Timeline 1916-1936 (Surviving German Empire)

The period between 1916-1936 saw military buildup of major European powers and creation of blocs: Entente and Allied Powers that eventually led to the outbreak of the war between those factions. Crash of the New York stock market led to worlwide depression and socialist revolution in USA. Japan begun to assert itself as one of the Great Powers, equal to the West.

Rebellion in German East Africa
In 1916, Sukuma and Nyamwezi rose up against the Germans in German East Africa. Rebels fought in a guerilla warfare and Germany, pitted against better adapted enemy that had support of the local populace had trouble to defeat. The uprising lasted well iinto 1917, with isolated guerilla units fighting until 1920. In 1916, German intelligence reported readiness of Ovambo to rebel in German South-West Africa. Fearing another rebellion and seeing how colonies were not only unprofitable but actually a huge drain of resources and of, already strained by the military buildup, budget, Emperor Wilhelm made the decision to sell the colony to the British dominion, Union of South Africa.

Sale of German colonies
The decision to sell German colonies was very unpopular, especially among conservatives but widely was applauded by the growing Social Democratic Party and some liberal parties. The first colony to be sold was German South-West Africa, sold for 2 billion German Marks, a value considered very high by standards of that time. In the period, subsequent colonies in Africa and Kaiser-Wilhelmsland were sold to United Kigdom and her dominions and France. The biggest disappointment was lack of British interest in buying German East Africa, despite their attempts to form a railway from Egypt to South Africa, as result of the civil war couple of yers earlier. Ultimately, it was sold for less than 1 bilion Marks.