What privileges does Germany receive in Shandong?

After the German envoy Heyking (Fdmund von Heyking) seized Jiaozhou, he made six outrageous and unreasonable demands to China: "1. Remove Governor Li Bingheng from his post and never use it again; 2. Build a Catholic church." The fee is 66,000 taels, and compensation for the stolen items is 3,000 taels of silver; third, in seven places, Juye, Heze, Yuncheng, Shanxian, Caoxian, Yutai, and Wushe, each will build missionary housing, and *** will pay labor expenses Twenty-four thousand taels; 4. To ensure that there will never be such an incident in the future; 5. To establish a Dehua Company with the capital of the two countries to build railways throughout Shandong Province and to allow mining of mines near the railways; 6. The costs for Germany to handle this case, All will be compensated by China." The Qing government proposed that the German troops withdraw from Jiaozhou and then negotiate on the six clauses. Haijing replied: "Retreat is the only point that I cannot negotiate." On December 16, Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia (Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia), commander of the East Asia Expeditionary Force appointed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, "led the cruiser Deutschland and the Geffeo set sail for China. William II delivered a speech on the "'Iron Fist' policy" at the Kiel military port, in which he wanted to "punch in" China with an iron fist, showing off the military power of German imperialism. Engalchiev, the military representative of Tsarist Russia in Berlin, believes that “China cannot get rid of uninvited ‘cultural advocates’ at present.” And in this fleet, "when the naval infantry and artillery arrive", "the Shandong Peninsula will become, if not legally, then German territory." So under the pretext that "there were rumors of expelling priests and killing foreigners in Caozhou, the German envoy asked to lease Jiaozhou Bay", and the Qing government had to give in. On March 6, 1898 (February 14, the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Li Hongzhang, Weng Tonghe and Haijing signed the "Jiao'ao Concession Treaty". The main contents are as follows:

1. Jiao'ao Concession : "The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty has agreed to lease the north and south sides of Jiao'ao to Germany for a period of ninety-nine years." "The land leased by Germany cannot be governed by China until the lease term is over, and it will all fall under the jurisdiction of Germany." "Because the waters within Jiao'ao are all under German jurisdiction, the German state can formulate regulations at any time to restrict ships from other countries. This regulation, even for Chinese ships, should also be followed." In this way, this area, equivalent to today's Qingdao City, was actually turned into a so-called Foreign Enclave and became a German colony.

"Within a hundred miles from Jiao'ao to the sea level, which is China, the quasi-German officers and soldiers would overshoot at any time." China cannot stop "whatever Germany is doing here"; "but if China wants to station military camps here" and prepare military tactics, it must "discuss with Germany first." Therefore, the circumferential area of ??such a so-called "neutral zone" actually became a protected area for German colonists.

2. Railway mining and other matters: "The Chinese state allows Germany to build two railways in Shandong": one from Weixian and Qingzhou to Jinan; the other from Yizhou and Laiwu to Jinan. "German merchants are allowed to excavate coal and other necessary engineering matters within thirty miles of each railway opened," and seize the right to transfer railways and mines in Shandong.

3. The method of doing business in Shandong Province: "If there is any business in Shandong Province, it is reasonable to recruit help from foreign countries, either with foreigners, foreign capital, or foreign materials. China promises to first ask German businessmen and others if they are willing to undertake the project and sell materials." This is to show the world that German financial capital enjoys privileges in the entire province of Shandong, thereby turning it into a German sphere of influence.

The German imperialists’ model of first seizing coastal ports, seizing various transfer rights, and dividing spheres of influence was immediately imitated by other imperialist powers, beginning the second partition crisis faced by the Chinese people. The situation is very serious.

Germany first used the excuse that two German priests were killed in Shandong in November 1897 to send troops to land in Jiaozhou Bay to expel the local Chinese garrison and occupy it. The Qing government asked the German troops to withdraw, but was refused. In March 1898, Germany forcibly signed the "Jiao'ao Concession Treaty" and leased Jiaozhou Bay and the islands in the bay with a total area of ??more than 550 square kilometers to Germany for a period of ninety-nine years. The land was managed by Germany within the time limit. It has the right to formulate regulations and manage the import and export ships of various countries, including China. This set a precedent for seizing Chinese seaports in the name of "lease". The treaty also stipulates that Jiaozhou Bay is designated as a "neutral zone" within 100 miles of tide level. German troops have the right to pass freely. The Qing government must first discuss with Germany when stationing troops here, so this 6,500 square kilometers area is actually divided between two countries. ***Tube.

On January 4, 1898, Haijing threatened the Qing government and claimed that Jiaozhou Bay was "only temporarily leased at this time" and "still takes into account the friendship between the two countries"; if he disagreed, "the warships can be used again as soon as they arrive" Taking up space". Haijing also said: "I hereby strictly follow the instructions of my country: 1. If the lease is not allowed, not only will the Jiao and Mo troops not be withdrawn, but they will also use all their strength to occupy them at will; 2. If you are willing to rent, you can not ask for compensation from China. Otherwise, we will use all our troops and claim millions in compensation; third, the matter has not been decided yet, China cannot borrow foreign money, and the banks know that the matter is not settled, and they dare not borrow."

