THE LATER HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The red tide of war surged backward and forward over the land in the
’sixties, and deeds of appalling cruelty were perpetrated. The Hereros
fought to secure their independence from the Hottentots, and they
were at length victorious, but a guerilla war again broke out in the
’seventies, and the country was in a state of chronic unsettlement. In
1868 the harassed missionaries connected with the Rhenish Missionary
Society, whose stations were either plundered or destroyed during these
wars, sent an urgent appeal to the British Government for intervention
and requested that the whole of Hereroland should be “declared British
territory, under British protection.” The appeal was backed up by
Bismarck, but the Secretary of State for the Colonies was “unable to
adopt the German views on the subject.” Efforts were made, however, to
restore peace among the tribes by a special commissioner sent up from
the Cape. The matter of annexation was not allowed to rest, and in 1875
the Cape Parliament passed a resolution in favour of the extension
of the limits of the Colony so as to include Walvis Bay and as much
country inland as it was considered expedient to acquire. With a view
to ascertaining the feelings of the native chiefs in Namaqualand and
Damaraland, Mr. W. C. Palgrave was sent on a commission of inquiry. He
was cordially received by the chiefs, with whom he made treaties which
placed the country under British jurisdiction, and he also arranged
that a European magistrate or diplomatic adviser should reside among
the people at Okahandja. The missionaries were in hearty agreement, as
were the German and Swedish traders. Sir Bartle Frere, the Governor
at the Cape, strongly favoured annexation, and urged it upon the Home
Government, but all that they would agree to was the acquisition of
Walvis Bay with some 400 miles of land around it. Formal possession of
this area was taken in 1878. The Guano Islands off the coast, which
had enjoyed an odorous celebrity for some time, had been annexed in
1867. Sir Bartle Frere renewed his representations at a latter time,
but the British Government still adhered to the opinion that it was
inexpedient to encourage any scheme of extension of territory in
South-West Africa.
When war broke out again in 1880 between the Namaquas and the Damaras,
Palgrave was recalled from the country where he had resided for a
time, and Major Musgrave, who had been acting as diplomatic adviser
at Okahandja, was removed to Walvis Bay. This outbreak of hostilities
led to correspondence between the British Government and Germany. In a
memorandum presented to Earl Granville by the German Ambassador it was
stated (and the admission is significant in view of subsequent events)
that “since there could be no question as to an independent proceeding
on the part of Germany for the protection of life and property of its
subjects in those regions,” it was the wish of the German Government
that “the British Government would direct that any measures ordered or
intended for the protection of life and property of English subjects
might be extended likewise to the German missionaries and traders
living there.” This drew from the British Government the admission that
“Her Majesty’s Government could not be responsible for what might take
place outside British territory, which only included Walvis Bay, and a
very small portion of country immediately surrounding it.” That careful
note was taken of this reply is evident from later events.
Meanwhile the Berlin _Geographische Nachrichten_, of November 1879,
had printed an article by Ernst von Weber in which the writer had made
a cogent and powerful plea in favour of a plan for a German Colony
in South Africa, and it is not without significance that, early in
1883, the German Embassy politely inquired of the British Foreign
Office whether British protection would be extended to a factory about
to be established by a Bremen merchant north of the Orange River at
Angra Pequena, intimating that if this could not be done they would
do their best to extend to it the same measure of protection which
they gave to their subjects in remote places, but without any design
to establish a footing in South Africa. This was rather a disturbing
inquiry to Earl Derby; probably he called to mind the reply given to a
previous question, in which a definite statement as to the extent of
British territory had been made, so he immediately communicated with
the Cape Government asking if they had any prospect of undertaking
control of Angra Pequena in the event of the place being declared
British. Unfortunately no reply was forthcoming from the Cape for some
months, and the matter dragged on. But it is evident that Germany was
not idle: one Vogelsang, acting as agent for Herr F. A. E. Luderitz,
the Bremen merchant, landed at Angra Pequena, got into touch with the
German missionary at Bethany and Chief Joseph Frederick, produced
treaty forms, and soon had the satisfaction of annexing some 200 miles
of land around the Bay. In a report of an official visit paid to Angra
Pequena in October 1883, on behalf of the British Government, by
Captain Church, of Her Majesty’s Navy, it is definitely asserted that
“it was through the influence of the Rhenish missionary at Bethany that
Herr Luderitz obtained this extraordinary purchase of coast land.” The
cession is dated 25th August, 1883. So Germany obtained a place in the
African sun.
This action on the part of Luderitz was keenly resented by British
traders, for Captain Sinclair had obtained on behalf of De Pass, Spence
& Co. a cession of the coast territory from Angra Pequena to Baker’s
Cove from the chief of the Bondelswaarts in 1863, and for twenty years
the company had enjoyed undisturbed and undisputed possession of the
area. Luderitz, however, assumed proprietary rights.
Germany now made another move in the game. In November 1883 the British
Foreign Office was asked by the German Ambassador whether Her Majesty’s
Government claimed any rights of sovereignty over Angra Pequena and
adjacent territory. The reply was made that while Great Britain
only laid claim to certain specified areas, any claim to sovereignty
or jurisdiction by a foreign Power would “infringe their legitimate
rights,” since the country north of the Orange River had been viewed as
a kind of commercial dependency of Cape Colony. But this did not deter
Bismarck, who had evidently resolved on a definite course of action.
