African theatre of World War I

Quick Facts: Who was African theatre of World War I?

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African theatre of World War I

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Military campaigns and resistance movements across German colonies during World War I.

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Origins & Early Life

The African theatre of the First World War comprises campaigns in North Africa instigated by the German and Ottoman empires, local rebellions against European colonial rule and Allied campaigns against the German colonies of Kamerun, Togoland, German South West Africa, and German East Africa. The campaigns were fought by German Schutztruppe, local resistance movements and forces of the British Empire, France, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal. German colonies in Africa had been acquired in the 1880s and were not well defended. They were enclosed by territories controlled by Britain, France, Belgium and Portugal. Colonial military forces in Africa were relatively small, poorly equipped and had been created to maintain internal order, rather than conduct military operations against other colonial forces.

Career & Major Achievements

The Berlin Conference of 1884 had provided for European colonies in Africa to be neutral if war broke out in Europe; in 1914 none of the European powers had plans to challenge their opponents for control of overseas colonies. When news of the outbreak of war reached European colonialists in Africa, it was met by little of the enthusiasm seen in the capital cities of the states which maintained colonies. An editorial in the East African Standard on 22 August argued that Europeans in Africa should not fight each other but instead collaborate to maintain the repression of the indigenous population. War was against the interest of the white colonialists because they were small in number, many of the European conquests were recent, unstable and operated through existing local structures of power; the organisation of African economic potential for European profit had only recently begun. In Britain, an Offensive sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence was appointed on 5 August and established a principle that command of the seas was to be ensured and that objectives were considered only if they could be attained with local forces and if the objective assisted the priority of maintaining British sea communications, as British Army garrisons abroad were returned to Europe in an "Imperial Concentration".

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Attacks on German coaling stations and wireless stations were considered to be important to clear the seas of Imperial German Navy commerce raiders. The objectives were at Luderitz Bay, Windhoek, Duala and Dar-es-Salaam in Africa and a German wireless station in Togoland, next to the British colony of Gold Coast in the Gulf of Guinea, which were considered vulnerable to attack by local or allied forces and in the Far East, which led to the Siege of Tsingtao. Attempts were made by the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire to influence conditions in the French colonies by intriguing with the potentates who had been ousted by the French. Spanish authorities in the region informally tolerated the distribution of propaganda and money but thwarted a German plot to smuggle 5,000 rifles and 500,000 bullets through Spain. The Teskilat-i Mahsusa maintained several agents in North Africa but had only two in Morocco.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1884: 1884 Milestone — The Berlin Conference of 1884 had provided for European colonies in Africa to be neutral if war broke out in Europe; in 1914 none of the European powers had plans to challenge their opponents for control of overseas colonies.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: African theatre of World War I

True or False: “The Berlin Conference of 1884 ensured that European powers would actively challenge each other for control of African colonies once World War I began.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): The conference stipulated that the colonies should remain neutral if war broke out in Europe, and initially, no power planned to contest colonial control.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alexander Belyaev — Historical peer (Born in 1884) (1884): Pioneering Soviet science fiction writer, known as 'Russia's Jules Verne'
• Alexander Bustamante — Historical peer (Born in 1884) (1884): Pioneering Jamaican politician, labor leader, and first Prime Minister of independent Jamaica.
• Abdul-Karim Qasim — Historical peer (Born in 1914) (1914): Iraqi military officer who led the country as Prime Minister from 1958 to 1963.
• Adolph Green — Historical peer (Born in 1914) (1914): American lyricist and playwright known for his long-running, witty partnership with Betty Comden.

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