german colonialism in a global age edited by naranch and eley

8/10/2019 German Colonialism in a Global Age Edited by Naranch and Eley

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GERMAN COLONIALISM

IN A GLOBAL AGE

BRADLEY NARANCH ANDGEOFF ELEY, EDITORS


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, , A series from he Inernaional Insiue a he Universiy of Michigan

George Seinmez and Julia Adams

Fernando Coronil

Mamadou DioufMichael DutonGeoff EleyFama Mge Gcek

Nancy Rose Hun

Andreas KalyvasWebb KeaneDavid LaiinLydia Liu

Julie Skurski

Margare SomersAnn Laura SolerKaherine VerderyElizabeh Wingrove

Sponsored by he Inernaional Insiue a he Universiy of Michigan and published by DukeUniversiy Press, his series ceners on culural and hisorical sudies of power, poliics, and hesaea field ha cus across he disciplines of hisory, sociology, anhropology, poliical sci-ence, and culural sudies. The focus on he relaionship beween sae and culure refers boh oa mehodological approachhe sudy of poliics and he sae using culuralis mehodsand

a subsanive one ha reas signifying pracices as an essenial dimension of poliics. The dia-lecic of poliics, culure, and hisory figures prominenly in all he books seleced for he series.


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GERMAN COLONIALISMIN A GLOBAL AGE

,

Duke Universiy Press Durham and London


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Duke Universiy PressAll righs reservedPrined in he Unied Saes of America on acid-free paper Typese in Arno Pro by Graphic Composiion, Inc., Bogar, GA

Library of Congress Caaloging-in-Publicaion DaaGerman colonialism in a global age / Bradley Naranch and Geoff Eley, ediors.pages cm(Poliics, hisory, and culure)Includes bibliographical references and index. ---- (hardcover : alk. paper) ---- (pbk. : alk. paper). GermanyColonies. . GermanyColoniesHisoriography. . ImperialismHisoriography. I. Naranch, Bradley, - II. Eley, Geoff III. Series: Poliics, hisory,and culure.

.

.dc ---- (e-book)

Duke Universiy Press graefully acknowledges he suppor of he Universiy of Michi-gan, Faculy Grans and Awards Program, which provided funds oward he pub-licaion of he book.

Chaper is based on Neworks in Tropical Medicine: Inernaionalism, Colonialism, andhe Rise o a Medical Specialy, , by Deborah J. Neill. Copyrigh by heBoard of Trusees of he Leland Sanford Jr. Universiy. All righs reserved. Used wihhe permission of Sanford Universiy Press.


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Preface, ix Acknowledgmens, xi

InroducionGerman Colonialism Made Simple

OneEmpire by Land or Sea?Germanys Imperial Imaginary,

TwoScienific Auonomy and Empire, Four German Sociologiss

ThreeScience and Civilizing MissionsGermans and he Transnaional Communiy o Tropical Medicine

.

Conens


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FourRuling AfricaScience as Sovereigny in he German Colonial Empire and Is Aermah

FiveWho Is Maser in he Colony?Propriey, Honor, and Manliness in German Eas Afica

.

SixA New Imperial Vision?The Limis o German Colonialism in China

SevenExpers, Migrans, RefugeesMaking he German Colony in Iran,

EighClassroom ColonialismRace, Pedagogy, and Parioism in Imperial Germany

NineMass-Markeing he EmpireColonial Fanasies and Adverising Visions

TenColonialism, War, and he German Working ClassPopular Mobilizaion in he Reichsag Elecions


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ElevenColonialism and he Ani-Semiic Movemen in Imperial Germany .

TwelveInernal Colonialism in GermanyCulure Wars, Germanificaion o he Soil, and he Global Marke Imaginary

ThireenPan-German Concepions of Colonial Empire

FoureenMariime Force and he Limis of EmpireWarare, Commerce, and Law in Germany and he

Unied Saes beore World War I

FieenThe Rhineland Conroversy and Weimar Poscolonialism .

SixeenColonialism, Imperialism, Naional SocialismHow Imperial Was he Third Reich?

Bibliography, Lis of Conribuors, Index,


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The pas wo decades have seen enormous changes in how he hisory of em-

pire and colonialism has come o be viewed, markedly revising earlier views of

Europes relaionship o non-European worlds. German hisorians have fully

paricipaed in his aciviy. The essays of his volume gaher is bes resuls.

