Naulila 1914. World War I in Angola and International Law: A Study in (Post-)Colonial Border Regimes and Interstate Arbitration

"In 1885, Germany and Portugal became neighbours in Africa. The newly founded colony of German Southwest Africa prevented the southwards expansion of the ancient colony of Angola. The border along the Cunene and Kavango Rivers remained under dispute. After the outbreak of World War I in Europe, Portugal's neutrality was questioned in German Southwest Africa (GSWA), and when a group of German officials waiting near the border of Angola for food transports were shot in the Angolan fortress Naulila, a state of war between both colonies seemed inevitable. German troops launched several military reprisals against fortresses in southern Angola, most significantly against Naulila in December 1914. After their victory at Naulila, the Germans retreated to GSWA. However, African powers, most notably Kwanyama forces led by King Mandume, used the weakness of the defeated Portuguese army to expel the colonial troops from southern Angola. In 1915, a counter-offensive was launched with troops from Portugal that ended with the complete occupation of Kwanyama territories. After the war, a Luso-German arbitration procedure according to the Treaty of Versailles (1919) assessed the damages in Angola and Germany's responsibility to pay reparations. The arbitration award of 1928 that established Germany's responsibility for the violation of international law when attacking Naulila became a landmark case. It still holds relevance for modern international law. The final part of this book analyses the memorial culture that developed in Angola, Namibia, Germany and Portugal around the war in 1914/15"--

Cover -- Introduction -- State of the Art and Objects of Investigation -- Sources -- Historians as Lawyers - Lawyers as Historians? Questions and Outline -- PART ONE. The First World War in Angola in its Historical Context -- 1. Luso-German Colonial Relations before the First World War -- 1.1 Slicing the "African Cake" - the Borders of Angola and GSWA -- 1.1.1 Devising International Law - the Congo-Conference 1884/5 -- 1.1.2 German Colonialism in Southern Africa and the Luso-German Border -- 1.1.3 Competing Neighbors - Luso-British Border Disputes 1886-1905 -- 1.2 "Medical Adviser" or "Heir"? - the Agreements of 1898 and 1913 -- 1.3 The Portuguese in Southern Angola -- 1.3.1 Contact, Commerce, and Colonialism in Angola, ca. 1840-1900 -- 1.3.2 Moçâmedes, the Planalto, and Portuguese Settlement Policies -- 1.3.3 Além-Cunene - Military and Missionary Perspectives, 1900-1914 -- 1.3.4 Famine, Labor, and Taxation in Southern Angola -- 1.4 New Friends? - Luso-German Trade and the Study Commission -- 2. The First World War in Angola and GSWA -- 2.1 The Outbreak of the War and its Impact on GSWA and Angola -- 2.2 Beyond German Reach - Smuggling Food across Angola -- 2.3 Misunderstandings - the Naulila Incident, October 1914 -- 2.4 Revenge? - Devastating the Kavango Forts, Oct.-Nov. 1914 -- 2.5 The Build-up of the Army in Angola, August-December 1914 -- 2.6 Colonial Armies on the Southern African Battlefield, 1914-1915 -- 2.6.1 An Ancient Institution - the Portuguese Colonial Army in Angola -- 2.6.2 A New Breed - the Colonial Army of GSWA -- 2.6.3 The South African Conquest of GSWA (I), September-December 1914 -- 2.6.4 An Unlikely Victory - the Battle of Naulila, December 18, 1914 -- 2.6.5 The Power of Rumor - the Portuguese Retreat, December 1914 -- 2.6.6 The South African Conquest of GSWA (II), January-July 1915.