View source for German New Guinea

{{Short description|German colony in northeast New Guinea (1884–1914)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{native name|de|Deutsch-Neuguinea}}
| conventional_long_name = German New Guinea
| status                 = Colony of [[German colonial empire|Germany]]
| empire                 = Germany
| life_span              = 1884–1914
| event_start            = [[New Guinea Company|Established]]
| date_start             = 3 November
| year_start             = 1884
| event1                 = [[German–Spanish Treaty (1899)|Direct control established]]
| date_event1            = 12 February 1899
| event2                 = [[Australian occupation of German New Guinea|Australian occupation]]
| date_event2            = 17 September 1914
| event3                 = [[Treaty of Versailles]]
| date_event3            = 28 June 1919
| event4                 = [[Territory of New Guinea|Australian mandate commences]]
| date_event4            = 17 December 1920
| p1                     = Spanish East Indies
| s1                     = South Seas Mandate
| s2                     = British Solomon Islands
| s3                     = History of Nauru#World War I to World War II{{!}}Mandate of Nauru
| s4                     = Territory of New Guinea
| flag_p1                = Navy and coastal fortifications' flag of Catholic King (1785).svg
| flag_s1                = Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg
| flag_s2                = Flag of the Solomon Islands (1906–1947).svg
| flag_s3                = Flag of Australia (converted).svg
| flag_s4                = Flag of the Territory of New Guinea.svg
| image_flag             = Reichskolonialflagge.svg
| flag_type              = Flag
| image_flag2            = 
| alt_flag2              = 
| image_coat             = Wappen Deutsches Reich - Reichsadler 1889.svg
| symbol_type            = [[Coat of arms of the German Empire|Coat of arms]]
| image_map              = German New Guinea (1914; orthographic projection).png
| image_map_caption      = German New Guinea before [[World War I]]
| capital                = [[Finschhafen]] (1884–1891)<br/>[[Madang|Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen]] (1891–1899)<br/> [[Kokopo|Herbertshöhe]] (1899–1910)<br/>[[Rabaul|Simpsonhafen]] (1910–1914)
| common_languages       = [[Standard German|German]] (official), [[Unserdeutsch]], [[Papuan languages]], [[Austronesian Languages]]
| title_leader           = [[German Emperor|Emperor]]
| year_leader1           = 1884–1888
| leader1                = [[Wilhelm I]]
| year_leader2           = 1888
| leader2                = [[Frederick III, German Emperor|Friedrich III]]
| year_leader3           = 1888–1914
| leader3                = [[Wilhelm II]]
| title_representative   = [[Governor of German New Guinea|Governor]]
| year_representative1   = 1884–1887
| representative1        = [[Gustav von Oertzen]]
| year_representative2   = 1901–1914
| representative2        = [[Albert Hahl]]
| stat_year1             = 1912 estimate
| stat_area1             = {{convert|96332.48855634|mi2|km2|0|disp=number}}
| stat_pop1              = 600,000
| era                    = [[German colonial empire|German colonisation]] in the Pacific Ocean
| currency               = [[New Guinean mark]]
| government_type        = <wbr />
}}
{{History of Papua New Guinea}}
[[File:Exceptionally rare 1907 New Guinea passport signed by the governor Albert Hahl.jpg|thumb|Exceptionally rare New Guinea passport]]

'''German New Guinea''' ({{langx|de|Deutsch-Neuguinea}}) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of [[New Guinea]] and several nearby island groups, and was part of the [[German colonial empire]]. The mainland part of the territory, called {{lang|de|[[Kaiser-Wilhelmsland]]}}, became a [[German Empire|German]] [[Protectorate#Germany's protectorates and protected states|protectorate]] in 1884. Other island groups were added subsequently. The [[Bismarck Archipelago]] ([[New Britain]], [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]] and several smaller islands), and the [[North Solomon Islands]] were declared a German protectorate in 1885. The [[Caroline Islands]], [[Palau]], and the [[Mariana Islands]] (except for [[Guam]]) [[German–Spanish Treaty (1899)|were bought from Spain]] in 1899. German New Guinea annexed the formerly separate German Protectorate of [[Marshall Islands]], which also included [[Nauru]], in 1906. [[German Samoa]], though part of the German colonial empire, was not part of German New Guinea.

Following the outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914, Kaiser-Wilhelmsland and nearby islands [[Australian occupation of German New Guinea|fell to Australian forces]], while Japan occupied most of the remaining German possessions in the Pacific. The mainland part of German New Guinea ({{lang|de|Kaiser-Wilhelmsland}}), the [[Bismarck Archipelago]] and the [[North Solomon Islands]] are now part of [[Papua New Guinea]]. The [[Northern Mariana Islands]] are an [[unincorporated territories of the United States|unincorporated territory]] of the United States. The [[Caroline Islands|Carolines]] (as the [[Federated States of Micronesia]]), the [[Marshall Islands]], [[Nauru]] and [[Palau]] are independent countries.

