German East Africa Company
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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 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 ...
, a territory which eventually comprised the areas of modern
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
,
Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
, and
Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
. The Company originated in 1884 as the ( Society for German Colonisation) with the aim of trading in Africa. The German
protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...
of
Wituland Wituland (also Witu, Vitu, Witu Protectorate or Swahililand) was a territory of approximately in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya. Hist ...
(within modern
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
) originated as a separate German sphere of influence in 1885. In April of the same year, the company leased the coastal strip opposite
Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
from Sultan
Khalifa bin Said Sayyid Khalifa I bin Said al-Busaidi, GCMG, (or Chalîfe) (1852 – 13 February 1890) ( ar, خليفة بن سعيد البوسعيد) was the third Sultan of Zanzibar. He ruled Zanzibar from 26 March 1888 to 13 February 1890 and was succeed ...
for 50 years. Its attempt to take over the administration led to a general revolt along the coast of what is now Tanzania. The company could only hold
Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
and
Bagamoyo Bagamoyo, is a historic coastal town founded at the end of the 18th century, though it is an extension of a much older (8th century) Swahili settlement, Kaole. It was chosen as the capital of German East Africa by the German colonial administra ...
with the help of the German navy. In 1889 it had to request the assistance of the German government to put down the rebellion. In 1891, after it became apparent that the company could not handle its dominions, it sold out to the German government, which began to rule
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 ...
directly. The company initially continued to operate its many activities, including mines, plantations, railways, banking, minting, etc., before it consented to relinquish them to the German colonial administration and other organizations. It subsequently operated as a land company within the German territory until
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
occupied German East Africa during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The featured a stylised representation of the constellation of the
Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...
.


Founding

One of the reasons for the formation of the German East Africa Company was politics occurring inside Germany. According to the '' Kolonialpolitischer Führer'', German
Imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
was conceived in the 1850s when the growth of the economy due to
industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
caused German businessmen to look beyond Germany for business prospects. Later in the century, a newly unified Germany had to take a part in the
exploration Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
and expansion overseas if it were to be among the world's leading
imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...
powers. Being a large manufacturing country that both bought and sold goods, it had made sure its stake in
resources Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their a ...
was guarded.
Gustav Schmoller Gustav Friedrich (after 1908: von) Schmoller (; 24 June 1838 – 27 June 1917) was the leader of the "younger" German historical school of economics. He was a leading '' Sozialpolitiker'' (more derisively, '' Kathedersozialist'', "Socialist of t ...
, an
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
, had a desire for a large
naval fleet A fleet or naval fleet is a large formation of warships – the largest formation in any navy – controlled by one leader. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land. Purpose In the modern sense, fleets are usually, but not ne ...
which was linked to this very idea of expanding the empire. Twenty million people were estimated to have moved to Germany from other countries in the 1900s, and the
colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
would be a good place to hold some of the population. The leaders of the country made an effort to show the German people how the industry and its workers prospered from German imperialism. The
wealth Wealth is the abundance of Value (economics), valuable financial assets or property, physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for financial transaction, transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the ...
that could be gained from Africa sparked interest from Germany. The African colonies were where
natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...
and
consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...
s could be found. Hunting wild animals was a popular sport at the turn of the century, and Africa had this to offer. Products available from Africa were important
imports An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...
to Germany, and one view of the era was that the most important resource of Africa was the
native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...
people. At the end of the 19th century, the
Eastern Arc Mountains The Eastern Arc Mountains is a chain of mountains found in Kenya and Tanzania. The chain runs from northeast to southwest, with the Taita Hills being in Kenya and the other ranges being in Tanzania. They are delimited on the southwest by the fau ...
became important areas of research. Reginald Moreau and
Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with ...
wrote important publications on the area's plant and animal life.


Operations

Mining took place in all three countries the German East African Company occupied. “From 13,000 to 16,000 were engaged in railway construction, and 3,000 were in mining.” They were exporting many different types of goods, such as coffee, rubber, to Europe. In addition, they were building roads and railways by felling trees to connect the three countries where their company was operating.


