Anglo-German Agreement (1898)

In the nineteenth century , a fierce fight broke out among European countries over Africa . The leaders in it were Great Britain and France . But at the end of the century, new world players began to join in the colonial race: the USA , Italy and the German Empire . The latter was extremely aggressive towards the old colonial powers, such as France , Great Britain , Spain , Belgium and Portugal . But even among the old colonial powers, conflicts often arose over their possessions in one or another part of the world. So one of the reasons that prompted England to conclude this treaty with Germany was the Anglo-Portuguese colonial conflict of 1889-1890 . This conflict also demonstrated to the whole world the failure of Portugal in its foreign policy, which became more and more dependent on England. The fact is that in the middle of the XIX century, Portugal was shaken by strong civil wars, which almost ruined the country's financial budget. By the end of the century before last, Portugal's external debt had reached enormous numbers, and the country was on the verge of a military and financial disaster.

In London, it was believed that only a large external loan could save the Lisbon government and that it would be possible to provide it only in exchange for colonies of the decrepit Portuguese kingdom. In turn, Germany did not want to stay away from a possible new redistribution of Africa. Berlin longed for the Portuguese lands in Africa and was also ready to give Lisbon a loan in exchange for the colonies. By and large, the UK and Germany shared the skin of an unkilled bear. Firstly, Portugal could still take care of its colonies itself. Secondly, Portugal has not yet declared bankruptcy. Nevertheless, London and Berlin, anticipating the imminent fall of the Portuguese colonies, decided to divide them in advance.

Also, one of the reasons for signing the agreement lies in the fact that the UK soon intended to start a war against the Boers , which Germany supported, providing them with excellent weapons and ammunition. The British were afraid that during the new Boer War, the Germans might intervene in it and the conflict could gain wide scope. England , trying to prevent the rapprochement of the continental powers directed against her, agreed to the proposal of German Chancellor Bernhard Bülow to divide the Portuguese colonies between England and Germany in exchange for the commitment of the German government to stop supporting the Boer republics. It is worth saying that the Germans did not keep their promise and during the Boer War of 1899 - 1902, the British faced a well-armed Boer army, which was armed with Mauser rifles of the 1898 model and new Krupp guns.

On August 30, 1898, an Anglo-German treaty was signed in London . The initiative to sign the contract came from Joseph Chamberlain . The agreement consisted of three conventions. The first said that both contracting parties undertake to maintain the integrity and independence of Portugal. It was also supposed to provide her with an urgent loan secured by her colonies. The second paragraph indicated the differentiation of spheres of influence: England received Mozambique and the central part of Angola , and Germany - a small part of Mozambique, the rest of Angola and the island of Timor in the Sunda archipelago ( Pacific Ocean ). In the third part of the agreement, the parties agreed on the conditions and procedure for the division of the Portuguese colonies between England and Germany in the extreme case when Lisbon categorically opposes the policies of London and Berlin and does not want to give up its possessions.

In general, the treaty was clearly aggressive and imperialistic in nature. The British and Germans also agreed to jointly impede attempts by third countries to take part in the division of the Portuguese colonies. Here, the “third country" should mean France, which would also be willing to profit from the weak Portugal and expand its already huge colonial possessions.

The division of the Portuguese possessions never took place. One of the reasons for this can be called the insidious double politics of England. Here is what the historian Yuri Nenakhov writes about this:

In 1913, England renewed the old treaty with unsuspecting Germany. Moreover: London promised Germany the transfer of all of Portuguese Angola to her control. But a year later the First World War began and all early agreements were canceled.

• http://enc-dic.com/diplomat/Anglo-Germanskie-Peregovory-1898-1901-1165.html

• Nenakhov Yu. Yu. Iron and blood. War of Germany of the XIX century. - Minsk, Moscow., 2002., pp. 624-625
• Diplomatic Dictionary. - M .: State Publishing House of Political Literature. A. Ya. Vyshinsky, S.A. Lozovsky. 1948.

• Anglo-Portuguese conflict
• Windsor agreement