Japan Declares War on Germany 1914

In the first week of World War I Japan proposed to the United Kingdom, its ally since 1902, that Japan would enter the war if it could take Germany's Pacific territories. On 7 August 1914, the British government officially asked Japan for assistance in destroying the German raiders of the Kaiserliche Marine in and around Chinese waters. Japan sent Germany an ultimatum on 14 August 1914, which went unanswered; Japan then formallydeclared war on Germany on 23 August 1914. As Vienna refused to withdraw the Austro-Hungarian cruiser SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth from Tsingtao, Japan declared war on Austria-Hungary, too, on 25 August 1914.