Eduard von Liebert | |
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| 5thReichskommissar ofGerman East Africa | |
| In office 4 December 1896 – 12 March 1901 | |
| Preceded by | Hermann von Wissmann |
| Succeeded by | Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen |
| Member of theImperial Diet | |
| In office 1907–1914 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1850-04-16)16 April 1850 |
| Died | 14 November 1934(1934-11-14) (aged 84) |
| Political party | Free Conservative Party (1907–1918) Fatherland Party (1918–1919) National People's Party (1919–1929) Nazi Party (1929–1934) |
| Spouse(s) | Helene Dittmer (1876–1899) Maria Charlotte (m. 1899) |
| Children | 1 |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Prussia (1866–1871) German Empire (1871–1917) |
| Branch/service |  Prussian Army |
| Years of service | 1866–1917 |
| Rank | General der Infanterie |
| Commands | Schutztruppe of German East Africa 6th Division 15th Reserve Division Generalkommando z.b.V. 54 |
| Battles/wars | Austro-Prussian War Franco-Prussian War German colonization of Africa World War I |
Eduard von Liebert, orEduard Wilhelm Hans Liebert (born 16 April 1850 inRendsburg; died 14 November 1934 inTscheidt) was a German military officer, colonial administrator and statesman who served inWorld War I, and aGovernor ofGerman East Africa. He also was active in several right-wing organisations and parties and was a member of theImperial Diet (German:Reichstag) for theFree Conservative Party from 1907 until 1914.
At his birth, his father, Friedrich Wilhelm Liebert (1805–53) was a major in the Prussian general staff, and was taking part in thewar against Denmark. His mother was Friederike Karoline, née Schindler (1829-1908).
Eduard von Liebert joined the58th (3rd Posen) Infantry Regiment of thePrussian Army as anensign at a very early age. He saw action in theBattle of Nachod in 1866 and was promoted tolieutenant on 6 August. Four years later, in 1870, he took part in theFranco-Prussian War, and was lightly woundednear Wörth, but was able to rejoin the fighting aroundParis. For this, he received theIron Cross. He attended thePrussian Staff College (German:Preußische Kriegsakademie) afterwards, graduating from there when 26 years old, in 1872. Afterwards, he was an instructor at the Military School inHanover. While there, in 1878, he was one of the twelve citizens who formed the "Provisional Committee for the Foundation of a Geographical Society in Hanover.[1] He was promoted to captain in 1880 and joined the general staff in the military college atMetz where he taughtmilitary strategy. He became a major in 1886.
During these years he travelled several times toRussia, and publishedDer polnische Kriegsschauplatz[2] under thepseudonym ofSarmaticus, which was indicative of his interest in military tactics.
Early on, he came into contact with well-knowncolonial pioneers and leading colonial politicians. In exalting the heroes of the military, and the political achievements ofFrederick William, "the Great Elector", and in seeking comparison with the colonialist movements of his own time, he delivered a lecture entitled "The colonial politics of the Great Elector"[3] in 1888.
In 1889–90 Liebert was sent toEast Africa, on behalf of Bismarck to report on CaptainHermann von Wissmann's expedition. He returned toGermany in 1890[4] and was present when theKaiser,Wilhelm II received theZanzibari embassy atPotsdam, along with the then Germanconsul-general of Zanzibar, Michahelles,Count Eulenberg andOtto von Bismarck.[5]
About this time he got to know Wissmann well. The latter had been appointedReich Commissioner for German East Africa, in the face of indigenous uprisings encountered there, and had the task of quelling the rebellions. Wissmann had quickly mustered up a sizeable force, helped by a change of policy by Bismarck. In his campaigns there, Liebert kept him supplied with officers and men. From his journey there Liebert gained valuable first-hand knowledge of the country.
Upon his return to Germany, Liebert was transferred to theGeneral Staff of the X Army Corps in Hanover in 1891, and eventually rose to become Chief of the General Staff, and further elevated to the rank of acolonel. At age 44, he was at the same time commander of the12th Grenadier Regiment inFrankfurt. During that time Liebert served as companion to theChineseviceroy,Li Hung-Chang who was visiting Germany in 1896, and drove with him to Frankfurt to have the 12th Grenadiers presented to him there. The ChineseOrder of the Double Dragon, 1st Class was awarded to Liebert in part due to his service for the viceroy.[6] Due to his enthusiasm for colonialism, he fell out of favour in Berlin, andLeo von Caprivi, who had succeeded Bismarck asChancellor of Germany in 1890, even threatened to ban him from speaking. In a speech during this time given at the Association of German Students in Berlin, he passionately quoted a verse fromFelix Dahn'sWalhall:[7]
"Seitdem ist’s freudig Germanenrecht,[8]
Mit dem Hammer Land zu erwerben;
Wir sind von des Hammergottes Geschlecht
Und wollen sein Weltreich erben."
