A central goal of the German colonial policy was as closed a colonial empire as possible in Central Africa by land bridges between the colonies East Africa, southwest Africa and Cameroon.

In the GermanBritish negotiations for the allocation of the Portuguese and Belgian Africa possessions there were first concrete plans. In July 1913 the partners agreed on the requirement of Germany on Angola, except the border area to Nordrhodesien, as well as on Sao and Principe, while England stressed Mozambique up to the Lugera. A suggestion of the undersecretary of state of the office for realm colonial William Heinrich Solf on cutting the Belgian Congo, with Katanga and the extreme northeast at England, the region north the Congo at France, as well as a broad connection between Angola and German East Africa to the realm, failed in the long run because of the British resistance. Requirements against indebted Portugal to intersperse appeared evenly much easier, than against economically prosperierende Belgium.

A further suggestion of Solf, which sketched a concrete central Africa project in August and September 1914, was the "“distribution of the African colonies of France, Belgium and Portugal"”, which finally included realm chancellors Bethmann Hollweg into its September program. The new closed centralAfrican colonial empire of Germany should cover the following areas: Angola, the north half of Mozambique, the Belgian Congo, south with the copper pits Katangas as most valuable Einzelobjekt, French equatorial Africa up to the height of the Chad lake, and the area the Niger elbow to Timbuktu. This project of the creation of a "“connected centralAfrican colonial empire"” remained, in some ranges still strongly extended, from now on in principle a component of the official German war goals.

In the spring 1918 Solf even the demands of the German colonial association agrees. After these demands should become German: the "“river basins Senegal and the Niger and south of these up to the sea"” (thus with Nigeria), apart from the old demands in Central Africa; - the rule by the cape Verde up to the Oranje in the west, Nordrhodesien, north Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar, the Comoros and Djibouti in the east. At bases for the preservation of the future world realm the admiral staff demanded the Azores, Dakar with Senegambien in May 1917 as hinterland (in another place also Cape Verdian and Kanari islands as well as larva Irish Republican Army), Valona or the right to use for Cattaro or Alexandrette, Osttimor, Neukaledonien, Yap and Tahiti.

Altogether the "“central Africa project"” and the in the German war goal politics played however only a subordinated role, believed one it nevertheless by a victory in Europe as to be reached automatically. On the other hand the goal central Africa in the further run the war of liberally gesinnten politicians more and more than spare and a diverson goal for the nation, away by wild demands for annex ion in Europe, used. Colonies were for Germany rather Aufputz and expression of its (world) power. The German concepts for a closed central Africa expected the visible proof of the German world power from their implementation and counted that central Africa would attain the meaning for Germany, the India for England had. But heavy industry and banks had already before the war little interest in "“colonial empires, which lay in the moon"”, shown and pushed on the European expansion.

Articles in category "German central Africa"

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