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Paper money in the German colonies
Owing to its delayed unification by land-oriented Prussia in 1871, Germany came late to the imperialist scramble for remote colonial territory (their so-called "place in the sun"). The German states prior to 1870 had retained separate political structures and goals, and German foreign policy up to and including the age of Otto von Bismarck concentrated on resolving the "German question" in Europe and securing German interests on that same continent. On the other hand, Germans had traditions of foreign sea-borne trade dating back to the Hanseatic League; a tradition existed of German emigration (eastward in the direction of Russia and Romania and westward to North America); and North German merchants and missionaries showed lively interest in overseas lands.
Many Germans in the late 19th century viewed colonial acquisitions as a true indication of having achieved nationhood, and the demand for prestigious colonies went hand-in-hand with dreams of a strong navy. Because Germany was so late to join the race for colonial territories, most of the world had already been carved up by the other European powers; in some regions the trend was already towards decolonisation.
The victorious Allied Powers dissolved and re-assigned the German impirial possesions in the course of the First World War (1914-1918) and its subsequent peace treaties, such as the Treaty of Versailles. In the treaties Japan gained the Carolines and Marianas, France gained Togo and Cameroons, Belgium gained parts of German East Africa, and the United Kingdom gained German New Guinea, Namibia, parts of German East Africa, and Samoa.
Paper money in the German colonies
The following pages show a selection of bills issued in the German colonies:
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