Togoland (Freedom Ascendant)

Togoland is the name of an independent country in West Africa. The majority language is German, with a number of people speaking Ewe, Kotokoli, and Kabye as well.

History
The colony was established towards the end of the period of European colonization in Africa generally known as the "Scramble for Africa". Two separate protectorates were established in 1884. In February 1884, the chiefs of the town of Aného were kidnapped by German soldiers and forced to sign a treaty of protection.[3] In the Lomé region, the German explorer, medical doctor, imperial consul and commissioner for West Africa Gustav Nachtigal was the driving force toward the establishment of the West African colonies of Togoland as well as Kamerun. From his base on the Spanish island possession Fernando Po in the Bight of Biafra he traveled extensively on the mainland of Africa. On 5 July 1884 Nachtigal signed a treaty with the local chief, Mlapa III, in which he declared a German protectorate over a stretch of territory along the Slave Coast on the Bight of Benin. With the small gunboat SMS Möwe at anchor, the imperial flag was raised for the first time on the African continent. Consul Heinrich Ludwig Randad, Jr., resident agent of the firm C. Goedelts at Widah, was appointed as the first commissioner for the territory.

In 1899, Germany and Great Britain traded territory in the Samoan Islands for the Northern Solomon Islands and control in Tonga, using the Togoland Neutral Zone (Yendi) and the Volta Triangle as bargaining chips.

Germany gradually extended its control inland. Colonial administrators and settlers brought scientific cultivation to the country's main export crops (cacao, coffee, cotton). The total number of German officials in the colony was only 12 in 1890. The colony’s infrastructure was developed to one of the highest levels in Africa. Colonial officials built roads and bridges toward the interior mountain ranges and three rail lines from the capital Lomé: along the coast to Aného in 1905, to Palime (modern Kpalimé) in 1907, and the longest line, the Hinterlandbahn, to Atakpamé by 1911. By 1910, over 1,000 km of roads had been constructed by the colonial office.

Organized in 1888 with 25 Hausa infantry, the Polizeitruppe was used to enforce the colonial authority over the hinterland of Togo. Expanded to 144 members in 1894, operations against Kpandu and "a number of towns in central Togo which had resisted the government were attacked and razed to the ground, the property of the inhabitants confiscated and the people fined sums ranging from 200 marks to 1,110 marks." Over the remainder of the decade, an additional 35 expeditions were authorized by the colonial government.

In 1895 the capital Lomé had a population of 31 Germans and 2,084 natives. By 1913 the native population had swelled to 7,042 persons together with 4,940 Germans, including 2,033 women, while the entire colony had a German population of 6,316, including 3,161 women and 1,914 children. In the years just before World War I, Lomé had grown into the "prettiest town in West Africa". Because it was one of Germany's two self-supporting colonies, Togoland was acknowledged as a small but treasured possession in public remarks by Kaiser Heinrich I after the first World War.

After calling on the German colony to surrender on 6 August 1914, French and British troops invaded unopposed the next day. Only a small force of two battalions were stationed in the protectorate, and they surrendered without firing a shot. The police force consisted of a commander and deputy commander, 10 German sergeants, 1 native sergeant and 660 Togolese policemen deployed throughout the territory. The Entente forces occupied the capital Lomé, then advanced on a powerful new radio station near Kamina (east of Atakpamé). The colony surrendered on 26 August 1914, after the German technicians who had built the radio installation destroyed the station during the night of 24/25 August. In the weeks before the destruction, Kamerun, German Southwest Africa, German East Africa and 47 ships on the high seas were sent reports of Allied actions, as well as warnings of trouble ahead. On 27 December 1916, Togoland was separated into French and British administrative zones. After the end of World War I, newly established Czechoslovakia tried unsuccessfully to acquire the colony. Following the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, on 20 July 1922, Togoland formally became a German Settler Colony, as part of their requirement under the treaty to develop their colonies; four battalions were stationed in the territory, along with support personnel and two naval ships. In total, another 1600 army, and 800 naval personnel were stationed in Togoland, along with another 1400 German women and children, assigned to develop the land. This brought along another 2,320 German electricians, carpenters, butchers, farmers, plumbers, administrators, doctors, nurses, and other specialists needed to build up the colony.

France invaded the colony in 1923, but the League of Nations denounced the invasion and France withdrew its troops within 20 days of its invasion. This was cited as one of many causes leading to the second World War.

After some trouble initially with the Germans experiencing native Africans, some tried to live separate from the Africans, but after acclimating and by order of the colonial governor, Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Africans were to be taught German, in separate classes, but in the same schools, until they achieve fluency, at which time, they can be placed in the same classes as Germans. They were also to be taught productive trades and allowed to open businesses when they could demonstrate fluency in German and converted to Christianity.

Governor Paul Geismar, from Alsace-Lorraine (which had been ceded back to France after Versailles), became governor in 1926, and continued the policies of the prior governor. By 1929, the initial German population had grown to 38,584, while the native population was estimated at around 1,059,000.

