The so-called “Scramble for Africa” began in 1884 following the Berlin Conference, convened to discuss the future of the continent. It was something of a misnomer in that a number of Eurpean nations, notably Britain, France and Portugal, had already staked unofficial claims to various areas within the continent, be it for trade or military purposes. Nonetheless, in this “scramble”, Germany – including its territory held in the Pacific – did become the third largest colonial power after Britain and France. The German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the architect of the German Empire (he saw it as an enlargement of Prussia!) had been generally opposed to the acquiring of colonial areas. He was much more concerned about “the German Question”, the fact that Germany was situated between a France that was desperate to avenge the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s, and a Russia which was vast, unstable, and anxious to determine, if not to extend, its position in Eastern Europe. That situation, he once said, was his “Africa”!

    However, in 1884, having been persuaded that the possession of colonies did have some merit, especially in the fields of commerce and mining, it was he who called and chaired the Berlin Conference, thereby procuring for Germany the four areas illustrated above. But his enthusiasm for these possessions did not last long. He had anticipated the setting up of chartered companies to oversee colonial affairs, but this proved impractical. Because of opposition from the indigenous population, there was a need for a standing army and this meant government control. Furthermore, trade and commercial undertakings also needed some form of organisation and regulation. It is said that before his dismissal by the Kaiser in 1890 – “the dropping of the pilot” – he had even suggested that, because of the expense involved, South-West Africa should be handed over to the British!

     The coming of the First World War, of course, meant the end of the German Empire in Africa and, indeed, in the Pacific – taken over on behalf of Britain, as we have seen (August 1914), by Japan, Australia and New Zealand. None of the four African colonies had large defence forces; there was no hope of help from Germany in such remote areas; and the British and French were on hand to pick up the pieces. By the end of 1916 the German Empire was virtually at an end, though German East Africa did manage to hold out to December 1918!

Acknowledgements

Battle of Mahiwa: ww1live.wordpress.com Last Stand: laststandonzombieisland.com. by German artist Carl Becker Wounded: historycollection.com. picture postcard - after watercolour by the German artist Fritz Grotemeyer. Africa 1914: slideplayer.com Colonies: Issued 1921, Day of Remembrance of our Colonies Poster: steamcommunity. com The Togo Coat of Arms: vector images.com

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THExAFRICAN FRONT

GERMANY’S FOUR COLONIES - INDEXED BELOW

A list of the Events on the African Front is given below.

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     In fact, the seizure of German colonial possessions began in September 1914, when Japan, together with Australia and New Zealand, took over Germany’s island colonies in the Pacific ocean (first on the list), but, as we shall see, the invasion of Germany’s African colonies was not far behind:

To go back to the Dateline, click HERE

     As we shall see, following the outbreak of the war, Togoland (West Africa) was the first to fall, in just a matter of days. Kamerun (in the same area), was seized within a matter of months. South West Africa was to take a little longer, achieved by the forces of its neighbour, the Union of South Africa. However, in the east, a joint British-South African campaign in German East Africa met with serious reverses during 1914, and it was to take the Allies four years to secure its final surrender!