How did the German Colonial Empire begin?
The Modern German state itself began only in the 19th century when Count Otto von Bismarck, prime minster of Prussia, put together the small German states that had been left by Napoleon, when he had abolished the hundreds of small states. This process was complete in 1871. So Germany had no tradition of common action, and had had no tradition of trading with the rest of the world as a single state – of course, Hansa merchants had long traded with the rest of the European world, especially in the Baltic and to Britain. Some German states had taken part in the slave trade. However, no German colonies had arisen naturally in the course of trade, as had those of Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Britain. Nor had German trading companies occupied any non-European lands. Eastern Germany had been conquered from Slavs by Crusading knights – the Teutonic Knights, possibly an imitation of the Templars. Bismarck, who created the German Empire, had no personal interest in colonies. Poss
