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3 the German “Scramble for Africa” (1882–1909)

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3 the German “Scramble for Africa” (1882–1909) 3 The German “Scramble for Africa” (1882–1909) Following the unification of Germany in 1871, it had no clear political interest in colonizing any parts of North Africa or Asia. However, it was involved in North Africa through political, diplomatic influence and economic engagement. This was unusual, given the focus on African and Asian territories reflected in the pol- icies of most other European countries. This differing focus in comparison with other European countries, why and how Germany’s intervention in the regions were perceived and understood as strategic or economic interests is a question for historical research. This chapter is dedicated to the period called the “Scramble for Africa”¹ and will try to answer that question with a focus on the relationships between the Ottoman province of Tripoli in North Africa and Germany between 1882 and 1909. During this time, the province of Tripoli began to play a greater role in German writings and in its Weltpolitik. From 1884, Germany began to colonize some territories in Africa. The entrance of Germany into the Scramble for Africa and the overlapping interests of the European powers and their colo- nial ambitions in Africa resulted in heightened conflict between internally and between countries in Europe, in Africa and in the world. These conflicts led Otto von Bismarck, the German Chancellor, to organize the second Berlin Conference in 1884. Bismarck’s motivation for this conference was mainly to settle conflicts between European countries and Africa. The African continent was “opened” at this conference to give access to major river basins and resources. Access to Africa was also facilitated by drawing new colonial borders in the continent and creating new countries controlled as colonial territories. With this conference on November 15, 1884, Berlin put itself at the center of the European colonial enterprise. The letter of invitation sent to fourteen countries explained the main goals of this conference and included a treaty for new colonial occupations.2 The decisions and agreements signed during this conference had, of course, a huge violent impact on the whole region of North Africa. It has been portrayed as the beginning of European colonization of parts of Africa.3 Some Europeans powers at the time viewed Africa as a single region there to be colonized. Others thought of Africa in a very biased way, as composed only of tribes and ignorant 1 For the use of this expression by famous historians like Thomas Pakenham (born in 1933) and Sebastian Conrad, see Pakenham, Thomas, The Scramble for Africa, 1876–1912, Random House, New York, 1991, 738p; see also Conrad, op.cit. 2 See, for example, Craven, “Between Law and History, pp. 31–59. 3 Conrad, German Colonialism, op.cit. Open Access. © 2021 Suaad Alghafal, published by De Gruy ter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110685015-004 74 The German Scramble for Africa (1882–1909) people ready to be divided.4 This reflected European powers’ appetite and desire to divide Africa into different regions following only their own interests. They did not respect “ethnic” or “tribal” divisions, which in some cases led to areas occu- pied by a single tribe being subjected to two different European powers.5 But what about Germany in this colonial context? One way to answer this question would be to present a survey of European and German travelers and to portray their journeys in the province of Tripoli from the end of the long 19th century. Some of them were driven by their interest in the geography of the region, for example, the mystery of the desert, and they were keen to decipher its symbols. Some others were more driven by political interests. German travelers stressed in their own reports and letters the importance of the province of Tripoli and they included Tripoli as one important element to consider in political deci- sions that Germany’s government could take. German politicians estimated its real economic and political value and decided to open a German consulate in this region. The examination of how figures like C.F. Bläser (also written Blazer) G. Schweinfurt, G. Nachtigal, G. Krause or G. Rohlfs presented their own vision and interesting developments about the vision of North Africa. Bläser, for example, was important for the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. He was a German writer who studied law and political economy. His note and report were pub- lished in a book in 1882.6 It demonstrated explicitly the extreme strategic and economic importance of the province of Tripoli. The book stressed the benefits that could be gained if Germany managed to control it.7 Georg Schweinfurt (1826– 1925), the famous German natural scientist and traveler, presented a comprehen- sive study of this province, especially the city of Tobruk that appeared in 1882. It contained important strategic and geographical information8 and provided an accurate description of the port of Tobruk in terms of depth and ease of move- ment of vessels for both commercial and military reasons. Tobruk was viewed as an important port for Germany because it could be used as a starting point from which to travel further into African regions and to reach the southern Nile 4 Stoecker, German Imperialism in Africa, op.cit., p. 38. 