Accordingly he instructed the German Consul at Cape Town to announce
that Herr Luderitz and his establishments were under the protection of
the German Empire, and the announcement was made on April 25th, 1884.
Then the Cape Government woke up. In the following month the Governor,
Sir Hercules Robinson, telegraphed to the Home Government that
“Ministers have decided to recommend Parliament to undertake control of
the coast-line from the Orange River to Walvis Bay.” Earl Derby also
seems to have been aroused about this time, for in June he announced
that arrangements would be made for giving protection under the
British flag to any persons, German and English, who had duly acquired
concessions or established commercial enterprises on the coast-line. In
the following month the Cape Parliament passed a resolution in favour
of the annexation of the whole coast-line from the Orange River to the
Portuguese frontier; but the matter had been too long delayed--the
prize had been grasped by other hands; for before the Cape resolutions
could reach England a German gunboat had appeared at Angra Pequena,
the German flag had been hoisted, and a German Protectorate formally
proclaimed.
This was an act of state on the part of Germany, for the territory
was vacant in the eye of International Law. Britain had done nothing
to enforce her claims over the territory, though she had ample
justification. So early as 1796 Captain Alexander of the _Star_ sloop
landed at Angra Pequena and “took possession in His Majesty’s name by
hoisting the King’s colours, firing three volleys and turning over the
soil.” Unfortunately, Great Britain had persistently neglected all
opportunities to place the matter beyond reasonable doubt, so there
was nothing left for her but to acquiesce in the German expansion
with the best grace possible, and a reluctant recognition was given
to the German claims, although European Colonial opinion in South
Africa recognised the action of Germany as nothing less than an
unnecessary and unwelcome intrusion. An Anglo-German Commission,
consisting of Sir Sidney Shippard and a German representative, was
appointed to investigate the claims of British subjects who had secured
concessions on the coast in the vicinity of Angra Pequena before the
German occupation and to discuss the interests of the various parties
involved in the annexation. Matters were at length adjusted in a
fairly satisfactory manner. The Report of the Commissioners was never
published, twenty-five copies only being printed, of which twelve were
sent to Berlin, twelve to London, and one was retained by the High
Commissioner for South Africa.
In a statement made to the Reichstag on June 23rd, 1884, Bismarck
said it was the intention of the Government to issue for Angra
Pequena (renamed Luderitz Bay by Herr Luderitz) an Imperial Letter
of protection similar to the Royal Charter granted by England to the
East India Company. When defining his colonial policy at a later
time he affirmed that it was not to found provinces but “mercantile
settlements which would be placed under the protection of the Empire.”
The subsequent history of South-West Africa affords a striking
commentary on what proved to be a characteristic Bismarckian utterance.
Unfortunately, Great Britain took the declaration at its face value.
Angra Pequena was but a starting point for large extensions of
territory, and German eyes were soon turned in the direction of
Damaraland. When rumours of designs on the country reached Cape Town,
Mr. W. C. Palgrave was sent to Walvis Bay to make inquiries and to
learn what measures, if any, should be taken in order to protect
colonial interests and the rights of Her Majesty’s subjects north of
the Orange River. On arriving at Walvis Bay Mr. Palgrave was requested
by Kamaherero to visit him at Okahandja, and there, without inducement
of any kind, the Herero Chief handed the Commissioner a Deed of
Cession of Damaraland dated December 29th, 1884, giving “our whole
country” over to Great Britain. Mr. Palgrave accepted the cession
for transmission to England, but the British Government subsequently
declined the offer and stated that it would have no objection to the
extension of the German Protectorate “inland as far as the 20th degree
of East longitude.” Was not Germany a “friendly Power”? Kamaherero then
appealed to the Aborigines Protection Society, and stated that he had
given his country to the British in 1876 and in 1884, yet the Germans
threatened to seize it and bring war and destruction upon his people.
But no help was forthcoming from Great Britain, and accordingly in the
following year Germany seized the country.
These developments were viewed with considerable pride in Germany, for
the early period of colonisation was characterised by immense national
enthusiasm. The perfervid Pan-Germanists and the sword-rattling
Chauvinists fanned the flame, and for a time the whole nation was
“Colony mad.” No consideration whatever was paid to the fact that the
newly acquired possessions in South-West Africa had long been widely
recognised as British commercial dependencies. Small wonder that the
startled colonists in South Africa rubbed their eyes in amazement at
the displays of German high politics.
Among the events which call for brief notice during this period mention
must be made of a characteristic Boer trek which took place from
the Transvaal into Damaraland in 1873. A party of farmers journeyed
with their families and stock across the waterless wastes of the
Kalahari Desert to seek out a new home. They endured the most horrible
sufferings and their line of march was a line of the graves of their
dead. A relief expedition went up from Cape Town to their assistance
in 1879, and some 300 of them were found in great straits in North
Damaraland. They subsequently trekked into Portuguese territory.
In 1885 W. W. Jordan, a trader, attempted to establish a Republic in
South Ovamboland. He purchased land from a Chief, cut it up into
farms, secured the co-operation of a few other Europeans, established a
Council and named the area Upingtonia in honour of Sir Thomas Upington,
the Cape politician; but in the following year Jordan was murdered by
natives, and the “Republic” came to an end.