Our collecion presumes a collecive conversaion occurring in many differenvenues over he pas en years, including a variey of sessions a he annual

meeings of he German Sudies and American Hisorical Associaions. I also

follows wo major inernaional conferences, one a he Universiy of Sheffield

(Sepember ) and he oher a San Francisco Sae Universiy (Sepember

), each of which resuled in key volumes, hose edied by Michael Per-

raudin and Jrgen Zimmerer, German Colonialism and Naional Ideniy(Lon-

don: Rouledge, ), and Volker Langbehn and Mohammad Salama, German

Colonialism: Race, he Holocaus, and Poswar Germany(New York: ColumbiaUniversiy Press, ), respecively. A number of our conribuors, including

he wo ediors hemselves, were presen on hose earlier occasions, and our

own discussion builds graefully on his wider aciviy.

Preace


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We wish o hank all hose who made his publicaion possible, including firs

and foremos he Universiy of Michigan, whose suppor was vial in a variey

of ways, and Duke Universiy Press, where Valerie Millholland and Miriam

Angress guided our progress wih no less paience han wisdom. In he clos-

ing sages, wih painsaking horoughness and ac, Ken Garner coordinaedhe manuscrips final preparaion, collaing he conribuions, chasing down

references, compiling he bibliography, and generally keeping us o sched-

ule. Oherwise, he counless friends and colleagues who helped shape our

hinking are far oo numerous o hank each by name; insead, we acknowl-

edge all of he audiences, seminars, and conference groups who responded

o he ideas. Some individuals were especially crucial, however. They include

Young-Sun Hong, Jennifer Jenkins, Dirk Moses, Robera Pergher, Harmu

Pogge von Srandmann, George Seinmez, Dennis Sweeney, Julia AdeneyThomas, Jrgen Zimmerer, and Andrew Zimmerman. Our final and greaes

graiude goes o hose closesnamely, Gina Moranz-Sanchez and Camelia

Naranch.

Acknowledgmens


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Wriing he hisory of German colonialism has never been simple. For decades,

scholars consisenly underesimaed is value by relegaing i o a supporing

role in heir larger accouns of German hisory, reaing i as merely a second-

ary expression of a larger impulse oward erriorial expansion in Europe.An

empirically rich sory of overseas conques and culural change became inseada raher sraighforward rendering of governmen manipulaion and poliical

consensus building. This did litle o aler he dominan one or rajecory of

hisorical research; i merely confirmed wha was already known from oher

sources abou he dynamic bu unsable naure of German sociey prior o

World War I. Despie is limis, his approach held considerable meri. I in-

spired scholars in Wes and Eas Germany o uncover deailed documenary

evidence of German colonialisms sysemic violence, exreme brualiy, and

persisen corrupion, hereby weakening he residual influence of Weimar andNazi revisionism, which had misleadingly argued ha German colonial ad -

minisraors, setlers, and missionaries had played progressive roles in African,

Asian, and Pacific economic modernizaion.

Sudying he impac of German colonialism on Wilhelmine pary poliics,

ineres group formaion, and public opinion also yielded meaningful Cold

Warera lessons abou he pas mehods used by imperialiss o manufacure

domesic majoriies in suppor of policies ha exploied he lives and resources

of foreign ohers while silencing he voices of domesic criics by porrayinghem as unparioic and racially disloyal. This research model is far from being

oudaed or irrelevan oday, bu along wih is undoubedly good inenions

INTRODUCTION

German Colonialism Made Simple


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Bradley Naranch

came concepual consrains ha limied he sory ha German colonialism

could ell. And i is precisely in pushing pas hese limis ha he compelling

complexiy of ha sory is o be revealed.

I was in he mid-s ha he saus quo sared o weaken and a new

narraive of German colonialism began o ake shape.Freed from he sric-

ures of Sonderwegmehodology ha condiioned hisorians ino seeing heexcepional in modern Germany, some discovered new models and inspiraion

in he discursive heories and exual criical echniques of poscolonial sud-

ies.Ohers looked admiringly o he examples se by heir Briish, American,

Duch, Spanish, and French colleagues who were reviving he sudy of colonial

empire in heir own fields of regional experise. Counering he coninenal

confines of modern German hisoriography was so clearly a prioriy ha he

muliculural ransformaions aking place in he new Federal Republic would

be refleced in is rewriten pas, in which he colonial legacy finally was ac-

knowledged as cenral.

For a number of influenial early figures in he field, examining he long

hisory of German colonial and Orienalis discourse played a criical role in

reconsrucing an exensive genealogy of racism, xenophobia, and righ-wing

violence ha did no ake as is endpoin he world wars.The prominence of

ohers ineresed in he hisory of women, noably Lora Wildenhal and Birhe

Kundrus, in wha would become somehing of a German colonial hisorio-graphical renaissance, was refleced in he salience of gender and sexualiy in

new accouns of German setler sociey and he domesic colonial movemen.

Advocaes in he field for ransnaional hisory were quick o idenify German

colonialism in is newer, more expansive form as an area rich in possibiliy.

