The Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory was a German leased territory in Imperial and Early Republican China from 1898 to 1914. Covering an area of 552 km2 (213 sq mi), it centered on Kiautschou Bay on the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula. The administrative center was at Tsingtau (Qingdao). It was operated by the East Asia Squadron of the Imperial German Navy. The Russian Empire resented the German move as an infringement on Russian ambitions in the region.
Postcard of Deutschland and Gefion arriving at Kiautschou Bay in 1899
Main gate of a Chinese munitions depot, taken over by the Imperial German Navy, 1898
Pier with German naval personnel, apparent expansion in progress, 1898
Disembarkation of the landing force
Wilhelm II
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Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire and the House of Hohenzollern's 300-year reign in Prussia and 500-year reign in Brandenburg.
Wilhelm in 1867, aged 8
Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor who dominated German policy making until Wilhelm II assumed the throne in 1888
"Dropping the Pilot" by John Tenniel, published in Punch on 29 March 1890, two weeks after Bismarck's forced resignation as Chancellor