Editing History of Togo (section)

===German Togoland===
[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 137-003033, Togo, Lomé, Verladen von Baumwollballen.jpg|thumb|Cotton is loaded onto a ship in the German colony of Togoland, 1885]]
{{Main|Togoland}}
The [[German Empire]] established the protectorate of [[Togoland]] (in what is now the nation of [[Togo]] and most of what is now the [[Volta Region]] of Ghana) in 1884 during the period generally known as the "[[Scramble for Africa]]". [[Gustav Nachtigal]], Germany's Commissioner for West Africa who oversaw both the inclusion of Togoland as well as [[Kamerun]] into the German colonial empire, had negotiated with King Mlapa III to gain control of the coast of what would eventually become Togoland, particularly the cities of [[Lomé]], [[Sebe]] and [[Aného]]. France, at the time controller of neighboring [[Benin]], recognized German rule in the region on 24 December 1885.

The colony was established in part of what was then the [[Slave Coast of West Africa|Slave Coast]] and German control was gradually extended inland. Because it became Germany's only self-supporting colony and because of its extensive rail and road infrastructure—Germany had opened Togo's first rail line between Lomé and Aného in 1905—Togoland was known as its model possession.<ref name=WDL1>{{cite web|title=Togo under the German Flag|year=1899|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/684|publisher=[[World Digital Library]]|access-date=18 February 2013}}</ref>

At the outbreak of the [[First World War]] in 1914 the colony was drawn into the conflict. It was invaded and quickly overrun by British and French forces during the [[Togoland campaign]] and placed under military rule. In 1916 the territory was divided into separate British and French administrative zones, and this was formalized in 1922 with the creation of [[British Togoland]] and [[French Togoland]].