Area specialiss in African and Eas Asian hisory who had always included he

former colonies as par of heir research largely encouraged hese rends and

inervened by raising imporan concerns abou indigenous agency and he

imporance of on-sie archival and oral hisorical scholarship for undersand-ing he localized dynamics of German overseas rule. Anoher criical susain-

ing influence assising he rise of he new German colonial hisory came

from Holocaus scholars and Third Reich hisorians ineresed in he colonial

connecions o he Nazi genocide.The hisory of colonial warfare and naive

resisance in German Souhwes Africa, in paricular, became a ouchsone for

renewed debae abou he Herero and Nama genocides and he fuure roles

played by German setlers, scieniss, and soldiers in supporing he racial pol-

icies of he Nazi dicaorship as applied o mixed populaions a home aswell as in occupied Poland and he European Eas.The scholarship of earlier


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generaions of hisorians on German colonial ideology and is legacy has also

been rediscovered and reinerpreed in ligh of new archival research.

As hese discree communiies encounered each oher, he rickles became

flows and he flows sared o converge ino a movemen wih criical mass.

Many younger scholars were atraced o he field because i appeared dynamic,

inerdisciplinary, and driven by a srong desire for change in response o in-siuional concerns abou he viabiliy of German sudies as a discipline and

he feared decline of academic posiions in modern German hisory a Norh

American, Briish, and European universiies. The resul has been a prolifer-

aion of conferences, workshops, disseraions, edied volumes, and mono-

graphs, as well as greaer coverage of German colonialism in major academic

journals and annual gaherings.More han a decade has now passed since

he firs major publicaions appeared in prin seeking o ouline an ambiious

fuure agenda. The field coninues o grow bu in a disparae fashion lacking

a fixed cener, a leading se of academic players, or a dominan research par-

adigm. Oher han a number of review essays and recen conference-relaed

volumes of essays, here have been few deailed atemps o define he field in-

ellecually or o esablish an insiuional foundaion for furhering is aims.

Despie hese absences, he field remains boh a sie of original, creaive schol-

arship and an area for furher growh. Wha susains is viabiliy and moivaes

is members? Wha impac has i had on German hisoriography and on hesudy of empire more generally, if a all?

Esablishing an explanaory framework o help answer hese quesions is

he purpose of he presen volume, no o make German colonialism a dis -

cree area of research or ouline a se of principles governing is operaion.

We are no rying o impose a rigid order on a field of inquiry ha seems

perfecly conen o exis wihou one and whose atraciveness may in fac

be coningen upon his very condiion. Pas atemps o carve ou a subfield

dedicaed o he sudy of German colonialism have failed o find for i a lasingand proper place. The geographical and emporal boundaries oen used o

demarcae Germanys overseas erriories have proven oo limied for scholars

ineresed in local and regional responses o foreign occupaion and he global

markeplace whose hemes and imelines do no fi nealy wihin hese bound-

aries. German hisorians have also found i problemaic o focus exclusively on

official colonial policy debaes and adminisraive reforms whose oucomes

were highly dependen on he overlapping relaionship o he larger poliics of

global expansion and imperial expression.Widely varying relaionships be-ween Germany and he colonies were also influenced by differences of class,


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Bradley Naranch

confession, and poliical affiliaion, making i impracical o speak in erms of

a uniform experience.

A he oher exreme, approaches o German colonialism ha define i pri-

marily as a flexible discourse underwriten by expansive fanasies of conques,

resetlemen, and economic dominaion suffer from an even greaer endency

oward analyical imprecision. Much work has pinpoined forms of discursiveslippage and ideological overlap in which a comparable language of German

colonizaion is applied equally o pars of Europe and Africafor example,

while showing how once acive racial caegories could be recycled for fuure

legal or imperial purposes.Ye, however highly producive, such mehods

canno subsiue for an inegraed colonial hisory fully atuned o he disso-

nances and disrupions ha disinguish one form of German expansion from

hose ha came before, ha were coerminous, or ha happened much laer

and in anoher conex.

By choosing beween paradigms ha resul eiher in minimizing or mag-

nifying he impac of German colonialism, scholars make heir sories need-

lessly difficul o ell. The coninual need o correc he disorions disrups

he sory line by inroducing analyical elemens ha disrac he reader. In

he case of minimalis approaches, he comparaive mehodology is oen a

faul; he German colonies are judged marginal by juxaposing hem wih oh-

ers of larger spaial expanse or longer duraion. The coss and casualies ofcolonial wars and occupaion in German Africa can be made relaively insig-

nifican saisically by invoking he vasly higher numbers from World Wars I

and II.Once rendered small by comparison, he overseas colonies are more

easily relegaed as poliically or economically insignifican in principle. Tha

in urn can help o explain heir unpopulariy wih he wider German public

and he lack of effecive poliical responses o heir loss compared wih ha

of Alsace or Eas Prussia. Magnifying he colonial lens o embrace a full range

of expansionis pracices as well as rheoric and imaginaive reconsrucions,on he oher hand, almos immediaely confrons quesions of coninuiy and

causaliy. Simply seting his aside will never saisfy he skepics who canno

see he implied connecions beween discree hisorical evens and experiences

oen separaed by considerable culural and physical disances.

