Overview
The British Empire, with near total command of the world's oceans, had the power and resources to conquer the German colonies when the Great War started. The two German colonies in West Africa were recently acquired and not well defended. They were also surrounded on all sides by African colonies that belonged to their enemies, the United Kingdom, France and Belgium. On 22 August 1914 the Allies decided to mount a combined operation to capture the colonies, and agreed that it should be commanded by the British General, Charles Dobell.
Read more about this topic: West Africa Campaign (World War I)