A few years ago a British reporter complained about the assignment of Heligoland to Germany. He wondered why the Germans put so much effort into obtaining the island and against whom Germany braced itself. Now the British nation knew why Germany switched Zanzibar for Heligoland in 1890 because it was using it in the First World War as an observation point.
(„Das Gibraltar der Nordsee“, Berliner Journal, 28 April 1915)