The approach proposed in his volume moves away from comparisons and

causaliy in he aforemenioned forms o focus insead on quesions and con-

sideraions of scale. Our iniial frame of reference becomes he hundred-year

hisory of modern Germany as an expansionism-oriened imperial sae. Isearly formaion daes from he middle decades of he s; i acceleraes and

expands a he urn of he wenieh cenury before collapsing in ; i is


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Inroducion

susained in he s by Weimar colonial revisioniss and he new Nazi move-

men, before being reformulaed in radical expansionis ways in he s and

during he war years.

Colonialism, in a mulipliciy of forms and funcions, was a coninuous

and cenral concern during he enirey of his period. Is reach was as widely

spaced as German ransalanic migraion and setlemen on he Norh Amer-ican fronier and he relocaion of ehnic German communiies from he So-

vie Union ino areas of Nazi occupaion in easern Europe.Is opics were

exremely divergen: no only Prussian and Ausrian effors a gunboa diplo-

macy in Eas Asia bu also programs of forced coton culivaion and manda-

ory medical esing exending far ino he Wes and Eas African ineriors.

Concree colonial pracices in specific overseas locaions coexised wih more

encompassing conversaions abou inernal developmens in Germanys Eu-

ropean borderlands and plans for informal economic expansion in he Middle

Eas, souheasern Europe, and cenral Asia. The impac of colonialism could

be as suble as new senences embedded wihin a school geography exbook

or as severe as mass murder, inernmen, and economic enslavemen. If no

he ulimae expression of German empire, colonialism was cerainly one en-

during expression.I was ubiquious wihou becoming all-encompassing or

uniformly powerful. For mos of he world mos of he ime, German colo-

nialism was a relaively easily ignored subjec. Bu i could also be invasive,inrusive, and irriaingly real, as German voers and millions of former co-

lonial subjecs would all have o learn during he firs decade of he s.

Indeed, for any paricular momen along he imperial imeline, i is oen he

fracional scale and resriced reach of German colonialism, separaed by sud-

den spikes of expansionis aciviy and agiaion ha emerges as mos sriking.

By examining hese shis in scale as hey cycled from one sequence o he nex

and by racing he overlapping hisories of people, informaion, commodiies,

and capial as hey flowed across and beween imperial neworks, hisorianscan creae a capacious hree-dimensional space where he discree effecs and

operaions of colonialism may be locaed across a wider global and locally

deailed landscape.

While he resuling picure of German global empire will likely be one

of considerable complexiy, i is made up of smaller and more manageable

moving pars. Colonialism manifesed iself a he imperial conac poins and

serves as a convenien vanage poin for observing he changing paterns and

pace of German hisory. The exisence for several long and evenful decades ofdirec overseas rule during a period of elevaed German poliical engagemen,

economic expansion, and scienific innovaion is hus no a siuaion ha can


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Bradley Naranch

simply be aken for graned.I offers German hisorians a unique opporuniy

o examine he larger operaions and daily ransacions of a modern empire

whose means of expression were unpredicable and varied, one in which co-

lonialism was presen bu no cenral o he lives of mos of is ciizens.The

specifically colonial componen of he resuling imperial projec coninued

for decades, despie cosing millions in ax revenue, consuming he energiesof ens of housands of soldiers, setlers, echnical advisors, and adminisra-

ors, and resuling in a seady sream of sories of poliical scandal, economic

corrupion, and violen unres. To ascribe he siuaion simply o successful

governmen managemen of public opinion in order o caer o he needs of

ineres groups and elie economic sakeholders, while an essenial elemen of

he sory o ell, sops far shor of exhausing he range of reacions ha can

be chared across he imperial field. Neiher does he loss of overseas erriory

mark an obvious endpoin a which he impac of colonialism on he poliics

of German empire ceased.

Once i becomes clear ha German colonialism does no have o offer de-

finiive explanaions or idenify he sar of a linear pah leading ino he fuure,

he reasons for addressing i sar o proliferae. While specific opics, paric-

ularly hose ha relae o local responses and regional variaions of colonial

rule, necessarily require a familiariy wih languages, locaions, and lieraure

bes sudied as par of a dedicaed specializaion in non-European hisory, heneed for German scholars o reconsruc he full dimensions of he imperial

sae and is effecs in cenral Europe and around he globe remain excepion-

ally high.Wha will advance our undersanding, in oher words, is no he

culivaion of German colonial specialiss bu raher he abiliy o assess colo-

nialisms impac a hose poins of broader ineres where i inersecs. Puting

colonialism back wihin he various and overlapping hisorical conexs from

which i firs emerged simply means reconnecing a long-separaed hisorio-

graphical branch o where i righly belongswih he general ebbs and flowsof modern German and global hisory.

