In their various "voyages of discovery" and enterprises to extend their trading operations, it was inevitable that the European nations should endeavour to find an opening into China.

From being a dreaded volcano whence streams of lava in the shape of devastating hordes constantly overflowed to upset the ideas of culture as conceived by the nations who radiated the principles of "civilisation" in succession to the fallen Empires of Greece and Rome, China had retired into a seclusion, only to be disturbed when "Progress" knocked at her doors.

She shut herself in and literally walled her borders, not so much to keep out invasion but to retain for herself and her people her stoical civilisation and the secrets in the arts and crafts of which she was the sole possessor; for Chinese internal affairs concerned no one but herself and her people, and her peculiar industries were conducted and perpetuated on an apprentice system—father to son handing down by word of mouth the methods of success in the various arts.

As European nations rose and fell—as the grandeur that was Spain succeeded the glittering adventures of Portuguese navigators, as the Dutch, French, and British struggled for mastery on the outer seas, and while Europe resounded with the stern music of the tramp of Napoleon's legions, China, with her centuries of arrested civilisation, maintained an inscrutable attitude, and, slumbering in brooding silence, preserved her aloofness from any interest without her borders.

The wave of European trade-expansion surged high upon her barrier of inclusiveness before she awoke to what was to her a new era—the age in which man might demand for man equable treatment in the way of trade, upon a basis in the constitution of which China had no experience and no say.

Hitherto China's conception of outer trade was merely the collection of tribute, and her first association with trade with the "foreign devils" from the outer world was quite in conformity with that idea, for her piratical junks set out and joyously exacted toll indiscriminately.

But this was hardly the legitimate form intended by the merchants of the West, and compensation for the misconceived acts of her subjects being demanded, China was invited to subscribe to treaties which might open her doors to the introduction of more cultured methods of barter.

Unreluctantly, however, as China assented to the development of trade by foreign nations in her seas and along her coasts, for many years the severest possible restrictions were placed upon Chinese leaving their country for the purpose of trade.

"Treaties" were concluded with the Western nations for the sake of peace, but by the Chinese in general these treaties were regarded as mere subterfuges whereby to disarm the vigilance of the prey.

Treaties for the furtherance of trade were entered into with the Western nations in turn from the end of the seventeenth century onwards, but none of these entailed any territorial concessions nor threatened "the integrity of China."

The thin end of the German wedge seems to have been inserted into Chinese affairs by the conclusion of a secret treaty in 1880 between Germany and China, whereby the latter, who was ready to grant or promise any manner of concession in return for being left alone, gave Germany trading privileges, which she had already granted to other nations. But Germany's influence in China was nil until after the Chino-Japanese War of 1894.

Russia, owing to her geographical position and to the intercourse of her subjects with the Chinese, was chiefly interested in China, and the Taiping Rebellion of 1850 firmly established France and Great Britain in the exclusive Empire.

In 1894 war broke out between China and Japan, which resulted in a complete and decisive victory for the latter.

Peace was signed by Li Hung Chang on behalf of China at Shimonoseki on the 17th April, 1895, and the European nations realised at its conclusion that in Japan a new Power had arisen in the Far East, and that the beginning of a new epoch had begun.

The Peace Treaty entered into between Japan and China in 1895 provided, for the absolute independence of Korea which had been a vassal of China since 1882, the cession to Japan of the Island of Formosa and the Liao-tung Peninsula at the foot of which lies Port Arthur (which was then occupied by the Japanese), and the payment of an indemnity of £30,000,000, pending the handing over of which Japan was to occupy the Port of Wei-hai-wei on the Shantung Peninsula.

A further condition of the treaty was the opening of certain places to foreign enterprise and commerce.

The conclusion of this treaty brought the European Powers on the scene.

For some time Russia had been intent upon the problem of securing an ice-clear port on the Pacific Ocean as an outlet to her Siberian possessions—an ambition which was considered by British statesmen as not unreasonable—and therefore the occupation by Japan of all the coastline of Korea by no means suited Russia. She, therefore, invited the intervention of the Powers, and the invitation was accepted by France and Germany, but declined by Great Britain.

A joint note was then presented to the Tokio Government by Russia, France and Germany, under which Japan was recommended not to occupy any of the Chinese mainland permanently.

The Japanese, finding this force arrayed against them, stated that they "yielded to the dictates of magnanimity, and accepted the advice of the three Powers."

Japan gave up the whole of her continental acquisitions under the war, and retained only Formosa; so the "integrity of China" seemed to be preserved for the time.

The Japanese people were shocked at this incident. The attitude of Russia and France they could understand, but Germany, who had been worming her way into Japan's good graces by professions of friendship and who was wholly uninterested in the ownership of Manchuria, seemed to have joined in robbing Japan of the fruits of her victorious war merely to establish a title to Russia's goodwill, and to renew the good relations with Russia which had been broken by the Franco-Russian entente of the years 1891-1895.

