The Society for German Colonization (german: Gesellschaft für Deutsche Kolonisation, GfdK) was founded on 28 March 1884 in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Carl Peters Carl Peters (27 September 1856 – 10 September 1918), was a German colonial ruler, explorer, politician and author and a major promoter of the establishment of the German colony of East Africa (part of the modern republic Tanzania). Life H ...

. Its goal was to accumulate capital for the acquisition of German

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 a ...

territories in overseas countries.

History

Peters had just returned from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he lived with his well-off uncle Carl Engel and studied the principles of

European colonialism The historical phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Turks, and the Arabs. Colonialism in the modern sense began w ...

. In the autumn of 1884 he proceeded, together with his friends Karl Ludwig Jühlke and Count

Joachim von Pfeil Count Joachim von Pfeil (1857-1924) was a German explorer and colonist in Africa and New Guinea. Biography He was born at Neurode, in Silesia, studied at the Gymnasium (school), gymnasium of Göttingen. In 1873, he went to Colony of Natal, Natal. ...

, to the

Sultanate of Zanzibar The Sultanate of Zanzibar ( sw, Usultani wa Zanzibar, ar, سلطنة زنجبار , translit=Sulṭanat Zanjībār), also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate, was a state controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, in place between 1856 and 1964. The Su ...

. Peters had initially planned to prospect for gold in Southern African

Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provinces, * Mashonaland West * Mashonaland Central * Mashonaland East * Harare The Zimbabwean capital of Harare, a province unto itself, lies entirel ...

(in present-day

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

) but discovered that the territory had already been claimed by the British. Peters' Zanzibar expedition was a nuisance to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

government of Chancellor Bismarck, focused on good relations with both Sultan Barghash bin Said 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 post ...

, and the German consul

Gerhard Rohlfs Gerhard Rohlfs (July 14, 1892 – September 12, 1986) was a German linguist. He taught Romance languages and literature at the universities of Tübingen and Munich. He was described as an "archeologist of words". Biography Rohlfs was born in B ...

made that clear to him. Peters, Jühlke and von Pfeil, suspiciously eyed by the British envoy John Kirk, thereupon embarked to the East African

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania M ...

mainland. During their journey in November and December 1884, Peters concluded several "treaties of protection" (''Schutzverträge'') with tribal chiefs in the Useguha, Ussagara,

Nguru Nguru may refer to: * Pila Nguru, an aboriginal people of Australia * Nguru (flute), a small Māori nose flute from New Zealand * Nguru, Nigeria, a town and LGA in Yobe State * Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, northern Nigeria * Nguru Lake, a lake which f ...

, and Ukami regions as a "Representative of German Colonization". The provisions, issued in German, conferred all rights to exploit the territories on the ''Gesellschaft für Deutsche Kolonisation'' in exchange for some inexpensive gifts. Returning to Germany in February 1885, Peters demanded the implementation of an official protection status for the areas. Bismarck meanwhile had developed his own colonial strategies and from 15 November 1884 hosted the

Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, also known as the Congo Conference (, ) or West Africa Conference (, ), regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergen ...

that fuelled the "

Scramble for Africa The Scramble for Africa, also called the Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, was the invasion, annexation, division, and colonization of most of Africa by seven Western European powers during a short period known as New Imperialism ( ...

". Though the chancellor still expressed serious doubts regarding Peters' land acquisitions, he finally gave in with respect to the expansion of the

Belgian colonial empire Belgium controlled several territories and concessions during the colonial era, principally the Belgian Congo (modern DRC) from 1908 to 1960 and Ruanda-Urundi (modern Rwanda and Burundi) from 1922 to 1962. It also had small concessions in Gu ...

in Congo while the British were occupied with

Mahdist War The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

in Sudan. One day after the end of the Berlin Conference, on 27 February 1885, the GfdK obtained an imperial charter issued by Emperor

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...

. On 2 April 1885 Peters formed the

German East Africa Company The German East Africa Company (german: Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft, abbreviated DOAG) was a chartered colonial organization which brought about the establishment of German East Africa, a territory which eventually comprised the areas ...

(''Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft'', DOAG), modelled on the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

. He was aware that the imperial charter marked the beginning of a large-scale seizure of land to create reality, which soon resulted in an official note of protest by Sultan Barghash bin Said. Bismarck found himself constrained to send a squadron of Imperial Navy gunboats under Admiral

Eduard von Knorr Ernst Wilhelm Eduard von Knorr (8 March 1840 – 17 February 1920) was a German admiral of the Kaiserliche Marine who helped establish the German colonial empire. Life Born in Saarlouis, Rhenish Prussia, Knorr entered the Prussian Navy i ...

to the port of Zanzibar, whereafter the sultan relented and on 20 December 1885 signed a "treaty of friendship" recognising the acquisitions of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mo ...

. However, Peters' ongoing impetuous advance caused further unrest, culminating in the

Abushiri Revolt The Abushiri revolt, also known as the slave trader revolt (german: Sklavenhändlerrevolte), was an insurrection in 1888–1889 by the Arab and Swahili population of the areas of the coast of East Africa that were granted, under protest, to Ge ...

of 1888/89. The DOAG superseded the ''Gesellschaft für Deutsche Kolonisation'' which was merged in 1887 with the into the

German Colonial Society The German Colonial Society (german: Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft) (DKG) was a German organisation formed on 19 December 1887 to promote German colonialism. The Society was formed through the merger of the (; established in 1882 in Frankfurt) an ...

(''Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft'').

Bibliography

External links

Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon (1920)

{{Authority control Chartered companies History of German East Africa Organizations of the German Empire 1884 establishments in Germany 1880s establishments in German East Africa Defunct organisations based in Germany de:Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft fr:Société pour la colonisation allemande pl:Niemiecka Spółka Wschodnioafrykańska

History

See also

Bibliography

External links