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The German Pacific Colonies |
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From the mid 1850s German traders began to take an interest in the Pacific South Seas. By 1884 they had started to make territorial claims. The German Pacific empire was never big in terms of landmass, population or wealth but it covered a large expanse of the Pacific Ocean from New Guinea, the Solomons, Marshalls, Carolines, Marianas in the West all the way to Samoa in the East. This gave German ships coming from the East Asian fleet's base at Tsingtao useful coaling stations and some limited radio contact across the Ocean. This radio coverage was still in the process of completion when the First World War broke out. The German Empire in the Pacific was divided into two colonies; German New Guinea (including the Marshalls, Carolines and smaller islands) and German Samoa. German New Guinea The German New Guinea Company was formed in 1880 and in 1884 it raised the German flag over the North Eastern part of Papua New Guinea (which was then "Kaiser-Wilhelmsland") and what is still called the Bismarck Archipelago- consisting of modern New Britain and New Ireland, which were known as New Pomerania ("Neu Pommern") and New Mecklenburg ("Neu Mecklenburg"), respectively. Other islands were soon added to the colony; the Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands and Palau in 1885, three of the Solomon Islands in 1886 (of which only Bougainville was retained after 1899), Nauru in 1888 and finally the the Marianas in 1899. In 1899 administration of the the colony was transferred from the German New Guinea Company to the German colonial office. New Guinea was largely a peaceful colony exporting mainly coconut products and supporting scientific explorations of the islands and their uncharted interiors. After Germany's defeat in the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 stripped Germany of all her colonies and overseas possessions. Kaiser-Wilhelmsland and the Bismarck Archipelago (the bulk of of German New Guinea) was awarded to Australia, the phosphate rich island of Nauru became British (under joint rule from Britain, Australia and New Zealand) and the islands North of the equator went to Japan. Campaigns in German New Guinea The Sokehs Rebellion 1910 Overseas Deployment of the New Guinea Polizeitruppe The
first of these was during the Maji-Maji Rebellion in 1905 when the
governor of German East Africa, von Götzen sent a telegram to governor Hahl in New Guinea asking if
it would be possible to send reinforcements as it was becoming increasingly
difficult for him to recruit reliable new askaris within German East Africa. In
January 1906, about 150 Polizeitruppe
soldiers from the Buka people of Bougainville in the Solomons were shipped to
German East Africa. During their initial training on arrival under the command
of Leutnant Phillip Correck they were deemed unfit for military service
partially due to their small physiques and partially due to their susceptibility
to Malaria and other local diseases. They were employed only on garrison duties
and saw no action. Within a few months they were sent back to New Guinea. The second occasion was during the Mau A Pule unrest in Samoa in 1908-11 when about 100 New Guinea Polizeitruppe soldiers were dispatched there as a precautionary measure. The unrest was resolved peacefully before the Polizeitruppe saw any action. The First World War in German New Guinea 1914 Recommended External Link - The Australian Official History of the War in the Pacific at the Australian War Memorial Website The only place worthy or capable of
resistance was the radio station adjacent to Rabaul on the Gazelle Peninsula in
New Pomerania.
There were about 240 Polizeitruppe soldiers available for its defence at Rabaul and nearby Herbertshöhe (now known as Kokopo),
approximately half of which were new recruits still in
training. These were led by two German army officers assigned to police management
functions and a handful of German Polizeitruppe Officers and NCOs. They, along with
about 50 German reservists, comprised the town’s defensive capability. The
Australians invaded on 11th September 1914. Their force was about 3,000 strong
and was supported by naval artillery. After fighting involving casualties on
both sides the Germans surrendered the following day. A formal surrender ceremony was conducted on 21st
September 1914. While most Germans accepted the surrender, some
did not. One small band of
Germans and Polizeitruppe soldiers under Hauptman Herman Detzner who had been part of
an
expedition to explore the interior of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland when war broke out, escaped into the
jungle interior of the island and evaded capture until after the 1918 armistice. Other small groups of
Germans escaped into neighbouring neutral
Dutch New Guinea, where they were interned
for the duration of the war. The other islands of the German colony of New Guinea that lay North of the
equator such as the Carolines, the Marshalls, the Marianas and Palau were all
seized without resistance by the Japanese navy in 1914. Forces in German New Guinea
Police When the Colonial Ministry in Berlin finally relieved the German New Guinea Company of its governmental responsibilities in 1899, it also assumed responsibility for police. As the new Administration gradually opened District Offices around the colony, a full time police troop was assigned to each. Members were initially subordinate to District Officers and accompanied them on patrol, undertook punishment expeditions, operated lock ups and even carried mail on occasion. They did not, however, constitute a reliable fighting force. Later, expatriate police sergeants were recruited and they then assumed direct command of the various detachments. However, they answered to their respective District Officers as no overall police command existed. In addition to these local police, a police expeditionary force of about 120 locally recruited police troops was formed in 1911 (after the Sokehs Rebellion exposed the difficulties of mobilising men from different District Offices). These police were better trained and were intended to respond to any future rebellion. They we commanded by a regular German army officer seconded from his home regiment. When the First World War broke out they were on an expedition to explore uncharted territory on the interior of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland. By the time news of the war reached them, the colony had already surrendered. The total 1914 peacetime strength of the
Polizeitruppe (including those on various islands and the Expeditionary Force) was
two German officers, 17 German NCOs and about 670 locally
recruited police soldiers.
Schutztruppe and Army Navy German New Guinea also had her own non-military ships, separate from the
Imperial navy. These vessels came under the control of the colonial governors
and were officered by Germans with locally recruited crews. They were not
intended for military use although they could be used to ferry supplies and
troops in times of war. Reservists German Samoa There had been German trading stations, coconut plantations and other commercial interests in Samoa since the 1850's. German influence in the area grew with a consulate and increasing naval presence in the 1880's. After negotiations with Britain and the USA, the Samoan Islands of Upolu and Sawai were recognised as a German protectorate in 1899. The people of Samoa were largely peaceful, there were no major rebellions, and as a result German rule was less harsh there than in the African colonies. The main export of Samoa was coconuts and coconut oil but it was also a useful naval base for Germany in the Pacific. After Germany's defeat in the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 stripped Germany of all her colonies and overseas possessions. German Samoa was awarded to New Zealand. Campaigns in German Samoa The Battle of Vailele 1888 The Mau A Pule Rebellion 1908-11 The First World War in German Samoa 1914 Forces in German Samoa Police
Ceremonial Guards Navy and other troops |
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