This declaration of war began the assault on the German Navy base Tsingtao (Qingdao), China. This was the base for the German East Asia Squadron, which protected the German colonial territories in the Pacific region. The siege of Tsingtao was mounted by a joint British-Japanese force.

Most of the German East Asia Squadron was destroyed by the British at the Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914, as they eventually attempted to return to Germany via Cape Horn and the South Atlantic.