The islands to the east of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, on annexation, were renamed the Bismarck Archipelago (formerly the New Britannia Archipelago) and the two largest islands renamed {{lang|de|[[Neupommern]]}} ('New [[Pomerania]]', today's [[New Britain]]) and {{lang|de|Neumecklenburg}} ('New [[Mecklenburg]]', now [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]]).<ref name="autogenerated84">William Churchill, 'Germany's Lost Pacific Empire' (1920) ''Geographical Review'' 10 (2) pp. 84–90 at p. 84</ref> Due to their accessibility by water, however, these outlying islands were, and have remained, the most economically viable part of the territory.

With the exception of [[German Samoa]], the German islands in the [[Pacific Ocean|Western Pacific]] formed the "Imperial German Pacific Protectorates". These were administered as part of German New Guinea and included the [[Bismarck Archipelago]] ([[New Britain]], [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]], and several smaller islands), the [[North Solomon Islands]] ([[Buka Island|Buka]], [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]], and several smaller islands), the [[Caroline Islands|Carolines]], [[Palau]], the [[Marianas]] (except for [[Guam]]), the [[Marshall Islands]], and [[Nauru]]. The total land area of German New Guinea was {{convert|249500|km²}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/neuguinea.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010425025321/http://deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/neuguinea.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=25 April 2001 |website=Deutsche Schutzgebiete |title=Deutsche Südsee-Schutzgebiete: Deutsch-Neuguinea, Marianen, Karolinen und Marshall-Inseln |date=12 November 2017 |lang=de |trans-title=German South Seas Protectorates: German New Guinea, Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands and Marshall Islands}}</ref>

== History ==
===Early German South Pacific presence===
The first Germans in the [[Pacific Ocean|South Pacific]] were probably sailors on the crew of ships of the [[Dutch East India Company]]: during [[Abel Tasman]]'s first voyage, the captain of the ''Heemskerck'' was one Holleman (or Holman), born in [[Jever]] in northwest Germany.<ref>[http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/dnutting/germanaustralia/e/chron/chron1.htm Chronology of Germans in Australia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130022027/http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/dnutting/germanaustralia/e/chron/chron1.htm |date=30 November 2009 }}</ref><ref>[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600571h.html Gutenberg Australia] ''Abel Janszoon Tasman's Journal'', edited by J E Heeres (1898), see [http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/tasman.html#journal-note descriptive note].</ref>

[[Hanseatic League]] merchant houses were the first to establish footholds in the South Pacific: [[Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy|Johann Cesar Godeffroy & Sohn]] of [[Hamburg]], headquartered at [[Samoa]] from 1857, operated a [[Pacific Ocean|South Seas]] network of trading stations especially dominating the [[copra]] trade and carrying German immigrants to various South Pacific settlements;<ref>Townsend, M. E. (1943) "Commercial and Colonial Policies" ''The Journal of Economic History'' 3 pp 124–134 at p 125</ref><ref>Hans-Jürgen Ohff (2008) ''Empires of enterprise: German and English commercial interests in East New Guinea 1884 to 1914'' [http://hdl.handle.net/2440/48479 Thesis] (PhD University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics) at p 10.</ref><ref>"Godeffroy and Son possibly controlled as much as 70 per cent of the commerce of the South Seas" Kennedy, P. M. (1972) Bismarck's Imperialism: The Case of Samoa, 1880–1890 ''The Historical Journal'' 15(2) pp 261–283 citing H. U. Wehler ''Bismarck und der Imperialismus'' (1969) pp 208–215; E. Suchan-Galow ''Die deutsche Wirtschaftstätigkeit in der Südsee vor der ersten Besitzergreifung'' (1884) (Veröffentlichung des Vereins für Hamburgische Geschichte, Bd. XIV, Hamburg, 1940).</ref> in 1877 another Hamburg firm, [[Hernsheim & Co|Hernsheim]] and Robertson, established a German community on Matupi Island, in Blanche Bay (the north-east coast of New Britain) from which it traded in [[New Britain]], the [[Caroline Islands|Caroline]], and the [[Marshall Islands]].<ref>Romilly, H. H. (1887) "The Islands of the New Britain Group" ''Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, New Monthly Series'' 9(1) pp 1–18 at p 2.</ref><ref>Townsend, M. E. (1943) "Commercial and Colonial Policies" ''The Journal of Economic History'' 3 pp 124–134 at p 125.</ref> By the end of 1875, one German trader reported: "German trade and German ships are encountered everywhere, almost at the exclusion of any other nation".<ref>Hans-Jürgen Ohff (2008) ''Empires of enterprise: German and English commercial interests in East New Guinea 1884 to 1914'' [http://hdl.handle.net/2440/48479 Thesis (Ph.D.)] University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics p 26 quoting Schleinitz to Admiralty, 28 December 1875, ''Drucksache zu den Verhandlungen des Bundesrath'', 1879, vol. 1, ''Denkschrift'', xxiv–xxvii, p. 3.</ref>

