Togoland

Togo, 1884–1914. Draft, not yet reviewed

Togoland, officially the Togoland Protectorate, was a protectorate of the German Empire in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana. In February 1884, the chiefs of the town of Aného were abducted by German soldiers and forced to sign a treaty of protection. On 5 July 1884 Nachtigal signed a treaty with the local chief, Mlapa III, in which he declared a German protectorate over a stretch of territory along the Slave Coast on the Bight of Benin. At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the colony was invaded and quickly overrun by British and French forces during the Togoland campaign and placed under military rule.

Seat of power: Lomé

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• The colony's infrastructure was developed to one of the highest levels in Africa.
• Because it was one of Germany's two self-supporting colonies, Togoland was acknowledged as a small but treasured possession.
• The local population was forced to work, cultivate cotton, coffee, and cocoa and pay taxes. A railway and the port of Lomé were built for export of agricultural products.

Picture

Aného was the capital of German Togoland from 1885 to 1887.

Image: Francois Jake Green (Fanfan), CC BY 3.0, file

Sources

• Togoland (Wikipedia)
• Togoland (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.