Germany takes formal possession of its new colonial territories, 1891

Administrative Consolidation. Following Bismarck's departure in 1890, his successor Leo von Caprivi maintained existing colonial holdings but opposed new ventures. The Colonial Division of the Foreign Office, headed by the Imperial Chancellor, served as the uppermost leadership of the protectorates between 1890 and 1907. The Colonial Council was placed alongside this division by an Imperial decree of 10 October 1890, formalizing the bureaucratic structure of imperial control.

Territorial Status. Germany had claimed much of the remaining uncolonized areas of Africa, building the third-largest colonial empire of the time after the British and French. In 1890, German South West Africa was declared a German Crown Colony, with more troops sent. The Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty of 1890 decided the border between German East Africa and the British-controlled East Africa Protectorate, though exact boundaries remained unsurveyed until 1910.

Resistance and Conflict. From 1891, German colonial efforts encountered sharp resistance. In German East Africa, the Hehe people led by Chief Mkwawa resisted German expansion between 1891 and 1894. In Cameroon, the Bafut Wars began in 1891. These conflicts demonstrated the challenges of enforcing colonial authority in territories Germany had acquired but not fully pacified.