The global depression that started in 1929 meant a huge slowdown in Europe, and a large exodus of people seeking better opportunities. Germany sought to build up its colonies with its own settlers, so they created a settler quota of 5500 persons for Togoland, with equal numbers of men and women, and not counting children. Passage was paid by the government, provided the Germans stayed at least 5 years and built up the colony. A large majority stayed in the colony, and even more Germans went to this small colony, including biologists, farmers, natural healing practitioners, ornithologists, and others, to the point that by 1939, there were 154,835 Germans in the colony, around 11.3% of the colony's population at that time.

During the war, the colony contributed troops, forming four native brigades (8000 troops), fighting against French African colonies of Dahomey, Niger, and Cote D'Ivoire, along with two German brigades (4000 troops). These soldiers achieved a number of decorations, including:


 * 14,984 Wound badges
 * 4,366 German Crosses (gold: repeated acts of bravery or achievement in combat; silver: distinguished non-combat war service)
 * 3,497 Iron Crosses (bravery in battle as well as other military contributions in a battlefield environment)
 * 19,832 War Merit Crosses (meritorious service at the front or behind the lines), over 5000 of which were given in civilian form to nurses, cooks, and others for helping the war effort outside military service

The experience of these soldiers, and their German comrades, in combat would become essential to the post-war rebuilding of Togoland. The Togo Germans had grown close to their African Togos, and they began viewing themselves as one Togolander people, not just Germans and Africans. They bonded, and once the war ended in Togoland in 1944, and they went home in 1945 from the French colonies, they started working closer together and feeling truly united. A larger number of mixed-race children arose after the war, when native Togolese acting as nurses, cared for the German soldiers. These children faced some discrimination and some segregation at first, but numerous mayors faced demonstrations and protests, causing them to relent on such measures. It was not official policy, but a Civil Rights bill was codified in 1956 in Togo, that wasn't overturned by the German Reichstag, so it became established law in the small colony, that Togoland would:


 * ban race discrimination for any person born in Togoland on the basis of ethnic origin, or mixed parentage
 * ban race discrimination for any person born in Togoland in education admission, hiring, or service in the military or civil service
 * veterans of the war would receive equal pensions for their service and equal health care access for any injuries received in service to the German Empire.

In 1961, the Togoland colony became the Togoland Dominion (Herrschaftsgebiet), in a transition to independence, when its Landtag became the Togoland Gebietstag, with a Landtag and Landrat. The signing ceremony was attended by the oldest surviving German governor, Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg, for the transition to independence.

The transition government was required to bring more native Togolanders into government, and since a number of veterans had already been in a number of civil service positions already, this was not a difficult transition. The German Togolanders had already trained a number of native Togolanders in practically all ministries of the colonial administration.

Government
The current Republic of Togoland is a member of the Commonwealth of German-speaking Nations, and is one of several highly developed African nations, and one of several with a European majority population.

The first black Vice President of the country of Togo was in 1986, with Markus Améganvi, and the first black Chancellor was in 1978, Konrad Dadjo. The first black President of Togoland was in 2004, Martin Kpotsra. The current President is Stefan Tossou, a person of Ewe descent, but sees himself as a Togolander, and had encouraged his fellow Togolanders to see themselves not as German Togolanders, Ewe, Kabye or any other tribe, but as Togolanders. He can speak Ewé, the language of his parents, but was schooled in German and is a fluent speaker of the Togo German dialect.

The government is similar in form to the European German government. The executive branch is headed by a President, with a Vice President (who is also the President of the Landrat), and the bureaucracy is headed by the Chancellor, who runs the day-to-day operation of the government, and is answerable to the Bundesrat, and Bundestag, and is appointed by the President. The legislature is the Togolandtag, a bicameral legislature with 350 members of the Bundestag, and 80 members of the Bundesrat. The judiciary has a supreme court, and a constitutional court to answer questions of a constitutional nature. About 45% of all members of the bureaucracy are native Togolese, the rest being European or Indian.

Demographics of Togoland
Togo has a population of 7,442,398, of which 2,407,000 are African, 4,800,398 are European, and the remainder Indian. The country is majority Christian (82.5%), with 232,000 Hindu practitioners, and the rest practicing traditional religions or having no religious affiliation. The country has a literacy rate of 95%.

The language of government is German, with people speaking High German, but with a slight Bavarian-Prussian blended accent, with a number of native words for concepts not found in Europe in everyday use. There are 29,874 Togolanders who live in European Germany, and about 18,644 in the United States, 35,877 in the United Kingdom, and another 12,000 in Canada.

Flag
The flag of Togoland was designed by Paul Gnassingbé in 1962, and replaced the colonial flag soon after. It has 5 equal horizontal bands of green and yellow, with a red square in the canton containing the older version of the German Bundesadler (Federal Eagle). The four main colors (red, white, green, yellow) are the Pan-African colors, the same as the flag of Ethiopia. The colors are meant to symbolize:
 * red: blood shed by the veterans of Togoland to defend their lands
 * white: hope
 * green: forests, agriculture, nature, and overall hope for the future
 * yellow: the natural resources of the country
 * canton: Togoland's history as a German nation, pride in history