Stefan Haertel
Title
Living on a razor's edge
Samoa's role in the age of Imperialism
By Stefan Härtel
Fourteen years before the outbreak of the first world war, Great Britain and the United States of America, and Germany were already at verge of war. Indeed, cannons were fired, and casualties recorded, and only the fact, that all three powers had their own inner problems could avoid this war.
The site of this battle was not on the European continent, nor was it somewhere in the Atlantic or one of its associated waters such as the North Sea. In fact, the battlefield was not even close to Europe. It was the remote island group of Samoa.
Samoa, consisting of four larger and a number of smaller islands, is a small archipelaegoe in the middle of the island world of the southern Pacific ocean, the legendary "South Seas". The islands are small, only two exceed the length of 50 km, but of considerable economic value. Enough to start a war about.
The people of Samoa are of Polynesian origin and arrived here at about 1500 BC. Being larger than most other islands of this territory, and featuring more natural ressources, the Polynesian culture received a boost here and flourished in most advanced forms. A number of tribes, often hostile to each other, developed.
The Samoans were among the most daring seafarers of the Polynesians. On their small outrigger boats, they travelled distances longer than those any other Polynesians had covered. It is believed that the original settlers on Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand were of Samoan origin. It is even said that Samoa is identical with Hawai'iki, the mythological cradle of the Polynesian civilization.
Traces of the Lapita culture, originating from Lapita on New Caledonia, dating from 1000 BC have been found on Upolu, the largest of the Samoan islands. The Lapita culture was the first organized society in the southern pacific area. It is long gone, and the only remnants are pieces of pottery, scattered around the islands around New Caledonia.
The first European to discover Samoa was the Frenchman Louis de Bougainville, who sighted the islands in 1768 and named them "Navigator Islands", because he saw many Samoan canoes far offshore, persuming, correctly, that they must have been great navigators.
Word soon spread about the inhabitants of these islands. They were known to be extremely friendly, hospitable and also to be keen merchants, and the women were reputed to be very beautiful. By the 19th century, Samoa was a busy trade port.
In 1830, European missionaries appeared on Samoa. They could soon convert the natives, bascially because the Samoan and Christian religions bore some significant similarities.
Soon after, whale catchers and pirates settled on the islands. Their influence on Samoa was, naturally, negative, the blessings of western civilization, namely alcohol and firearms, amplifying simple quarrels between tribes to outright wars. Still, the Samoans proved to be more resistant to western influences, and soon regarded themselves as being superior to the Europeans. The American and British consuls, who arrived in 1839 and 1845 respectively, were alarmed about this situation. They felt that the Europeans were setting examples which were so bad, that the natives would never be converted to their civilization. But, what was more important to them, they felt that the consistant wars between the natives would be bad for business.
Much to the relief of the Europeans, the wars proved not to affect South Sea trade, and Godeffroy & Co., a trade house from Hamburg, which was among the most important in the South Sea, could set up a stable base on Samoa, from which they eventually expanded to 45 other stations spread all across the Pacific.
The most important trade goods in Samoa were palm oil, and, later, copra. As the Samoans were, not unrightfully, reputed to be extremely lazy, at least by European standarts, coolies from Asia were used for outright copra farming. The Samoans never needed to farm, because everything they needed literally grew on trees or lay on their way. They were perfectly happy with coconuts, fish, and taro, which was the only thing they planted. Everything else they regarded as not worth of the effort to produce. This way, they have lived happily for more than two millennia, and did not feel the need to change it just because of the desires of some strangers.
But the European economy in Samoa did harm the natives. Alcohol, disease and loss of land all contributed to their proceeding distress. The popularity of the Europeans therefore sank consistantly.
By 1878, the house of Godeffroy was bankrupt, and, a year before, the British and Americans felt safe to claim Samoa their possession. The Germans did not accept this, and in 1879 the British and Americans signed a treaty which guaranteed the independence of Samoa. The Germans did not accept this either, but the other two did not care- they believed the episode of German influence in Samoa was over. They were gravely mistaken.
