shows an incredible level of desperation. But 00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:23.379 the most daring naval maneuver of the entire 00:13:23.379 --> 00:13:27.129 siege belongs to a much smaller vessel. Tell 00:13:27.129 --> 00:13:29.730 us about the German torpedo boat, the S -90. 00:13:30.210 --> 00:13:33.309 On the night of October 17th, the S -90 managed 00:13:33.309 --> 00:13:35.470 to silently slip out of the blockaded harbor 00:13:35.470 --> 00:13:38.009 under the cover of darkness. It approached the 00:13:38.009 --> 00:13:40.649 Japanese fleet and fired a single torpedo that 00:13:40.649 --> 00:13:43.629 struck the Japanese cruiser Takachiyo. Wow. The 00:13:43.629 --> 00:13:46.649 result was catastrophic. The cruiser sank, resulting 00:13:46.649 --> 00:13:50.909 in a staggering loss of life. 271 Japanese officers 00:13:50.909 --> 00:13:53.970 and men were killed. A devastating blow. But 00:13:53.970 --> 00:13:56.029 the S -90's victory is short -lived, isn't it? 00:13:56.059 --> 00:13:58.539 It was a suicide mission in practical terms. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:01.679 After sinking the cruiser, the S90 could not 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:03.820 navigate back through the fully alerted Japanese 00:14:03.820 --> 00:14:06.519 blockade to the safety of Kingdow. Running low 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:08.519 on fuel and out of options, the crew was forced 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:10.700 to sail into Chinese waters and scuttle their 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:13.519 own ship. And over the following weeks, as the 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:15.480 Japanese blockade tightened and the situation 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:18.440 became utterly hopeless, the crews of the remaining 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:21.480 trapped German and Austro -Hungarian ships, the 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:24.320 Cormoran, the Iltus, the Lux, the Tiger, the 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.539 Kaiser and Elizabeth, and finally the Jaguar, 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.039 they systematically scuttled their own vessels 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.259 to ensure they wouldn't become prizes of war. 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:33.360 So the naval threat is completely neutralized. 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:36.159 The harbor is neutralized. Now the Japanese apply 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.509 unrelenting, suffocating pressure on land. And 00:14:39.509 --> 00:14:42.789 the text notes, they're utilizing very specific 00:14:42.789 --> 00:14:45.330 siege tactics. tactics they had perfected just 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:47.529 nine years earlier against the Russians. Exactly. 00:14:47.909 --> 00:14:51.409 During the Russo -Japanese War of 1904 to 1905, 00:14:51.549 --> 00:14:53.750 particularly at the brutal siege of Port Arthur, 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:56.429 the Japanese army learned exactly what it takes 00:14:56.429 --> 00:14:58.929 to dislodge entrenched defenders from fortified 00:14:58.929 --> 00:15:01.450 hills. Right. They applied those bloody lessons 00:15:01.450 --> 00:15:04.570 at Kingdow. They utilized a creeping advance, 00:15:04.870 --> 00:15:07.230 digging parallel lines of trenches to inch closer 00:15:07.230 --> 00:15:09.970 and closer to the German forts, moving dirt and 00:15:09.970 --> 00:15:12.149 men strictly under the cover of darkness to avoid 00:15:12.149 --> 00:15:15.509 sniper fire. and they had a horrifying amount 00:15:15.509 --> 00:15:18.610 of firepower to cover that creeping advance. 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:22.370 The source specifically mentions the Japanese 00:15:22.370 --> 00:15:25.929 brought massive 11 inch howitzers to the battlefield. 00:15:26.190 --> 00:15:28.649 These were not standard field guns. The Japanese 00:15:28.649 --> 00:15:32.149 employed roughly 100 heavy siege guns. The text 00:15:32.149 --> 00:15:34.529 notes they fired around 1200 shells per gun. 00:15:34.769 --> 00:15:39.110 That is 120 ,000 massive high explosive artillery 00:15:39.110 --> 00:15:42.090 shells raining down on a very concentrated area. 00:15:42.230 --> 00:15:45.730 Exactly. These howitzers fire at high trajectories, 00:15:46.129 --> 00:15:47.950 meaning the shells drop almost vertically into 00:15:47.950 --> 00:15:50.590 the trenches, vaporizing concrete bunkers and 00:15:50.590 --> 00:15:52.429 shattering the psychology of the defenders day 00:15:52.429 --> 00:15:55.059 and night. The psychological toll of being crapped 00:15:55.059 --> 00:15:57.100 under a bombardment of that scale, knowing there 00:15:57.100 --> 00:15:59.580 is no reinforcement coming, is hard to fathom. 00:15:59.860 --> 00:16:02.259 The Germans tried to return fire using the heavy 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:04.700 coastal guns of their fortifications, but you 00:16:04.700 --> 00:16:06.840 can only shoot the ammunition you have stockpiled. 00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:09.440 By early November, the situation reaches a breaking 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:12.340 point. The logistical reality set in. The German 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:14.899 defenders ran entirely out of artillery ammunition. 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:17.779 The massive guns fell silent. It became a waiting 00:16:17.779 --> 00:16:20.340 game for the final assault. Surrender was now 00:16:20.340 --> 00:16:23.389 inevitable. Recognizing this, on November 6th, 00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:25.970 Governor Meyer Waldeck entrusts his final dispatches 00:16:25.970 --> 00:16:29.210 to Berlin to his lone pilot, Lieutenant Plucho. 