Germany joins the “Scramble for Africa”
Germany came to the imperial movement relatively late, taking the decision to acquire overseas colonies only in 1884. Indeed, Bismarck had to be persuaded of the advantages of a colonial empire, as he was initially more interested in maintaining his European position and not antagonizing the early movers in the colonial race. Seeking not only to secure raw materials and markets but even offload dissatisfied Germans through colonial emigration, merchants and entrepreneurs joined forces to promote the acquisition of Germany’s overseas empire.
The Society for German Colonization, founded in Berlin on 28 March 1884, was especially interested in colonial acquisitions in East Africa. An expedition sent to the region returned with “protection treaties” signed by a dozen tribal chiefs who could neither read nor understand the texts. Despite this progress, Bismarck was still reluctant to get involved. It was only the threat of Belgian expansion in the region that led him to issue an imperial “letter of protection” to safeguard German interests there. A spate of fresh “protection treaties” established the largest and most populous German colony: German East Africa covering the areas of present-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
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