Developments in the Situation in China and Their Impact on the German Presence, 1902–1908.

Abstract

Successive Chinese governors (Zhou Fu, Yang Shixiang, and Yuan Shikai) pursued a cautious policy in Shandong Province aimed at excluding German experts and replacing them with Americans and Japanese to safeguard Chinese decision-making and circumvent the terms of the Kiaochow Treaty, which had mandated that trainers be German. Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War and the resulting Treaty of Portsmouth—which replaced Russian influence with Japanese influence in Manchuria—led to the diplomatic isolation of Germany. This prompted German Chancellor Bülow to advise German Emperor Wilhelm II to curb expansionist ambitions in Shandong for fear of expulsion by Japan and Britain. Furthermore, German and Chinese efforts to establish a secret alliance with the United States to counter Japanese expansion ultimately failed.