5 Ibid. 6 C.F. Bläser, Deutschlands Interesse an der Erwerbung und Colonisation der nordafrikanischen Küsten Tunis und Tripolis in seiner grossen Bedeutung zumal hinsichtlich der handelspolitischen und gewerblichen Beziehungen, Bohne, Berlin, 1882. The title can be translated as “Germany‘s interests in the acquisition and colonization of North African coasts”. For more information on this book, see ʿImād al-Dīn Ghānim, “al-Maṣāliḥ al-ʿalmānīyya fī Lībiyā”, p. 38. 7 Ghānim, “al-Maṣāliḥ al-ʿalmānīyya fī Lībiyā”, p. 38. 8 Mūrī, al-Raḥḥāla wa al-kashif al-jughrāfī fī Lībiyā, p. 100. The German Scramble for Africa (1882–1909) 75 bank. From there they could move freely between the central regions of Africa. Gerhard Rohlfs, a German scientific traveler, published many accounts of his African journeys.9 He participated in the French expedition in Kabiliya, where massacres occurred. He focused on collecting information to show the strategic importance of the province of Tripoli,10 arguing that German control of the city of Tripoli and its province would make it easier for Germany to control Sudan.11 German politicians in the 19th century concentrated their attention on two aspects with regard to this place. The first was the study of its economic and geo-political importance. The second focused on studying the social life of the African pop- ulation, the language, the customs and traditions of this part of Africa, seen as Roman and Greek territories with monuments.12 This is why many associations for promoting the exploration of interior parts of Africa encouraged travel to the continent, but the main reason behind this was the German interest in the prov- ince of Tripoli as a potential bridgehead toward Africa. The importance of North Africa to individual expeditions illustrates how much the exploration of this con- tinent was to a great extent a transnational endeavor often financed by geograph- ical associations, but also by businessmen. Writers started to highlight the eco- nomic and strategic importance of this Ottoman province as a gate to the interior parts of Africa.13 The European scramble for Africa began between 1840 and 1870. The Industrial Revolution in Europe might be considered the actual beginning of the European competition over Africa. New industries had emerged. A signif- icant increase in production resulted in an urgent need to search for external markets for those products. And the competition was also on about who would have first access to raw materials, whether agricultural or metal, to support their industries.14 The competition of European powers increased. Britain occupied the region of East Africa and the Niger River, while France was active in North Africa, particularly in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco and Central Africa. France tried to extend its influence across the desert to western Congo and West Africa. Mean- while, Italy occupied Ethiopia and Abyssinia and the province of Tripoli. From 1884, Germany began to occupy parts of Africa in a political sense and estab- lished colonies in West Africa, Cameroon and Togo (1884) and in South West Africa, parts of Namibia (1884), and East Africa (now Burundi, Ruanda and Tan- 9 Gerhard Rohlfs’ book (1881) was translated into Italian language in 1882; Imād al-Dīn Ghānim, markaz jihād al-lībīyyīn li-l-dirāsāt al-tārīkhiyya, Ṭarābulis, 2006, p. 55. 10 Rohlfs, Reise durch Marokko, Rulfis, Riḥla ilā al-Kufrā, p. 55. 11 Ibid. 12 Ghānim wa Shlūtir, “al-Qunṣuliyya al-ʿalmānīyya fī Ṭarābulis”, p. 4. 13 Ziyāda, Lībiyā fī al-ʾuṣūr al-ḥadīthā, p. 59. 14 Conrad, German Colonialism, p. 17. 76 The German Scramble for Africa (1882–1909) zania (1885). Togo and Cameroon were German colonies owing to a small group of investors and traders before 1884. In this year, they wanted to have ‘protection’ from the African tribal leaders, as they put it. They asked their government to work to achieve this goal. Tribal leaders themselves wanted agreements with the German government. This prompted the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to send a delegation headed by Gustav Nachtigal. This German doctor and trav- eler succeeded in signing an agreement with them in 1884 to ensure the rights and security of the German traders.15 Britain benefitted from its large military forces, which enabled it to stabilize its colonial territory from the 18th century onward.16 British power dominated East Africa including the ports, land and sea lanes there.
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