===German colonial policy under Bismarck===
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, an active minority, stemming mainly from a right-wing [[National Liberal Party (Germany)|National Liberal]] and [[Free Conservative Party|Free Conservative]] background, had organised various colonial societies all over Germany to persuade [[Chancellor of Germany#Chancellor of the German Empire (1871–1918)|Chancellor]] [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] to embark on a colonial policy. The most important ones were the ''Kolonialverein'' of 1882 and the [[Society for German Colonization]] (''Gesellschaft für Deutsche Kolonisation'') founded in 1884.<ref>Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann, "Domestic Origins of Germany's Colonial Expansion under Bismarck" (1969) ''Past & Present'' 42 pp 140–159 at p 144 citing R. V. Pierard, "The German Colonial Society, 1882–1914" (Iowa State University, PhD thesis, 1964); K. Klauss, ''Die Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft und die deutsche Kolonialpolitik von den Anfangen bis 1895'' (Humboldt Universitat, East Berlin, PhD thesis, 1966); F. F. Müller, ''Deutschland-Zanzibar-Ostafrika. Geschichte einer deutschen Kolonialeroberung'' (Berlin (GDR), 1959).</ref> The reasons for Bismarck's lack of enthusiasm when it came to the subject of Germany's colonial possessions is reflected in his curt response in 1888 to the procolonial, expansionist remarks of [[Eugen Wolf]], reflected in the latter's autobiography. After Bismarck had patiently listened to Wolf enthusiastically laying out his plans that he sought to pitch employing several illustrative maps, Bismarck finally interrupted his monologue:

{{quote|Your map of Africa there is very nice I have to admit. But you know, my map of Africa is here ... in Europe. You see here is Russia, over there is [..] France. And us, we are here – right in the middle between those two. That's my map of Africa.<ref>Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann, "Domestic Origins of Germany's Colonial Expansion under Bismarck" (1969) ''Past & Present'' 42 pp 140–159 at p 144 citing Deutsches Zentralarchiv Potsdam, ''Reichskanzlei'' 7158.</ref>}}

Despite his personal objections, it was Bismarck himself who eventually organised the acquisition of much of what would become the [[German colonial empire]]. The first attempts at the new policy came in 1884 when Bismarck had to put [[Angra Pequena|German trading interests]] in [[German South-West Africa|southwestern Africa]] under imperial protection.<ref>Hans-Jürgen Ohff (2008) ''Empires of enterprise: German and English commercial interests in East New Guinea 1884 to 1914'' [http://hdl.handle.net/2440/48479 Thesis (Ph.D.)] University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics p 62. "It is the aim of this thesis to demonstrate that specific and identifiable commercial interests, rather than politicians, defence or strategic concerns, ideology or morality were the driving forces behind what did or did not happen in the first 50 years of European settlement in East New Guinea and adjacent islands." at p 10.</ref> Bismarck told the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]] on 23 June 1884 of the change in German colonial policy: annexations would now proceed but by grants of charters to private companies.<ref>Hans-Jürgen Ohff (2008) ''Empires of enterprise: German and English commercial interests in East New Guinea 1884 to 1914'' [http://hdl.handle.net/2440/48479 Thesis (Ph.D.)] University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics pp 62–63 citing R. M. Smith (tr.) (1885) German Interests in the South Sea, abstracts of the White Book presented to the Reichstag, December 1884 and February 1885 and pinpoint reference 1884, Wb no. 19, p. 37; he adds "a full translation of Bismarck's speech was published by The Times on 25 June 1884 under the rubric 'German Colonial Policy', pp. 10–13."</ref>

===Australian aspiration and British uninterest===
The edition of 27 November 1882 of the ''[[Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung]]'' carried an article which the [[Chief Secretary (British Empire)|Colonial Secretary]] of the [[British Empire|British]] colony of [[New South Wales]] drew to the attention of the editor of the ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' and, on 7 February 1883, the paper published a summary of the article under the heading "German annexation of New Guinea".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13527714 |title=German annexation of New Guinea |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=7 February 1883 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The argument lifted from the German paper began by stating that New Guinea fell into the Australian sphere but had been neglected; although the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] had explored in the 16th century, it was the Dutch from the 17th century "who seemed better satisfied with the country than other European nations had been" but they had over-reached themselves and had fallen back towards [[Java]], [[Sumatra]] and [[Celebes]]. Recent explorations had given the basis for reconsideration: it "is considered useful by geology and biology people as holding in its forests the key to solve problems... a profitable field for cultivation" but London had only sent missionaries to save souls. "As we Germans have learnt a little about conducting colonial policy, and as our wishes and plans turn with a certain vivacity towards New Guinea... according to our opinion it might be possible to create out of the island a German Java, a great trade and plantation colony, which would form a stately foundation stone for a German colonial kingdom of the future."

