German colonial empire
The German colonial empire (German: Deutsches Kolonialreich) constituted the overseas colonies, dependencies, and territories of the German Empire. Unified in 1871, the chancellor of this time period was Otto von Bismarck. Short-lived attempts at colonization by individual German states had occurred in preceding centuries, but Bismarck resisted pressure to construct a colonial empire until the Scramble for Africa in 1884. Claiming much of the remaining uncolonized areas of Africa, Germany built the third-largest colonial empire at the time, after the British and French.[2] The German colonial empire encompassed parts of several African countries, including parts of present-day Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Namibia, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, as well as northeastern New Guinea, Samoa and numerous Micronesian islands.
This article is about colonies of the German Empire. For the territories of Nazi Germany, see Reichskommissariat. For the Templer colonies in Israel, see German Colony.
German colonial empire
- German
- Local:
Swahili, Rwanda-Rundi (Burundi, Rwanda, Buha kingdom in Tanzania),Papuan,Samoan (in New Guinea and Samoa)
1884
1888
1890
1899
1904
1905
1919
1920
2,658,161[1] km2 (1,026,322 sq mi)
11,979,000[1]
Germany lost control of most of its colonial empire at the beginning of the First World War in 1914, but some German forces held out in German East Africa until the end of the war. After the German defeat in World War I, Germany's colonial empire was officially confiscated as part of the Treaty of Versailles between the Allies and German Weimar Republic. Each colony became a League of Nations mandate under the administration, although not sovereignty, of one of the Allied powers.[3] Talk of regaining the last Kaiser's lost colonies persisted in Germany until 1943, but never became an official goal of the German government.
Postcards depicted romanticized images of natives and exotic locales, such as this early 20th-century card of the German colonial territory in New Guinea.
Colonial postcard from Qingdao, c. 1900
Post-colonial legacy[edit]
Continuity thesis[edit]
In recent years scholars have debated the "continuity thesis" that links German colonialist brutalities to the treatment of Jews, Roma, Poles and Russians during World War II. Some historians argue that Germany's role in southwestern Africa gave rise to an emphasis on racial superiority at home, which in turn was used by the Nazis. They argue that the limited successes of German colonialism overseas led to a decision to shift the main focus of German expansionism into Central and Eastern Europe, with the Mitteleuropa plan. German colonialism, therefore, turned to the European continent.[175]
While a minority view during the Kaiserzeit, the idea developed in full swing under Erich Ludendorff and his political activity in the Baltic states, Ukraine, and Poland. Subsequently, after the defeat of Russia during World War I, Germany acquired vast territories with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and created several administrative regions like Ober Ost. Here also the German settlement would be implemented, and the whole governmental organization was developed to serve German needs while controlling the local ethnically diverse population. While the African colonies were too isolated and not suitable for mass settlement of Germans, areas in Central and Eastern Europe offered better potential for German settlement.[176] Other scholars, are skeptical and challenge the continuity thesis.[177] Additionally, however, only one former colonial officer gained an important position in the Nazi administrative hierarchy.[9]