| Primary
Source |
| Imperialism |
Colonial Policy | [P|S|M] |
Reichstagsakten 1888/89, 7. Lp., Vol. 121, Attachment 41: Collection of Documents pertaining the Uprising in East Africa, Report from the Imperial consul general on
Zanzibar
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Zanzibar, August 26th 1888
arrived in Berlin September 21st 1888
Bagamoyo is the most important coastal place in the German sphere of interest,
and in order to place the additional emphasis of official takeover of the
administration by the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft to hoisting the flag,
Herr Vohsen, the general representative here, sailed over on the 15th of this
month, in the company of an emissary of His Majesty the Sultan. On the 16th the
ceremony took place without any disturbance in the presence of the population
and in the presence of the commander and crew of S.M.S. "Carola". The
wali was willing to remain in the service of the Gesellschaft, in general he was
benevolent and obedient and objected only to the attempt to take down the
Sultan's flag from his house. Herr Vohsen explicitly forbade him to continue
waving the flag, as his house was no more the seat of the administration, but
the house of the Gesellschaft took over that function; but he would refrain
from, on the first day, taking drastic actions against an otherwise benevolent
official. On the evening of the 16th he mentioned the matter in a talk with me
and asked me to help settle the matter with the Sultan. In an audience on the
17th I informed His Highness of the satisfactory course of the hoisting of the
flag in Bagamoyo and asked him to give me a written order addressed to the Wali
of Bagamoyo instructing him to take down the flag, because the red flag waving
at two different locations in town might cause confusion. Seyyid Khalifa agreed;
it was agreed that I should apply in writing, and the answer would be delivered
immediately. My note in this matter was delivered to the palace immediately, but
remained unresponded, and in the morning of August 18th I was given the oral
report, that he was considering the matter, in short, excuses were made.
For one, the moral impression that indigenous officials continued in their
disobedience toward their superiors by waving the flag could no longer be
tolerated, also reports came in from the British consul general concerning the
conditions in Bagamoyo which demanded immediate interference. The Indian
inhabitants had informed Col. Evan-Smith that armed natives would flock into
town and there would be reasons to fear that they would plunder the shops and
set the houses on fire. The Indians therefore requested a British warship to be
immediately dispatched, for the protection of their lives and property. I
regarded this description of imminent danger as exaggerated, as no reports had
come in from the district chief; but my British colleague evaluated the (p.397)
situation as serious and asked me to quickly dispatch a naval vessel to
Bagamoyo, and at my requisition the squadron's senior officer ordered the S.M.S.
"Möwe" to depart.
Captain Strauch volunteered to follow on the morning of the 21st with S.M.S.
"Leipzig", which I gratefully accepted. The presence of the ships
should also be used to remove the flag from the wali's house, as the Indian's
petition had made clear that the wali had used the confusion among the Indian
merchants in his interest to show the necessity of leaving him in his old
position and insignia of rank.
When the "Möwe" had left on the morning of August 21st and the
"Leipzig" was ready to depart, the Sultan gave in and showed his
preparedness to actively support the Gesellschaft in the removal of difficulties
and to sign all desired orders for the Wali of Bagamoyo. When the matter was
discussed, it became apparent, that His Highness was interested in keeping the
flag at its present place, and in order to oblige him, I suggested to organize
the matter by Him ordering the wali to immediately move out of his house and
transfer it to the Gesellschaft, so that it could establish its district office
there, and could hoist the company flag next to that of the Sultan. Seyyid
Khalifa agreed to the arrangement, which, as I knew, met the interests of the
Gesellschaft; the respective order for the wali was written immediately and I
promised to send it with the "Leipzig" to Bagamoyo.
Further I promised to Seyyif Khalifa to place men at the disposal of the
Gesellschaft in Zanzibar in order to form an armed force, and General Mathews
was asked, in my presence, to support the Gesellschaft in this undertaking.
Already on August 22nd the S.M.S. Leipzig returned to Zanzibar. The course of
events in Bagamoyo had been the following : the commander of S.M.S. "Möwe"
had landed on the morning of August 21st with a detachment, had found the town
to be quiet, had marched to the house of the wali where the red flag still was
waving. When asked to remove the flag, the wali first refused; when it was
hinted to him that as a Gesellschaft employee he had to obey, he gave up his
resistance and took it down with his own hands. He asked for assistance when it
came to the removal of the flagpost, an assistance which was granted willingly
by a few midshipmen. He took down the flagpole and handed the flag over to the
commander who had the midshipmen present arms on the occasion. The entire affair
unfolded without any use of force or disturbance of peace.
On the afternoon of the 21st the "Leipzig" arrived off Bagamoyo; after
having received the order, the wali moved out of the house, handed it over to
the Gesellschaft and moved into another house in town, rented for him by the
Gesellschaft. The Gesellschaft moved her offices into the former house of the
wali, and both flags were hoisted on it, on the right the Sultan's flag at its
usual place, on the left, a bit lower, the company flag.
After the departure of the "Leipzig", as a precautionary measure the
"Möwe" lay off Bagamoyo for two more days and returned to Zanzibar on
the 23rd of the month. Law and order rules in Bagamoyo, the wali has remained in
the service of the Gesellschaft, and Herr Vohsen believed, on his departure, he
could guarantee that disturbances would not occur. Now it has been left to the
tact ofv the district chief, with the rather limited means of enforcement he
presently has at his disposal, to establish his authority in the area.
Horrendous descriptions of atrocities allegedly committed by the Germans in
Bagamoyo have in the meantime been reported to the Sultan; I have handed in to
him a detailed report on the course of events based on the reports of the
commanders of the naval vessels and explained to him how easily he could have
avoided the interference of the naval vessels if he had shown a little more
cooperation.
signed Michahelles
to His Excellency the Prince von Bismarck
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Umsetzung: GM;
Originaldokument [1]
[2]
translation and English language table of contents
Übersetzung: AG
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