The publication of the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' article caused a sensation and not just in the colony of [[New South Wales]]: over the border, in the [[British Empire|British]] colony of [[Queensland]]<ref name="autogenerated79">Donald C. Gordon, 'Beginnings of an Australasian Pacific Policy' (1945) ''Political Science Quarterly'' 60 (1) pp 79–89 at p 84</ref> where the shipping lanes of the [[Torres Strait]] and the [[Sea cucumber (food)|beche-de-mer]] trade were of commercial significance.<ref>Donald C. Gordon, 'Beginnings of an Australasian Pacific Policy' (1945) ''Political Science Quarterly'' 60 (1) pp 79–89 at p 84 citing statistics from Queensland Legislative Assembly, ''Votes and Proceedings'' 1883 p 776</ref> The Queensland Premier, Sir [[Thomas McIlwraith]] who led a political party "considered to represent the interests of the plantation owners in Queensland",<ref name="autogenerated79"/> drew it to the attention of the Queensland governor together with the general situation in New Guinea and urged annexation of the island.<ref name="autogenerated1945">Donald C. Gordon, 'Beginnings of an Australasian Pacific Policy' (1945) ''Political Science Quarterly'' 60 (1) pp 79–89 at p 85</ref> He also instructed the London Agent for Queensland to urge the Imperial Colonial Office to an act of annexation.<ref>Donald C. Gordon, 'Beginnings of an Australasian Pacific Policy' (1945) ''Political Science Quarterly'' 60 (1) pp 79–89 at p 85 citing Queensland Legislative Assembly, ''Votes and Proceedings'' 1883 p 776</ref>

"Impatient with the lack of results from this procedure" Premier McIlwraith on his own authority ordered a Queensland Police Magistrate in March 1883 to proclaim the annexation on behalf of the Queensland government<ref name="autogenerated1945"/> of New Guinea east of the Dutch boundary at 141E.<ref>William Churchill, 'Germany's Lost Pacific Empire' (1920) Geographical Review 10 (2) pp 84–90 at p 84</ref> When news of this reached London, the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], [[Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby|Lord Derby]] promptly repudiated the act.<ref name="autogenerated84"/><ref name="autogenerated1945"/> When the matter came before Parliament, Lord Derby advised that the British Imperial Government "were not ready to annex New Guinea in view of its vast size and unknown interior, the certainty of native objections and administrative expense".<ref>I. M. Cumpston 1963 The Discussion of Imperial Problems in the British Parliament, 1880–85 ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Fifth Series'' 13 pp 29–47 at p 42 citing ''Hansard, Parliamentary Debates 3rd Series'' cclxxxi 19</ref>

===German New Guinea Company===
[[File:Service flag of German New Guinea.svg|thumb|left|Flag of the German New Guinea Company]]
[[File:German New Guinea 1895-A 20 Mark.jpg|thumb|275px|1895 20 mark gold coin issued by the [[German New Guinea Company]]]]
On his return to Germany from his 1879–1882 Pacific expedition, [[Otto Finsch]] joined a small, informal group interested in German colonial expansion into the South Seas led by the banker, [[Adolph von Hansemann]]. Finsch encouraged them to pursue the founding of a colony on the north-east coast of New Guinea and the [[Bismarck Archipelago|New Britain Archipelago]] even providing them with an estimate of the costs of such a venture.<ref>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=P. G. |last=Sack |title=Otto Finsch (1839–1917) |id2=finsch-otto-3519 |year=1972 |volume=4 |access-date=31 August 2025}}</ref>

In 1884, the [[German New Guinea Company|New Guinea Company]] was founded in [[Berlin]] by [[Adolph von Hansemann]] and a syndicate of German bankers for the purpose of colonizing and exploiting resources on ''Neuguinea'' (German New Guinea).<ref>Linke, R 2006, The influence of German surveying on the development of New Guinea, [http://www.aspng.org/hs02_04_linke_0976.pdf Association of Surveyors of PNG]. Accessed 25 January 2014.</ref> On 3 November 1884, under the auspices of the ''Deutsche Neuguinea-Compagnie'' ([[New Guinea Company]]), the German flag was flown over [[Kaiser-Wilhelmsland]], the [[Bismarck Archipelago]] and the [[German Solomon Islands]].<ref name=Biskup/>

