Japan declares a state of war with Austria-Hungary
- Category:
- Diplomacy
- Front:
- Asia and the Pacific
- Date:
- 25 August 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Tags:
- declarations of war, Japan, Austria-Hungary, Tsingtao
On 25 August 1914 Japan announced that it was in a state of war with Austria-Hungary. Two states at opposite ends of Eurasia, with no disputes between them, became enemies because of a single ship anchored in a Chinese port.
A cruiser at Tsingtao
In the summer of 1914 the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth was serving in Far Eastern waters. At the end of July she put in at Tsingtao, today’s Qingdao, the main port of the German leased territory of Kiautschou in China. When war broke out, the ship was too weak and too slow to fight her way home.
Vienna at first wanted to avoid a conflict with Japan. In mid-August it ordered the cruiser to be disarmed and her crew to be taken to the Austro-Hungarian concession in Tientsin. The sailors had already left by train when a new order arrived: the ship was after all to take part in the defence of Tsingtao together with the Germans. The crew returned to the port, travelling in civilian clothes so as not to violate China’s neutrality.
Who declared war on whom?
Sources describe what happened on 24 and 25 August in different ways. According to a British chronology of the war, on 24 August Austria-Hungary broke off diplomatic relations with Japan (see Austria-Hungary breaks off relations with Japan), and on 25 August Japan broke off relations with Austria-Hungary and announced a state of war. Most modern studies say simply that on 25 August Japan declared war on Austria-Hungary because Vienna refused to withdraw the cruiser from Tsingtao. In some lists, however, the same step is presented as a declaration of war on Japan by Austria-Hungary. All sources agree on the date: from 25 August the two states were at war.
The defence of Tsingtao
At the end of August the Japanese fleet began the blockade of Tsingtao. At the start of the siege the Kaiserin Elisabeth sortied together with the German gunboat Jaguar against the Japanese ships, and later some of her guns were removed and set up on land as a battery defending the fortress. During the siege of Tsingtao the cruiser shelled Japanese positions until her ammunition ran out. On 2 November 1914, a few days before the fortress capitulated, the crew scuttled the ship. The Austro-Hungarian sailors went into Japanese captivity together with the Germans, returning home only in 1920.
Significance
The state of war between Japan and Austria-Hungary was mainly of symbolic importance. The Habsburg monarchy had no possessions or interests in Asia that Japan could threaten, and its only force in the Far East was an old cruiser. It shows, however, how the alliance system drew more and more states into the war. A few weeks earlier the war had been an Austro-Serbian conflict, and by the end of August it already embraced Europe, Africa and East Asia.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 25 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of the Mortagne beginsOn 25 August 1914 the armies of Castelnau and Dubail halted the German drive on the Trouée de Charmes in Lorraine and went over to a counter-offensive.
- 25 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of the Meuse beginsOn 25 August 1914 the French Fourth Army, pulled back from the Ardennes, took post behind the Meuse from Mézières to Stenay. The fight for the crossings began.
- 25 August 1914 · Balkan FrontEnd of the first invasion of SerbiaAt the end of August 1914 the Serbs recaptured Šabac and the last Austro-Hungarian units withdrew across the Drina and Sava. The first invasion ended in defeat.
- 25 August 1914 · Eastern FrontEnd of the Battle of KraśnikOn 25 August 1914 the Austro-Hungarian First Army took Kraśnik and the Russian Fourth Army fell back towards Lublin. It was Austria-Hungary's first victory.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 23 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificJapan declares war on GermanyOn 23 August 1914 Japan declared war on Germany. The war spread to the Far East and the Pacific, and Japan reached for Germany's possessions in Asia.
- 24 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificAustria-Hungary breaks off diplomatic relations with JapanOn 24 August 1914 Austria-Hungary broke off relations with Japan. The Emperor ordered the cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth to defend Tsingtao alongside the Germans.
- 2 November 1914 · Asia and the PacificSinking of the cruiser Kaiserin ElisabethOn 2 November 1914 the crew of the Austro-Hungarian cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth scuttled her in the harbour of Tsingtao. The sailors fought on ashore.
- 23 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificGermany breaks off diplomatic relations with JapanOn 23 August 1914, after the Japanese ultimatum expired, Germany broke off relations with Japan. Ambassador Arthur von Rex left Tokyo.