PLACES IN THE SUN

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 113, 8 November 1918, Page 10

PLACES IN THE SUN

GERMANY'S LOST COLONIES

NOT A VESTIGE LEJi"T.

A RECORD OF VANISHED HOPE.

At the outbreak of war, Germany had the following oversea possessions :— In i. Africa : 1. South-w'dst . Africa, 322,450 square miles , bordering upon the Union of South Africa an th« 6outh, Ilechuanaliiud on the east, and Portuguese Angola on the north. 2. The Cameroons (1915130 square miles) lying between Nigeria,, the Soudan, and French Equatorial Africa. 3. Togolaiid (33,700 f^uare miles) west of Nigeria. 4. German East Africa (384,----318 square miles) surrounded by British East Africa :on the • north, the Belgian Congo on the; west, and Rhodesia and Portuguese East Africa on the south. In the -Pacific : 1. The northern part of the eastern half of New Guinea (70,----000 square miles) with the outlying ■ islands of the Bismarck Archipelago. 2. The Ladrcne< or Marianne, Caroline, and Marshall Archipelagoes (about 500 square miles) lying north and northeast of New Guinea-- '3. Part of Samoa (1000 square miles). : ' In Asia. V A small "concession" at Kiao Ohau (300 square miles) on the coast, of ShaiiHJng, leased for 99' years from the Chinese, but turned into an apparently permanent stronghold by the fortification of Tsingtau. These colonies formed the skeleton of a "future empire of much greater cohesion, and in Africa Germany hoped to establish a solid belt of colonial territory extending aojoss the Continent, by the acquisition of the Belgian Congo. Outside Africa her colonies must be regarded as chiefly valuable as naval bases. Nowhere had the Germans shown any genius for the colonisation of the acquired territories in the true sense, and their efforts were chiefly notable for their senseless brutajity. ■ To-day not a vestige of the late German colonies is in German hands. -. j On 29th August, the .first force despatched from New Zealand landed in Samoa and Took possession. 'German New Guinea, or Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, was occupied by an Australian : force at the end of September without serious opposition, and a branch force, after some warm fighting seized the Bismarck''archipelago. Early in October the Japanese took poosession of the chief islands of the Caroline,.Ladrone, and Marshall groups , and .. Germany' 3 footholds in the Pacific were all gone. The fortress at Tsingtau enabled tho German pied-a-terre in Asia to be , stoutly defended," and its capture was quite a serious operation. A Japanese ultimatum sent on 15th August demanded that the German warships (mostly small vessels) should be withdrawn from Chinese and Japanese ■waters and the whole Kiaochau given up to Japan for eventual return to China. No reply was sent, and Japan declared war on 23rd August. Austria Hungary, had a cruiser at Kiaochau, declared war on Japan two days later. On the 27th the Japanese blockaded the harbour, and operating 1' from adjacent islands which had been seiz:d proceeded to the attack. On 18th Septeember troops were landed, and a small British force joined them on the 24th. The fortress finally surrendered oh 7th November,'' 1914.' '^The Austrian cruiser and 1 most of the' Getmari warships, had been sunk by the attackers or by their own crews. ,The first of the African colonies to fall was Togoland, which •surrendered on August,'l9l4. The-cap-ital of the Cameroons, Duala, was occupied by Allied troops in September,but the German forces continued guerilla warfare stubbornly and it was not till February, 1916, that the conquest was completed. ' ' German Sooth-west Africa snecumbed. to a brilliant campaign conducted by General Botha, who by the end ofDe... cember, 1914, had stamped out the South African rebellion and was free to take a'share in the work of the Empire. Preliminary movements, including the occupation of Luderitz Bay, had begun as early as September, but bad been, suspended by the rebellion. Walfisch Bay. was taken on. Xmag Day, and Swakopmund oh the 14th January, 1915. The Germans' position was, hopeless, but they compelled the South, African forces to carry out the campaign to the bitter end. On 12th May Windhuk, the capital,, was entered, and finally the Gorman forces surrendered unconditionally on 9th July, 1915. . The East' African campaign was even more drawn out. Whereas in South-west Africa the chief natural difficulties were those of the desert aieas, in .East Africa the jungle provided the greatest obstacles. The influence of these-ele-ments can be realised when it is stated that South-west Africa and German East Africa are both larger than New South; Wales. The East' African • campaign gradually eliminated the strong German forces which wpre onginnlly organised, but the dwindling remnants though herded about, the vast country, refused to surrender. It was December, I^l7, before the conquest could be re- ■ garded as complete, and for mauy months after that the British forces were still hunting the German troops about the fringes of the colony.