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49-680: The accord gave Germany control of the Caprivi Strip (a ribbon of land that gave German South-West Africa access to the Zambezi River ), the strategically located island of Heligoland in the North Sea, and the heartland of German East Africa . In return, Germany recognized British authority in Zanzibar . Heligoland was needed to control the new Kiel Canal and the approaches to Germany's North Sea ports. Britain used Zanzibar as

98-605: A protectorate over Zanzibar and, in the subsequent 1896 Anglo-Zanzibar War , gained full control of the sultanate. The treaty served German chancellor Leo von Caprivi 's aims for a settlement with the British. After the 1884 Berlin Conference , Germany had been losing out in the " Scramble for Africa ". The German East Africa Company under Carl Peters had acquired a strip of land on the Tanganyikan coast (leading to

147-493: A button"). This was eagerly adopted by imperialists, who complained about "treason" against German interests. Carl Peters and Alfred Hugenberg appealed for the foundation of the Alldeutscher Verband ("Pan-German League") which took place in 1891. Caprivi Strip The Caprivi Strip , also known simply as Caprivi , is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia . It

196-514: A deficit of 6,000 marks , further weakened the League's position. By July 1894, membership had dropped to just 4,637. A crisis meeting in Frankfurt am Main in the summer of 1893 was called by West-German branches of the League, against the declared will of the leadership, with the intention of dissolution. However, John Wislicenus again presided over the meeting and as a result, a formal meeting

245-516: A few days. 17°52′12″S 23°01′48″E  /  17.8700°S 23.0300°E  / -17.8700; 23.0300 Alldeutscher Verband The Pan-German League ( German : Alldeutscher Verband ) was a Pan-German nationalist organization which was officially founded in 1891, a year after the Zanzibar Treaty was signed. Primarily dedicated to the German question of

294-488: A key link in the British control of East Africa. Germany gained the islands of Heligoland ( German : Helgoland ) in the North Sea , originally possession of the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp but since 1814 a British possession, the so-called Caprivi Strip in what is now Namibia , and a free hand to control and acquire the coast of Dar es Salaam that would form the core of German East Africa (later Tanganyika , now

343-412: A language of western Zambia , as a lingua franca . Many also speak English, while Afrikaans has almost disappeared. The area is rich in natural wildlife and has mineral resources. Of particular interest to the government of Namibia is that it gives access to the Zambezi River and is thereby a potential trading route to Africa's East Coast. However, the vagaries of the river level, various rapids,

392-624: A mineral expedition in 1909 proved unsuccessful, Germany contemplated exchanging the strip for some other British territory, such as Walvis Bay . When that territory was transferred to the Cape Colony by the British in 1910, Germany was stuck with Caprivi for the rest of its colonial history. In 1976, the South African administration established the self-governing Eastern Caprivi homeland with its own flag, national anthem, and coat of arms. It remained under direct de facto control of

441-670: A result of the meeting, Hugenberg and Wislicenus issued another call to action. After the initial political struggles over the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty had subsided, Peters eventually agreed to join forces, on the condition that the remnants of the earlier General German Society were included. On 25 January 1891, Peters personally invited a number of members of the Reichstag , the German federal parliament, and several other people to meet with Hugenberg and Wislicenus. As

490-666: A result, the Allgemeiner Deutscher Verein , a nominal resurrection of Peters' original society, was founded on 9 April 1891 in Berlin. The League took a quotation by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg as its motto: Gedenke, daß Du ein Deutscher bist ("Remember that you are a German"). Peters initially took over the presidency of the League, but soon went back to Africa and resigned from his post, in order not to come into conflicts of interest between

539-503: Is bordered by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a single point at the eastern tip of the Strip, which also comes within 150 m (490 ft) of Zimbabwe , thus nearly forming a quadripoint . Botswana and Zambia share a 150-metre (490 ft) border at the crossing of Kazungula . The territory was acquired by then- German South West Africa in order to provide access to

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588-760: Is of politico-strategic military importance. During the Rhodesian Bush War (1964–1979), South West African People's Organization 's and Caprivi African National Union 's (CANU) liberation war against the South African occupation (1965–1994) and the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), the Strip saw continual military action and multiple incursions by various armed forces using the Strip as a corridor to access other territories. The Caprivi conflict involved an armed conflict in Namibia between

