Part 1/8:
The Tale of Heligoland: A Tiny Outpost of the British Empire
Heligoland, a small island in the North Sea, holds a unique position in the history of the British Empire. Once described as an empire on which the sun never set, Britain’s distinguished heritage saw its reach extend to this mere dot of land, just 0.4 square miles in size. Yet, on the 9th of August 1890, an unremarkable event marked the sunset of British rule over this colonial outpost—not by the measures of war or independence, but through a peculiar land deal with Kaiser Wilhelm II's Germany.