History of West Africa 1918-1939








Stamps issued for Togo
by the German Postal Administration


Stamps overprinted.
Togo, Anglo-French Occupation



German Protectorate, 1884-1914/1919



After disputes between British and German merchants (1883-1884), German Reichskommissar GUSTAV NACHTIGAL in 1884 obtained a treaty from local chiefs; a German PROTECTORATE was proclaimed, which received international recognition at the BERLIN CONFERENCE of 1884/1885. An expedition into the interior was undertaken, slavery outlawed. The seat of administration was first at BAGIDA (until 1886), then SEBBE, since 1897 LOME. The colony was named TOGOLAND until 1905, Togo from 1905 onward. Until 1891, Togoland was placed under the administration of Kamerun; since 1891, it was a separate colony.
In treaties with France (1897) and Britain (1899, 1904) the borders of Togo were fixed.
Togo, the only German colonial possession not to be subsidized, develops slower than Germany's other colonies. In 1900 the LOME PIER was constructed, permitting bigger ships to dock. In 1905 the railway line Lome-Anecho was opened, in 1907 the line Lome-Palime.
In 1912, the population was about 1,000,000, of whom about 400 were whites.
When World War I broke out in 1914, the administration of Togo declared neutrality. the recognition of which was refused by the Entente powers. Togo surrenders conditionally in August 1914; the German residents were, in violation of the conditions of surrender, expropriated, interned and deported to France. According to a secret Anglo-French memorandum, in 1916 Togo was partitioned.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Togo, from Infoplease
Togo, from Deutsche Schutzgebiete in German; and from Traditionsverband, timeline in German
German Colonial Architecture in Togo, from unesco.org
Links to Togolese History, from Looksmart
Encyclopedic description of Togo's Philatelic History, from Sandafayre's Atlas
German Colonial rchitecture in Togo, from UNESCO
DOCUMENTS Togoland in 1885, from Perry Castaneda Library, Map Coll., UTexas
Map of the Gold Coast, 1896, has Dagombaland (N.GC/Togo) as "neutral territory"
Documents on German Imperialism 1884-1918, from partner-site PSM-Data; numerous documents on Togo, especially under Kolonialatlas (Atlas German Colonies)
Map of 1912, from Deutsche Schutzgebiete
Map of Togo 1919/1920, from Deutsche Schutzgebiete
Wilhelm von Puttkamer, Der gegenwärtige Stand der Eisenbahnbauten in unseren Kolonien (Süssenrotters Illustrierter Kolonial-Kalender 1912), posted on the web by Rado Jadu (in German)
Küstenmarsch in Togo, from "Togo unter Deutscher Flagge", 1909, posted by Rado Jadu
Else Meyer, Sommerfrische in Togo, from "Süssenrotts Illustrierter Kolonial-Kalender" 1912, posted by Rado Jadu
Deutsches Kolonial Lexikon 1920, click Recherche, O, Ostafrika; has numerous other articles on the colony; site in German
Documents on Germany's Colonies, web editions and links, posted by psm-data
Article Togo, from Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1888-1890 edition, in German
REFERENCE Article : Togo, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 p.1012 [G]
Article : Togoland, in : Statesman's Year Book 1895 pp.568-569, 1898 pp.566-567, 1901 pp.651-652, 1905 p.722 [G]
Article : Togoland, in : International Year Book 1898 pp.776-777 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on August 31st 2007

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