The ransnaional urn, combined wih he increased visibiliy of race and

empire as necessary caegories of culural and poliical analysis, makes his ask

considerably easier han i would once have been. The resuls will be readily

apparen in he chapers ha follow and are illuminaed in he following brief

foray ino he world of prin culure in he early s, by which ime he pres-

ence of colonialism in he daily and weekly news cycles of Imperial Germany

was all bu ineviable.Regular subscribers o he new Munich-based weekly Simplicissimusmay

have been surprised o learn in April ha Germany had been invaded by


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Inroducion

an African army inen on liberaing facory workers from he bondage of wage

slavery. A fron-page illusraion by Theodore Thomas Heine, The African

Peril, depics he arrival of an army of dark-skinned soldiers in an unnamed

German indusrial ciy. The caricaured spear-waving warriors engage in a vi-

olen sree batle wih uniformed police officers ouside a facory building

from which whie workers are rying o escape.While he police hold backhe doors on he bridge, a group of Africans carrying drums, shields, and a

red flag leads a second group of emaciaed workers o freedom down below.

One African soldier mouns a ladder o free wo emaciaed men chained o a

smokesack. Closer scruiny of he lower image reveals wo severed heads of

helmeed policemen being carried on spears. I is high ime ha he govern-

men moved wih full force agains he Herero, he capion reads, oherwise

he black beass migh evenually come o Germany and abolish he slavery

ha exiss here. The mock invasion was, no he exension ino Germany of

a race war ha radical naionaliss had prophesied a he sar of he Herero

Rebellion in January, bu he sairical sar of a global class war in which op-

pressed colonial subjecs would liberae urban prolearians from he bondage

of wage slavery.

The power of colonialism as a meaphor was inruding around he same

ime ino he ehnic borderlands of he easern fronier. A illusraion,

The Wild Czechs, invokes he racial imagery of African savagery and Slavicinferioriy while redirecing he language of he civilizing mission ino eas-

cenral Europe. Crudely drawn humans wih apelike feaures and long dark

hair hang from rees while ohers wave clubs and rocks. One sabs a missionary

while a second man, dead or unconscious, is robbed of his pocke wach. In he

cener, an older man dressed in Ausrian fashion escors a young soldier ino

he fray. Aer he suppression of he Herero rebellion, he capion explains,

our colonial policymakers face an even more difficul underaking: he civi-

lizaion of Bohemia. This fanciful depicion of a German mission of innercolonizaion in he Eas hus blended he evens of he colonial periphery wih

an older rope of Slavic barbariy, evoking in sairical form he more serious ef-

fors on he par of pan-German aciviss o use he language and iconography

of race o conflae he European Eas wih Africa.

The lives of German children were also impaced by he cyclical violence

of imperial expansion ino new spheres of imperial influence.A fron-page

illusraion from a issue depics graphically he consequences of colonial

warfare for he nex generaion of German imperialiss. Germanys seizureof he Chinese por ciy of Qingdao and he puniive expediions conduced

during he Boxer Rebellion generaed inense debae a home abou he mil-


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Bradley Naranch

iary violence agains Chinese civilians ha followed.News repors of he

alleged arociies promped a criical reevaluaion of Wilhelm IIs speech o

deparing roops in Bremerhaven harbor in which he exhored hem o ac

like barbarian Huns in exacing vengeance on he Chinese for hreaening he

lives of Germans abroad. In he Simplicissimusediion, Heine has a group of

German schoolboys mimic he violen behavior overseas of heir adul malemiliary counerpars. They orure barnyard animals and moun he heads of

roosers on nearby fence poss. One boy in he foreground sabs a half-naked

baby wih a bloody German flag, while anoher boy atacks a young girl wih a

sword as if inen on decapiaion or rape. The capion provides he necessary

connecion o he real-world evens: The majors children play China War and

spread Prussian culure in he fresh spring breeze.

Domesic concern in Imperial Germany over he violen poenial of class

conflic, ehnic minoriy relaions, and miliarism was no promped by colo-

nial warfare in Africa and China a he sar of he wenieh cenury. These

opics were oo large and deeply embedded in he culural fabric of modern

Germany o be raced o colonialism alone. Wha images such as hese from

Simplicissimusreveal, however, is ha neiher can hey fully be separaed fromhe violen realiies of German colonial life on an expanding global fronier.

