German Samoa German Samoa ( ) was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1914 , consisting of the islands of Upolu , Savai ' i , Apolima and Manono , now wholly within the independent state Samoa , formerly " Western Samoa " . Samoa was the last German colonial acquisition in the Pacific basin , received following the Tripartite Convention signed at Washington on 2 December 1899 with ratifications exchanged on 16 February 1900 . It was the only German colony in the Pacific , aside from the Kiautschou concession in China , that was administered separately from German New Guinea . Expansion of German influence . In 1855 J . C . Godeffroy & Sohn expanded its trading business into the Pacific following negotiations by August Unshelm , Godeffroy ’ s agent in Valparaiso . He sailed out to the Samoan Islands , which were then known as the Navigator Islands . During the second half of the 19th century German influence in Samoa expanded with large scale plantation operations being introduced for coconut , cacao and hevea rubber cultivation , especially on the island of ' Upolu where German firms monopolized copra and cocoa bean processing . The trading operations of J . C . Godeffroy & Sohn extending to islands in the Central Pacific . In 1865 a trading captain acting on behalf of J . C . Godeffroy & Sohn obtained a 25 - year lease to the eastern islet of Niuoku of Nukulaelae Atoll . J . C . Godeffroy und Sohn was in 1879 taken over by Handels - und Plantagen - Gesellschaft der Südsee - Inseln zu Hamburg ( DHPG ) . Competition in the trading operations in the Central Pacific came from Ruge , Hedemann & Co , established in 1875 , which was succeeded by H . M . Ruge and Company until that firm failed in about 1887 . Tensions caused in part by the conflicting interests of the German traders and plantation owners and British business enterprises and American business interests led to the first Samoan Civil War . The war was fought roughly between 1886 and 1894 , primarily between Samoans though the German military intervened on several occasions . The United States and the United Kingdom opposed the German activity which led to a confrontation in Apia Harbor in 1887 . In 1899 after the Second Samoan Civil War the Samoan Islands were divided by the three involved powers . The Samoa Tripartite Convention gave control of the islands west of 171 degrees west longitude to Germany , the eastern islands to the United States ( present - day American Samoa ) and the United Kingdom was compensated with other territories in the Pacific and West Africa . Economic development . During the colonial years new companies were formed to greatly expand agricultural activities which in turn increased tax revenues for public works that further stimulated economic growth ; “ . . . over all , the period of German rule was the most progressive , economically , that the country has experienced . ” J . C . Godeffroy , as the leading trading and plantation company on Samoa , maintained communications among its various subdivisions and branches and the home base at Hamburg with its own fleet of ships . Since the Samoan cultural envelope did not include “ labor for hire , ” the importation of Chinese ( coolie ) laborers ( and to a lesser extent Melanesians from New Guinea working for DHPG ) was implemented , and “ . . . by 1914 over 2 , 000 Chinese were in the colony , providing an effective labor force for the [ German ] plantations . ” Major plantation enterprises on Samoa : Colonial administration . The colonial period officially began with the raising of the imperial flag on 1 March 1900 . Wilhelm Solf became the first governor . In its political relations with the Samoan people , Solf ’ s government showed similar qualities of intelligence and care as in the economic arena . He skillfully grafted Samoan institutions into the new system of colonial government by the acceptance of native customs . Solf himself learned many of the customs and rituals important to the Samoan people , observing cultural etiquette including the ceremonial drinking of kava . However , when a dissident Samoan " matai " ( chief ) exceeded the limits of his considerable tolerance , Solf stepped in assertively , pronouncing that “ . . . there was only one government in Samoa , ” and it was him . “ German rule brought peace and order for the first time . . . Authority , in the person of the governor , became paternal , fair , and absolute . Berlin was far away ; there was no cable or radio . ” Energetic efforts by colonial administrators established the first public school system ; a hospital was built and staffed and enlarged as needed , and Samoan women were trained as nurses . Of all colonial possessions of the European powers in the Pacific , German Samoa was by far the best - roaded ; all roads up until 1942 had been constructed under German direction . The imperial grants from the Berlin treasury which had marked the first eight years of German rule were no longer needed after 1908 . Samoa had become a self - supporting colony . Wilhelm Solf left Samoa in 1910 to be appointed Colonial Secretary at Berlin ; he was succeeded as governor by Erich Schultz , the former chief justice in the protectorate . Germany ruled western Samoa for 14 years . Occupation of German Samoa . Other than native Samoan police , Germany had no armed forces stationed in the islands . The small gunboat SMS " Geier " and the unarmed survey ship " Planet " were assigned to the so - called " Australian Station " ( encompassing all German South Seas protectorates , not the British dominion Australia ) , but " Geier " never reached Samoa . At the behest of Great Britain the colony was invaded unopposed on the morning of 29 August 1914 by troops of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force . Vice Admiral Count Maximilian von Spee of the German East Asia Squadron gained knowledge of the occupation and hastened to Samoa with the armored cruisers SMS " Scharnhorst " and SMS " Gneisenau " , arriving off Apia on 14 September 1914 . However , he determined that a landing would only be of temporary advantage in an Allied dominated sea and the cruisers departed . New Zealand occupied the German colony through to 1920 , then governed the islands until independence in 1962 as a ( 1 ) League of Nations Class C Mandate and ( 2 ) United Nations Trust Territory after 1946 .