Zollmann on Luso-German conflict and International Law
In 1885,
Germany and Portugal became neighbours in Africa. The newly founded colony of
German Southwest Africa prevented the southwards expansion of the ancient
colony of Angola. The border along the Cunene and Kavango Rivers remained under
dispute. After the outbreak of World War I in Europe, Portugal’s neutrality was
questioned in German Southwest Africa, and when a group of German officials
waiting near the border of Angola for food transports were shot in the Angolan
fortress Naulila, a state of war between both colonies seemed inevitable.
German troops launched several military reprisals against fortresses in
southern Angola, most significantly against Naulila in December 1914. After
their victory at Naulila, the Germans retreated to GSWA. However, African
powers, most notably Kwanyama forces led by King Mandume, used the weakness of
the defeated Portuguese army to expel the colonial troops from southern Angola.
In 1915, a counter-offensive was launched with troops from Portugal that ended
with the complete occupation of Kwanyama territories. After the war, a
Luso-German arbitration procedure according to the Treaty of Versailles (1919)
assessed the damages in Angola and Germany’s responsibility to pay reparations.
The arbitration award of 1928 that established Germany’s responsibility for the
violation of international law when attacking Naulila became a landmark case.
It still holds relevance for modern international law. The final part of this
book analyses the memorial culture that developed in Angola, Namibia, Germany
and Portugal around the war in 1914/15.
Full
information is available here.
