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[[File:Sir Francis Henry May.jpg|thumb|right|Sir [[Francis Henry May]], Governor of Hong Kong, 1912–1918]]
[[File:Major-General Francis Henry Kelly in 1916.jpg|thumb|right|Major-General [[Francis Kelly (British Army officer)|Francis Henry Kelly]], Commander British Forces in Hong Kong, 1913–1915]]
The [[British Hong Kong|British colony]] of Hong Kong saw no military action during [[World War I]] (1914–1918). The biggest external threat to the colony was perceived to be the German [[East Asia Squadron]], but the squadron was eliminated in December 1914. Nonetheless, the city served as an important port in [[East Asia]], including as the headquarters of the British [[Commander-in-Chief, China (Royal Navy)|China Station]], and saw significant socioeconomical changes during the war.
==War contributions==
During much of the war, Hong Kong was administrated by [[Governor of Hong Kong|Governor]] [[Francis Henry May]]. During the early weeks of the war, 60,000 to 100,000 Chinese residents left the city for the neighboring province of [[Guangdong]], in fear that the colony might be attacked. The colonial government was given extensive emergency powers during the war, but only used the powers once in 1917 to regulate the prices of certain goods.
=== Local defences ===
At the outbreak of the war, the colony was defended by three infantry battalions (one British and two Indian) of around 4,000 men, several coastal artillery batteries, a volunteer force of around 500 men, and a small local defence flotilla consisting of several destroyers and submarines. The garrison was commanded by [[Commander British Forces in Hong Kong]] Major-General [[Francis Kelly (British Army officer)|Francis Kelly]]. From 1917, the garrison was augmented by the [[Royal_Hong_Kong_Regiment#The_beginning|Hong Kong Defence Corps]]. Three armed merchant cruisers, converted from merchant ships in local dockyards, protected the port and the sea lanes.
=== Enlistment ===
During the early stages of the war, enlistment for military service was low, as most British in Hong Kong at the time were professionals or businessmen. By early 1915, there were only 47 volunteers. In 1917, the colonial government introduced the Military Service Ordinance, requiring all males to serve in various capacities. This led to the formation of the Hong Kong Defence Corps. The Hong Kong Defence Corps took over garrison duties, and the regular garrison was freed for service in Europe. By the end of the war, almost a quarter (579 out of 2,157) of the British male population volunteered outside Hong Kong for military services. Chinese residents also joined the [[Chinese Labour Corps]], serving in France and Mesopotamia.
=== Hong Kong as a port ===
Hong Kong served as a major port in East Asia during the war. From early July 1914, the China Station were ordered to concentrate in Hong Kong. As a result, at the outbreak of the war, the pre-dreadnought [[HMS Triumph (1903)|HMS ''Triumph'']], one British armoured cruiser, one French armoured cruiser and two light cruisers were in [[Victoria Harbour]]. While at port, HMS ''Triumph'' borrowed soldiers from one of the local garrison battalions to serve on board. On 12 August, 1914, nervous gunners of the eastern batteries of [[Hong Kong Island]] fired on the Japanese freighter ''Shikoku Maru'', killing one sailor. As the war went on, Hong Kong continued to resupply warships for Britain and her allies during the war and [[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War]]. The [[Chinese Labour Corps]] were also shipped from Hong Kong to Europe and Mesopotamia.
=== Threats ===
The most significant external threat to the port city was the German [[East Asia Squadron]], and at the outbreak of war, the garrison was extremely nervous to learn that major units of the Squadron were not in [[Qingdao|Tsingtao]]. However, on 23 August, 1914, Japan entered the war on the side of the [[Triple Entente|Entente]]. As the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese navy]] could easily dominate the East Asian waters, worries over a German attack on the colony lessened. In November, an Anglo-Japanese force, including HMS ''Triumph'' which had departed from Hong Kong, [[Siege of Tsingtao|captured Kiautschou]]. In December, the main body of the East Asia Squadron was destroyed in the [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]]. By then, all concerns of a German attack had all but disappeared.
Though [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] would eventually join the Entente in 1917, the uncertainty of the Chinese position during the early stages of the war and the [[Warlord Era|volatile situation]] in the nation throughout the duration of the war became a concern. In the neighboring province of Guangdong, various warlords and [[Sun Yat-sen]] were struggling for power. The various factions, all sharing the ideals of [[Chinese nationalism]], along with the unstable regime were deemed as "anti-British" by the colonial government, and some in the British Army began to plan for a possible Chinese invasion. Although by the end of 1914, the Cantonese regime found itself divided over internal politics, and was no longer deemed a serious threat, the possibility of a Chinese invasion was not discounted until the later stages of the war. As a result, a temporary trench, supported by 10 machinegun posts, was established in [[Kowloon]].
Kelly also reported that the local Indian Police, the Indian Watchmen and the Indian residents had "very strong anti-British feeling" and "a real danger," perhaps influenced by the news of the concurrent [[Indian independence movement]] and [[Hindu–German Conspiracy]]. However, while Indians in [[Singapore]] [[1915 Singapore Mutiny|mutinied in 1915]], Indians in Hong Kong remained peaceful during the war.
