German attempts to colonise the Somali Coast

German colonial efforts on the Somali coast were pursued from 1885 to 1890. Representatives of the German East Africa Company signed friendship and protection treaties with local rulers in the coastal cities of Somalia in 1885 and 1886 with the aim of acquiring areas north of Wituland. In 1888 and 1890, respectively, the project, which overlapped with British and Italian claims, was abandoned.[1]

Areas of Somali coast labeled as property of German East Africa, 1887

Background and strategy

Cities of importance on the 1800s Somali coast were Mogadishu, Kismayo, Warsheikh, Merca and Barawe. They were primarily trading cities, as agriculture was hardly possible in the immediate vicinity due to the region's arid climate[2] These port cities were under the rule of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The Somali sultans in the hinterland tried to exploit the help of German colonialists for their resistance against Zanzibar, while Germany's rival colonial power Great Britain initially supported Zanzibar's efforts to expand. The British protectorate established in 1884 over the Northern Somali Coast in turn, troubled the Majerteen Sultans in present-day Puntland.[3] The African researcher and later consul Gerhard Rohlfs recommended German acquisitions on the Somali coast from 1882 in order to establish trade relations inland.

References
  1. Deutsche Kolonialbestrebungen an der Somaliküste https://globalhistory.de › deutschland
  2. Andreas Birken: Das Sultanat Zanzibar im 19. Jahrhundert. Stuttgart 1971, S. 155.
  3. Rolf Herzog: Reaktion einiger Somalistämme auf frühe Kolonialbestrebungen. 1975/77 (PDF; 997 kB)


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