[[Albert Hahl]] (1868–1945) joined the German Colonial Office in 1895 and until 1914 played a major part in New Guinea's administration. He was an imperial judge at [[Herbertshöhe]] (1896–98), deputy governor of New Guinea (1899–1901), and governor (1902–14). As a judge he made three reforms: the appointment of 'luluais' [village chiefs], attempts to integrate the Tolais people into the European economy, and the protection of village lands, which led him to recommend the ending of all alienation of indigenous land. After 1901 Hahl attempted to apply his system to the whole of New Guinea, and although his success was limited, exports rose from one million marks in 1902 to eight million in 1914. He was forced to retire because of disagreements with Berlin officials, and became an active writer on New Guinea and was a leader in German colonial societies between the wars.<ref name=Biskup>Peter By: Biskup, "Dr. Albert Hahl – Sketch of a German Colonial Official," ''Australian Journal of Politics and History'' (1968) 14#3 pp 342–357</ref>

===Catholic and Lutheran missions===
By the mid-1880s German church authorities had devised a definite program for missionary work in New Guinea and assigned it to the [[Rhenish Mission]], under the direction of Friedrich Fabri (1824–91), a [[Lutheran]]. The missionaries faced extraordinary difficulties, including repeated sickness, as well as psychological and sometimes violent tensions and fights between the colonial administration and the locals. The latter, at first, rejected European customs and norms of social behaviour, with few embracing Christianity. In 1921, the Rhenish Mission territory was handed over to the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia.<ref>Klaus-J. Bade. "Colonial Missions And Imperialism: The Background to the Fiasco of the Rhenish Mission in New Guinea," ''Australian Journal of Politics and History'' (1975) 21#2 pp 73–94.</ref>

Missionaries sponsored by the Catholic Church in Germany had better resources and influence, and proved more successful. They put more emphasis on tradition and less on modernisation, and were more in line with the world-views and traditions of the locals. European morality and discipline were often adopted, as were notions of dignity and prestige.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hempenstall |first1=Peter J. |title=The Reception of European Missions in the German Pacific Empire: The New Guinea Experience |journal=Journal of Pacific History |date=1975 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=46–64 |doi=10.1080/00223347508572265}}</ref>

'''Table: German Mission societies in New Guinea'''<ref>{{Cite book |title=Looking after one's own: the rise of Nationalism and the Politics of the Neuendettelsauer Mission in Australia, New Guinea and Germany (1921–1933) |last=Winter |first=Christine |publisher=Peter Lang Verlag |year=2012}} Details of table see p. 26.

This table is a selection of the most common names and variations used by archival documents and published sources for those mission societies which worked in the Bismarck Archipelago and Kaiser Wilhelmsland at the beginning of WWI. These missions were initially referred to by the Australian Administration as ‘German’ missions. Some of these mission operations in the field were, however, only loosely linked to Germany and German motherhouses. Some had a variety of transnational connections, especially to Australia, France, and Switzerland. Mission societies such as the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart were part of a wide family of related organisations and sub-organisations.
</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! German Name !! English !! Latin !! Abbreviation
|-
| Liebenzeller Mission ("China-Inland-Mission") || Liebenzell Mission || – || CIM
|-
| Maristen, Gesellschaft Mariens || Marist Mission, Marists || Societas Maristae || SM
|-
| Linked to German Wesleyan Churches || Methodist Mission, Australasian Methodist Mission Society, Wesleyan Society, Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia || – || –
|-
| Kongregation der Missionare vom Heiligsten Herzen Jesu, Hiltruper Mission, Herz-Jesu-Mission || Mission of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sacred Heart Mission, Holy Heart of Jesus || Congregatio Missionariorum Sacratissimi Cordis Jesu || MSC
|-
| Neuendettelsauer Mission, Gesellschaft für Innere und Äußere Mission im Sinne der Lutherischen Kirche e.V. || Neuendettelsau Mission, Lutheran Mission Finschhafen || – || ND
|-
| Rheinische Mission, Barmer Mission || Rhenish Mission || – || –
|-
| Steyler Mission, Gesellschaft des göttlichen Wortes (Kapuziner Mission) || Society of the Divine Word || Societas Verbi Divini || SVD
|-
| Missionsgesellschaft vom Heiligen Geist, Spiritaner, Väter vom Heiligen Geiste || Holy Spirit Fathers, Spiritans, Congregation of the (Servants of) the Holy Ghost. || Congregatio Sancti Spiritus || CSSp
|}

