![Petersland east africa 1885](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Petersland_east_africa_1885.png)
The Society for German Colonization (german: Gesellschaft für Deutsche Kolonisation, GfdK) was founded on 28 March 1884 in
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 constitue ...
by
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 au ...
territories in overseas countries.
History
Peters had just returned from
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where he lived with his well-off uncle
Carl Engel
Carl Engel (July 21, 1883 – May 6, 1944) was a France, French-born United States, American pianist, composer, musicologist and publisher from Paris. He was also president of G. Schirmer, Inc., a writer on music for The Musical Quarterly, a ...
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 Turkish people, Turks, and the Arabs.
Colonialism in the mode ...
. In the autumn of 1884 he proceeded, together with his friends
Karl Ludwig Jühlke
Karl Ludwig Jühlke (6 September 1856 - 1 December 1886) was a German explorer. He was a leading member of the team which in 1885 set the groundwork for creating the colony of German East Africa. His killing in Kismayo at the end of 1886 by a ...
and Count
Joachim von Pfeil, 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 Sul ...
. 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 entirely ...
(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
**Ge ...
government of Chancellor
Bismarck, focused on good relations with both Sultan
Barghash bin Said
Sayyid Barghash bin Said al-Busaidi,(1836 – 26 March 1888) ( ar, برغش بن سعيد البوسعيد), was an Omani Sultan and the son of Said bin Sultan, was the second Sultan of Zanzibar. Barghash ruled Zanzibar from 7 October 1870 to 26 ...
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 esta ...
, 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 Main ...
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 whic ...
, 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 emergence ...
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 colonisation of Africa, colonization of most of Africa by seven Western Europe, Western European powers during a ...
". 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 Gua ...
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 (''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 Southea ...
. 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 Mozam ...
. 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 G ...
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'').
See also
*
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 Mozam ...
*
German colonial empire
The German colonial empire (german: Deutsches Kolonialreich) constituted the overseas colonies, dependencies and territories of the German Empire. Unified in the early 1870s, the chancellor of this time period was Otto von Bismarck. Short-li ...
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