A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...

policy. 98 However this still does not conclusively prove the Marxist argument of
commercial dictation of colonial policy. 99 As seen above, colonial businesses had an
important role in guiding policy, but by no means an absolutely determining role.
Periodically, colonial companies were required by unusual circumstances to take
over for the German government in the colonies. In the early period, company rule
existed in the colonies for years with the government’s blessing. The companies’
aggressive efforts to acquire larger territory existed with government sanction, if not
encouragement. 100 The early rebellions resulted in the DKG and DOAG providing
protection for colonial bureaucrats. Additionally, as the Reichstag was reluctant to
contribute towards infrastructure development like railways, concessionary companies
like the 1904 East African Railway Company filled the gap. 101 It was close linkages like
this that led the SPD delegate August Bebel to accuse colonial cartels like the DOAG of
having the “Reich in its pocket.” 102 However, when actual military resistance like the
1888 uprising in East Africa threatened, companies like the DKG and DOAG quickly
cried for government intervention since their own forces were too weak to act against the
insurgents. 103
One measure to assist colonial decision-making was the establishment in 1890 of
a Colonial Council. The council of experts, almost exclusively from the realm of
commerce, was to report directly to the government on important colonial affairs. But
historians now acknowledge that the council was specifically designed to circumvent the
Reichstag’s interference. 104 While leftist or reform-oriented politicians within the
Reichstag were noisy in their condemnations of the council, the council had the ear of the
K-A and RKA, and reinforced a bias towards military and commercial emphases in
97