This, oo, was an effec of empire, one ha was no less harmless because of

he imaginaive naure of is operaion. For Heine and his fellow illusraors,here was no cordon saniaire shielding German ciizens a home from he

modaliies of colonial governance and miliary repression, which reached new

and unprecedened levels of severiy in he early s. The poliical righs of

ciizenship would no proec German workers who chose wih heir voes

o cross he racial color line by supporing candidaes who were criical of

colonial policymakers and expressed concern over he acions of German

soldiers overseas. Like he wild Bohemians caricaured in Simplicissimus, he

Slavic-speaking populaions of easern and cenral Europe would no be ex-emped from he erriorial ambiions of pan-German aciviss and heir allies,

who viewed heir lands, labor, and naural resources as he building blocks

of a fuure coninenal empire less vulnerable o Anglo-American inrusion

han scatered overseas possessions. School-age German boys who played a

making war in Africa and China would find hemselves draed ino laer armies

of occupaion in Belgium, France, and Poland, where scenes similar o hose

fancifully depiced by Heine could be pu ino deadly pracice.

To hold German colonialism accounable for hese fuure acs of empireis no he primary purpose of his volume. Bu as he ediors of Simplicissi-musrecognized, neiher can is effecs be ignored or relegaed o he margins


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Inroducion

of collecive memory. The ask of anchoring Germanys colonial pas more

firmly ino an expanded hisory of empire is being accomplished wihou he

raining of a dedicaed army of specialiss. The mos pressing need is no for

he producion of new exper knowledge abou he colonies, which is acually

quie pleniful when compared wih a decade ago.Raher, he effecs of Ger-

man colonialism need o be racked in less obvious ways: hrough a varieyof micropoliical conexs localized in ime and space, hrough he lives and

professional career pahs of paricular groups and individuals, and across and

beyond he caegorical and chronological boundaries ha previous genera-

ions had deemed i pracical o impose.

As he following chapers reveal, he resuls of his approach are refreshingly

clear. Alhough hey engage deeply and quie differenly wih he empirical

complexiies and conradicions of Germanys disincively disconinuous co-

lonial pah, all share wo basic assumpions ha make heir findings accessible

and muually inelligible.

Firs, when i comes o colonialism, here are no marginal players and noproeced places enirely free of is impac. While he influences may iniially

appear unexpeced or unanicipaed, our hope is ha readers will quickly learn

how o spo is effecs.

Second, German colonialism in Africa and Asia beween and was

neiher he firs nor he final expression of a coninuing imperial projec. Thaprojec ook muliple forms and funcions in he decades ha followed bu

never enirely wen away or erased all connecing links o he earlier colonial

pas. These connecions are no always obvious nor are hey all-embracing.

German erriorial ambiions in pars of he European Eas, for example, easily

oulased he end of colonial experimens in Eas Africa and Eas Asia. These

respecive arenas were never enirely equivalen a any specific momen in

ime, bu hey did have connecions, and hese connecions mater. A he same

ime, he field of connecedness o easern Europe is no he only reason forwriing abou colonialism in Africa and Asia.

For he pas generaion, for reasons enirely inelligible, hisorians of mod-

ern Germany have ended o shape he global dimensions of heir work in

disincive ways ha culminae on familiar coninenal ground. All roads of

undersanding, in one way or anoher, however foggy or circuious, evenually

end up in he Eas. Perhaps he simples lesson of our volume, hen, may be he

one hardes for many readers o accep. When i comes o German colonialism

in a global age, here is no clear necessiy o choose. All pahs lead somewhereworhwhile, even if he final desinaions are no he same, nor are hey likely

o converge in he near fuure. I is he journey iself ha maters, and his


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Bradley Naranch

paricular one will ake readers quie far. For all of is unsetling severiy, he

subjec mater demands our atenion.

THE CHAPTERS

In his opening chaper, Geoff Eleydefines he programmaic agenda of hevolume and develops some of is key conceps. He places he formal hisory of

German overseas colonialism wihin a larger conex of German foreign policy

iniiaives, paterns of global expansion, and informal imperial pracices. The

repeaed recurrences of colonial caegories ino meropolian conexs and ap-

paren assimilaions in he domesic sphere of colonial prejudices and racial

disincions erase any firm and fas disincion beween forms of colonizing

expansionism overseas and forms of landward colonialism inside Europe.

Treaing German overseas expansion as a peripheral process when compared

o subsequen projecs of imperialism and genocide exernalizes colonialism

as an exclusively exra-European projec and ignores he complex culural op-

eraions of colonial discourse wihin German sociey o inernalize he lessons

of empire for fuure projecs of expansion. The promiscuous circulaion of

knowledge and power wihin and across he diverse spaces of he German

empire suppored he growh of modern, biopoliical projecs of social engi-

neering capable of being deployed overseas in Africa or China, bu i also wasranslaed ino inernal projecs of social and poliical reform in he meropolis

and adaped o sui he purposes of economic and erriorial expansion ino

easern and cenral Europe.

