Britain and France Take Over German Colonies after World War I for AP World History

Feb 2

2 min read

Britain and France’s takeover of the German colonies after World War I is an illustrative example of the Unresolved Tensions after World War I topic in Unit 7 of AP World History. You could reference this example on your AP World History test.

map of German Colonial Empire — 1796157667/Shutterstock

After World War I, under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), several German colonies were transferred to Britain and France as part of the League of Nations mandates system. The German Empire lost all its overseas territories, and these were distributed to the victors of the war. Below is a list of key German colonies that were taken over by Britain and France:

Colonies taken over by Britain

German East Africa (Tanganyika): The bulk of German East Africa (present-day Tanzania) was handed over to Britain. This mandate excluded Rwanda and Burundi, which were given to Belgium.

German South West Africa: This territory (present-day Namibia) was mandated to South Africa, which was a British dominion at the time.

German Togoland (Togo): The western part of Togoland was given to Britain and later became part of modern-day Ghana.

German Cameroon: Part of German Cameroon was given to Britain and became part of modern Nigeria (British Cameroon).

Colonies taken over by France

German Togoland (Togo): The eastern part of Togoland was given to France and later became the modern country of Togo.

German Cameroon: The larger portion of German Cameroon was given to France, which later became the modern country of Cameroon.

These colonies were administered under the League of Nations mandate system, which was designed to govern former enemy territories "until such time as they are able to stand alone." In practice, these mandates were essentially colonies under British and French control until after World War II, when most of them gained independence.