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
Alfred von Tirpitz
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Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz was a German grand admiral, State Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916.
Time cover, 2 June 1924