People involved in the company


Carl Peters

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 ...
was born on September 27, 1856, in Hanover, Germany. Peters was awarded scholarships to attend college, where he studied history, philosophy, and law, and became a successful journalist. After some time, Peters became interested in colonization, and he then changed his focus in life to become one of the principal founders of the German East Africa Company. He made significant contributions towards the company, which made him a widely recognized explorer. For example, Peters convinced the
indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of East Africa to give Germany control of their land, allowing Germany to have a
colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...
in East Africa. He was able to do this by impressing the natives by firing guns, wearing impressive clothing, and flying flags. After the Germans took control, Peters became the administrator of the region until his dismissal because of his brutal treatment of the natives. He was known by the natives as ''Mkono wa Damu'', meaning “the man with blood on his hands”. He was put on trial and found guilty, although the decision was criticized by the German press. His ill-treatment of the indigenous people earned him an end to his otherwise successful career, and because of the extreme negative response, he lost most of his prestige — there are still streets named after him, but he is neglected by most historians.


Hermann von Wissmann

Hermann von Wissmann Hermann von Wissmann may refer to: * Hermann Wissmann (1853–1905), German explorer and administrator in Africa ** ''Hermann von Wissmann'' (steamship), a German steamer ** Hermann von Wissmann (ship, 1940), became in 1950 the Belgian Kamina * He ...
was born on September 4, 1853, in Frankfurt, Germany. He joined the Army, and after just four years, he became a
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
. Wissmann was later involved in a
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...
for which he was sentenced to jail, but this was not all a negative, because he met an African explorer with whom he traveled to Africa. While in Africa with the explorer, Wissmann became associated with the German East Africa Company, and he obtained high recognition from the leaders in that region. Eventually, an
uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
of the indigenous people against the German occupation occurred, and Wissmann, with his extensive background in the military, became essential to fight the rebellion. He was extremely successful in his military operations, and in a little time, he was able to silence the rebels and revive German control. After the rebellion, Wissmann went on to colonize the rest of the German colony until he returned to Germany. Contrary to Carl Peters, Wissmann reportedly treated the indigenous with respect: he insisted on fairness, respect for customs, and use of Swahili (the native language). Some consider him “Germany’s Greatest African”, and because of that, several monuments were erected to commemorate his accomplishments.


Julius von Soden

Julius von Soden Julius Freiherr von Soden (5 February 1846 – 2 February 1921) was a German colonial administrator and politician. He was the Governor of the colonies of Kamerun and German East Africa, and later became ''Chef de Cabinet'' and Foreign Minister of ...
is not as highly recognized as other people involved in the German East Africa Company, but he did bring an important item to East Africa — schooling. Soden was a governor of German East Africa, and in 1892, he established the first school. Soden felt that a school for boys, free of religious influences, would greatly help the German presence in Africa. Instead of forcing the native people to work or taking over their land, Soden brought a positive to this underdeveloped area to help it grow.


Eduard von Liebert

Similar to Soden,
Eduard von Liebert Eduard von Liebert, or Eduard Wilhelm Hans Liebert (born 16 April 1850 in Rendsburg; died 14 November 1934 in Tscheidt) was a German military officer, colonial administrator and statesman who served in World War I, and a Governor of German East ...
also helped develop East Africa's
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
. Under the command of Liebert, East Africa was able to develop hospitals, social facilities, railroads, and more. The railroads, however, were arguably the most important of these. East Africa was able to produce a large surplus of
agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
products, and now these goods could be shipped to markets. At the time, railroads were necessary to
industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
growth, so with the German contributions, the countries of East Africa had a head start industrialising over nearby regions. This large project took many years to finish; it was completed in 1914 – 29 years after the beginning of the German colonization.


