<P> Once war was declared in late July 1914 Britain and its allies promptly moved against the colonies . The public was informed that German colonies were a threat because "Every German colony has a powerful wireless station--they will talk to one another across the seas, and at every opportunity they (German ships) will dash from cover to harry and destroy our commerce, and maybe, to raid our coasts ." The British position that Germany was a uniquely brutal and cruel colonial power originated during the war; it had not been said during peacetime . </P> <P> In the Pacific, Britain's ally Japan declared war on Germany in 1914 and quickly seized several of Germany's island colonies, the Mariana, Caroline and Marshall Islands, with virtually no resistance . </P> <P> By 1916 only in remote jungle regions in East Africa did the German forces hold out . South Africa's J.C. Smuts, now in Britain's small War Cabinet, spoke of German schemes for world power, militarisation and exploitation of resources, indicating Germany threatened western civilisation itself . Smuts' warnings were repeated in the press . The idea took hold that they should not be returned to Germany after the war . </P> <P> Germany's overseas empire was dismantled following defeat in World War I. With the concluding Treaty of Versailles, Article 22, German colonies were transformed into League of Nations mandates and divided between Belgium, the United Kingdom, and certain British Dominions, France and Japan with the determination not to see any of them returned to Germany--a guarantee secured by Article 119 . </P>

Which colonies did germany lose in the treaty of versailles