In pursuit of her aim of an outlet to Siberia, Russia assisted China in the payment of the Japanese war indemnity, and obtained the right to carry the Siberian railway to Vladivostock, this giving her a grasp on Northern Manchuria. By a secret arrangement with Germany, Russia subsequently obtained a "lease" of the Liao-tung Peninsula, giving the assurance that Port Arthur would be an "open port" for the trade of all nations; but as it transpired that Port Arthur was unsuited to mercantile trade, it became solely a naval base and the "open port" was established at Dalny.

On the 20th June, 1895, France entered into a convention with China under which she obtained certain railway and mining rights in Kiang-si and Yun-nan, and the signing of this convention brought China into conflict with Great Britain.

Great Britain could hardly regard with equanimity the growth of Russian influence in the north; she therefore demanded and obtained a lease of Wei-hai-wei on the Shantung Peninsula, occupied Wei-hai-wei immediately upon its evacuation by the Japanese, and threw the port open to outside trade.

In the meantime Germany considered that she had received no reward for her share in supporting France and Russia in compelling the retrocession of Liao-tung; in fact China could not be brought to see that Germany's place in "world politics" entitled her to annex any portion of the Chinese Empire.

On 1st November, 1897, however, two Roman Catholic missionaries, who were German subjects, were most conveniently murdered near Kiau-Chau, and, ostensibly to get compensation for this outrage on German kultur, Germany proceeded to seize Kiau-Chau.

This port was claimed by Russia, but on the face of it the synchronical cession of Port Arthur to Russia points to the two countries having come to an arrangement mutually satisfactory under the secret agreement concluded by them, while Russian action respecting Port Arthur and German action in regard to Kiau-Chau tallied at every point.

The proceedings in regard to Kiau-Chau were Hohenzollern to the last degree—arrogant and theatrical.

Three German warships were dispatched to China and they landed marines at Kiau-Chau while preparations for sending out reinforcements were hurried on in Germany.

The squadron was placed under the command of the German Emperor's brother, Prince Henry of Prussia, whom the Kaiser designated, in a farewell speech at Kiel, as the "mailed fist" of Germany.

The German Emperor thus furnished a pleasing fancy for humoristic journalists and caricaturists, for the comic side prevailed and the mission rocked the world in the gentle throes of laughter rather than stirred it with the tremulous quaking of dread.

On arriving at Kiau-Chau with his squadron, Prince Henry wrapped the mailed fist in a parchment covering, demanding the "lease" of the town and the neighbouring district to Germany for a period of ninety-nine years; and, divining that Germany could rely on the support of Russia, the Court of Pekin had no option but to bow to the inevitable, and the lease of the territory demanded was signed on the 6th March, 1898.

The Shantung Peninsula, a maritime province of China on the Yellow Sea, is the most densely inhabited part of China, and is celebrated as the native province of Confucius and therefore sacred to both Chinese and Japanese followers of the dictate of the sage's analects.

The peninsula is a mass of mountain ranges which rise to a height of 5,000 feet. The ranges are intersected by fertile valleys which provide sustenance at a minimum expenditure of toil.

Kiau-Chau is a splendid harbour and, in regard to Pekin, of great strategical importance. The German occupation of the harbour and as much of the surrounding territory as they could bring under their influence was, they declared, only to provide a gateway to China and an open door for German trade.

The trade did not, however, progress under German administration of the territory. There were no means of transport, and until railways could be constructed the port could only supply and draw from its immediate neighbourhood.

Only Germans frequented Kiau-Chau and trade decreased, as the natives cordially disliked the inquisitorial ways of the official system.

The chief value of Shantung is in its mineral deposits—principally coal, and coal easily takes the first place amongst articles of export. Iron ore, gold, galena (lead and silver), and copper are found in considerable quantities.

The principal agricultural products are wheat, millet, Indian corn, pulse, arrowroot, castor-oil, vegetables, and fruit.

Wax is a considerable article of trade, while seri-culture (silk) forms an important industry.

Silkworms are fed on mulberry, oak, lettuce, or vine leaves; and the nature and quality of the silk depends upon the character of the food. The worms fed on mulberry and lettuce leaves produce the lighter forms of silk, those on vine leaves a silk of a deeper yellow colour verging on red, while the oak-leaf-fed worms produce the well-known pongee, chifu or Shantung silks. This latter is not as fine as the mulberry or lettuce silk but is of more practical use and of better wear.

The soya bean, cultivated so extensively and profitably in Japan, the oil cake made therefrom, and cotton are also produced by the Chinese in the Shantung province.

The exports from Kiau-Chau, according to Chinese statistics, amounted in 1912 to about £1,250,000; while the exports reached £1,750,000.

Germany brought under her sway in the Shantung Peninsula an area of about 120 square miles.

The German population in Kiau-Chau, exclusive of troops, was only about 2,100 in 1913, but the peninsula was strongly garrisoned. The Chinese population centred about Tsingtau and amounted to nearly 54,000.

