Qingdao: World War I Heritage Museum

Harout Joulakian
7 min readJul 30, 2019

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This recently founded museum tells Qingdao's story towards the end of Qing Dynasty through World War II when the Japanese occupation finally ended. It is currently the only museum in China depicting the impact of World War I on China's history.

The museum building is designed by Qikang of Southeast University and is shaped like a dove spreading its wings to fly.

Located at the foot of Qingdao Mountain, historically known by its collonial name as the Bismark Mountain, the museum experience takes you through three halls followed by a short climb to the bunker area, and finally another walk to the cannon overlooking the northern part of the city.

Museum ticket bought on July 25, 2019.

The whole museum area is around 10,000 square meters and the experience is divided into three themes: The German Occupation of Qingdao, The German-Japanese War, Qingdao's Liberation. There's a special focus on the "May 4th Movement" as it was instrumental in shaping up Post-Worl War II and modern China.

Hall Number One's theme is Germany's Occupation of Qingdao.

A ticket costs 60 RMB for adults and 30 RMB for children and is used for the museum and bunker. Visitors carrying a student card may enjoy a discount.

Around 1,800 cultural relics thoroughly curated are on display in three vast halls, among them weapons, maps, postcards, stamps, cameras, books, journals, outfits, helmets, and coins.

Top left: the German Eagle; Top right: A German-made camera that used to belong to a German officer; Bottom left: Leaflets used during the May 4th Movement protests; Bottom right: A Gourd belonging to a German soldier in the 13th Batallion.

Finding your way through the green areas of the Mountain can be tricky. There are however arrow signs, posters, and flag poles that can guide you find your way around. In case you're not proficient in Chinese to ask bystanders or hikers, you may use the following phrases to get where you want to get.

Top left: Street sign pointing to the Entrance of JingShan Road where the main entrance to the museum is and to the canon platform which is closer to the back entrance on XingAn Zhi Road. Middle top: Arrow sign to Exhibition Hall and Fort Relics. Top right: Flag poles to follow when walking from one site to another within the park. Bottom left: This site is directly above the bunkers and marks a viewpoint to the southern part of the city and to the military turret overlooking to it. Bottom right: A poster with a map and photos outside the museum taking you to Fort Relics.
When visiting the bunker area make sure to have a jacket or sweater because the air conditioning is quite strong. For visitors who are sensitive to moldy air and smell, a mask would come handy.

Finally, from the bunker area head north to the final part of this site, the canon platform where you can chill and admire the view of the northern part of the city.

One of the many canons positioned in strategic points throughout the city this particular conon weighs around 40 tons and had a target range of 12 km.

What you need to know before visiting this museum.

If you are interested in getting a deeper understanding of the events and people's names through the years in this museum please read on:
- Wilhelm II or William II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. He reigned from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918 shortly before Germany’s defeat in World War I.
- The Juye incident (1897) was an attack on Stenz’s mission station in Zhang Jia Village in which two German missionaries were killed. Stenz, who was the likely target of the attack, managed to hide and escaped unharmed. The incident was used by the German Empire to justify the occupation of Qingdao.
- The Open Door Policy is a term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy established in the late 19th century and the early 20th century that would allow for a system of trade in China open to all countries equally.
- The Twenty-One Demands were a set of demands made during the First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu sent to the government of the Republic of China on 8 January 1915. The demands would greatly extend Japanese control of Manchuria and of the Chinese economy, and were opposed by Britain and the United States. In the final settlement Japan gained a little but lost a great deal of prestige and trust in Britain and the US.
- The Twenty One Demands were grouped into five groups:

  • Group 1 (four demands) confirmed Japan’s recent seizure of German ports and operations in Shandong Province, and expanded Japan’s sphere of influence over the railways, coasts and major cities of the province.
  • Group 2 (seven demands) pertained to Japan’s South Manchuria Railway Zone, extending the leasehold over the territory for 99 years, and expanding Japan’s sphere of influence in southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, to include rights of settlement and extraterritoriality, appointment of financial and administrative officials to the government and priority for Japanese investments in those areas. Japan demanded access to Inner Mongolia for raw materials, as a manufacturing site, and as a strategic buffer against Russian encroachment in Korea.[4]
  • Group 3 (two demands) gave Japan control of the Han-Ye-Ping (Hanyang, Daye, and Pingxiang) mining and metallurgical complex in central China; it was deep in debt to Japan.
  • Group 4 (one demand) barred China from giving any further coastal or island concessions to foreign powers.
  • Group 5 (seven demands) was the most aggressive. China was to hire Japanese advisors who could take effective control of China’s finance and police. Japan would be empowered to build three major railways, and also Buddhist temples and schools. Japan would gain effective control of Fujian, across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan, which had been ceded to Japan in 1895.
    - Ōkuma Shigenobu was the fifth prime minister of Japan. He was in office between 16 April 1914 and 9 October 1916.
    - The Siege of Tsingtao, sometimes Siege of Tsingtau, was the attack on the German port of Tsingtao in China during World War I by Japan and the United Kingdom. The siege took place between 31 October and 7 November 1914 against Imperial Germany. The siege was the first encounter between Japanese and German forces, the first Anglo-Japanese operation of the war, and the only major land battle in the Asian and Pacific theatre during World War I.
    - Treaties of Paris, (1919–20), collectively the peace settlements concluding World War I and signed at sites around Paris. The Treaty of Versailles (signed June 28, 1919); Saint-Germain, Treaty of (Sept. 10, 1919); Neuilly, Treaty of (Nov. 27, 1919); Trianon, Treaty of (June 4, 1920); and Sèvres, Treaty of (Aug. 10, 1920).
    - The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which had directly led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties. Although the armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919.
    - Article 156 of the treaty transferred German concessions in Shandong, China, to Japan, not to China. Japan was granted all German possessions in the Pacific north of the equator and those south of the equator went to Australia, except for German Samoa, which was taken by New Zealand.
    Section VIII — Shantung
    Article 156
    Germany renounces, in favour of Japan, all her rights, title and privileges particularly those concerning the territory of Kiaochow, railways, mines and submarine cableswhich she acquired in virtue of the Treaty concluded by her with China on 6 March 1898, and of all other arrangements relative to the Province of Shantung. All German rights in the Tsingtao–Tsinanfu railway, including its branch lines together with its subsidiary property of all kinds, stations, shops, fixed and rolling stock, mines, plant and material for the exploitation of the mines, are and remain acquired by Japan, together with all rights and privileges attaching thereto. The German State submarine cables from Tsingtao to Shanghai and from Tsingtao to Chefoo, with all the rights, privileges and properties attaching thereto, are similarly acquired by Japan, free and clear of all charges and encumbrances.
    - The Jiaozhou Bay is a gulf located in Qingdao, China. It was a German colonial concession from 1898 until 1914. Jiaozhou is the main town of the bay area, which was historically romanized as Kiaochow, Kiauchau or Kiao-Chau in English and Kiautschou in German.
    - Yantai, formerly known as Zhifu or Chefoo, is a prefecture-level city on the Bohai Strait in northeastern Shandong Province, China.
    - The May Fourth Movement was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on 4 May 1919. Students protested against the Chinese government’s weak response to the Treaty of Versailles, especially allowing Japan to retain territories in Shandong that had been surrendered by Germany after the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914. The demonstrations sparked nation-wide protests and spurred an upsurge of Chinese nationalism, a shift towards political mobilization and away from cultural activities, and a move towards a mass base and away from traditional intellectual and political elites.

sources: wikipedia.org
For any suggestions and corrections, please kindly email me at: the0532podcast@outlook.com

Chinese delegates representing China in Paris Treaties.

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