What potential issues did German have in Africa?

Question- What potential issues did German have in Africa?

Answer- In comparison with other countries, Germany invested in colonies rather late. Nevertheless, discussions of acquiring colonies had gone on since the 16th century. In fact, from 1683-1717, the region of Brandenburg did maintain the colony Groß-Friedrichsburg, in today’s Ghana. But when it became too expensive it was sold to Holland. For the small German states, the financial risk involved in maintaining colonies was too high. The late start of German colonization has to be seen in relation with the late nation building process which was only came to fruition in 1871. The first German chancellor of the unified empire, Otto von Bismarck, was opposed to having colonies due to the possible financial risk. He concentrated on domestic politics in order to build a strong state. Later, when he changed his attitude, he might have been influenced by popular opinion that conceived of a strong nation state with colonies. Bismarck might also have wanted to shift public attention from domestic to foreign policies. Germany finally attained colonies in two waves. The first was in 1884/1885 after the Berlin Conference when European states divided Africa in a way that can still be seen in the rather straight borders of today’s Africa. Germany then acquired German South-West Africa (today Namibia), Cameroon, Togo, German East Africa (today Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi) and parts of Papua-New Guinea. The second wave of acquisitions took place in 1898/99 after the power shift in 1888 as the more imperialistic Kaiser Wilhelm II took over. At this time, Germany also acquired colonies throughout the Pacific Islands. This paper will focus only on the African colonies, without intending to create a hierarchy of colonial importance. By 1914, the area of the German colonies was four and a half times bigger than Germany. Due to the Versailles Treaty, Germany lost all its colonies after the First World War. Apart from Namibia, where half of the settlers could stay (about 7,000), all Germans had to leave the former colonies.It should be noted that Namibia, or formerly German South-West Africa, has to be seen as an exception to the other German colonies because it was the only African colony where Germans settled in relatively large numbers, totally about 15,000 by 1914. This also happened to a lesser degree in German East Africa. It is mostly due to the fact that West Africa, including Cameroon and Togo, was seen as “white men’s grave”  since many Europeans died as a result of the regional diseases and the harsh climate. These colonies were mainly used as plantation colonies and for trade.  While there is much more to the details of the history of German colonization that a paper of this length cannot address, the authors find it relevant for the current discussions to include a brief note about the violence, revolts, and otherwise inhumane practices that occurred during this time.

the years following the end of world war i were a period of deep social tensions, aggrevated by high wartime inflation. food prices more than doubled between 1915 and 1920; clothing costs more than tripled. a steel strike that began in chicago in 1919 became much more than a simple dispute between labor and management. the steel strike of 1919 became the focal point for profound social anxieties, especially fears of bolshevism.

organized labor had grown in strength during the course of the war. many unions won recognition and the 12-hour workday was abolished. an 8-hour days was instituted on war contract work and by 1919, half the country's workers had a 48-hour work week.

the war's end, however, was accompanied by labor turmoil, as labor demanded union recognition, shorter hours, and raises exceeding the inflation rate. over 4 million workers--one fifth of the nation's workforce--participated in strikes in 1919, including 365,000 steelworkers and 400,000 miners. the number of striking workers would not be matched until the depression year of 1937.

the year began with a general strike in seattle. police offers in boston went on strike, touching off several days of rioting and crime. but the most tumultuous strike took place in the steel industry. then some 350,000 steelworkers in 24 separate craft union went on strike as part of a drive by the american federation of labor to unionize the industry. from management's perspective, the steel strike represented the handiwork of radicals and professional labor agitators. the steel industry's leaders regarded the strike as a radical conspiracy to get the company to pay a 12-hour wage for eight hours' work. at a time when communists were seizing power in hungary and were staging a revolt in germany, and workers in italy were seizing factories, some industrialists feared that the steel strike was the first step toward overturning the industrial system.

the strike ended with the complete defeat of the unions. from labor's perspective, the corporations had triumphed through espionage, blacklists, and the denial of freedom of speech and assembly and through the complete unwillingness to recognize the right of collective bargaining with the workers' representatives.

during the 1920s, many of labor's gains during world war i and the progressive era were rolled back. membership in labor unions fell from 5 million to 3 million. the us supreme court outlawed picketing, overturned national child labor laws, and abolished minimum wage laws for women.