===Imperial German Pacific protectorates===
[[File:German Pacific.svg|thumb|right|German colonies in the Pacific, with German New Guinea in brown]] [[Image:Hissen der kaiserlichen Flagge auf Mioko.jpg|thumb|Hoisting of the German flag at [[Duke of York Islands|Mioko]] in 1884]]
By the [[German–Spanish Treaty (1899)|German–Spanish Treaty of 1899]], Germany bought from Spain the [[Caroline Islands]] and the [[Mariana Islands]] (excluding [[Guam]], which had been ceded to the US after the 1898 [[Spanish–American War]]) for 25 million pesetas (equivalent to 16,600,000 [[German gold mark|goldmarks]]). These islands became a protectorate and were administered from German New Guinea.<ref>[http://www.schudak.de/timelines/carolineislands1898-1919.html Caroline Islands Timeline]</ref> The [[Marshall Islands]], which had been a German protectorate since 1885,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Churchill |first1=William |author-link1=William Churchill (ethnologist) |date=1920 |title=Germany's Lost Pacific Empire |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_geographical-review_1920-08_10_2/page/84 |jstor=207706 |journal=Geographical Review |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=84–90 |doi=10.2307/207706 |bibcode=1920GeoRv..10...84C}}</ref> were annexed to German New Guinea in 1906.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hezel |first=Francis X. |date=2003 |title=Strangers in Their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands |series=Pacific Islands Monograph Series |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |page=104 |isbn=978-0824828042}}</ref>

===Forced labour policy===
To expand the highly profitable plantations, the Germans needed more workers. The government sent military expeditions to take direct control of more areas from 1899 to 1914. Instead of voluntary recruitment it became a matter of forced mobilisation. The government enforced new laws that required the tribes to furnish four weeks of labour per person annually and payment of a poll tax in cash, thereby forcing reluctant local inhabitants into the work force. The government did explore the choice of voluntary recruitment of labourers from China, Japan, and Micronesia, but only a few hundred came. After 1910 the government tried to ameliorate the impact by ending the recruitment of women in some areas and entirely closing other areas to recruiting. The planters protested German forced labor policies vehemently and initiated what would go on to be called the [[Sokehs rebellion]]. The government responded by sending 4 warships with 745 troops to defeat the Sokehs workers and impose the forced labour policy. They arrived in January 1911 and by February 1911 the Sokehs leader had surrendered.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Firth |first1=Stewart |title=The Transformation of the Labour Trade in German New Guinea, 1899–1914 |journal=Journal of Pacific History |date=1976 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=51–65 |doi=10.1080/00223347608572290}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I58DDAAAQBAJ&q=german+new+guinea+workers+uprising+1910&pg=PA118 |title=Imperial expectations and realities: El Dorados, utopias and dystopias |isbn=978-1784997090 |last1=Varnava |first1=Andrekos |date=1 September 2015 |publisher=Manchester University Press |author1-link=Andrekos Varnava}}</ref>

===World War I===
[[File:Deutsch-Neuguinea-Rekruten.jpg|thumb|220px|Recruits from the local population (here probably [[Tolai people|Tolai]], from [[East New Britain Province|East New Britain]]) during a drill]]
[[File:Neustadt Neuguinea 1922.jpg|thumb|220px|[[:en:Notgeld|"Notgeld" banknote]] (1922). The text complains about the loss of the colony after the [[Treaty of Versailles]].]]

Following the outbreak of [[World War I]], Australian troops captured Kaiser-Wilhelmsland and the nearby islands in 1914, after a short resistance led by Captain Carl von Klewitz and Lt. Robert "Lord Bob" [[von Blumenthal]], while Japan occupied most of the remaining German possessions in the Pacific. The only significant battle occurred on 11 September 1914 when the [[Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force]] [[Battle of Bita Paka|attacked]] the low-power wireless station at [[Bita Paka]] (near Rabaul) on the island of New Britain, then [[Neu Pommern]]. The Australians suffered six dead and four wounded – the first Australian military casualties of the First World War. The German forces fared much worse, with one German officer and 30 local policemen killed and one German officer and ten local policemen wounded. On 21 September all German forces in the colony surrendered.
[[File:Map-Kaiser-Wilhelms-Land-und-Bismarck-Archipel.png|thumb|left|Map of Kaiserwilhelmsland, 1884–1919]]

However, Lieutenant (later Hauptmann) [[Hermann Detzner]], a German officer, and some 20 local policemen evaded capture in the interior of New Guinea for the entire war. Detzner was on a surveying expedition to map the border with Australian-held Papua at the outbreak of war, and remained outside militarised areas. Detzner claimed to have penetrated the interior of the German portion (Kaiser Wilhelmsland) in his 1920 book ''Vier Jahre unter Kannibalen'' ("Four Years Among Cannibals"). These claims were heavily disputed by various German missionaries, and Detzner recanted most of his claims in 1932.