In 1881, King Talavou of Samoa died, and while he was respected as king by the Samoans, his successor, Laupepa, was not, to say the least, especially because he soon proved to be a puppet of the British and the Americans. The Germans, having not given up on Samoa just yet, supported his adversary, Tamasese. Laupepa was not very happy about this and eventually attacked Tamasese's birthday party, which was being held in the name of Wilhelm I, the German emperor. The Germans, in turn, demanded the abdication of Lapepa, and expelled him to Cameroon and later to Hamburg and the Marshall Islands. The British and Americans protested, but then tolerated this act. They soon found another favourite, Mataafa, and proclaimed him rightful king. In the ensuing fight, Mataafa became the more successful, which provoked the Germans to dispatch troops to Samoa. In attempt of preventing a native attack on Apia, the seat of the foreign representatives, the Germans found themselves to be weaker than the Samoans. Following this defeat in December 1888, the natives destroyed the German consulate, Mataafa feeling himself undisputed victor. Enraged by this, the German consul, Dr. Knappe, declared war on Mataafa, Great Britain and the United States. The latter two sent war ships to Samoa. In Germany, chancellor Otto von Bismarck tried to diminish Knappe's acts by declaring him a lunatic. He called Knappe back and sent a trusted diplomat, Dr. Stübel, to Samoa. But before Stübel could act, a typhoon hit Samoa. 117 Americans and 93 Germans died, the British and the Samoans were spared of casualties. This disaster seemed to bring reason to the opposing parties, and in 1889, a treaty, which more or less resembled that of 1879, was signed, guaranteeing independence and neutrality to Samoa. All parties had the same rights on Samoa. The new -old- king was to be Laupepa, whom the Germans set free.
De facto, this meant a cooperative reign over Samoa. As anyone being familiar with bilateral and multilateral relations during the imperialist age will know, this was destined to fall victim to mutual distrust. The Samoans began quarelling anew, and following the death of Tamasese, there was a clear polarization between the supporters of Laupepa and Mataafa, which resulted in battles in which the British and Germans, as supporters of Laupepa, had to intervene. Mataafa was captured and sent to the Marshall Islands. This was, however, not the end of the civil war, as the son of Tamasese, of the same name, claimed to be the rightful king. His forces, too, were destroyed by the Europeans, so that an armed peace was created. But this was to end four years later with the death of Laupepa. The Germans now supported Mataafa as successor, while the British and Americans favoured Laupepa's son, Tanumafili. Mataafa was eventually elected to be king by the chieftains of Samoa, but the Americans did not accept this, arguing that this election violated the 1889 treaty. In effect, they inaugurated Tanumafili instead of Mataafa, on December 31, 1898. On the next day, civil war began anew, and the Europeans again felt the need to intervene. This was the crisis that nearly lead to a world war.
The main adversaries were German and American battleships, the Germans bein lead by Kapitän Schönfelder on the "Falke", the Americans by Admiral Kautz, on the USS "Philadelphia", which had arrived from the Philippines, a theatre of the Spanish-American war. The Allies (British and American) began bombarding Apia, which was more or less under control of the Germans. In the course of the battle, the former home of Robert Louis Stevenson, who died on Samoa in 1894, was destroyed by the Americans. The Germans and the Samoans, under command of Mataafa, defended themselves bitterly, causing casualties on both sides. Finally, the three European powers decided to cease fighting and work out a political situation. The troops in Samoa, who feared that their fighting would be soon joined by fighting in Europe, proved to be wrong, to their relief.
All three powers had different reasons for ending this conflict. The Americans were still engaged in the Philippines, where they had to fight the natives. The British had the Boer Wars in South Africa, and the Germans felt that their navy was not yet ready for a full-scale war with Great Britain.
The powers agreed to dissolve the monarchy on Samoa and to bring the islands under direct rule. The Germans received the western part, with Apia being the capital. The Americans received the eastern part, the capital being Pago Pago. The British withdrew their claims on Samoa and got to extend their lands in Tonga, the Solomon islands and western Africa.
Mataafa was now declared Great Chief of Samoa, and when he died in 1912, the Germans declared the position of the Great Chief to be extinct. The Germans had now gained full control over their last colony.
In 1914, in the course of World War I, troops from Australia and New Zealand occupied German Samoa and it was put under control of the League of Nations, United Nations after World War II. This part of Samoa declared its independence in 1962, as Western Samoa, and changed its name into Independent Samoa in 1995. The American part remains American Samoa till this day.
