The Treaty of Berlin (1889) (also known as the Samoan Treaty) was the concluding document of the conference at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

in 1889 on

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. The conference was proposed by German foreign minister Count Herbert von Bismarck (son of chancellor

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

) to reconvene the adjourned Washington conference on Samoa of 1887. Herbert von Bismarck invited delegations from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

to Berlin in April 1889. The treaty launched the

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

in Samoa between the United States, Germany and Great Britain. It was designed to guarantee the preservation of rights of the three powers as secured in separate treaties with the Samoan régime in 1878 and 1879. Further, the independence and neutrality of the Samoan government was ensured, public finance was reorganized and the Samoan king elected in 1881 was restored. The treaty established a court and the position of a "Chief Justice of Samoa" who would be appointed by all three powers. If they could not reach an agreement on the appointment, the position would be appointed by the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...

. In an effort to strengthen the judiciary an American/European chief justice position was created, and the municipality of Apia was reestablished, chaired by a council president. The treaty was signed at Berlin by the three powers on 14 June 1889. It was ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 3, 1890. Ratifications were exchanged on 12 April 1890 and assented to by the Samoan government on 19 April 1890, in effect four governments were party to the Berlin Act. The condominium ended in political shambles after ten years with the ratification of the Tripartite Convention of 1899 and the resulting partition of the Samoan archipelago.

External links

WHKMLA: History of Samoa, 1830-1899

References

{{reflist, 2 Berlin (1889) Berlin (1889) History of Samoa European colonisation in Oceania 1889 treaties Berlin (1889) British colonisation of Oceania

See also

Further reading

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References