[18] Most companies eventually gave way to governmental authority by the beginning of the 1920s, but the German colonial empire had already collapsed by that point. While Europeans and Africans had established relationships in a variety of settings for centuries, the 1880s mark a major turning point in European attitudes toward Africa. [5] The next set of business for the Germans was to impose their rule over the small-scale societies further away from the caravan routes. When the Germans were in control of Tanganyika, two broad phases can summarize their rule. The Congo was under King Leopold II’s rule (eventually Belgian) and Senegal, Cameroon, and several other colonies in the western Sudan and Central Africa were gained by France. By 1900, when the force of the quick colonization was over, the majority of the land in Africa was divided up amongst seven different European colonizing nations: Britain, France, Spain, … Not all Herero acted against the Germans originally and even expressed their continued loyalty. A large motivator behind African colonization was the desire to spread Christianity throughout the world. In some places throughout Africa, the colonial state only needed to provide seeds of encouragement as commercial agriculture was already well established. Moreover, Bismarck was suspect of France and Great Britain’s true intentions in Africa and this only furthered his desire to cr… German officials understood that their people needed space to grow and prosper; the Germans faced a choice of decline through lack of space and loss of population (as many had already left for America), or expanding into new lands. For example, Mtinginya of Usongo, a powerful Nyamwezi chief aided the Germans against Isike; but by 1901, he became a potential enemy and when he died a year or two later, his chiefdom was deliberately dismantled. A key ideology behind imperialism, which in turn informs colonialism, is the idea of racial superiority or cultural superiority. [3] Warriors flocked to a few of the coastal towns and gave the Germans two days to leave. Why did South Africa colonized Namibia? Prior to this time, world superpowers such as Portugal, France, and Britain had already set up colonies in Africa. [33] Some Germans also argued that the colonial territories which blossomed under their rule were economically ruined after they were expunged. However, in order to accomplish these advancements, they needed a source of constant raw material supply. Key Terms [43] After World War I, Germany did not just lose territory but lost commercial footholds, spheres of influence, and imperialistic ambitions of continued expansion. European nations saw opportunity for new trade routes and potential wealth in some of Africa's natural resources. The key to the initial German interest in Kamerun was German businessmen's desire for trade. Never really deployed at forts, the troops were first grouped into three expeditionary companies, who were marched from place to place to suppress revolts. To persuade their surrender, the Germans told the Herero they would be allowed to return to their homeland; that they had been pardoned by the Kaiser. Germany lost control of its colonial empire at the beginning of World War I when its colonies were seized by its enemies in the first weeks of the war. After the conquest of African decentralized and centralized states, the European powers set about establishing colonial state systems. [17] However, this was quickly discovered to be inefficient as many of these firms went bankrupt because of mismanagement and African resistance. In fact, European countries competed with one another to see who could attain the most power and growth. The company did not waste any time in dispatching eighteen expeditions to make treaties expanding its territories in East Africa, but these moves by the Germans stirred hostility in the region. Again, much like the ideals behind the colonialism of the Americas, many European colonizers thought that they were doing a favor to those living on the African continent by introducing to them the European way of life, even if it came at the cost of destroying established societies. The German colony rented slaves to private companies, but some companies were so big that they ran their own concentration camps. [16] Perhaps this increased German brutality in East Africa, as Europeans would go to extreme measures to ensure their supply of raw materials. This exploration led initially to the establishment of th… In the 1680s, the Margraviate of Brandenburg, then leading the broader realm of Brandenburg-Prussia, pursued limited imperial efforts in West Africa. Colonization became so popular during this period for many reasons. Towards the end of the 19 th century European countries such as England, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, and Italy began colonizing Africa which became known as “The Scramble for Africa”. To fix this problem members of the ‘surplus’ population were exported as colonists in Algeria, Tunisisa, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, The prospect of a colony in East Africa was too much to ignore; it was perfect for the continued economic stability and growth of Germany. 0 … Ubahake, not unlike European feudalism, led to a class-dominated system instilling the Tutsis as a privileged minority and Hutus as the working clas… During a period lasting from 1881 to 1914 in what was known as the Scramble for Africa, several European nations took control over areas of the African continent. Germany decided to create a colony in East Africa under the leadership of Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in February 1885. Of these 14 nations, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal were the major players in the conference, controlling most of colonial Africa at the time. Section three discusses Germany’s role in the European “scramble for Africa” and such developments as the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1884 and the 1884−85 Congress of Berlin. Much like the adventurers who had traveled to Asia and North America, many European explorers set out to determine the physical makeup of the African continent. 4 Answers. The Germans encircled the Herero but left one part open for them to escape into the Kalahari, expecting them to die of starvation and thirst. Because all the good parts of Africa were already taken. 