Abenteurer und Sultane. Der Sulu-Archipel in den Philippinen und deutsche Kolonialinteressen

Abstract

For centuries the Muslim population of the Sulu Archipelago has been involved in a struggle for independence, first against Spanish and American colonial domination and later the Philippine Republic. In his fight against Spanish colonialism in the latter part of the nineteenth century the Sultan of Sulu attempted to gain support from the German Empire by offering naval bases and even a protectorate. The men on the spot, however, played the crucial role of intermediaries. They were adventurers who ran the Spanish blockade of Sulu, delivering munitions to the Sultan. They acted for their own benefit but at the same time also as inofficial representatives of their country. The men on the spot turned out to be the driving force of a subimperialism involving Germany in a power struggle at the colonial periphery of the Philippines. After the spheres of influence had been delimited between the European powers, the influence of the men on the spot declined. Further diplomatic attempts of Germany to acquire a naval base in Sulu in the wake of the Spanish-American War in 1898 met with no success.