Tom von Prince

Tom von Prince Tom von Prince (9 January 1866 – 4 November 1914) was a German East Africa Company military officer and plantation owner in German East Africa. He most notably, as a captain in the Schutztruppe, led the first action by German forces in East Afr ...
was born on January 9, 1866, to the British police governor of the British island colony of Mauritius and a German mother. With the death of his father, the mother returned to Germany (Silesia), and entered Tom in an academy for young Prussian male aristocrats. Since Europe was quiet and offered no military advancement, he finally joined Wissmann's ''Kaiserliche Schutztruppe'' (called the ''Wissmann Truppe'') and liked seeing himself as a hero. By 1890, Tom von Prince was involved in German East Africa as a lieutenant attempting to control 'the Street of Caravans' under control of the ''Wissmann Truppe''. Since the Hehe, under Mquawa, had only attacked and harassed the Germans, leading to the loss of Commander
Emil von Zelewski Emil von Zelewski was a German officer of Kashubian descent who served as commander of the Schutztruppe for German East Africa. In the Hehe Revolt he was killed in action during the . Early years Emil von Zelewski was born in Bendargau in th ...
and many of his men, Tom Prince was sent far inland to Lake Nyassa, with a civilian representative of the Antislavery Committee, Wynecken. Here he met Wissmann, who lent him Bauer, the Wissmann's safari leader. The three, Prince, Wynecken, and Bauer, were to encircle the Hehe under Mqwawa, with the help of less than 20 Atongas and a few hundred Sangu, enemy of the Hehe.


Others

While it is important to go into detail about the more significant and accomplished people involved in the company, it is also necessary to realize that a handful of people could not run the company on their own. Many governors — other than the ones listed above — allowed it to run smoothly throughout the German occupation: Friedrich Radbod von Schele,
Gustav Adolf von Götzen Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen (12 May 1866 – 2 December 1910) was a German colonizer and Governor of German East Africa. He came to Rwanda in 1894 becoming the second European to enter the territory, since Oscar Baumann’s brief expedition in ...
, Georg Albrecht von Rechenberg, and
Heinrich Schnee Heinrich Albert Schnee (Albert Hermann Heinrich Schnee; 4 February 1871 – 23 June 1949) was a German lawyer, colonial civil servant, politician, writer, and association official. He served as the last Governor of German East Africa. Early l ...
. As well as governors, many other people helped operate the colony: soldiers who fought to allow Germany to have a colony in Africa, and all of the other people who worked there on a day-to-day basis. Although most of the credit for founding the company and colony is given to a select number of people, none of it would be possible without the collective efforts of everyone in the company.


See also

* Emil Grallert *
Wituland Wituland (also Witu, Vitu, Witu Protectorate or Swahililand) was a territory of approximately in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya. Hist ...
* ''
Reichskolonialbund The Reichskolonialbund (RKB) ( en, Reich Colonial League) was a collective body that absorbed all German colonial organisations during the time of the Third Reich. It was led by Franz Ritter von Epp. The Reichskolonialbund was active between 193 ...
''


Notes


References


Maji Maji Rebellion
* Beck, Paul; Stern, Nick & Switzer, John. "THE COLONIAL WARS OF IMPERIAL GERMANY." ''Sudan Special XXII'', no. 1 (1984) * Collins, Robert O. ''Historical Problems of Imperial Africa''. Princeton: Markus Wiener, 1994. * Hargreaves, John D. ''Decolonization in Africa''. 2nd ed. London: Longman, 1996. * * Knispel, Max. '"Vom Maji-Maji-Aufstand in DOA". ''Kolonial Post'', II (1934). * Oliver, Roland, & Atmore, Anthony. ''Africa Since 1800''. New York: Cambridge, 1917. * Turner, Victor, ed. ''Colonialism in Africa 1870-1960''. Vol. 3. New York: Cambridge, 1971. * Wesseling, H. L. ''Divide and Rule''. London: Praeger, 1996.


External links

* {{Authority control * Chartered companies Defunct companies of Germany 1880s in German East Africa 1890s in German East Africa 1900s in German East Africa 1910s in German East Africa German companies established in 1885 Companies disestablished in 1920 1880s establishments in German East Africa 1885 establishments in Africa 1885 establishments in the German colonial empire 1920 disestablishments in Africa 1920 disestablishments in the German colonial empire German East Africa Schutztruppe