6 years ago. Germans met armed resistance from the Bassa-Bakoko, one of the largest ethnic groups of the coastal and northwest Kamerun areas, who staged an armed rebellion trying to halt German inland penetration, but were defeated between 1892 and 1895. The amount of land that each country owned was considered to be a great indicator of power, with every state wanting to do better than their neighbor. Some saw Germany's behavior in South-West Africa as a precursor of German actions in the Holocaust. [42] Great Britain and France had made secret arrangements splitting German territory and the Treaty of Versailles only cemented what had already taken place. [4] Resistance was seen all over German controlled Africa, but the German soldiers and officers came from the best army in the world, so the action of rebelling didn’t have much of a long-term impact. [7] By 1914, Tanganyika was divided into 22 administrative districts, and only two of them were still ruled by soldiers. “Namibia: Genocide and the Second Reich (BBC).”, Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_colonization_of_Africa&oldid=1000276871, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 January 2021, at 12:57. The African natives were shipped by cattle cars and taken to a place far from public view to be exterminated. [32] Germans quickly responded, to defend their honor, by stating that the Africans were more than satisfied with German sovereignty, that they desired nothing more than its continuance. This led to a change from allied to adversarial relationships between some African leaders and the Germans. To a smaller extent, Germany and Italy had, too. In the years 1884 and 1885, the Berlin Conference formalized European colonization of Africa. Eventually, when the Germans believed the time was right to assert more control, they began disputing the Herero claims over land. German control of Togoland dates back to February 1884 when a group of German soldiers kidnapped chiefs in Anecho, in present-day south-Eastern Togo and forced them into negotiations among the German warship Sophie. [29] The Germans made sure that they had complete control over both Togoland and its inhabitants. [19] A slow and cautious interest in Kamerun had been growing among German businessmen for thirty years before the finalization of Kamerun as a protectorate. After diplomacy concluded and the conflicts resulted in German victory, their regime used bands of gunmen to maintain authority over local leaders. European powers noticed that many of these raw materials happened to be abundant in Africa. German planners anticipated that the fate of their African empire would be settled, if necessary, by wars in Europe, not in Africa itself. European colonizers were able to attain control over much of Africa through diplomatic pressure, aggressive enticement, and military invasions. Most victims of the Shark Island camp were the Nama people; they saw the tragedy that the Herero went through and rebelled against the Germans because of that. Together these four territories constituted Germany's African presence in the age of New Imperialism. [21]  For a period of time, after the Germans declared Kamerun a protectorate, they only had a solidified position on the coast; the Germans had not been successful in opening trade routes in the interior, partly for geographical reasons. But Denmark didn't have the means or the appetite for greater colonial expansion. Yet Germany wanted an empire so they snapped up a few scraps just to spite the UK and France. Settlements in modern Guinea and Nigeria's Ondo State failed within a year; those in Cameroon, Namibia, Tanzania and Togo quickly grew into lucrative colonies. [41] Overall, the camps in Namibia provided the blueprint for death camps of 20th century, that Nazi Germany used. By European standards, Italy is a young country, having become unified as one nation only in 1861. Germany decided to create a colony in East Africa under the leadership of Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarckin February 1885. In one instance, two Germans were killed in the town of Kilwa; German marines were eventually ordered in who cleared the town, killing every one they saw. Africa’s diplomatic, strategic and material potential led European Powers to seize the opportunity to exploit a new continent. [45] The Allies rejected these proposals and refused to alter the colonial settlement that an agreement was reached upon. The Portuguese colonised both Mozambique and Angola, in southern Africa, whilst South-western Africa, along with Tanganyika in East Africa were under German rule. In fact, it was more of a localized rebellion, but the Germans did not care; they attempted to wipeout as many Herero as possible. [25] The Germans used these troops to combat many revolts against their rule. Soon after the agreement to create an East African colony was reached, the German Kaiser granted imperial protection to the possessions of the German East African Company, which had autonomy in the region. It is sparsely mentioned in history books. why did Germany colonize Rwanda? The 1880s mark the beginning of the colonial period in African history. South Africa, which was a British colony, occupied Walvis Bay in 1878, and the rest of Namibia in 1915. [12] The old compromises collapsed because the increase in German military strength made them less dependent on local allies and while earlier officers often welcomed their collaborators’ power, later ones suspected it. Suddenly, the barter economy was replaced by a money economy.[27]. According to Jean-Marie Kamatali, Ubuhake, a social system in which the Hutus worked in the service of Tutsis in exchange for cattle, characterized relations between the two peoples. [10] These ‘local compromises’, as they may be called, had common characteristics. German East Africa, German Deutsch-Ostafrika, former dependency of imperial Germany, corresponding to present-day Rwanda and Burundi, the continental portion of Tanzania, and a small section of Mozambique.Penetration of the area was begun in 1884 by German commercial agents, and German claims were recognized by the other European powers in the period 1885–94. Before the Treaty of Versailles was even signed, Great Britain, France, and Japan had total control over the German colonies since 1915, except for East Africa. Arguably the most brutal camps in Namibia was the one located on Shark Island. This also feeds the general opinion that German colonial history was only a short perio… [38] Negotiation was not an option and the Herero did not see any of this coming; they believed the earlier disputes had been resolved; the Herero moved as far away as possible from the German settlements to try and survive. Belgium itself had gained independence in 1831 when it broke away from the Netherlands and became a new nation. German Desires for Tanganyika and Early Expansion, The consolidation of German rule in Tanganyika, Two broad phases of district administration, German South West Africa and the Herero and Nama Genocide, Laumann, Dennis. The main goal of the Germans in Namibia was to provide a Lebensraum for its people; more territory that a state believes is needed for its natural development. The following year gunboats were dispatched to East Africa to contest the Sultan of Zanzibar's claims of sovereignty over the mainland in what is today Tanzania. There were several different reasons why European colonizers set their sights on the African continent Some of the most prominent ones are outlined below: The 19th century was home to the industrial revolution, a time when many European nations were flourishing in the technology sector of the time. 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