Nex, George Seinmezracks he rise of German sociology as a modernacademic discipline alongside he variable pah of German empire from he

s o he s. His innovaive approach o he relaionship beween sci-

enific knowledge and imperial rule, along wih his deailed discussion of he

fae of he German colonial sciences aer World War I, plunges he readerdeep ino he hear of he new colonial hisory and demonsraes is poen-

ial for rewriing he hisory of he modern sciences. Deailed discussions of

Max Weber and Richard Thurnwald, in paricular, allow Seinmez o presen a

nuanced picure of how heir respecive scienific careers and atiudes oward

empire refleced boh inernal disciplinary sruggles for academic freedom and

opporunis effors a rendering scienific knowledge useful o a succession of

German imperial projecs.

Deborah J. Neills accoun of German ropical medicine hen adds fascina-ing new deails abou he ransnaional neworks of scienific expers who

worked across imperial borders o solidify European dominance in equaorial


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Africa. Neill examines a wide range of locaions, from inernaional saniary

conferences in he hear of meropolian Europe o isolaed experimenal re-

search saions in Cameroon and Lake Vicoria, o ell a sory of how Germans

worked closely wih French, Belgian, and Briish counerpars unil World

War I severed such ies and hampered German effors a regaining access o

heir former research sies in he s. Neills findings underscore he impor-ance of ropical medicine in he esablishmen of German colonial rule and

in he enacmen of some of is mos discriminaory pracices, including com-

pulsory medical experimenaion and quaranine sysems.

Andrew Zimmermans invesigaion of German scienific colonialism showshow aspiring expers in emerging fields of ropical agronomy, boany, zool-

ogy, and anhropology seized upon calls o reform he colonial economy by

modernizing is means of producion and wage labor regimes. In heir ques

o produce disciplined agriculural wage laborers in boh he colonies and he

easern provinces of Prussia, German social scieniss looked across he A-

lanic for inspiraion from he sharecropping sysem of he American Souh.

Ohers experimened wih monocrop economies like sisal and rubber in heir

Eas African research saion a Amani. Zimmerman shows how such iniiaives

garnered inernaional recogniion and furher legiimized he necessiy of Eu-

ropean oversigh in he developmen of ropical economies. The League of

Naions rusees who assumed sovereigny over Germanys los empire didso on he basis of a discourse of Wesern scienific auhoriy and economic

raionaliy ha German expers had helped o consruc.

If scienific expers operaing wihin a complex imperial and inernaional

landscape ake cener sage in he opening chapers, he nex secion, on forms

of colonial sae formaion wihin he German empire, explores he complex

inerplay of adminisraors, miliary officials, setlers, servans, indigenous elies,

and rebels ha accouned for highly variable regimes of power and forms of vi-

olence in he colonies. Heike I. Schmidprovides an inimae glimpse ino hegossip-filled lives of a iny German communiy in Eas Africa. Using a heore-

ical approach adaped from Ue Frevers research on dueling and he crisis of

masculiniy, Schmid explores he fragile and fracious naure of whie setler

life. Inernal dispues over honor and accusaions of sexual violence, publically

played ou in cour and in fron of African servans and winesses, led colonial ad-

minisraors o fear ha whie rule was under hrea when class boundaries nor-

mally no crossed a home came ino conflic on he colonial fronier. Like Klaus

Mhlhahn, Schmid ses her sory in he localiy of a colonial sociey forged byineracions beweenwhie coloniss and indigenous residens, bu she does soby linking he gender and class poliics in Germany wih hose of Eas Africa.


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Bradley Naranch

Meanwhile,Klaus Mhlhahnsurveys he hisory of he German Eas Asianleasehold of Kiaochow, placing is unique process of sae formaion wihin

he larger sory of Wesern and Japanese imperialism in lae Qing China.

He explores how German naval officials creaed a racially segregaed, miliary-

bureaucraic enclave ha served as an economic peneraion poin for Ger-

man capial. A he same ime, he shows he limis of he model colony bydescribing a long patern of enaive accommodaion and ourigh resisance

on he par of Chinese governmen elies, local merchans, and peasan farm-

ers whose lands and irrigaion canals were disruped by German railway and

elegraph neworks ha emanaed from heir colonial sronghold on he coas.

The relaive success of he Qingdao colony relied on heavy governmen sub-

sidies and on he professional repuaion of he Imperial Navy, whose ineres

in Eas Asia helped o define he agenda of early wenieh-cenury Welpoliik.

