Colonies of Germany: the history of territorial expansion

Germanic lands since the 16th century have tirelessly sought to dominate Europe. For this they had to compete with such powers as England, France, Spain and the Russian Empire. Each of these states owned its own colonies around the world, which gave huge advantages. Colonies of Germany appeared much later than other countries.

The reason for this was the geographical position, the scatteredness of German lands and other external factors.

The first colonies

Until the 18th century, the German people did not have a national state. Legally, most of the territories of the so-called Germanic world (the lands inhabited by the Germans) were part of the Holy Roman Empire and subordinated to the emperor. But de facto the central power was very weak, each principality had a great autonomy and itself established the orders of local self-government. Under such conditions it was practically impossible to colonize other lands, which required enormous resources and efforts. Therefore, the first German colony turned out to be "donated".

King of Spain, which was also part of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles borrowed a huge amount by the standards of that time from the banking houses of the state of Brandenburg. As a precaution and actually pledge, Charles gave the Germans his colony - Venezuela. In Germany, this land became known as Klein-Venedig. The Germans appointed their governors and managed the distribution of resources. Spain also exempted traders from the duty on salt.

Problems

The first experiment was very unsuccessful. The German henchmen on the ground practically did not deal with organizational issues, they were only interested in gain. Therefore, each was engaged in robbery and rapid increase in his own state. Nobody wanted to see the prospect of developing a new land, building cities or creating at least primitive social institutions. Mostly the German colonialists were engaged in the slave trade and the extraction of resources. The Spanish king was told that the governors of the settlements were pursuing an inappropriate policy, but Karl could not act decisively, since he still owed the Augsburgs. But German lawlessness caused active resistance from the Spanish settlers and Indians.

A series of uprisings, as well as the general decline of Lesser Venice, forced Karl to take possession of the Germans.

New colonies

After this incident, the German colonies received competent managers. However, the lack of resources in one way or another affected the volume of land, so the main territorial acquisitions received from other empires. By the beginning of the 19th century, it was rather difficult to obtain land, because there were hundreds of intergovernmental treaties that divided zones of influence between already existing metropolises. The former colonies of Germany received wide autonomy.

But to the coming to power of Otto von Bismarck, the German colonies already existed. These were small lands in Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. In their majority they were obtained as a result of cooperation with other European countries. Many are bought or rented for money.

Colonies of Germany before the First World War

The beginning of the reign of the "iron" chancellor was marked by a departure from colonial policy. Bismarck saw this as a huge threat to Germany, since there was very little unexplored land, and empires increased their holdings, Germany's colonies could become a stumbling block to Britain, France and Russia. The policy of Bismarck was based on peaceful relations with other countries. And the economic benefits from the colonies were very doubtful, so it was decided to abandon them altogether. Although some private individuals did nevertheless colonize near Africa. The colonies of Germany were mainly in the center of the continent.

After Bismarck's departure from the post of Chancellor in Germany, the issue of colonies was again raised. Wilhelm II promised a state protectorate to all the colonialists. This has somewhat stimulated the process, especially in Africa and Asia. This trend was observed until the outbreak of the war. For the whole 4 years practically the entire economy of Germany worked exclusively for the front. In such conditions, funding and stimulation of the colonies were impossible. And after the defeat in the war and the Treaty of Versailles, the Allies divided among themselves all the colonies of Germany. The 20th century finally deprived the German lands of the status of the metropolis.