COLONIZATION
Beginning in 1884, Germany built the third-largest colonial empire, after the British and French. The African countries Germany colonized included parts of present-day Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Namibia, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, as well as northeastern New Guinea, Samoa, and numerous Micronesian islands. At the beginning of WWI (1914–1918), Germany lost most of its colonies. After Germany was defeated in the First World War, the 1919 Treaty of Versailles officially dissolved the German colonial empire. Each colony became a League of Nations without sovereignty.
The German colonization period in Africa was short compared to the British and French colonial empires. However, as Peter Che Nfon, an activist at Initiative Change of Perspective e.V. in Berlin, said, the brutality was not proportionate to the length of the colonization. He added, “It’s like comparing two evils.”
During ESJF’s 2023 decolonization study tour, ESJF educators learned how people in German colonies actively resisted colonization and dehumanization while reclaiming their humanity and dignity. Their fight became a solid foundation to continue the growing decolonization movement in Germany today. Many activists and educators we met on this study tour closely connected the sexual violence their ancestors were forced to endure under German colonization with the Japanese military sexual slavery system, also known as the “comfort women” system, that numerous women and girls in Asia were forced to endure. As a matter of fact, they consider the Peace Girl statue a common link and unifying symbol of all women and girls impacted by colonialism and a source of strength for decolonization activism.
The lessons below allow students to:
The German colonization period in Africa was short compared to the British and French colonial empires. However, as Peter Che Nfon, an activist at Initiative Change of Perspective e.V. in Berlin, said, the brutality was not proportionate to the length of the colonization. He added, “It’s like comparing two evils.”
During ESJF’s 2023 decolonization study tour, ESJF educators learned how people in German colonies actively resisted colonization and dehumanization while reclaiming their humanity and dignity. Their fight became a solid foundation to continue the growing decolonization movement in Germany today. Many activists and educators we met on this study tour closely connected the sexual violence their ancestors were forced to endure under German colonization with the Japanese military sexual slavery system, also known as the “comfort women” system, that numerous women and girls in Asia were forced to endure. As a matter of fact, they consider the Peace Girl statue a common link and unifying symbol of all women and girls impacted by colonialism and a source of strength for decolonization activism.
The lessons below allow students to:
- Gain a better understanding of how African men and women resisted German colonization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Understand methods of resistance used by indigenous people forced or coerced into living in human zoos.
- How Germans, both the government and business elite, used propaganda to convince the German populace that imperialism was a necessary good.