00:16:29.850 --> 00:16:32.409 Plucho miraculously manages to take off in his 00:16:32.409 --> 00:16:35.470 Taub airplane, escaping the doomed fortress just 00:16:35.470 --> 00:16:38.389 hours before the end. That very night, the creeping 00:16:38.389 --> 00:16:42.129 advance pays off. Waves of Japanese infantry 00:16:42.129 --> 00:16:44.710 surge forward from their forward trenches and 00:16:44.710 --> 00:16:48.029 overwhelm the third line of German defense. The 00:16:48.029 --> 00:16:51.289 next morning, November 7, 1914, after holding 00:16:51.289 --> 00:16:53.690 out for over two months, the German forces and 00:16:53.690 --> 00:16:55.929 their Austro -Hungarian allies finally ask for 00:16:55.929 --> 00:16:58.830 terms. The fortress falls. And the allied forces 00:16:58.830 --> 00:17:00.909 officially took full possession of the colony 00:17:00.909 --> 00:17:04.019 a few days later, on November 16. Let's examine 00:17:04.019 --> 00:17:06.019 the bitter aftermath of this siege, starting 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:08.339 with the human cost. The fact that fewer than 00:17:08.339 --> 00:17:10.400 4 ,000 defenders held out for over two months 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.220 against an army of 23 ,000 under constant naval 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:15.859 blockade and relentless heavy bombardment is 00:17:15.859 --> 00:17:18.099 a testament to the strength of those fortifications. 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:21.039 It was heavily publicized in Germany as a heroic 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:24.279 last stand defense, serving as a temporary morale 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:26.319 booster on the home front despite the ultimate 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:29.119 loss of the territory. But the human toll was 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:32.700 severe. The Japanese suffered 733 killed and 00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:36.480 1282 wounded. The small British contingent saw 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:40.319 12 killed and 53 wounded. Inside the fortress, 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:44.940 199 German defenders died and over 500 were wounded. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:48.039 That leaves over 3 ,000 surviving defenders who 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:50.920 were taken prisoner. And our source paints a 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:53.539 very vivid, very tense picture of the moment 00:17:53.539 --> 00:17:56.019 the Allied forces actually marched into the conquered 00:17:56.019 --> 00:17:58.599 city. When the Japanese troops marched in, the 00:17:58.599 --> 00:18:00.500 German defenders reportedly watched them with 00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:03.559 a sense of quiet curiosity. But the reaction 00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:05.339 to the British troops was entirely different. 00:18:05.660 --> 00:18:07.700 It was outright hostility. The text notes that 00:18:07.700 --> 00:18:09.539 the German troops literally turned their backs 00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:11.440 on the British soldiers as they entered the town. 00:18:11.779 --> 00:18:13.619 Turning their backs is one thing, but the source 00:18:13.619 --> 00:18:16.599 says the anger went much deeper. It reports that 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:18.980 some German officers actually spat in the faces 00:18:18.980 --> 00:18:21.859 of their British counterparts. That is a visceral 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:24.720 level of hatred. It highlights a very specific 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.680 unique layer of resentment. The Germans likely 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:29.920 view the British as fellow European imperials 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.579 who had broken an unwritten rule. In their eyes, 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:35.319 Britain had brought an emerging Asian power into 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:37.599 what the Germans considered a purely European 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.759 imperial dispute. And they deeply resented Britain 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.200 for unleashing the Japanese military against 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.140 a European colony. Now, what happens to those 00:18:46.140 --> 00:18:49.140 thousands of German and Austro -Hungarian prisoners 00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:52.509 of war? This is where the historical documentation 00:18:52.509 --> 00:18:55.450 provides a fascinating split screen of reality. 00:18:55.630 --> 00:18:58.450 The sources present two completely contradictory 00:18:58.450 --> 00:19:00.609 narratives regarding the treatment of these POWs, 00:19:00.609 --> 00:19:03.289 and it's essential to look at both impartially. 00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:05.470 On one hand, you have the account of Admiral 00:19:05.470 --> 00:19:08.009 Meyer Waldeck, the defeated German commander. 