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Map of German colonization
history
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
 Print
this Article About
the Author Bibliography/Sources
Below is an map the EHL has
published charting the historic power and influence of the
German nation and ethnicity in the last 500 years and before.
It includes colonial and national expansion both, along with
convenient historical information next to each region, an
EHL exclusive. It does not show the power extent of the Germany
at a specific time, but rather all throughout its history.
If you have any questions, feel free to notify us.
Remember that this map excludes
war conquests like during the World Wars of France,
Denmark, Norway, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Ukraine, Greece,
Slovenia, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
This is a map of the colonial history of the German empire
instead.
Mapping Information &
Extra Notes:
Nations or regions fully
ruled by the German Empire are shown in red,
whereas regions only partially ruled or simply settled/occupied
are shown in blue. For example,
modern-day Kenya was never ruled coherently by Germany nor
the German ethnicity (settlers), but was increasingly occupied
and settled, and is therefore in blue. This map does NOT include
simple trading posts and settlements, as there are far too
many to even chart in a map for our European colonial/imperial
map series.
Other than partial attempts
at colonization/settlement in Venezuela by German bankers
in the 17th century, the vast majority of German world colonization
took place under the ultra-nationalist administration of the
German prince Otto von Bismarck, the founder of the "Second
Reich" (zweites Reich), the first being that of the German
Karl the Great (Charlemagne) and his successors in Germany.
The endeavor was part of Bismarck's "Weltpolitik"
or the need to declare Germany's "place in the sun,"
and not recede behind the world mastery of the British and
French. For the Germans, colonies were much more so administered
for economic, trade, and political purposes; very little ethnic
German settlement actually occurred in the colonies. The German
language was not spread to its colonies, with the exception
of Namibia (where German is spoken only infrequently and typically
only by the small German minority). Namibia was also the site
of one of the worst famines in colonial history. Whereas in
most other colonies suffering was minimized (at least superficially)
in the interests of political stability and maximized profit,
the Germans resorted to direct brutal starvation and massacres
in Namibia under Lothar von Trotha due to a widespread revolt
by the tribes there. Interestingly, few people know of Germany's
colonial empire, even though Germany actually inherited more
formal colonies than Portugal, which is famous for its colonial
presence. After World War I, all of Germany's colonies were
forcibly stripped, and were divided amongst Allied nations
like Japan, USA, and the United Kingdom. Therefore, this map
shows the recipient power of each colony after and during
World War I.
The historical maximum extent
of the unified German nation is shown to depict the full influence
and world power of the German nation and heritage just as
is done with the other nations' maps in our colonization map
series. The extent of Germany does not include that land extent
annexed during wartime, but rather full control of each territory.
Therefore, Germany's rule of France in the German Frankish
period (8th-9th centuries) is omitted, and the period between
the time of German emperor Otto the Great (11th century) and
the 14-Years' War in Prussia in the 15th century is shown
instead. This includes the Bohemian/Moravian vassal, the Holy
"Roman" (German) Empire, the Low Countries, the
Teutonic Order's rule of the Baltic, German Austria, German
Switzerland, and the rule of southern Denmark (Schleswig-Holstein).
Click the below map
for the full-size version! Click on the map to zoom.
If an error has been made,
please notify the EHL Staff.
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ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is a historian
and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have
a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies
(language and history), am presently working for my Masters
in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate.
I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic
identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles
of native European and immigrant minority identities. See
my staff entry for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
The image used as the basis
for the map is widely redistributed and is not protected.
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