Compared to other European powers, German colonisation started relatively late and it was not until the unification of Germany in the 1870s that Germany started building a colonial empire. In the Pacific, German trading houses had previously established German influence in the Bismarck archipelago (including the Solomon Islands), the Marshall Islands and part of Samoa. Expansion occurred in 1898 when Germany was granted a 99 year lease from China for the area around Tsingtau, which Germany quickly expanded from a small fishing village to a city. Tsingtau became Germany's only fortified base in the region. In 1899 Spain sold Germany its colonial interests in the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands and Pelew Islands following Spain's defeat and near bankruptcy in the Spanish American War of 1898.
To protect its Pacific territories, Germany stationed a squadron of cruisers at Tsingtau. From 1912 this squadron was under the command of Rear Admiral Maximilian von Spee. At the outbreak of war on 3 August 1914, the East Asiatic Squadron consisted of the cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and light cruisers Emden, Nurnberg and Leipzig.
Under the 1887 Australasian Naval Agreement, the Australian and New Zealand governments paid Britain to station 5 cruisers in the south west Pacific to protect Australia and New Zealand - the Australian Auxiliary Squadron. The poor quality of the ships provided by Britain was an ongoing issue of contention between the respective governments. Following the end of British colonial rule in Australia and New Zealand in 1901 and 1907 respectively, British interests in the region lay primarily in south-east Asia, with the Royal Navy based in Hong Kong under the command of Admiral Jerram.
In 1910 the governments of Australia and New Zealand had paid for two new Battle Cruisers to be built. These were named Australia and New Zealand, and both entered service in 1913. With the formation of the Australian Navy in 1911, HMAS Australia was stationed in Australia. New Zealand naval forces, however, continued to operate as part of the Royal Navy, and HMS New Zealand was stationed in Britain during World War 1. In lieu of providing a modern Battle Cruiser for protection, the British Government sent an old 1891 Pearl class cruiser, HMS Philomel, to New Zealand in July 1914 to be used as a training ship. The outbreak of World War 1, however, saw HMS Philomel recalled to active service where it played a minor role in subsequent events.
French colonial interests in the region included French Indo-China (modern-day Vietnam and Cambodia), French Polynesia and New Caledonia. These were protected by two old cruisers under Rear Admiral Huguet, whose flagship was Montcalm.
In the north Pacific, Russian naval power had not recovered from the crushing naval defeats inflicted by Japan in 1905. Japan, however, with its modern navy, had expansionist desires in China and the islands of the north-west Pacific. While Japan was not obliged to enter World War 1 under any treaty, the opportunity to seize German territories in the region was sufficiently tempting that Japan declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914.