00:19:08.549 --> 00:19:10.809 Years after the war, he fiercely accused the 00:19:10.809 --> 00:19:13.109 Japanese military of holding his men in, quote, 00:19:13.589 --> 00:19:16.410 inhumane conditions. He alleged that the prisoners 00:19:16.410 --> 00:19:18.930 were subjected to the harsh arbitrariness of 00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:21.690 subordinate Japanese authorities for five long 00:19:21.690 --> 00:19:25.049 years. But the text also points out a starkly 00:19:24.910 --> 00:19:26.930 different narrative coming from within Germany 00:19:26.930 --> 00:19:30.150 itself at the exact same time. German newspapers 00:19:30.150 --> 00:19:34.150 back home were actually publishing articles praising 00:19:34.150 --> 00:19:36.190 the chivalrous treatment that the prisoners were 00:19:36.190 --> 00:19:38.950 receiving in Japan. Yes. And Meyer Waldeck was 00:19:38.950 --> 00:19:41.390 so frustrated by this that he complained the 00:19:41.390 --> 00:19:43.690 newspapers didn't understand the reality on the 00:19:43.690 --> 00:19:47.509 ground. So we're left with the commander claiming 00:19:47.509 --> 00:19:50.390 brutal mistreatment on one side and the contemporary 00:19:50.390 --> 00:19:52.609 press claiming chivalrous conditions on the other. 00:19:53.109 --> 00:19:55.470 So what does this all mean? Why did we take you 00:19:55.470 --> 00:19:58.410 on this extensive journey into an obscure World 00:19:58.410 --> 00:20:01.009 War I siege on the coast of China? Because the 00:20:01.009 --> 00:20:03.670 siege of Qingdao is the ultimate microcosm of 00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:05.829 how deeply interconnected the globe had become 00:20:05.829 --> 00:20:08.890 by the dawn of 1914. It fundamentally shifts 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:10.809 how we view the outbreak of the First World War. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.319 A political assassination happens in a street 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:16.339 in Sarajevo, the European alliance system activates, 00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:19.180 and almost instantly it sparks a massive air, 00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:21.500 sea, and land battle thousands of miles away 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:24.279 in China. You have an Asian empire, a British 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:26.920 contingent, and Austro -Hungarian sailors all 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:29.000 fighting over a port leased from the Chinese 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:32.039 government. Furthermore, it serves as a terrifying 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.910 preview of the future of warfare. This wasn't 00:20:34.910 --> 00:20:37.509 just 19th century armies lining up in fields. 00:20:38.009 --> 00:20:41.250 This siege paved the tactical runway for modern 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:43.970 carrier warfare and aerial combat. The first 00:20:43.970 --> 00:20:46.609 naval -launched air raids, the first night bombings, 00:20:47.029 --> 00:20:50.130 the first claimed aerial victory, the embryonic 00:20:50.130 --> 00:20:52.390 stages of the Second World War were tested here. 00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:55.470 It is the exact bridge between the old world 00:20:55.470 --> 00:20:58.849 colonial scramble of the 1800s and the highly 00:20:58.849 --> 00:21:01.650 mechanized three -dimensional warfare that would 00:21:01.650 --> 00:21:04.369 define the rest of the 20th century. This raises 00:21:04.369 --> 00:21:06.049 an important question about the human element 00:21:06.049 --> 00:21:08.569 caught in the gears of all this geopolitics. 00:21:08.869 --> 00:21:11.089 Because the story of those soldiers didn't end 00:21:11.089 --> 00:21:13.809 when the fortress fell. After the surrender in 00:21:13.809 --> 00:21:16.890 1914, the remaining German troops were transported 00:21:16.890 --> 00:21:19.869 to prisoner of war camps across Japan. They were 00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:21.589 held there through the entirety of the Great 00:21:21.589 --> 00:21:24.049 War until the formal signature of the Versailles 00:21:24.049 --> 00:21:27.569 Peace Treaty in 1919. And due to logistical and 00:21:27.569 --> 00:21:29.470 technical issues, they weren't actually allowed 00:21:29.470 --> 00:21:32.529 to repatriate to Germany until 1920. And here 00:21:32.529 --> 00:21:34.630 is the detail from the text that is so lingering 00:21:34.630 --> 00:21:37.829 and fascinating. When those camp gates finally 00:21:37.829 --> 00:21:40.329 opened in 1920 and the men were told they were 00:21:40.329 --> 00:21:44.069 free to go home, 170 of those German prisoners 00:21:44.069 --> 00:21:46.829 made a shocking choice. They elected to remain 00:21:46.829 --> 00:21:49.630 in Japan. Challenge yourself to imagine the internal 00:21:49.630 --> 00:21:52.680 reality of that choice. You spend five years 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:54.579 of your life as a prisoner of war in a foreign 00:21:54.579 --> 00:21:56.920 land, and when you are finally offered to ticket 00:21:56.920 --> 00:21:59.319 home, you look at the prospect of returning to 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:02.779 a homeland you haven't seen since 1914, a Germany 00:22:02.779 --> 00:22:05.200 that has been completely shattered by years of 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:08.119 trench warfare, political revolution, and economic 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:10.640 ruin. And instead of going back, you look around 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:12.700 the very country that deceased your fortress, 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:15.119 bombarded your friends, and captured you, and 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:17.490 you decide... I'm going to stay. I'm going to 00:22:17.490 --> 00:22:20.109 build a new life right here among my former captors. 00:22:20.470 --> 00:22:22.690 It is a profound, incredibly human testament 00:22:22.690 --> 00:22:25.289 to the unpredictable ways that conflict reshapes 00:22:25.289 --> 00:22:27.410 our lives. Something for you to mull over as 00:22:27.410 --> 00:22:28.710 we wrap up today's deep dive.