=== Economic contributions ===
Both the European and Chinese community supported the war effort by subscribing to war charities. Local business magnate [[Chau Siu-ki]] served on the War Charities Committee. The residents of Hong Kong donated two [[Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2]]s, ''HONG KONG, No. 1'' and ''HONG KONG, No. 2'', towards the Imperial Aircraft Flotilla fundraising scheme. Wealthy individuals or organisations also made donations to the war effort, including [[Robert Hotung|Sir Robert Ho Tung]] who donated the cost of two aircraft and several ambulances to the British government. A total of $10 million Hong Kong dollars were raised on top of the normal military contribution, including 2 million raised in the last two years of the war, after property owners (mostly Chinese) agreed to an additional rate assessment of 7 percent. A government monopoly on opium, introduced in March 1914, became a major source of government income. By 1918, the profits from the monopoly accounted for 46.5 percent of total government revenue. This helped propel the Hong Kong economy into a wartime boom and also allow extra war contribution to Britain.
=== Casualties ===
At least 75 residents who were recruited for military service were killed outside Hong Kong during the war. The war also saw the deaths of 535 Hong Kong Chinese, including 384 who were part of the [[Chinese Labour Corps]] in Mesopotamia. Many had died due to disease, exposures or accidents. Furthermore, at least 100 Chinese sailors in the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|British Merchant Navy]] were killed through military action, diseases or accidents.
== Anti-German sentiment ==
In 1911, 342 Germans, out of 5,248 Westerners, lived in Hong Kong. They were the second-largest Western community after the British. The Germans generally exerted significant economic influence but little political influence. Two days before the war, on August 3, 1914, the German consul [[:de:Ernst Arthur Voretzsch|Arthur Voretzsch]] received a telegram from Governor May stating that if war broke out, May would continue to allow Germans to continue their business operations in the city, as long as they are under oath that they would not seek to damage British interests. After war broke out on August 5, 1914, May expressed his feelings of the war to Voretzsh:
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Nonetheless, a few days later, the colonial government placed enemy aliens on parole. Germans were allowed to continue their business, but they had to report to the police at stated time, restricted to certain areas in the city and were not allowed to leave Hong Kong. On August 12, London ordered the German consulate in Hong Kong closed down, and Germans and Austrians would be represented by the then-neutral American consulate. Following a public outcry, the Prussian [[double-headed eagle]] emblem of the [[Deutsch-Asiatische Bank]] building was removed. On October 5, 1914, Kelly wrote to May:
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Despite the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]] passing a bill on October 6 that allowed German firms to conduct new business, subject to certain restrictions, London had pressured the colonial government to pass the "Trading with the Enemy Ordinance" in the same month, which allowed the government to prevent, detect, and punish any acts of trade between residents and the enemy, and to wind up the assets of enemy banks. Using the ordinance as a legal basis, all German firms were liquidated and many German properties were confiscated. In the last week of October, after Germany issued a call-up of their military reserves, an order for internment was issued in Hong Kong. All Germans in Hong Kong on the reserve list were to be interned. They were first sent to [[Stonecutters Island]], and then to an unfinished camp near [[Hung Hom]]. German women, children, and those above military age were made to leave the city for the [[Shanghai International Settlement]] or [[Manila]].
Germany complained about the conditions of the camp to the United States, who sent an American Consul to inspect the camp. Following an escorted inspection, he found the camp to be satisfactory. German nationals from the [[Kiautschou Bay concession]] were also transferred to the camp after the concession was [[Siege of Tsingtao|captured by the Entente]]. In 1916, when five internees were given tools to build an earthen stage for a theatre hut. With the tools, they dug a 180 feet tunnel and attempted to escaped. One internee was shot by a sentry and captured, and another was found in the hills of [[New Territories]]. The remaining three were caught attempting to cross into China near [[Sai Kung]]. In another subsequent incident, an internee attempted to escape when he was allowed to go to the toilet during a visit to the dentist. He was caught in the same night. After two years, the internees were transferred to Australia. When the war was over, they were deported to Germany and their properties were never returned.
In total, around 200 Germans were interned in the Hung Hom camp. The internees included prominent local entrepreneurs such as [[:de:Jacob Jebsen|Jacob Jebsen]].
== Aftermath ==
Despite the exodus of Hong Kong residents in 1914 and a decrease of the Western population from 20,710 to 13,600 between 1914 to 1919, the population of Hong Kong as a whole grew rapidly during the war, from 501,304 (1914) to 598,100 (1919).
After formal conclusion of the war in July 1919, Hong Kong celebrated with fireworks, motorcades and parades. Despite the celebrations, severe inflation griped the city. The inflation was caused by wartime shortages and a rise in the local population. A week after the celebrations, following news of crops failure in Thailand, along with the restrictions of exports in Indochina and India and a surge in demand in Japan, a major rice riot broke out. The riots were quelled after the distribution of free meals to local, the importation of rice from [[Indochina]] and the purchase of rice stock by the government.
As Europeans left the colony to serve in the military, Chinese businessmen were able to move into businesses traditionally dominated by Europeans, such as banking and shipping. Three major Chinese banks, including the [[Bank of East Asia]], were founded between 1914 and 1919. In turn, British and Entente businessmen displaced their German rivals. Because of the deportation of Germans, there were only 3 Germans in Hong Kong in 1921.
==Citations==
==References==
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[[Category:British Empire in World War I]]
[[Category:Military of Hong Kong under British rule]]
[[Category:History of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Germany–Hong Kong relations]]
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