Editing Central Powers (section)

=====Africa=====
The German Empire was late to colonization, only beginning overseas expansion in the 1870s and 1880s. Colonization was opposed by much of the government, including chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]], but it became a colonial power after participating in the [[Berlin Conference]]. Then, private companies were founded and began settling parts of Africa, the Pacific, and China. Later these groups became German protectorates and colonies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=von Washausen |first=Helmut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdM_AAAAYAAJ |title=Hamburg und die Kolonialpolitik des Deutschen Reiches |publisher=H. Christians |year=1968 |page=116}}</ref>

[[Kamerun|Cameroon]] was a German colony existing from 1884 until its complete occupation in 1915. It was ceded to France as a [[League of Nations mandate|League of Nations Mandate]] at the war's end.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Elango |first=Lovett |date=1985 |title=The Anglo-French 'Condominium' in Cameroon, 1914–1916: The Myth and the Reality |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/218801 |journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=657–673 |doi=10.2307/218801 |issn=0361-7882 |jstor=218801}}</ref>

[[German East Africa]] was founded in 1885 and expanded to include modern-day [[Tanzania]] (except [[Zanzibar]]), [[Rwanda]], [[Burundi]], and parts of [[Mozambique]]. It was the only German colony to not be fully conquered during the war, with resistance by commander [[Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck]] lasting until November 1918. Later it was surrendered to the Allies in 1919 and split between the [[Belgian Congo]], [[Portuguese Mozambique]], and the newly founded colony of [[Tanganyika Territory|Tanganyika]].<ref name="Ends">{{cite book |last=Louis |first=William Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&pg=PA246 |title=Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511347-6 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611044443/https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&pg=PA246 |archive-date=11 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[German South West Africa|South West Africa]], modern-day [[Namibia]], came under German rule in 1885 and was absorbed into [[South Africa]] following its invasion in 1915.<ref>{{Cite web |title=German South West Africa |url=https://awayfromthewesternfront.org/campaigns/africa/german-south-west-africa/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Away from the Western Front |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[Togoland]], now part of [[Ghana]], was made a German protectorate in 1884. However, after a swift [[Togoland campaign|campaign]], it was occupied by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] in 1915 and divided between [[French Togoland]] and [[British Togoland]].<ref name="Martin">{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Lawrence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtyOqiwiDLYC&pg=PR15 |title=The Treaties of Peace, 1919–1923 |publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58477-708-3 |volume=2 |page=15 |access-date=19 July 2011}}</ref>