Germany accepts the proposal to neutralise the Congo Basin
- Category:
- Diplomacy
- Front:
- Africa
- Date:
- 22 August 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Tags:
- Belgium, Belgian Congo, German colonies, Germany
On 22 August 1914 the German government agreed to the Belgian proposal that the colonies lying in the African free trade zone, the so-called conventional basin of the Congo, should remain neutral. The reply was transmitted through Spain, which after the outbreak of war represented Belgium’s interests in Berlin. On the same day Germany made a similar declaration to the United States ambassador, asking him to pass it on to the governments of France and Belgium.
A proposal two weeks old
Belgium put forward the neutralisation initiative on 9 August. It invoked the General Act of the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, which allowed states with colonies in the free trade zone to agree on their neutrality in time of war. Brussels hoped in this way to protect the Belgian Congo from fighting for which its colonial forces were not prepared. We write more about this proposal in the article Belgium proposes the neutralisation of the Congo Basin.
Consent that came too late
In mid-August the Germans had good reasons to back neutralisation. Their colonies were cut off from the mother country by the British fleet, and Togoland was just falling to British and French troops. The neutrality of Central Africa would have protected above all German East Africa and Kamerun.
Britain and France, however, had no intention of giving up their advantage. They counted on quickly seizing the German colonies, ports and wireless stations. Besides, fighting in Africa was already under way: in mid-August the Germans took Taveta in British East Africa, and on 22 August a German steamer attacked Belgian posts on Lake Tanganyika. The Allies took the view that Germany itself had violated the neutrality of the zone.
Significance
The neutralisation proposal collapsed. The war engulfed the whole of Central and East Africa, and the fighting in German East Africa went on until November 1918. The Belgian Congo became an active participant in the conflict. Its troops, the Force Publique, fought in Kamerun and East Africa, and in 1916 took Tabora.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 22 August 1914 · Western FrontAustria-Hungary declares war on BelgiumContemporary chronicles date Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Belgium to 22 August 1914, but the Belgians received the note only on 28 August.
- 21 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of Charleroi beginsOn 21 August 1914 the French 5th Army and the German 2nd Army clashed on the Sambre. The Germans seized the river crossings before the French could occupy them.
- 23 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of MonsOn 23 August 1914 the British Expeditionary Force fought its first battle at Mons. It inflicted heavy losses on the Germans but had to begin a retreat.
- 23 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificJapan declares war on GermanyOn 23 August 1914 Japan declared war on Germany. The war spread to the Far East and the Pacific, and Japan reached for Germany's possessions in Asia.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 9 August 1914 · AfricaBelgium proposes the neutralisation of the Congo BasinOn 9 August 1914 Belgium proposed that colonies in the free-trade zone of Central Africa should remain neutral. The proposal was not accepted.
- 20 November 1914 · AfricaAllies withdraw the proposal to neutralise the Congo basinIn November 1914 Britain, Belgium and France finally dropped the idea of neutralising the African free-trade zone, which the war had already reached.
- 19 September 1914 · AfricaBritain and France guarantee the integrity of Belgium's coloniesOn 19 September 1914 Britain and France assured Belgium that it would keep its colonies after the war, above all the Belgian Congo.
- 3 February 1915 · AfricaUganda–Congo boundary agreementOn 3 February 1915 Britain and Belgium signed an agreement in London that finally confirmed the course of the boundary between Uganda and the Belgian Congo.