Sources:
Westphal, W.: Ein Weltreich für den Kaiser, Köln, 1984/2001
Schnee, H.: Unsere Kolonien, Leipzig, 1908
http://www.savai.de
Samoa's role in the age of Imperialism
By Stefan Härtel
Fourteen years before the outbreak of the first world war, Great Britain and the United States of America, and Germany were already at verge of war. Indeed, cannons were fired, and casualties recorded, and only the fact, that all three powers had their own inner problems could avoid this war.
The site of this battle was not on the European continent, nor was it somewhere in the Atlantic or one of its associated waters such as the North Sea. In fact, the battlefield was not even close to Europe. It was the remote island group of Samoa.
Samoa, consisting of four larger and a number of smaller islands, is a small archipelaegoe in the middle of the island world of the southern Pacific ocean, the legendary "South Seas". The islands are small, only two exceed the length of 50 km, but of considerable economic value. Enough to start a war about.
The people of Samoa are of Polynesian origin and arrived here at about 1500 BC. Being larger than most other islands of this territory, and featuring more natural ressources, the Polynesian culture received a boost here and flourished in most advanced forms. A number of tribes, often hostile to each other, developed.
The Samoans were among the most daring seafarers of the Polynesians. On their small outrigger boats, they travelled distances longer than those any other Polynesians had covered. It is believed that the original settlers on Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand were of Samoan origin. It is even said that Samoa is identical with Hawai'iki, the mythological cradle of the Polynesian civilization.
Traces of the Lapita culture, originating from Lapita on New Caledonia, dating from 1000 BC have been found on Upolu, the largest of the Samoan islands. The Lapita culture was the first organized society in the southern pacific area. It is long gone, and the only remnants are pieces of pottery, scattered around the islands around New Caledonia.
The first European to discover Samoa was the Frenchman Louis de Bougainville, who sighted the islands in 1768 and named them "Navigator Islands", because he saw many Samoan canoes far offshore, persuming, correctly, that they must have been great navigators.
Word soon spread about the inhabitants of these islands. They were known to be extremely friendly, hospitable and also to be keen merchants, and the women were reputed to be very beautiful. By the 19th century, Samoa was a busy trade port.
In 1830, European missionaries appeared on Samoa. They could soon convert the natives, bascially because the Samoan and Christian religions bore some significant similarities.
Soon after, whale catchers and pirates settled on the islands. Their influence on Samoa was, naturally, negative, the blessings of western civilization, namely alcohol and firearms, amplifying simple quarrels between tribes to outright wars. Still, the Samoans proved to be more resistant to western influences, and soon regarded themselves as being superior to the Europeans. The American and British consuls, who arrived in 1839 and 1845 respectively, were alarmed about this situation. They felt that the Europeans were setting examples which were so bad, that the natives would never be converted to their civilization. But, what was more important to them, they felt that the consistant wars between the natives would be bad for business.
Much to the relief of the Europeans, the wars proved not to affect South Sea trade, and Godeffroy & Co., a trade house from Hamburg, which was among the most important in the South Sea, could set up a stable base on Samoa, from which they eventually expanded to 45 other stations spread all across the Pacific.
The most important trade goods in Samoa were palm oil, and, later, copra. As the Samoans were, not unrightfully, reputed to be extremely lazy, at least by European standarts, coolies from Asia were used for outright copra farming. The Samoans never needed to farm, because everything they needed literally grew on trees or lay on their way. They were perfectly happy with coconuts, fish, and taro, which was the only thing they planted. Everything else they regarded as not worth of the effort to produce. This way, they have lived happily for more than two millennia, and did not feel the need to change it just because of the desires of some strangers.
But the European economy in Samoa did harm the natives. Alcohol, disease and loss of land all contributed to their proceeding distress. The popularity of the Europeans therefore sank consistantly.
By 1878, the house of Godeffroy was bankrupt, and, a year before, the British and Americans felt safe to claim Samoa their possession. The Germans did not accept this, and in 1879 the British and Americans signed a treaty which guaranteed the independence of Samoa. The Germans did not accept this either, but the other two did not care- they believed the episode of German influence in Samoa was over. They were gravely mistaken.
