German Ivory Coast

The history of the German Ivory Coast begins in the North-German French War of 1855. Due to the military successes of the North German Federation, the NGF government set its sight on Grand-Bassam, a small French trading post on the West-African coast. On November 9th 1855, when the French surrendered to the NGF, control over Grand-Bassam was transferred to the Federation. In the first two years of colonial rule by Germany, politicians in Germany generally stayed away from Grand-Bassam, partly due to the War of German Unification. However, long debates would be held over the naming of the colony. Eventually it was decided to translate the name into Groß-Bassam.

In 1857 things changed when Volker von Geishof was appointed as Groß-Bassam's first governor by Kaiser Wilhelm I. In von Geishof's wake, several other politicians temporarily migrated to the colony, including Charles Hartmann in 1857 and Achill von der Marwitz in 1860. In 1858, Groß-Bassam was briefly host to the I. Kolonial Korps under Carl Helmke and was used as a staging ground for the invasion of Warri. Throughout July of '58, the presence of Helmke's troops would cause unrest amongst the native population in the Ivory Coast but Governor von Geishof remained calm and did not give into their demands.

By August, the invasion of Warri in Nigeria had kicked off and the I. Kolonial Korps was no longer stationed in Groß-Bassam. However, it took until 1860 until all signs of unrest were gone. The introduction of new farming technologies undoubtedly contributed in improving the living standards of the local population and helped alleviate some of their concerns. By 1862, the trading post in Groß-Bassam had grown into a small city. Following the death of Chancellor Wilhelm von Hoth, the city was renamed to Hothshafen in his honor. In 1865, Governor von Geishof would be transferred to German Nigeria to deal with the growing colony and increasing tensions in the region.

In the German Ivory Coast, a former naval officer called Humboldt von Gumbinnen was appointed as the new Governor. Under his leadership, growth in the colony stalled due to a growing enthousiasm for other regions in Africa such as Nigeria, Zanzibar, Morocco and Egypt. It took until 1880 before the German Ivory Coast would see another expansion, as a result of the Scramble for Africa and the occupation of the inland. That same year, the I. Kolonial Korps fought a brief war against the Wattara, thus finalizing the borders of German Ivory Coast.