Counterfactuals: Samoan Crisis of 1889
From The History Guy by Lance and Josh Geiger
February 10, 2026 · 56 min · Season 2 · Episode 126
About this episode
This episode explores the Samoan Crisis of 1889 and its implications on US and German imperial ambitions, alongside a discussion of counterfactual history.
On today’s episode, we talk about the beautiful islands of Samoa, which were the background to a clash between the relatively nascent empires of the United States and Germany in the 1880s. As the crisis came to a head, however, nature put a dramatic end to human ambition. But what if it had gone differently?
People in this episode
Hosts: Lance Geiger, Josh Geiger
Topics covered
- Samoa
- Samoan Crisis
- US-Germany relations
- counterfactual history
- natural disasters
- empire
- 19th century history
Keywords
- Samoa
- Samoan Crisis
- 1889
- United States
- Germany
- counterfactuals
- history
- empire
- natural disaster
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: United States, Germany
Places: Samoa
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