637-587: The Bantu language family, with speakers of Mbarakwena [Xu-Khoisan], Hukwe a San language, in the northwest of the strip near the border with Angola. The Bantu languages include Yeyi (or 'Yei' or 'Yeeyi'), Mbukushu , Gciriku (or 'Dciriku'), Fwe , Totela , and Subiya . The Silozi language is a lingua Franca of the Caprivi Strip, especially in Katima Mulilo , where some residents speak Lozi ,

686-719: The Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), a rebel group aiming for the secession of the Caprivi Strip led by Mishake Muyongo , and the Namibian government. Its main eruption occurred on 2 August 1999 when the CLA launched an attack in Katima Mulilo, occupying the state-run radio station and attacking a police station, the Wenela border post, and an army base. Namibian armed forces quashed the attempt at secession within

735-549: The Chobe River was the thalweg , the bona fide international boundary. This was important, as, depending on the decision, a large island (known as Kasikili or Sedudu , by Namibia and Botswana respectively) would fall into one or the other's national territory. The Botswana government considered the island as an integral part of the Chobe National Park , whereas the Namibian government, and many inhabitants of

784-667: The Imperial Navy . Wilhelm's naval policies aborted an accommodation with the British and ultimately led to a rapprochement between Britain and France , sealed with the Entente cordiale in 1904. The misleading name for the treaty was introduced by ex-Chancellor Otto von Bismarck , who intended to attack his despised successor Caprivi for concluding an agreement that Bismarck himself had arranged during his incumbency. However, Bismarck's nomenclature implied that Germany had swapped an African empire for tiny Heligoland ("trousers for

833-591: The Jews and Slavs . Agitation against Poles was a central focus for the Pan-German League. The agitations of the Alldeutscher Verband influenced the German government and generally supported the foreign policy developed by Otto von Bismarck . One of the prominent members of the league was the sociologist Max Weber who, at the League's congress in 1894 argued that Germanness ( Deutschtum )

882-586: The Mitteilungen des allgemeinen deutschen Verbandes (News of the General German League) were only produced seven times between 1891 and 1893 and even those were not distributed to all members, since this required an additional fee. Expansion of the League outside of Berlin and Prussia was also scarce, partly due to improper management as well as bans on political associations in states like Saxony and Bavaria . A rise in open antisemitism in

931-519: The Zambezi River and consequently a route to the east coast of the continent and German East Africa . The route was later found not to be navigable because of the location of the Victoria Falls , one of the world's largest waterfalls, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) east of the Caprivi Strip, and because of more waterfalls downstream such as Kariba Gorge and Cahora Bassa . Within Namibia,

980-649: The 1888 Abushiri Revolt ), but had never had any control over the islands of the Zanzibar sultanate. The treaty gave away no vital German interests, while acquiring Heligoland, an island which was strategically placed for control over the German Bight . With the construction of the Kiel Canal from 1887 onward, control of the German Bight had become essential to Emperor Wilhelm's II plans for expansion of

1029-405: The Berlin branch affected the image of the organisation in the public eye. Additionally, von der Heydt and his general manager, along with other members of the League, attempted to form a new political party towards the end of 1892. Since the League had been formed as a body above party politics, this endavour threatened its existence. The failed attempt to sell a "Calendar of all Germans", leading to

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1078-520: The Caprivi Strip and the island of Heligoland in the North Sea . The river later proved unnavigable and inaccessible to the Indian Ocean due to the location of the Victoria Falls and more falls, a fact that was possibly already known to the British side during the negotiations. Caprivi itself was remote and inaccessible during the rainy season, and the Germans did not find use for it. After

1127-556: The Caprivi Strip are Bwabwata National Park , Mudumu National Park and Nkasa Rupara National Park . Local communities have organised themselves into communal area conservancies and community forests. People work closely with the Namibian Government to jointly manage natural resources through several programmes set up between the Namibian Government and various donor parties. Caprivi was named after German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi (in office 1890–1894), who negotiated

1176-614: The Furthering of German National Oversea Interests). The Society was not successful and marked by internal strife and after Peters left again for Africa, it dissolved. On 1 July 1890, the German Empire signed the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty with Great Britain . The treaty was the first major sign of the new foreign policy of Emperor Wilhelm II , following the dismissal of chancellor Bismarck earlier in

1225-659: The Germans lose the war. According to Ludendorff and the Verband, the army should not have been held responsible for the German defeat. Ludendorff, however, had declared that the war was lost in October 1918, before the German November Revolution . That fanciful allegation was known as the " Stab-in-the-back myth " ( Dolchstosslegende ). Membership in the league was overwhelmingly composed of middle- and upper-class males. Most members' occupations reflected

