It is now your task to stand faithfully by me and to defend our highest possessions, whether against enemies from without or from within, and to obey when I command and never to forsake me. THE CHINESE SITUATION AND THE MAILED FIST DECEMBER 15, 1897 In accordance with her general colonial policy, Germany had for some time been attempting to obtain a footing in China. Already in 1895 the German consul-general had arranged an agreement with the Chinese authorities which was to allow the establishing of a base at Hangchow. German explorers had examined the coast and had noticed the favorable situation of the harbor of Kiaochow. In November, 1897, two German Catholic missionaries were murdered. Admiral Diedrichs, who is remembered in America for his interference with Admiral Dewey at Manila Bay, resolved upon immediate action, steamed into the harbor of Kiaochow and took possession of the island of Tsingtao. He announced the occupation of the bay and of all the islands and dependencies on November 15. An indemnity of 200,000 _taels_ was demanded, as well as the repayment of the expenses of the occupation, a ninety-nine year lease of the captive territory, and the cession of all mining rights and railway privileges. All this was granted, and Germany made good use of her privileges. At the outbreak of the European war the country had been developed and reclaimed to such a degree that Tsingtao with its buildings and forts looked like a bit of Prussia set into the Chinese coast. Through her occupation of this rich province and through the fact that Germany thus established a naval base opposite Japan's coast, she incurred the ill will of Japan. This ill will was later to be increased through Germany's conduct with regard to commerce regulations. At the time of the occupation Germany declared that Tsingtao was to be a port open to all the world. Subsequent regulations which she had made amounted to very serious discrimination against the commerce of other nations, especially that of the Japanese, which had already attained considerable importance. A plan was evolved in 1906 according to which Chinese customs duties were allowed to be collected in the colony in return for an annual consideration, which amounted to twenty per cent of the entire customs duties of the Tsingtao district. In this way, what she allowed China to collect from German merchants she forced China to pay back to her. Other merchants were, of course, likewise forced to pay the duties, and Germany received a considerable percentage of the toll. The discrimination, if not obvious, was very real, and the feeling of the Japanese distinctly hostile.