In 1881, King Talavou of Samoa died, and while he was respected as king by the Samoans, his successor, Laupepa, was not, to say the least, especially because he soon proved to be a puppet of the British and the Americans. The Germans, having not given up on Samoa just yet, supported his adversary, Tamasese. Laupepa was not very happy about this and eventually attacked Tamasese's birthday party, which was being held in the name of Wilhelm I, the German emperor. The Germans, in turn, demanded the abdication of Lapepa, and expelled him to Cameroon and later to Hamburg and the Marshall Islands. The British and Americans protested, but then tolerated this act. They soon found another favourite, Mataafa, and proclaimed him rightful king. In the ensuing fight, Mataafa became the more successful, which provoked the Germans to dispatch troops to Samoa. In attempt of preventing a native attack on Apia, the seat of the foreign representatives, the Germans found themselves to be weaker than the Samoans. Following this defeat in December 1888, the natives destroyed the German consulate, Mataafa feeling himself undisputed victor. Enraged by this, the German consul, Dr. Knappe, declared war on Mataafa, Great Britain and the United States. The latter two sent war ships to Samoa. In Germany, chancellor Otto von Bismarck tried to diminish Knappe's acts by declaring him a lunatic. He called Knappe back and sent a trusted diplomat, Dr. Stübel, to Samoa. But before Stübel could act, a typhoon hit Samoa. 117 Americans and 93 Germans died, the British and the Samoans were spared of casualties. This disaster seemed to bring reason to the opposing parties, and in 1889, a treaty, which more or less resembled that of 1879, was signed, guaranteeing independence and neutrality to Samoa. All parties had the same rights on Samoa. The new -old- king was to be Laupepa, whom the Germans set free.
De facto, this meant a cooperative reign over Samoa. As anyone being familiar with bilateral and multilateral relations during the imperialist age will know, this was destined to fall victim to mutual distrust. The Samoans began quarelling anew, and following the death of Tamasese, there was a clear polarization between the supporters of Laupepa and Mataafa, which resulted in battles in which the British and Germans, as supporters of Laupepa, had to intervene. Mataafa was captured and sent to the Marshall Islands. This was, however, not the end of the civil war, as the son of Tamasese, of the same name, claimed to be the rightful king. His forces, too, were destroyed by the Europeans, so that an armed peace was created. But this was to end four years later with the death of Laupepa. The Germans now supported Mataafa as successor, while the British and Americans favoured Laupepa's son, Tanumafili. Mataafa was eventually elected to be king by the chieftains of Samoa, but the Americans did not accept this, arguing that this election violated the 1889 treaty. In effect, they inaugurated Tanumafili instead of Mataafa, on December 31, 1898. On the next day, civil war began anew, and the Europeans again felt the need to intervene. This was the crisis that nearly lead to a world war.
The main adversaries were German and American battleships, the Germans bein lead by Kapitän Schönfelder on the "Falke", the Americans by Admiral Kautz, on the USS "Philadelphia", which had arrived from the Philippines, a theatre of the Spanish-American war. The Allies (British and American) began bombarding Apia, which was more or less under control of the Germans. In the course of the battle, the former home of Robert Louis Stevenson, who died on Samoa in 1894, was destroyed by the Americans. The Germans and the Samoans, under command of Mataafa, defended themselves bitterly, causing casualties on both sides. Finally, the three European powers decided to cease fighting and work out a political situation. The troops in Samoa, who feared that their fighting would be soon joined by fighting in Europe, proved to be wrong, to their relief.
All three powers had different reasons for ending this conflict. The Americans were still engaged in the Philippines, where they had to fight the natives. The British had the Boer Wars in South Africa, and the Germans felt that their navy was not yet ready for a full-scale war with Great Britain.
The powers agreed to dissolve the monarchy on Samoa and to bring the islands under direct rule. The Germans received the western part, with Apia being the capital. The Americans received the eastern part, the capital being Pago Pago. The British withdrew their claims on Samoa and got to extend their lands in Tonga, the Solomon islands and western Africa.
Mataafa was now declared Great Chief of Samoa, and when he died in 1912, the Germans declared the position of the Great Chief to be extinct. The Germans had now gained full control over their last colony.
In 1914, in the course of World War I, troops from Australia and New Zealand occupied German Samoa and it was put under control of the League of Nations, United Nations after World War II. This part of Samoa declared its independence in 1962, as Western Samoa, and changed its name into Independent Samoa in 1995. The American part remains American Samoa till this day.
Sources:
Westphal, W.: Ein Weltreich für den Kaiser, Köln, 1984/2001
Schnee, H.: Unsere Kolonien, Leipzig, 1908
http://www.savai.de