1274-569: The League and the Foreign Office . Karl von der Heydt, a banker, took over the position. The early period of the League was difficult. While membership rose quickly, from around 2,000 in June 1891 to around 21,000 in May 1892, management of the League was lacking. The membership fee was set low, aimed to attract members, but the profits proved insufficient to run the operation. The League's journal,

1323-585: The League on a more secure financial footing. On 1 January 1894, the first issue of the new journal, the Alldeutsche Blätter , was released. At a meeting of the executive committee on 1 April 1894, a decision was made to change the name of the organisation to Alldeutscher Verein (Pan-German League). This came about as an amalgamation between the League with a society called Allgemeiner Deutscher Verein (General German Association), aimed at promoting German education, led by Albert von Levetzow ,

1372-567: The League's concrete relations with the Nazis were not always smooth. In 1932, there was moment when the Pan-German League accused the Nazis of betraying the national idea and called on their supporters to support the rival German National People's Party (DNVP). The Nazis, who came to power the next year, did not forget that incident. After the Nazis came to power, the Pan-Germans were for a time tolerated due to their ideological closeness, but on

1421-422: The League's emphasis on education, property ownership and service to the state. The League was clearly close ideologically to the Nazis and anticipated many of their basic ideas, such as the demand that the individual Germans should unconditionally submit to the national whole, represented by the state and the authorities, or the idea of expansion to the east in order to gain "Living Space" ( Lebensraum ). Still,

1470-582: The South African government in Pretoria until 1980, when its administration was transferred to South West Africa's administration in Windhoek. In the late 20th century, the Caprivi Strip attracted attention when Namibia and Botswana took a long-standing dispute over its southern boundary to the International Court of Justice . The core of the territorial dispute concerned which channel of

1519-597: The Strip is divided administratively between the Kavango East and Zambezi regions. It is crossed by the Okavango River . The Cuando River forms part of its border with Botswana, and the Zambezi River forms a part of its border with Zambia. The width of the strip varies from about 32 km (20 mi) to 105 km (65 mi). Its largest settlement is Katima Mulilo , located at the point where

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1568-548: The Verband were called cowards. Influential figures in the Alldeutscher Verband founded the Vaterlandspartei in 1917 following the request of the majority of the German parliament to begin peace negotiations with the allies. After World War I, the Alldeutscher Verband supported General Erich Ludendorff in his accusation against democrats and socialists that they had betrayed Germany and made

1617-548: The Zambezi reaches the Strip. When Namibia was a German colony, the Caprivi Strip was known in German as Caprivizipfel . Before colonisation, it was known as Itenge . During a short-lived secession attempt around the year 2000, the name Itenge was used by the separatists. It is also sometimes called the Okavango Panhandle . Inhabitants of the Caprivi Strip speak a number of African languages, mostly members of

1666-594: The acquisition of the land in an 1890 exchange with the United Kingdom. Caprivi arranged for the Caprivi strip to be annexed to German South West Africa in order to give Germany access to the Zambezi River and a route to Africa's east coast, where the colony of German East Africa (now part of Tanzania ) was situated. The transfer of territory was a part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty of 1890, in which Germany gave up its interest in Zanzibar in return for

1715-690: The course of the 1880s. In order to gain public support for the passing of the Steamboat Subsidy Act of 1885, which was a precursor to a state-funded colonial policy, chancellor Otto von Bismarck raised public outrage against British deals with both France and Portugal in dividing up Africa. Membership in pro-colonial societies, such as the Kolonialverein (Colonial Society) and the Central-Verein für Handelsgeographie (Central Society for Commercial Geography) grew rapidly. In

1764-499: The eastern Caprivi Strip, held that not only was the island part of the original German–British agreement, but generations of inhabitants had used it for seasonal grazing, for reed-gathering, and as a burial site. In December 1999, the International Court of Justice ruled that the main channel, and hence the international boundary, lay to the north of the island, thus making the island part of Botswana. The Caprivi Strip

1813-559: The following year, colonist Carl Peters , who had acquired the majority of Germany's colonial holdings up to this point, returned from Africa, and, using the public awareness following the steamboat subsidy debate to initiate a congress on German overseas interests. Taking place from 13-16 September 1886, the congress ended with the establishment of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Verband zur Förderung überseeischer deutsch-nationaler Interessen (General German Society for

