Germany–Tonga relations explained

Map:Germany Tonga Locator.svg
Mission1:Embassy of Germany, Wellington
Mission2:High Commission of Tonga, London

Foreign relations between Germany and Tonga began on 1 May 1976.

The German embassy in Wellington is also responsible for Tonga. A German honorary consulate is active in Nukuʻalofa.[1] Tonga's embassy in the United Kingdom is also responsible for Germany. There are also honorary consulates in Düsseldorf and Hamburg.[2]

History

19th century German settlers migration to Tonga while relatively small in numbers, was distinct from other German settler communities in the New World in showing proportionally high, fast and almost complete assimilation into the local culture.

In 1876, Germany signed a treaty of friendship with Tonga,[3] [4] and leased space for a coaling station at Neiafu in Vavaʻu.[5] The political background of the Treaty of Friendship of 1876 was the heyday of imperialism and colonialism in the Pacific Islands.[6] During this phase, various great powers (including the German Empire) fought over the division of the region.[7] In 1878 Emperor Wilhelm I sent King George Tupou I a life-sized portrait of himself.[8] This was followed in 1879 by awarding him the Order of the Red Eagle.[9] In the Samoa Treaty of 1899, Germany recognised the Tonga Islands as part of Britain's sphere of interests. In 1900, Tonga became a British protectorate, and Germany's rights were ceded to Britain.[10] During World War I, New Zealand recruited Tongans to fight Germany in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.[11]

Germany showed a renewed interest in Tonga in 1976, when the Soviet Union proposed establishing a base there,[12] re-establishing diplomatic relations,[13] renewing the Treaty of Friendship, and granting bilateral aid for the first time.[14]

High level visits

King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV visited West Germany in 1980.[15]

In 2016, the President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert visited the island to mark 140 years of relations between the two countries.[16] [17]

General bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Deutsche Vertretungen in Tonga . n.a. . Federal Foreign Office . n.d. . 16 December 2022 .
  2. Web site: Vertretungen Tongas . n.a. . Federal Foreign Office . n.d. . 16 December 2022 .
  3. News: NEWS PROM TONGA. . New Zealand Herald . 3 . 27 November 1876 . 17 December 2022 . Papers Past.
  4. Web site: The Daily Southern Cross. . 2 . 1 December 1876 . 17 December 2022 . Papers Past.
  5. Book: Savage Island: An Account of a Sojourn in Niue and Tonga . XIII — Vavau . Basil C. Thomson . R. McMillan . Papakura . 1984 . 186–187 . 17 December 2022 . NZETC.
  6. Web site: THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY WAS THE FIRST FOREIGN NATION TO SIGN TONGA'S TREATY IN RECOGNITION OF ITS 1875 CONSTITUTION . n.a. . Radio & TV Tonga News . 10 October 2016 . 16 December 2022 .
  7. Web site: Pacific Strife: The Great Powers and their Political and Economic Rivalries in Asia and the Western Pacific, 1870-1914 . Kees van Dijk . Amsterdam University Press . 2015 . 167–170. 17 December 2022.
  8. News: West Coast Times. MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1878. . West Coast Times . 2 . 16 December 1878 . 17 December 2022 . Papers Past.
  9. News: GERMANY AND TONGA Interesting Items of Forgotten History . Pacific Islands Monthly . VIII . 10 . 65 . 25 May 1938 . 17 December 2022 . National Library of Australia.
  10. Book: Savage Island: An Account of a Sojourn in Niue and Tonga . XII — The King and His Ministers . Basil C. Thomson . R. McMillan . Papakura . 1984 . 172–173 . 17 December 2022 . NZETC.
  11. Web site: Soldiers from Tonga in the Great War . n.a. . Tonga in World War I . n.d. . 16 December 2022 .
  12. News: Old treaty to keep Russia from Tonga? . Papua New Guinea Post-Courier . 7 . 5 October 1976 . 17 December 2022 . National Library of Australia.
  13. News: Bonn alarmed by Russians' paddle in South Pacific . The Press . 8 . 27 September 1976 . 17 December 2022 . Papers Past.
  14. News: Bonn aid to Tonga . Press . 19 . 4 December 1976 . 17 December 2022 . Papers Past.
  15. News: In sleepy Tonga, life... ..hugs the slow lane . Papua New Guinea Post-Courier . 18 . 27 June 1980 . 17 December 2022 . National Library of Australia.
  16. Web site: SPEAKER OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY'S PARLIAMENT TO VISIT TONGA . n.a. . Radio & TV Tonga News . 6 October 2016 . 16 December 2022 .
  17. Web site: Tonga and Germany mark 140 years of friendship . Matangi Tonga . 11 October 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161012143529/http://matangitonga.to/2016/10/11/tonga-and-germany-mark-140-years-friendship . 12 October 2016.

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