Japanese soldier kneels by a fallen comrade during the Siege of Tsingtao, 1914.

Japanese soldier kneels by a fallen comrade during the Siege of Tsingtao, 1914.

Japanese soldier kneels by a fallen comrade during the Siege of Tsingtao, 1914.

Today 109 years ago, on October 31, 1914, the Siege of Tsingtao began, the only major Japanese land operation of the First World War.

The city of Tsingtao (Qingdao), located on the Shandong Peninsula in China by the Yellow Sea, had been a German colony since 1898, which they'd built into the base of the German East Asiatic Squadron of their Navy.

When war broke out in August 1914, the British viewed this German presence in Asia as a threat to their colonial empire. They requested Japan to seize Tsingtao, whom the British had been allied with since 1902.

On August 15, 1914, Japan issued an ultimatum to Germany to surrender Tsingtao with a week's notice. Captain Meyer-Waldec, the German Commander of Tsingtao, rejected the ultimatum on August 23, prompting Japan to declare war on Germany.

Japan began planning for a landing on the Shandong Peninsula to take Tsingtao by force, an operation which would be carried out by the 18th Japanese Infantry Division, some 23,000 men strong. The British also sent 1000 British and 500 Indian troops.

The Germans prepared their fortifications by setting up trenches, artillery batteries, and incorporating the steep hills guarding Tsingtao into their defense. Despite concentrating all their troops in Tsingtao, the Germans could only muster some 4,000 troops, as well as an Austro-Hungarian crew of 324 sailors on the SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth cruiser.

On August 27, 1914, Japanese Navy ships blockaded the coasts of Tsingtao began a battle at sea with German ships. On September 2, the 18th Japanese Infantry Division landed at Longkou north of Tsingtao, despite breaching Chinese neutrality. On September 13, the Japanese attacked German outposts and had forced the Germans back to Tsingtao by the end of September 1914.

The Japanese considered the German fortifications too great to conquer and decided to besiege it instead, bringing up some 142 artillery guns.