Togoland

Togoland or Togo, historic region (c.33,500 sq mi/86,800 sq km), W Africa, bordering on the Gulf of Guinea in the south. The western section of Togoland is now part of Ghana, and the eastern portion constitutes the Republic of Togo. The primary inhabitants of the region are the Ewe in the south and various Voltaic-speaking ethnic groups in the north. From the 17th cent. until the early 19th cent. the Ashanti (situated in present-day Ghana) raided Togoland for slaves, who were then sold to European traders at the coast. European penetration of the region began in the 1840s with the arrival of German missionaries and German merchants who bought palm products. In 1884, Gustav Nachtigal signed treaties with several coastal rulers, and a German protectorate over S Togoland was recognized by the Conference of Berlin (1884-85). German military expeditions gained control of N Togoland during the 1890s, and the protectorate's boundaries were further delimited in treaties with France (1897) and Great Britain (1904). Germany instituted much economic development, building roads and railroads, constructing a good port at Lomé, and encouraging the production of palm products, rubber, cotton, and cacao. However, German levies of direct taxes and forced labor aroused resentment among the Togolese. In Aug., 1914, British and French forces easily captured Togoland from the Germans in the first Allied victory of World War I. In 1922, the League of Nations divided the region into two mandates, one French and the other British, and in 1946 the mandates became trust territories of the United Nations. French Togoland was administered as a separate unit (except between 1934 and 1937, when it was joined with Dahomey), and in 1960 it became independent as the Republic of Togo. British Togoland, made up of W Togoland, was administered as part of the British Gold Coast colony and protectorate and in 1957 became part of the independent state of Ghana.

Former German protectorate, western Africa. Now divided between Togo and Ghana, it covered an area between the British Gold Coast colony and French Dahomey (now Benin). It was inhabited by a mixture of Ewe and other peoples. Its coastal area became a political unit of Germany in 1884; hinterland boundaries were established in 1897. In 1914 it was captured by Anglo-French forces and later divided into two administrative zones. The British zone was placed under control of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), with which it merged in 1957. The French zone became the independent Republic of Togo in 1960. Lingering sentiment for the reunification of Togoland, especially among Ewe people in Ghana, has occasionally strained relations between Togo and Ghana since independence.

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Togoland was a German protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914. The protectorate was established during the "Scramble for Africa", when German explorer and imperialist Gustav Nachtigal arrived at Togoville, sent as a special commissioner by Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck. On July 5 1884, a treaty was signed with the local chief, Mlapa III, in which the German Empire declared a protectorate over a stretch of territory along the coast of the Bight of Benin. Nachtigal was Reichskommissar for a day, but was replaced on July 6 by Heinrich Randad as other tasks were waiting for Nachtigal in Northern Africa.

Germany gradually extended its control inland. They brought scientific cultivation to the country's main export crops (cacao, coffee and cotton) and developed its infrastructure to one of the highest levels in Africa. Because it became Germany's only self-supporting colony, Togoland was known as its model possession. This would last until the eruption of World War I.

After calling on German forces to surrender on 6 August 1914, French and British forces invaded the colony the next day, occupying Lome and advancing on a powerful radio station near Kamina (just east of Atakpamé). The colony surrendered on August 26, after the Germans had destroyed the station on the night of August 24/25. On December 27 1916, Togoland was divided into French and British administrative zones. Following the war, Togoland formally became a League of Nations Class B mandate divided for administrative purposes into French Togoland and British Togoland (covering respectively about 2/3 and 1/3 of the territory).

As a result, the French-ruled part of Togoland became what is now Togo, with the rest transferred to Ghana following a plebiscite.

See also

• History of Togo
• German West African Company
• List of former German colonies

References in Popular Culture

In the popular Canadian sketch comedy show, Second City Television (which ran from 1976 to 1984), the news segment skit "SCTV News" regularly included news bulletins about natural catastrophes in Togoland, although the country no longer had that name.

External links

• Map of Togoland
• Proposed flag of Togoland