File:German Colonial Empire.png
German colonial empire

The German colonial empire was an overseas area formed in the late 19th century as part of the Hohenzollern dynasty's German Empire. Short-lived colonial efforts by individual German states had occurred in preceding centuries, but Imperial Germany's colonial efforts began in 1883. The German colonial empire ended with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 following World War I.

German Empire

Owing to its delayed unification by land-oriented Prussia in 1871, Germany came late to the imperialist scramble for remote colonial territory — their so-called "place in the sun". The German states prior to 1870 had retained separate political structures and goals, and German foreign policy up to and including the age of Otto von Bismarck concentrated on resolving the "German question" in Europe and securing German interests on that same continent. On the other hand, Germans had traditions of foreign sea-borne trade dating back to the Hanseatic League; a tradition existed of German emigration (eastward in the direction of Russia and Romania and westward to North America); and North German merchants and missionaries showed lively interest in overseas lands. The rise of German imperialism also coincided with the "scramble for Africa," during which Germany competed with other European powers for control of the last unexplored continent's territory.

Many Germans in the late 19th century viewed colonial acquisitions as a true indication of having achieved nationhood, and the demand for prestigious colonies went hand-in-hand with dreams of a High Seas Fleet, which would become reality and be perceived as a threat by the United Kingdom.

Because Germany was so late to join the race for colonial territories, most of the world had already been carved up by the other European powers; in some regions the trend was already towards decolonisation, especially in the continental Americas, encouraged by the American Revolution, French Revolution, and Napoleon Bonaparte.

When the Herero people of German South-West Africa (now Namibia) rose in rebellion in 1904, they were defeated by German troops; tens of thousands of natives died during the resulting genocide.

The limited sucesses of German colonialism oversees led to decision to shift the main focus of German expansionism to Central and Eastern Europe with the Mitteleuropa plan.

The victorious Allied Powers dissolved and re-assigned this empire in the course of the First World War (1914-1918) and its subsequent peace treaties, such as the Treaty of Versailles.

In the treaties Japan gained the Carolines and Marianas, France gained Cameroons, Belgium gained small parts of German East Africa, and the United Kingdom gained the remainder, as well as German New Guinea, Namibia, and Samoa. Togoland was divided between France and Britain. Most of these territories acquired by the British were attached to its various Commonwealth realms overseas and were transferred to them upon their independence. Namibia was granted to South Africa as a League of Nations mandate. Western Samoa was run as a class C League of Nations mandate by New Zealand and Rabaul along the same lines by Australia. This placing of responsibility on white-settler dominions was at the time perceived to be the cheapest option for the British government, although it did have the bizarre result of British colonies having their own colonies. This outcome was very much influenced by W.M. Hughes, the Australian Prime Minister, who was astounded to find that the big four planned to give German New Guinea to Japan. Hughes insisted that New Guinea would stay in Australian hands, with the troops there defending it by force if necessary. Hughes achievement in preventing Japan occupying New Guinea was of vital importance in World War 2.

William II, German Emperor, was so frustrated by the defeat of his European generals that he declared that Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, the German general in charge in East Africa, should be the only German officer allowed to lead his soldiers in a victory parade through the Brandenburg Gate. Vorbeck was the only undefeated German general of the war, and the only one to set foot in British territory.

See also

List of former German colonies

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