US, UK and Germany sign Samoa arbitration treaty in Washington

Background. The Second Samoan Civil War involved Germany, the United States, and Britain in a dispute over control of the Samoan Islands. American and British warships, including the USS Philadelphia, shelled Apia on 15 March 1899. Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States then resolved to end the hostilities and divided the island chain under the Tripartite Convention of 1899.

The Neutral Arbitrator. King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway was called on to arbitrate in Samoan affairs in 1899. He had previously been appointed as Chief Justice of Samoa under the Treaty of Berlin in 1889 at the request of the three powers. His role in 1899 continued his involvement in Samoan affairs, reflecting his status as a monarch of the Union of Sweden and Norway, which dissolved in 1905.

Diplomatic Context. The Tripartite Convention of 1899 was signed in Washington on 2 December 1899, with ratifications exchanged on 16 February 1900. It partitioned the Samoan Islands into American Samoa and German Samoa, and Samoa became a colony of the German Empire known as German Samoa. The supplied passages do not state a date of 7 November 1899 for any arbitration treaty signing.