German colonization of Qingdao

Qingdao History

Overview Human beings survived and multiplied here 6,000 years ago. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Jimo, the second largest town in Shandong at that time, was established. After Qin Shihuang unified China, he visited Langyatai, now located in Jiaonan City, Qingdao, three times. In the Qin Dynasty, Xu Fu once led a fleet to sail eastward from Langya Mountain to Korea and Japan. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once "worshiped gods and men in Jiaomen Palace" at Buqi Mountain, now located in Chengyang District, Qingdao City, and set up nine Mingtang halls to worship heaven and ancestors at Nugu Mountain on the bank of Jiaozhou Bay. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Qingdao had developed into a prosperous town, formerly known as Jiao'ao.

Qingdao Night View

On June 14, 1891 (the 17th year of Guangxu’s reign in the Qing Dynasty), the Qing government set up fortifications in Jiaoao, marking the beginning of the construction of Qingdao. In November 1897, Germany used the "Juye Mission Case" as an excuse to send troops to occupy Qingdao. The First World War broke out in 1914. In November, Japan invaded and occupied Qingdao, replacing Germany's military colonial rule of Qingdao. In 1919, the famous "May 4th Movement" in modern Chinese history was caused by the "recovery of Qingdao". On December 10, 1922, China took back Qingdao and established the Jiaoao Commercial Port Supervisory Office, directly under the Beiyang Government. In July 1929, Qingdao Special City was established. In 1930, it was renamed Qingdao City. In January 1938, Japan invaded Qingdao again. In September 1945, the Kuomintang government took over Qingdao and it remained a special city. On June 2, 1949, Qingdao was liberated. In 1986, Qingdao City was listed separately in the national plan and granted considerable provincial-level economic management authority. In 1994, it was listed as one of the 15 sub-provincial cities in the country. The murder of a German missionary in southern Shandong gave Germany a handle. Germany took this opportunity to step up negotiations with the Chinese government and put forward the most severe compensation requirements for the mistakes committed by the Chinese government. .

On November 4, 1897, the famous Navy Admiral Feng. Tiedrich ordered the capture of Jiaozhou Bay and occupied the Chinese fortifications and port city of Qingdao. From then on began a great business venture. Qingdao has been built from a poor fishing village into a trading city with the best and most practical urban facilities suitable for the local climate characteristics.

Large-scale urban construction work has been completed. She has a beautiful Governor's Palace building, large storage warehouses, new and beautiful roads, good sewage treatment systems and drinking water systems.

German merchants established a base here to open up trade with the hinterland of China. All well-known German companies and companies from other countries have offices in this East Asian seaside city. Although it has been very effective in infrastructure construction, there is no prototype of a military port and shipbuilding base on the outside, and the port has not yet been transformed.

Although Qingdao is planned to become an immeasurable trade city and free port. At that time, Qingdao's transportation was developing rapidly, but cargo ships parked at the port could not be loaded and unloaded in time. In order to solve the problem of ship repair, a dock is being built in Stellrecde and it is planned to be separated and shipped to Qingdao for installation in 1903.

The city of Qingdao has developed to a considerable scale. But the city's development is strictly in accordance with its overall plan. The city's commercial district is located to the west of the old Chinese village. To the southeast, a beautiful seaside leisure walking path has been built in front of the villa area and bathing beach. Further east is the former Chinese army barracks, but unfortunately it has been reused by Europeans. Such fortifications are scattered along the seaside. In the north of old Qingdao, Dabao Island, built by the Chinese according to their own concepts, has become a very good Chinese colony. Many Chinese people flocked to Qingdao, hoping to improve their living conditions through labor, especially building railways or doing business. The need to build railways has been around for a long time because the mining resources in China's hinterland, especially coal produced in coal mines, need to be transported to ports. During this period small coal mines, stone gunpowder factories, a power plant and some small factories were established. People hoped to build Qingdao as a tourist resort in the warm spring and autumn seasons to attract Europeans living in southern ports. After subduing violent global revolutions, Qingdao's pleasant climate, good housing, good drinking water, and even restrictions on the growing immigration of China's lowest classes should make Qingdao safe for Europeans. place of residence. It is hoped that Qingdao will build very good schools to increase its attractiveness as a teaching area for German teenagers born in East Asia.

When Qingdao was first acquired, its trade was pitifully small. But now it has developed into the city with the most development potential. This rapid and significant change is difficult to explain in detail.

Qingdao’s development may be the reason for its trade to take off. In the past, Chinese-style ships were rarely seen in the harbor. Now not only dozens of these vessels can be seen, but also a considerable number of steamers. Under German protection, Chinese businessmen found a sense of security. This kind of security prompted more of them to immigrate to Qingdao, and they often brought more funds to Qingdao to engage in trade. Those German trading companies continued to expand trade. The culture, diligence and intelligence of the Germans and the wisdom of the colonies created the prosperity of Qingdao city.