The problem is getting the Poles to actually move, as they are within their homeland already and among like-minded peoples, and given the choice of being deported to Africa or leaving early for somewhere like the United States, most would travel to the latter. It needs to be made a desirable destination, which, let's face it, is not an easy task, and most of the persons that would get deported there wouldn't really have the resources to succeed and prosper without the support of the State. So I suggest the following as a preliminary:
Promises of additional economic, educational, cultural and political rights would also promote movement to the region, especially if they are granted exemptions from the process of Germanization in Ostafrika and other methods of persecution leveled against them by the government or the German people. The Germans might have to still subsidize the colony to get things going, but the influx of colonists and their efforts might in time make it so that subsidies are no longer necessary.
Of course there is the problem of the militancy of the various native Africans that populated Ostafrika, at least in the initial opening years of the 1890's, but that was by and large limited to the south of Ostafrika, whereas I believe most of those who would seek to claim land would concentrate further north, around Lake Victoria and those regions bordering what is now Kenya.
Given the population of Ostafrika was (7,700,000) in 1913, you'd need about (~1,925,000) Poles for them to be a minority of 1/5th of the population. Even under the most optimistic of circumstances I don't see that happening. However, that doesn't mean they couldn't form a separate colony from Ostafrika. In the regions I see as being the main areas of settlement, (~18,600,000) people live there at the present. If we were to use an inexact science and reduce that to the equivalent for 1913, that would make it (~3,195,000); doesn't include Dar es Salaam or it's surrounding areas, but then again I don't think the Poles would want to be near the German head of governance, or they may have been allowed to establish their own administrative center elsewhere. With the native population at that size, you "only" need (~800,000) Poles to get them to the 1/5th mark, still a bit of a stretch but far more doable then the near two million from before. I had to go to the German Wikipedia to find it, but apparently there were (~3,000,000) ethnic Poles, and it may be prudent to include the (~100,000) Kashubians and (~142,000) Masurians in this figure as well, for a total around (~3,242,000). Of that number we'd need close to (~25%) of them to move to Ostafrika to hit the (800,000) mark, but that isn't factoring in the death rate or birth rate of those who arrive there. Again, doable, but a bit of a stretch.
And just in case, this is the area I'm talking about -
- An equivalent of the Homestead Act of 1862 which then set forth the following -
- The Applicant must either be the head of a family or twenty-one years of age, must have filed a declaration to claim land, must not have committed treason against the Reich or given comfort to those who would oppose it.
- No claim may exceed 160 acres, nor shall any combination of prior or future claims exceed this amount, the excess not be applicable to the provisions of this Act.
- An application must be filed with the pertinent information, the application itself costing fifty goldmarks.
- The application being accepted, the Reich agrees to temporarily cede the land to the applicant for a period of five years, on the basis of the applicant promising in writing to make improvements to the land for the benefit themselves, their new community, Ostafrika, and the Reich.
- Should after a period of five years the improvements made by the applicant be deemed reasonable, they may file a claim for legal and total possession of the appropriated land, the application itself costing twenty-five goldmarks, after which they may become the legal owner of the claimed acreage.
- Should after a period of five years the improvements made by the applicant not be deemed sufficient, or if after a period of six months the applicant is not in possession or present on the land, the claim will be considered forfeit, with all rights being reverted back to the Reich.
Promises of additional economic, educational, cultural and political rights would also promote movement to the region, especially if they are granted exemptions from the process of Germanization in Ostafrika and other methods of persecution leveled against them by the government or the German people. The Germans might have to still subsidize the colony to get things going, but the influx of colonists and their efforts might in time make it so that subsidies are no longer necessary.
Of course there is the problem of the militancy of the various native Africans that populated Ostafrika, at least in the initial opening years of the 1890's, but that was by and large limited to the south of Ostafrika, whereas I believe most of those who would seek to claim land would concentrate further north, around Lake Victoria and those regions bordering what is now Kenya.
Given the population of Ostafrika was (7,700,000) in 1913, you'd need about (~1,925,000) Poles for them to be a minority of 1/5th of the population. Even under the most optimistic of circumstances I don't see that happening. However, that doesn't mean they couldn't form a separate colony from Ostafrika. In the regions I see as being the main areas of settlement, (~18,600,000) people live there at the present. If we were to use an inexact science and reduce that to the equivalent for 1913, that would make it (~3,195,000); doesn't include Dar es Salaam or it's surrounding areas, but then again I don't think the Poles would want to be near the German head of governance, or they may have been allowed to establish their own administrative center elsewhere. With the native population at that size, you "only" need (~800,000) Poles to get them to the 1/5th mark, still a bit of a stretch but far more doable then the near two million from before. I had to go to the German Wikipedia to find it, but apparently there were (~3,000,000) ethnic Poles, and it may be prudent to include the (~100,000) Kashubians and (~142,000) Masurians in this figure as well, for a total around (~3,242,000). Of that number we'd need close to (~25%) of them to move to Ostafrika to hit the (800,000) mark, but that isn't factoring in the death rate or birth rate of those who arrive there. Again, doable, but a bit of a stretch.
And just in case, this is the area I'm talking about -