Protection contract

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Flag raising on Samoa, 1900 (photo montage with a letter of protection in the background)

Protection treaties represented agreements between representatives of the future colonial powers and chiefs of indigenous peoples in the annexed colonies. This involved the taking over of land owned by the locals, but which the chiefs were rarely allowed to decide on their own.

Local leaders often hoped for protection and support against their hostile neighbors through the relations with Europeans recorded in the letters of protection and were seldom aware of the rights they accorded their European contracting partners. The colonial powers, in turn, formally secured their rights to legislation, jurisdiction and taxation.

In this way the colonial powers took possession of huge amounts of land. However, the exercise of the rights expressed in the letters of protection took place in very different degrees. In “ German protected areas ”, which were far from the colonial centers, the execution proved difficult.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Pesek : Colonial rule in German East Africa. Expeditions, military and administration since 1880 . Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005. ISBN 3-593-37868-X .

Web links

Wiktionary: Protection contract  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations