APPEASEMENT AND GERMANY'S LAST BID FOR COLONIES STUDIES IN MILITARY AND STRATEGIC HISTORY General Editor: Michael Dockrill, Senior Lecturer in War Studies, King's College, London This new series of books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century military, naval and air history is largely the work of a younger generation of military historians who will explore hitherto neglected areas of the subject or provide fresh interpretations of existing material. This series will cover the whole range of issues - strategic, diplomatic, economic and financial- involved in preparations for, the conduct of, and the ending of wars. Published titles Andrew J. Crozier: APPEASEMENT AND GERMANY'S LAST BID FOR COLONIES G. A. H. Gordon: BRITISH SEAPOWER AND PROCUREMENT BETWEEN THE WARS Stephen Hartley: THE IRISH QUESTION AS A PROBLEM IN BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY, 1914-18 Brian Holden Reid: J. F. C. FULLER: Military Thinker Forthcoming titles David A. Charters: THE BRITISH ARMY AND JEWISH INSURGENCY IN PALESTINE, 1945-47 John Robert Ferris: THE EVOLUTION OF BRITISH STRATEGIC POLICY, 1919-26 John Gooch: ARMY, STATE AND SOCIETY IN ITALY, 1870-1915 Series Standing Order If you would like to receive future titles in this series as they are published, you can make use of our standing order facility. To place a standing order please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address and the name of the series. Please state with which title you wish to begin your standing order. (If you live outside the United Kingdom we may not have the rights to your area, in which case we will forward your order to the publisher concerned.) Standing Order Service, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 2XS, England. Appeasement and Gertnany's Last Bid for Colonies Andrew J. Crozier Lecturer in Modern History University College of North Wales, Bangor M MACMILLAN in association with PRESS Palgrave Macmillan © Andrew J. Crozier 1988 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1988 978-0-333-44763-5 All rights reserved. No reproduetion, eopy or transmission of this publieation may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publieation may be reprodueed, eopied or transmitted save with written permission or in aeeordanee with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended), or under the terms of any lieenee permitting limited eopying issued by the Copyright Ueensing Agency, 33-4 Alfred Plaee, London WC1E 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal proseeution and civil claims for damages. First published 1988 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LID Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world British Ubrary Cataloguing in Publication Data Cmzier, Andrew J. Appeasement and Germany's last bid for eolonies.-(Studies in military and strategie history) . 1. Germany-Foreign relations-Great Britain 2. Great Britain-Foreign relations -Germany 3. Germany-Foreign relations -1933-1945 4. Germany-Colonies I. Title 11. King's College, London III. Series 909' .09712430823 DD120.G7 ISBN 978-1-349-19257-1 ISBN 978-1-349-19255-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-19255-7 For my Mother and to the memory of my Father Contents Preface viii Map of German Empire in 1914 ix Map of Africa in 1914 x 1 Introduction 1 2 British and German Attitudes in 1933 21 3 The Colonial Question and the Reaction to Hitler 1933-35 44 4 German Irredentism in Africa 71 5 The Colonial Question and a General Settlement 99 6 The Plymouth Report 134 7 Schacht 169 8 Chamberlain 207 9 The Van Zeeland Report 241 10 Conclusion 264 Notes and References 274 Bibliography 332 Index 343 vii Preface This book inevitably owes much to the efforts of many besides those of the author himself. I should, however, like to record here my particular gratitude to three outstanding historians, D. C. Watt, R. F. Leslie and C. L. Mowat, who supported and encouraged me at various times. Thanks are also due to Wolfgang Michalka and Eckhard Most for very many stimulating conversations during the early days of the project. The research was made very much easier by the courtesy and helpfulness of the staffs of the Public Record Office, the Churchill Archive Centre, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, the University of Cambridge Library and the Library of the University College of North Wales. Regarding the last named institution, I am especially in the debt of Mrs D. Jones whose assistance has been invaluable on more than one occasion. The prosecution of historical research is these days an expensive business. I am, therefore, very grateful to the Research and Conference Grants Committee of the University College of North Wales which has from time to time made funds available for visits to the Public Record Office and other archive centres. I am obliged to Mike Dockrill for his continual prodding and to Miss L. M. Oyler and Mrs J. Hughes for their many kindnesses over the years. This book is largely based upon original sources and for permission to consult and quote from them my thanks are due to the Master, Fellows and Scholars of Churchill College in the University of Cambridge regarding the Phipps and Hankey Papers; Sir Colville Barclay regarding the Vansittart Papers; David Higham Associates Limited regarding the Cadogan Papers; Lord Croft regarding the Croft Papers; the University of Birmingham Library regarding the Dawson and Neville Chamberlain Papers; the University of Cam- bridge Library regarding the Templewood Papers; and the Clerk of the Records, the House of Lords Record Office regarding the Lloyd George Papers. All Crown Copyright material has been reproduced by permission of the Controller, Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Finally, I thank Gwen for having so often provided a roof and food during my visits to the capital and Andrea, Ian and David without whom the book would never have been written. J. ANDREW CROZIER viii Ocean ManhaU --: Islands Nauru " Wilhelms Samoa" Pacific --Mariana -: Islands -;- Caroline _ : --:-r, --Islands Bismark Chipela90 -~,-.;) '0 Kaiser Land ~ n a e c O n a di n I 4 1 9 1 n i e r i p m E n a m r e an G e Oc c e nti h A tla T x- '.. i;} J I A tlantic Ocean Indian Ocean o 1000 km '1--___- --', Africa in 1914 x