After the [[Treaty of Versailles]] of 1919, Germany lost all its colonial possessions, including German New Guinea. In 1923, the [[League of Nations]] gave Australia a trustee mandate over Nauru, with the United Kingdom and New Zealand as co-trustees.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hudson |first=WJ |title=Australia's experience as a mandatory power |journal=Australian Outlook |date=April 1965 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=35–46 |doi=10.1080/10357716508444191}}</ref> Other lands south of the [[equator]] became the [[Territory of New Guinea]], a League of Nations [[League of Nations Mandate|Mandate Territory]] under Australian administration until 1949 (interrupted by Japanese occupation during the [[New Guinea campaign]]) when it was merged with the Australian territory of [[Papua (Australian territory)|Papua]] to become the [[Territory of Papua and New Guinea]], which eventually became modern [[Papua New Guinea]]. The islands north of the equator became the Japanese League of Nations [[South Seas Mandate|Mandate for the South Seas Islands]]. After Japan's defeat in World War II, the former Japanese mandate islands were administered by the United States as the [[Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]], a [[United Nations Trust Territories|United Nations trust territory]].

== Territories ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Territory !! Period !! Area (circa) !! Current countries
|-
| [[Kaiser-Wilhelmsland]] || 1884–1919 || 181,650&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><ref name="CIA world Factbook Country Size Ranks">{{cite web |title=Rank Order – Area |publisher=[[CIA World Factbook]] |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html |access-date=12 April 2008 |archive-date=9 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209041128/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> || rowspan="4" |{{PNG}}
|-
| [[Bismarck Archipelago]] || rowspan="5" | 1899–1919 || 49,700&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
|-
| [[Buka Island]] || 492&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><ref>{{cite web |title=Encyclopædia Britannica: Buka Island |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Buka-Island |access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Bougainville Island]] || 9,318&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
|-
| [[Palau]] || 466&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><ref name="CIA world Factbook Country Size Ranks"/> || {{PLW}}
|-
| [[Caroline Islands]] || 2,150&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><ref>{{cite web |title=The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia |url=http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/C/a/Caroline_Islands.htm |access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref>|| {{FSM}}<br />{{PLW}}
|-
| [[Nauru]]|| 1906–1919 || 21&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> || {{NRU}}
|-
| [[Mariana Islands]]|| 1899–1919 || 461&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> || {{MNP}}
|-
| [[Marshall Islands]]|| 1906–1919 || 181&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> || {{MHL}}
|}

== Planned symbols for German New Guinea ==
{{Main Article|Armorial of Germany#Colonies}}
In 1914 a series of drafts were made for proposed coats of arms and flags for the [[German colonial empire|German colonies]]. However, [[World War I]] broke out before the designs were finished and implemented, and the symbols were never actually put into use. Following its defeat in the war, Germany lost all its colonies, and the prepared coats of arms and flags were therefore never used.
<div style="text-align: center;">
<gallery>
File:Proposed Flag of German New Guinea.svg|Proposed flag
File:Proposed Coat of Arms New Guinea 1914.svg|Proposed coat of arms
File:Flag of Deutsch-Neuguinea.svg|Related flag
</gallery>
</div>