1862-478: The mainland component of Tanzania ). In exchange, Germany handed over to Britain the protectorate over the small sultanate of Wituland ( Deutsch-Witu , on the Kenyan coast) and parts of East Africa vital for the British to build a railway to Lake Victoria , and pledged not to interfere with British actions vis-à-vis the independent Sultanate of Zanzibar (i.e. the islands of Unguja and Pemba ). In addition,

1911-568: The management of such a league, while at the same time calling on Peters to become its leader. Peters, who had just recently returned from Africa, originally refused, not wanting to antagonise the German government, which he hoped would fund his further East African endeavours. The first official meeting of the organisation that would become the Pan-German League took place in Frankfurt am Main on 28 September 1890, presided over by university professor John Wislicenus and attended by seven people. As

1960-471: The presence of the Victoria Falls downstream and continued political uncertainty in the region have made such use of the Caprivi Strip difficult. However, it may be used for ecotourism in the future. Within Namibia the Caprivi Strip provides significant habitat for the critically endangered African wild dog ( Lycaon pictus ). It is a corridor for African elephant moving from Botswana and Namibia into Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. National parks found in

2009-601: The president of the Reichstag. The term alldeutsch (pan-German) had been a suggestion by August Diederichs, a friend of Hasse's, who had set up a donation fund for the League under this name. The name change took effect from 1 July 1894. The aim of the Alldeutscher Verband was to protest against government decisions which they believed could weaken Germany. A strong element of its ideology included social Darwinism . The Verband wanted to uphold German racial hygiene and were against breeding with so-called inferior races like

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2058-563: The publication "If I were the Kaiser," Claß called on Germans to conquer eastern territories inhabited by "inferior" Slavs , depopulate their territories and settle German colonists there . There were also calls for expulsion of Poles living in Prussia . The Alldeutscher Verband had an enormous influence on the German government during World War I , when they opposed democratization and were in favour of unlimited submarine war. Opponents of

2107-460: The time, it held positions on German imperialism, antisemitism , the Polish question , and support for German minorities in other countries. The purpose of the league was to nurture and protect the ethos of German nationality as a unifying force. By 1922, the League had grown to over 40,000 paying members. Berlin housed the central seat of the league, including its president and its executive, which

2156-625: The treaty established the German sphere of interest in German South West Africa (most of present-day Namibia) and settled the borders between German Togoland and the British Gold Coast (now Ghana ), as well as between German Kamerun and British Nigeria . Britain divested itself of a naval base which covered the approaches to the main German naval bases in the North Sea, but which would be impossible to defend as Germany built up its navy. It immediately declared

2205-460: The treaty. In another letter three weeks later, the authors called for the foundation of a National League, "the purpose of which should be to give expression to what we wanted and expected of a national government in situations similar to the situation created by the Anglo-German treaty". By 1 August 1890, Alfred Hugenberg had picked up the call and declared himself temporarily in control of

2254-676: The year. The pro-colonial, national-conservative factions within Germany strongly opposed the treaty, as it gave away colonial possessions in Africa to the British. Peters was particularly negative, declaring that Germany had exchanged "two kingdoms, Witu and Uganda [...] for a bathtub." Shortly before the signing of the treaty, on 24 June 1890, a declaration, signed by four Germans living in Switzerland, appeared in several German newspapers, titled "Germany awake!", calling for Germans to oppose

2303-413: Was arranged for 5 July 1893 in Berlin. Here, von der Heydt resigned along with many other members of the League's executive committee. Von der Heydt paid 4,000 of the 6,000 marks debt, with Peters covering the remaining 2,000 marks. The presidency of the League was taken over by Ernst Hasse  [ de ] , a university professor from Leipzig . Hasse, together with new general manager Adolf Lehr, put

2352-533: Was capped at a maximum of 300. Full gatherings of the league happened at the Pan-German Congress. Although numerically small, the League enjoyed a disproportionate influence on the German state through connections to the middle class, the political establishment and the media, as well as links to the 300,000 strong Agrarian League . The origins of the Pan-German League lie in the growing movement for German colonial expansion, which gained traction over

2401-796: Was the highest form of civilization. Weber left the league in 1899 because he felt it did not take a radical enough stance against Polish migrant workers in Germany. Later Weber went on to become one of the most prominent critics of German expansionism and of the Kaiser 's war policies. He publicly attacked the Belgian annexation policy and unrestricted submarine warfare and later supported calls for constitutional reform, democratisation and universal suffrage . The position of Pan-German League gradually evolved into biological racism, with belief that Germans are "superior race", and Germans need protection from mixing with other races, particularly Jews. By 1912 in

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