What if British Retain Heligoland?

https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoricalWhatIf/comments/1idkvhp/what_if_british_retain_heligoland/

created by cakle12 on 30/01/2025 at 11:25 UTC

1 upvotes, 3 top-level comments (showing 3)

1890, the British made the worst geopolitical mistake and handed over a very small island known as Heligoland(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heligoland?wprov=sfla1[1] ) to Germany.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heligoland?wprov=sfla1

The island lies in the North Sea 69 kilometers from Germany and was a route under British rule between 1808 and 1890. And in 1890, Great Britain got Zanzibar and Wituland(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wituland?wprov=sfla1[2] ) , Germany got Heligoland which the British surrendered in 1890.

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wituland?wprov=sfla1

For now, the small island, barely 1.7 km in size, doesn't seem to matter, but it could help the British in World War I and the so-called blockade of Germany(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_Germany_%281914%E2%80%931919%29?wprov=sfla1[3]) and North Sea Campagne (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_warfare_of_World_War_I?wprov=sfla1[4])

3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_Germany_%281914%E2%80%931919%29?wprov=sfla1

4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_warfare_of_World_War_I?wprov=sfla1

Comments

Comment by Fit-Capital1526 at 30/01/2025 at 12:00 UTC

9 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Then Germany would have kept control of Zanzibar. The wealthy and well developed island seeing high amounts of German immigration and becoming a base for the colonisation of German Tanganyika as a whole

Heligoland itself would become host to a Royal Navy base during the 1900s due to the Anglo-German arms race. With the naval base effectively meant to be used to threaten Germany

If anyone with common sense was in power. Then Germany would agree to limit Dreadnought construction in exchange for getting the island

That is not happening under Wilhelm II’s rule so the base becomes a sore point in Anglo-German relations and severely limits the Imperial German Navy’s ability to project power beyond the Baltic Sea

From a WW1 POV. It could be enough for Denmark to fully join the war. Since it would be able to guarantee British support during an invasion of Schleswig-Holstein. Meaning Denmark would annex Schleswig and Holstein after WW1