== See also ==
{{Portal|New Guinea|History}}
* [[List of colonial heads of New Guinea]]
* [[British New Guinea]]
* [[Dutch New Guinea]]
* [[Unserdeutsch language]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* Peter Biskup: ''Hahl at Herbertshoehe, 1896–1898: The Genesis of German Native Administration in New Guinea'', in: K. S. Inglis (ed.): ''History of Melanesia'', Canberaa – Port Moresby 1969, 2nd ed. 1971, 77–99.
* Firth, Stewart: ''Albert Hahl: Governor of German New Guinea''. In: Griffin, James, Editor: ''Papua New Guinea Portraits: The Expatriate Experience''. Canberra: Australian National University Press; 1978: 28–47.
* Firth, S. G.: ''The New Guinea Company, 1885–1899: A Case of Unprofitable Imperialism''. in: Historical Studies. 1972; 15: 361–377.
* Firth, Stewart G.: ''Arbeiterpolitik in Deutsch-Neuguinea vor 1914''. In: Hütter, Joachim; Meyers, Reinhard; Papenfuss, Dietrich, Editors: ''Tradition und Neubeginn: Internationale Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert''. Köln: Carl Heymanns Verlag KG; 1975: 481–489.
* Noel Gash – June Whittaker: ''A pictorial history of New Guinea'', Jacaranda Press: Milton, Queensland 1975, 312 p., {{ISBN|1862730253}}.
* Whittaker, J L; Gash, N. G.; Hookey, J. F.; and Lacey R. J. (eds.): ''Documents and Readings in New Guinea History: Prehistory to 1889'', Jacaranda Press: Brisbane 1975/1982
* {{cite journal |last1=Firth |first1=Stewart |title=German Firms in the Western Pacific Islands |journal=Journal of Pacific History |date=1973 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=10–28 |doi=10.1080/00223347308572220}}
* Firth, Stewart G.: ''German Firms in the Pacific Islands, 1857–1914''. In: Moses, John A.; Kennedy, Paul M., Editors. ''Germany in the Pacific and Far East, 1870–1914''. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press; 1977: 3–25
* {{cite journal |last1=Firth |first1=Stewart |title=German New Guinea: The Archival Perspective |journal=Journal of Pacific History |date=1985 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=94–103 |doi=10.1080/00223348508572510}}
* Firth, Stewart: ''The Germans in New Guinea''. In: May, R. J.; Nelson, Hank, Editors: ''Melanesia: Beyond Diversity''. Canberra: Australian National University, Research School of Pacific Studies; 1982: 151–156.
* {{cite journal |last1=Firth |first1=Stewart |title=The Transformation of the Labour Trade in German New Guinea, 1899–1914 |journal=Journal of Pacific History |date=1976 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=51–65 |doi=10.1080/00223347608572290}}
* Firth, Stewart. Labour in German New Guinea. In: Latukefu, Sione, Editor. Papua New Guinea: A Century of Colonial Impact 1884–1984. Port Moresby: The National Research Institute and the University of Papua New Guinea in association with the PNG Centennmial Committee; 1989: 179–202.
* Moses, John, and Kennedy, Paul, ''Germany in the Pacific and Far East 1870–1914'', St Lucia Qld: Queensland University Press, 1977. {{ISBN|978-0702213304}}
* Sack, Peter, ed., ''German New Guinea: A Bibliography'', Canberra ACT: Australian National University Press, 1980, {{ISBN|978-0909596477}}
* Firth, Stewart: ''New Guinea Under the Germans'', Melbourne University Press: International Scholarly Book Services: Carlton, Vic. 1983, {{ISBN|978-0522842203}}, reprinted by WEB Books: Port Moresby 1986, {{ISBN|9980570105}}.
* {{cite journal |last1=Foster |first1=Robert J. |title=Komine and Tanga: A Note on Writing the History of German New Guinea |journal=Journal of Pacific History |date=1987 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=56–64 |doi=10.1080/00223348708572551}}
* Mary Taylor Huber: ''The Bishops’ Progress. A Historical Ethnography of Catholic Missionary Experience of Catholic Missionary Experience on the Sepik Frontier'', Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington and London 1988, 264 pp., {{ISBN|0-87474-544-6}}.
* Mary Taylor Huber: ''The Bishops’ Progress: Representations of Missionary Experience on the Sepik Frontier'', in: Nancy Lutkehaus (ed.): ''Sepik Heritage. Tradition and Change in Papua New Guinea'', Crawford House Press: Bathurst, NSW (Australia) 1990, 663 pp. + 3 maps, {{ISBN|1-86333-014-3}}., pp.&nbsp;197–211.
* Keck, Verena. "Representing New Guineans in German Colonial Literature," ''Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde'' (2008), Vol. 54, pp 59–83.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050507092601/http://www.stub.bildarchiv-dkg.uni-frankfurt.de/dfg-projekt/Default.htm Archives of the German Colonial Society] {{in lang|de}}
* [https://sites.google.com/site/simpsonharbour/deutsch-neuguinea Deutsch-Neuguinea] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927104825/https://sites.google.com/site/simpsonharbour/deutsch-neuguinea |date=27 September 2015 }}

{{coord|4.2|S|152.17|E|region:PG|display=title}}

{{Marshall Islands topics}}
{{Former German colonies}}
{{Federated States of Micronesia topics}}
{{Papua New Guinea topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:German New Guinea| ]]
[[Category:Former colonies in Oceania]]
[[Category:German colonisation in Oceania|New Guinea]]
[[Category:Former German colonies|New Guinea]]
[[Category:Former protectorates]]
[[Category:History of Melanesia]]
[[Category:History of Polynesia]]
[[Category:History of Palau]]
[[Category:20th century in the Marshall Islands]]
[[Category:History of the Northern Mariana Islands]]
[[Category:History of the Federated States of Micronesia]]
[[Category:20th century in Nauru]]
[[Category:Bismarck Archipelago]]
[[Category:Islands Region]]
[[Category:History of the Solomon Islands]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1884]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1919]]
[[Category:1884 establishments in German New Guinea]]
[[Category:1919 disestablishments in German New Guinea]]
[[Category:1884 establishments in Oceania]]
[[Category:1919 disestablishments in Oceania]]