Immediately after their occupation of the Shantung province the Germans entered into negotiations (which were probably conducted in the usual Prussian way) with the Chinese authorities, and a concession was granted for the continuation of the Shantung railway to a junction with the great cross-country railway Pekin-Hankau, the German object being of course to establish a direct Kiau-Chau-Pekin trade.

In 1914 a new service of steamships via the Suez Canal from Hamburg to the American Pacific coast was inaugurated, and the liners calling at Tsingtau, in order to carry goods to the United States and Canada without reshipment, provided a fortnightly service for Tsingtau.

A German writer says: "The mountainous neighbourhood of Tsingtau is, thanks to German afforestation, beginning to get a different character. Where formerly only rough open country was to be seen, timber and orchards are filling the slopes. The Chinese work voluntarily for the Government, and receive payment in seeds, shrubs, and trees for their own property."

The Germans made every effort for the germanisation of Shantung, and schools were established where science and technical science were taught; and the students, according to the same writer, "first learned German and in this way became messengers of German civilisation all over China," for which blessing China has not, seemingly, exhibited any marked degree of gratitude.

Kiau-Chau and Tsingtau were fortified and made as impregnable fortresses as modern science could construct, and all German proceedings indicated that any "ultimate retrocession to China" of the province was extremely problematical.

The outbreak of the war of 1914 gave Japan an opportunity of paying off to Germany both the capital and accumulated interest of the score she had held to Germany's debit ever since the latter's unwarrantable intrusion into her sphere.

The capital consisted of an announcement in the early stages of the war of Japan's intention to take action to protect the general interests in the Far East, "keeping especially in view the independence and integrity of China," and in the delivery on the 15th August of an ultimatum to Germany.

The interest was provided by the ultimatum being couched in almost identical terms with Germany's ultimatum to Japan sixteen years previously.

The following is the text of the ultimatum:

"We consider it highly important and necessary in the present situation to take measures to remove the causes of all disturbance of peace in the Far East, and to safeguard general interests as contemplated in the agreement between Japan and Great Britain.

"In order to secure firm and enduring peace in Eastern Asia, the establishment of which is the aim of the said agreement, the Imperial Japanese Government sincerely believes it to be its duty to give advice to the Imperial German Government to carry out the following two propositions:—

"(1) Withdraw immediately from Japanese and Chinese waters the German men-of-war and armed vessels of all kinds, and to disarm at once all those which cannot be withdrawn.

"(2) To deliver, on a date not later than 15th September, to the Imperial Japanese authorities without condition or compensation the entire leased territory of Kiau-Chau with a view to the eventual restoration of the same to China.

"The Imperial Japanese Government announces at the same time that in the event of its not receiving by noon on 23rd August an answer from the Imperial German Government signifying unconditional acceptance of the above advice offered by the Imperial Japanese Government, Japan will be compelled to take such action as it may deem necessary to meet the situation."

The ultimatum caused a sensation in China, as it was stated that China was fully of the intention "eventually" to regain possession of Kiau-Chau by her own resources. The Chinese Government in perturbation expressed the opinion that the only course for Germany was to cancel the lease of Kiau-Chau and hand the territory back to China.

The United States of America intimated, as an expression of their view, that the United States would have been better pleased if the word "eventually" in the ultimatum had been better defined.

On the 23rd August Japan declared war upon Germany, and immediately proceeded, with the assistance of British warships and men, to blockade the harbour of Kiau-Chau and invest Tsingtau, which was the key to the situation.

The German cruiser Emden was at Tsingtau on the outbreak of war and got to sea before the blockade.

The Emden had a short but by no means inglorious career. Under her resourceful, gallant and courteous Commander, Von MÜller, she cruised the Bay of Bengal and destroyed British shipping to the value of over £1,000,000; she bombarded Madras, causing appreciable damage, and her final exploit of note was to steam boldly into the British port of Penang, disguised by rigging up a dummy extra funnel and flying the Japanese flag, where she sank a Russian cruiser and a French torpedo-boat destroyer.

On 10th November, however, she arrived off Cocos Islands, and while a landing party was busy destroying the wireless and cable apparatus there she was discovered by the Australian cruiser H.M.A.S. Sydney, by whom she was engaged, driven ashore and burnt.

The Shantung German possession made a strenuous resistance, but after two months' investment by land and blockade by sea, surrendered to the joint British and Japanese force, and the dream of a German Empire in the Far East was dissipated.

The fall of Tsingtau and Kiau-Chau was a rending blow to German prestige in the East, and its severity excited bitter comments on this extinguishment of what was in German papers described as "a shining testimony to German culture."

Poor old kultur! It has of late had many a heavy burden to bear and is now entrusted with the final destruction of Japan, for according to a leading German paper: "The Japanese have assisted England in destroying the most brilliant work of German colonisation (save the mark!). England will reap the harvest sown by her short-sighted Government in a time not so far distant.

"Germany has lost Kiau-Chau, but not for ever; and when eventually the time of reckoning arrives then as unanimously as what is now a cry of pain will a great shout of rejoicing ring through Germany—'Woe to Nippon.'"

So both England and Japan had better look out.