page_title: Togoland
section_title: Economics and growth
hierarchical_section_title: Togoland / Economics and growth
caption_attribution_description: “Togo, eine Beerdigungsfeier mit militärischen Ehren” - from Expeditionsbericht der Zweiten Deutschen Inner-Afrika-Expedition (1907-09) Auf dem wege nach Atlantis.
context_page_description: Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 77,355 km² in size. During the period known as the "Scramble for Africa", the colony was established in 1884 and was gradually extended inland.
  At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the colony 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 formalised in 1922 with the creation of British Togoland and French Togoland.
context_section_description: Germany gradually extended its control inland. Colonial administrators and settlers brought scientific cultivation to the country's main export crops (cacao, coffee, cotton). The total number of German officials in the colony was only 12 in 1890. The colony's infrastructure was developed to one of the highest levels in Africa. Colonial officials built roads and bridges toward the interior mountain ranges and three rail lines from the capital, Lomé: along the coast to Aného in 1905, to Palime (modern Kpalimé) in 1907, and the longest line, the Hinterlandbahn, to Atakpamé by 1911. By 1914, over 1,000 km of roads had been constructed by the colonial office.
  Organized in 1888 with 25 Hausa infantry, the Polizeitruppe was used to enforce colonial authority over the hinterland of Togo. Expanded to 144 members in 1894, it conducted operations against Kpandu, and "a number of towns in central Togo which had resisted the government was attacked and razed to the ground, the property of the inhabitants confiscated and the people fined sums ranging from 200 marks to 1,110 marks." Over the remainder of the decade, an additional 35 expeditions were authorized by the colonial government.
  In 1895 the capital Lomé had a population of 31 Germans and 2,084 natives. By 1913 the native population had grown to 7,042 persons together with 194 Germans, including 33 women, while the entire colony had a German population of 316, including 61 women and 14 children. In the years just before World War I, Lomé had grown into the "prettiest town in West Africa". Because it was one of Germany's two self-supporting colonies, Togoland was acknowledged as a small but treasured possession. This lasted until the outbreak of World War I.
caption: Askari troops in Togoland, c. 1911
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