("Since that time it is the defiant right of the German
To acquire land with the hammer.
We are from the race of the hammer-god
And resolve to inherit his empire.")[9]
On 3 December 1896 he was appointed Governor of German East Africa, After arriving in East Africa at the beginning of 1907, he first travelled to the southern part of the colony, neglected until then, and was impressed by the rich forests around theRufiji Delta which had been found by the forest assessor, August von Bruchhausen, who had arrived in 1896.[10]
He continued relentlessly to try to pacify thetribes which had proved threatening prior to his arrival, and which had been severely suppressed by Wissmann. Liebert sent troops against theNguni and theWayao in the south of the country. He despatchedTom von Prince to Uhehe, although theWahehe had been weakened by the assaults of von Schele. He also sent troops to contain land nearLake Victoria, to the north west of the country. In addition, he sought to achieve greater settlement of the highlands by German immigrants.
He tried to increase government revenues by the commercial exploitation of plants.Tobacco cultivation had proved to be a failure, andcoffee planting had also encountered major difficulties, but an important crop was available, theagave,sisal. In 1892, Dr.Richard Hindorf, then working on an estate near Amani, had been attracted by a paper on the sisal plant, a native plant of theYucatan, which he later introduced into the colony. Its success led to plantation construction on a large scale at that time in the lowlands ofTanga region.[11]
Amid great controversy, his single-minded attempt to enforce thehut tax in order to raise revenue, was not well received. The hut tax, introduced in 1897, was the first practical step to make the land and its inhabitants usable to further colonization plans of the German administration. The task of collection, however, was almost impossible, not least because of the prevalent use ofbarter, lack of anational currency and a dearth of usable roads or other means of communication. Liebert's attempts to build that necessary infrastructure was frustrated by a lack of funds from the colonial department at home. InBerlin, Liebert's ardour, especially his incessant pressure to build paths and railways, was treated with great reluctance. His conviction of the unavoidable necessity of the central railway (Dar es Salaam -Lake Tanganyika), along with the as yet incompleteUsambara railway, and the fact that he tried in vain to obtain any support for it, was considered later to have led to the termination of his position as governor. He was recalled in 1900 for differences of opinion with the colonial department over this matter.
On 1 January 1900 Liebert was rewarded with hereditary nobility by Wilhelm II. After holding the command of the 6th Division in Brandenburg for two years (Generalleutnant, April 1901 to April 1903), he submitted his resignation. He gave himself entirely to national political activities after this with theGerman Colonial Society (German:Deutschen Kolonialgesellschaft) and the Alldeutschen Verband. In 1904, he was also a co-initiator and first chairman of the "Reichsverband gegen die Sozialdemokratie", a political party promotingmilitarism. In the Reichstag, to which he belonged as a member of theFree Conservative Party from 1907 to 1914, he advocatedforced labour, a German national settlement policy and an expansion of German colonial possessions, in opposition to liberal reform policy. Even before the outbreak of World War I, he was inspired by militarism. He publicly censured racial 'corruption' in "Die Zukunftsentwicklung unserer Kolonien"and condemnedmiscegeny in the colonies. During theFirst World War, until prevented by his age in 1917, Liebert held various commands at the front, and was awarded thePour le mérite in 1917.
Liebert married Helene Dittmer on 27 April 1876 inKiel, daughter of a winewholesaler and businessman. After the death of his wife, he married her sister Maria Charlotte inDar es Salaam in 1899. He had a daughter, Elsa, by his first marriage.
After the end of the war, von Liebert agitated as a militant Pan-German and representative for theFatherland Party. He won a mandate for thePrussian House of Representatives for 1917-18. Like many other colonial officers, Liebert was on the side of thecounter-revolutionary forces, and spoke and wrote fornationalist associations. In 1929 he joined theNazi Party.[12]
In an article celebrating his 80th birthday, he is recorded as living in Munich.[13] He died inTscheidt on 14 November 1934, aged 84.
Governors ofGerman East Africa (1885–1918) | ||
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