Under Haijing's coercion and inducement, the Qing government basically accepted Germany's request and removed Li Bingheng, the former governor of Shandong who had been transferred to the governorship of Sichuan, and demoted him two levels. He was not allowed to serve as a local official again in the future. ; At the same time, the Qing government promised to compensate all the losses of the church and build one church each in Jining, Caozhou and Juye Zhangzhuang, and another one each in Juye, Heze, Yuncheng, Shanxian, Chengwu, Caoxian and Yutai. It was a missionary's residence, and all expenses were borne by the Qing government.

For Germany, the church is not important, what is important is the lease of Jiaozhou Bay. On March 6, 1898, the "Sino-German Jiao'ao Lease Treaty" was officially signed. Its main contents included Germany's 99-year lease of Jiaozhou Bay. During the lease period, the concession was under the jurisdiction of Germany and China had no right to govern it; Germany obtained the construction of the Jiaozhou-Jiujiang Railway Quan Bingyi obtained the mineral development rights within 30 miles along the railway line; if various affairs are started in Shandong Province, it is agreed to recruit help from foreign countries, or use foreigners, foreign capital, or foreign materials, all should be done by Germany Merchants will be given priority. As a result, Shandong Province became Germany's sphere of influence.

In this process, the Qing court behaved extremely weakly, and the fundamental reason lies in the balance of power. The disastrous defeat of the Sino-Japanese War made the Qing court realize the huge gap between the domestic army and the world's military powers. Especially after the annihilation of the Beiyang Fleet, China's coastal defense was already wide open, and any maritime power could knock on this former power at will. The gate of "Heavenly Kingdom". As for the defense and training troops adapted from the old Hunan-Huai army, their poor performance in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1896 proved that they were by no means the backbone of national defense. After the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government also realized that it was impossible to survive without a strong army. This is why Yuan Shikai trained troops in Xiaozhan, Tianjin.

However, although the combat effectiveness of the 7,000 newly-built army compiled by Yuan Shikai far exceeds those of the old army (which may have the strength to fight against the armies of the great powers), after all, its strength is extremely limited, and At the turn of the 19th century and the 20th century, it was a period when the great powers were showing their teeth and claws (our history books call this period the period of imperialism, quite appropriately), and the Qing court's response was too slow. What is even more tragic is that what the Qing court may not have realized is that their existing military forces are not only unable to deal with the armies of the great powers, but may even be difficult to deal with peasant unrest.

Germany forced the Qing court to investigate and prosecute local officials, which played a very bad role in further intensifying conflicts between people and religion. After the "Juye Mission Incident", local officials realized that if they did not adequately protect missionaries, parishioners and church forces, they would most likely lose their careers. As one missionary said, since the "Juye Mission Case", local officials were full of fear of them because the lessons of Li Bingheng and other officials told them that the interests of the church and parishioners must be protected at all costs.

Therefore, it is not surprising that in the subsequent conflict between the people and the religious people, the official side intentionally favored the religious people. However, this kind of inappropriate official behavior often leads to a consequence, that is, when the people lose official protection, they can only rely on their own strength to fight against the church forces, which also makes this kind of struggle more intense and more serious. disorder. Of course, after Germany obtained Jiaozhou Bay, they quickly lost interest in the Holy Word Society and An Zhitai.

In 1890, after the publication of Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power on History", "sea power theory" became very popular overseas. The navy's use of "naked force" to protect the world market had become the first priority of the great powers at that time. ** knowledge, and Germany's occupation of Jiaozhou Bay through the "Juye Incident" is a living example of this. It is undeniable that Germany's banditry triggered a series of subsequent crises in China, which in turn led to the British leasing the New Territories and Weihaiwei, Russia leasing Port Arthur and Dalian, and France leasing Guangzhou Bay. Countries have divided their spheres of influence in China, plunging China into a The major crisis of being "divided" also triggered the fierce but short-lived Reform Movement of 1898 in 1898.

This is a war. Germany is rebellious and unethical, and everyone can see it. Although, Chinese diplomats are inherently not to blame. If you don't rely on anyone at first, then it's okay. If you rely on others, you must not repay it. If you can do everything without remuneration, then that's enough. Since A is rewarded and B is rewarded, then C should also be rewarded. The Three Kingdoms returned to the Liao Dynasty, but Wei De was at a loss. Is there anyone who would not arouse their anger but speed up their change? Not only that, the Sino-Russian secret treaty stated that Jiaozhou Bay would be lent to the Russians, which was the right gained by the Russians. They would not only invade Shandong in the three eastern provinces. Today is a time when countries are competing to win and lose. Other countries can be jealous. The reason why Germany acted in such a rebellious and unethical way is also because China used force to do so. In October of the same year, the Caozhou missionary incident broke out, and two German priests were killed. When the Germans heard the report, they immediately broke into Jiaozhou Bay with warships, pulled out the Chinese banner and established the German banner, and captured Yan Yan with the commander-in-chief Zhang Gaoyuan. The alarm was sent to the General Administration and a meeting was held with the envoy. The virtuous envoy Haijing only intimidated and intimidated, and refused all those who begged and begged. I want to ask for help from other countries, but there is no one who is honest and responsible, who can defend me. It was postponed for more than two months, but he swallowed the six things he threatened and agreed to them one by one. He leased a land hundreds of miles near Jiao'ao to Germany for ninety-nine years, and the railway and mining operations in Shandong Province were handed over to Germany. Yes.