Everything about Wilhelm Solf totally explained
Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Solf (
October 5,
1862 -
February 6,
1936) was a
German diplomat, jurist and statesman.
Early life
Wilhelm Solf was born into a wealthy and liberal family in
Berlin. He attended school in
Anklam (
Pommern) and in
Mannheim, where he graduated in
1881. Afterwards he took up the study of Oriental languages, in particular
Sanskrit in
Berlin,
Göttingen and
Halle, earning his doctorate in
philology in the winter of
1885; under the influence of one of his teachers, the well-known Indologist
Richard Pischel, he wrote an elementary grammar of Sanskrit.
After earning his doctorate, he worked at the library of the
University of Kiel while serving his military service with the German naval infantry. However, he was deemed unfit for military service and discharged shortly afterwards.
Early Diplomatic Career
He was hired by the German Foreign Office (Consular Service) on
December 12,
1888 and shortly afterwards was assigned to the German Embassy in Calcutta on
January 1,
1889. However he left the consular service to study law in the
University of Jena. He obtained his doctorate in law in September
1896, becoming Court Assessor (
Gerichtassessor) that same year. Because of his law degree Solf became qualified for higher positions in the diplomatic service. He joined the Colonial Department of the Foreign Office (
Kolonialabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes) and in
1898 was district judge in
Dar-es-Salaam. In
1899 he served as council chairman in
Apia, Samoa.
Governor of Samoa
Upon the division of the Samoan islands as the result of the
Samoa Tripartite Commission, Solf became the first Governor of
German Samoa (now
Samoa) on
March 1,
1900. Although he was a firm supporter of
Kaiser Wilhelm's desire for a
German Empire to compete with the other colonial powers of
Europe, he was known to be an able liberal administrator. He defended the natives against colonial exploitation, kept the old Samoan tribal organization and retained the rights and duties of the district chiefs. However, Solf didn't hesitate in deposing several native chiefs — including
Mamoe, an early figure in the
Mau movement. As well as deposing members of the
Maloa o Samoa (Samoan council of chiefs), Solf called in two German
warships in a show of strength. Faced with this demonstration of military force, and with the movement divided, Mamoe surrendered, and resistance faded until the
1910s.
Later career
After his return from Samoa, Solf became Secretary (
Staatssekretär) to the German Colonial Office (
Reichskolonialamt) to
1918, travelling to
Namibia and Geman
East Africa in
1912, and to
Cameroon and
Togo in
1913. Unfortunately for Solf's ambitions the outbreak of
World War I diminished Germany's colonial empire, her possessions in
Africa given to
Britain while her
Pacific colonies given to
Japan.
As a result Solf lobbied for a negotiated peace settlement in
1917 and
1918, preparing to cede Germany's annexations in the west in exchange for keeping her overseas empire. He also firmly against an annexationist policy in the west since the outbreak of the war in
1914. He was also opposed to the implementation of unrestricted
submarine warfare, a policy which eventually lead to the entry of the
United States into the war in 1917.
With the defeat of Germany imminent and the likelihood of revolution growing he was appointed what turned out to be the last of the Imperial Foreign Ministers in October
1918. In this capacity he undertook negotiations for the armistice that took effect on
November 11,
1918.
He resigned his post as Foreign Minister on
December 13,
1918 with the onset of the German revolution. Between then and
1920 he served as Vice President of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft. From 1920 to
1928 he served as the German ambassador to Japan for the
Weimar Republic; his stint proved to be fruitful, as he was instrumental in restoring good relations between the two wartime enemies, culminating in the signing of the German-Japan treaty of
1927. On his return to Germany he became the Chairman of the Board of the Deutsches Auslands-Institut based on
Stuttgart.
Although he supported the election of
Paul von Hindenburg as German President, he was a centrist politically, joining the
German Democratic Party (
Deutsche Demokratische Partei). However, with its dissolution in
1933, he planned to co-found a new moderate party with other moderates; it was however unsuccessful.
He was married to the former Johanna "Hanna" Dotti, who later formed the anti-Nazi
Frau Solf Tea Party together with their daughter So'oa'emalelagi "Lagi", who was born in Samoa.
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