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University Microfilms 300 North ZM b Road Ann Aibor, Michigan 43106 A Xerox Education Company 72-27,006 4I 6ÂNZ, Albert Harding, 1938- THE ROLE OF THE IMPERIAL GERMAN NAVY IN COLONIAL AFFAIRS. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1972 History, modern Univeisity Microfilms. A W%%Company, Ann Arbor, bfichigan Copyright by Albert Harding Ganz © 1972 >■ THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED ■ THE ROLE OF TOE IMPERIAL ŒRMAN NAVY IN COLONIAL AFFAIRS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Albert Harding Ganz, B.A., M.A. ****** The Ohio State University 1972 Approved by A d v i s e r f Department of History PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company PREFACE The maxim "trade follows the flag" was a commonly accepted one in the latter decades of the Nineteenth Century. That there was a close relationship between commercial and colonial activity and the direction of naval policy was generally assumed, and in Germany the Flottenverein (Navy League) eind the Rolonialverein (Colonial Society) supported each other's goals in advocating imperialistic expansion. Warships required coaling stations, and mercantile interests needed raw materials and markets for their goods; the interdependence was obvious. But the story of the German Navy's role in colonial affairs is not so simple. The majority of Germany's African and Asian colonies were precipitously acquired by Chancellor Bismarck in 1884, at a time when the little German Navy was headed by Leo von Caprivi, cin A m ^ general who had no interest in colonial ventures. Then too, Genocui steam-sail warships, sailing ships with auxiliary steam propulsion, were not yet dependent on coaling stations. When the Navy did become interested in overseas bases in the 1980s, because of the technological transition from sail to steam and because of the appeal of a commerce- ii raiding strategy of cruiser-warfare, it discovered that none of Germany*s existing colonies fulfilled its logis­ tical and strategic requirements. Indeed, colonial unrest only made even greater demands on ships and men than anticipated, and when the Navy was c a l l e d on to participate in colonial affairs by administering the Schutztruppen (colonial forces), it showed extreme reluctance to do so. The cruiser-warfare strategy utilizing overseas bases was never really implanented, primarily because the Navy had no single head after 1889. In that year Navy administration was divided into three equal departments, each usually in conflict with the others. A coherent strategy and ship-building program was only introduced with the accession of Admiral Tirpitz to the Reichs- marineamt (Reich Navy Office) in 1897. He was determined to concentrate on a battle fleet in home waters, and in general opposed further overseas commitments. The warships that dramatized German political policy in Samoa, South Africa, and Morocco were not under his operational control. The striking exception to the Navy's attitude toward overseas enterprises was its acquisition and administration of Kiaochow in China. If this acquisition was incompatible with Tirpitz*s battle fleet policy, it nonetheless served a valuable function in its own right. Kiaochow was also iii unique in that it was the only one of Geirmany's possessions abroad that was administered by the military establishment. There were intrinsic differences between this protectorate and Germany's other colonies; yet the storm of controversy that arose concerning the civilian-administered territories left Kiaochow unscathed, and signified the unique achieve­ ments of the German Navy in operating beyond its accustomed spAere. Host of the material for this subject is found in the personal papers and the German naval archives located in the Bnndesarchiv-Militârarchiv, Freiburg im Breisgau, and I would particularly like to thank Oberarchivrat Dr. Sandhofer for his helpful comments and suggestions. Additional related material is found in the Bundesarchiv itself in Koblenz. Then too, I would like to gratefully acknowledge the helpful guidance of my adviser. Professor Andreas Dorpalen, and finally the assistance and encourage­ ment of my wife Diane. IV VITA 12 Decenü)er 1938 . B o m - New York City, New York 1961 ........ B.A., Wittenberg University Springfield, Ohio 1963 .............M.A., Coltnnbia University, New York City, New York 1967-69 ...... Teaching Assistant, Department of History, The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 1969 .............NDEA Fellowship Title IV Research in the Bnndesarchiv- Militârarchiv, Freiburg, and the Bundesarchiv, Koblenz 1969-71 ...... Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State Universil^, Columbus, Ohio 1971-72 ......... Instructor, The Ohio State University, Newark, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History 19th Century Europe. Professor Andreas Dorpalen Military History. Professor Harry Coles Russian History. Professor Charles Morley American Revolution. Professor Bradley Chapin t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s Page PREFACE ........................................ ii VITA ........................................... V LIST OF MAPS .................................... vi Chapter I. GERMANY ACQUIRES AN EMPIRE ................ 1 II. NAVAL SERVICE IN THE E M P I R E ................ 34 III. THE STÜTZPÜNKT CONCEPT: A STILLBORN STRATEGY. 59 IV. THE SEIZURE OF K I A O C H O W ................... 76 V. THE ADMINISTRATION OF KIAOCHOW .............. 135 VI. THE VAGARIES OF WELTPOLITIK.................. 172 VII. ADMIRAL TRUPPEL'S KIAOCHOW .................. 207 VIII. ECLIPSE OF EMPIRE ........................... 253 APPENDIX 1 288 II. ........................................289 III.............................................. 290 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................... 291 VI LIST OF MAPS Map Page 1. Africa in 1914 ............................ 2 2. Pacific in 1 9 1 4 .......................... 77 3. Shantung and Kiaochow ................... 136 ViX Steam ~saii- R ugate "JLjsipzig" B u x u 181T a y Light Cruiser ”Emden" Buxlt 1908 VXXi CHAPTER I GERMANY ACQUIRES AN EMPIRE On 24 April 1884, German Consul General Lippert in Capetown, South Africa, received a telegram from Chancellor Otto von Bismarck; According to statements of Mr. Ldderitz [British] colonial authorities doubt as to his acquisitions north of Orange river being entitled to German protection. You will declare officially that he and his establish­ ments are under protection of the Empire.^ The territory in question was a barren strip of land along the southwest African coast, acquired from Vcurious native chiefs by an enterprising Bremen merchant, F.A.E. (Franz Adolph Eduard) Lüderitz. Its economic value was somewhat less than obvious. For mile after monotonous mile the coastline stretched, depressing in its featureless uni­ formity, forbidding in its uninhabitable appearance. Seamen knew it by the ominous name "skeleton coast," for the wrecks of hapless ships were plainly seen, their bones ^BA-K Kl. Erw. 340/1. BA-K will be cited for Bundesarchiv-Koblenz, which has the Nachlâsse of various colonial officials and documents of Foreign Office depart­ ments concerned with colonial affairs. The records of the later Reichskolonialamt itself are located in the Deutsches Zentralarchiv, Potsdam, D.D.R., and are not currently available to American researchers. Map 1. Africa in 1914 LlBXA. > tw ASIA '■ AN5LO- &1A.CB0 E&XP^IAN TeSmeA SUIkAX Kukod# rrcct»wTt ' CCltMOpMk) -rSoMAU BslgcIa k B r . RTonura («Mlle EAST (LAND AFRICA 1 S&lbmo _ l*«w« £5*"H*> A/_ HMnbouw n«retS«AMRi 9ami-V«> . GERMAN ak«ola l_ } EAST AFRICA (V ot O • /RHO&ESIA M««anW|^ >-» G E R M A X 'x > J/ } SOUTHWEST <MADA- AFRICA \ /^ p UNION **T^ KiU.<MARf9»fstAr J AFRICA South IK 1 9 1 4 •A f r i Scole 1 *. 40.000,000 • soo Aeo . («a Ç1» H » Mtle» bop« I I, I ,.:. ,,1 : V S ‘ | ‘ -‘ o 409 oco »Loo laoo Kilos Rc.ilrocids i*»+#*M FrUs. rond» — •+'»■ 3 bleaching white in the hot sand. Any survivors almost always perished in the quicksands or in the Namib desert stretching inland. This desert wasteland itself, and the Kalahari desert farther on, was sparsely populated by the primitive Hottentot-Bushmen, a nomadic people many of whom lived in holes in the ground and communicated in an adumbrated language of clicks.