Jennier Jenkinslooks even farher afield o examine he virually unknown

hisory of German expariae communiies in wenieh-cenury Iran. Her ac-

coun of German effors a gaining informal influence in cenral Asia shows

how an expansive noion of colonialism can uncover imporan momens in

he redefiniion of German ideniy and ciizenship ha faciliaed he inegra-

ion of he German diaspora ino he naional imaginary. Dramaized in a grip-

ping sory of ehnic German refugees from Salinis Russia who atraced he

atenion of German consular officials in Tehran in , her chaper revises hehisory of German imperialism o include locaions beyond Africa, Eas Asia,

and easern Europe. In he process, Jenkins shows how discourses of German

diaspora once mobilized by colonial aciviss in he nineeenh cenury were

appropriaed and ransformed by lae Weimar and early Nazi imperialiss.

Jeff Bowersoxconcenraes on an undersudied domesic effec of German

colonial expansion; namely, is impac upon primary-school educaion. His

chaper delves deep ino he hisory of pedagogical reform and progressive

poliics o show how naionalis-minded eachers and exbook auhors riedo incorporae he hisory, geography, ehnology, boany, and zoology of he

colonies ino heir lesson plans. In surveying a wide selecion of such effors,

Bowersox concludes ha he presence of colonial-hemed conen did increase

markedly in he later half of he empire. A he same ime, specific references

o he German colonies were parially overshadowed by a larger global sory of

Wesern expansion and conques, one oen old wih an eye o enerainmen

and advenure raher han an in-deph accoun of he specificiies of overseas

adminisraion, economic developmen, and setlemen.David Ciarloalso akes a refreshingly provocaive view of German colonial

poliics, especially he organizaional effors of middle- and upper-class colo-


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Inroducion

nial lobbyiss o win over wider secors of he populaion o heir movemen.

He shows how German adverising firms developed an arresing bu generic

iconography of colonial commodiies and caricaured naives ha proved

more appealing o consumers han he radiional propaganda of he German

Colonial Sociey. These images helped o promoe racial atiudes among he

German consuming public ha compeed wih he colonial projec of Wil-helmine elies. Ciarlo argues ha he pervasiveness of such sock images, laer

adoped by he colonial movemen o help broaden is base of suppor, did less

o furher any concree poliical agenda han o lay he culural foundaion for

racis poliics and animosiy oward people of color more generally.

The nex se of chapers focuses on how colonialism funcioned in he

poliical discourses and organizaional acics of he radical righ.John PhillipShors chaper, which opens he secion on colonial poliics and culure, beginsin he wake of he Herero genocide wih he conenious Hoteno federal

elecion campaign of January .He presens wha amouns o a microlevel

peoples hisory of he elecion by examining he creaive elecioneering sra-

egies of Social Democraic aciviss, who were direcly argeed as unparioic

and insufficienly race-conscious by an increasingly vocal conservaive press.

The disincly modern poliical campaign followed years of increasingly hosile

confronaions piting he German le and Caholic Cener pary agains he

pro-colonial parliamenary majoriy. Shor reveals he exen of working-classmobilizaion agains German miliary arociies and capialis oppression in

he colonies, creaing a radiion of ani-imperialis acivism ha persised,

revisionis rends among pary leaders nowihsanding, among more radical

secors of he poliical le in lae Wilhelmine Germany, Weimar, and beyond.

Chrisian S. Davisrounds ou he discussion of Wilhelmine radical na-

ionalism by aking a close look a how ani-Semiic paries responded o he

founding of he German colonies and he subsequen conroversies over heir

adminisraion and reform. Davis idenifies clear affiniies beween he do-mesic agenda of German ani-Semies and he colonial movemen. However,

he also shows how disagreemens over colonial policyand he prominen

roles played by Germans of Jewish backgroundincreased he fraciousness

ha characerized he ani-Semiic movemen. Some members embraced he

racial language of segregaion, mixed marriage bans, and colonial genocide,

while ohers expressed skepicism abou he value of he overseas colonies and

quesioned he harsh reamen of naive workers, especially hose who were

Proesan convers. Daviss nuanced porrayal of a poliical movemen whosemembers were oen ambivalen abou colonialism, while supporive of he

naional necessiy of colonial conques and racial puriy, is an imporan re-


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Bradley Naranch

minder of how he unpredicable oucomes of colonial rule could disrup he

domesic poliics of coaliion building as much as i migh consolidae hem.

Sebasian Conradexamines he srucural parallels beween projecs ofinernal colonialism in Germanys easern provinces and he simulaneous

setlemen of is overseas erriories. Conrad conexualizes he sruggle on

he German-Polish borderlands wihin larger global concerns over migraion,wage labor, and setler colonialism. The increasing endency of German radical

naionaliss o describe he Polish populaion in he Prussian Eas in colonial

erms conribued o a racializaion of ehnic difference and helped undermine

he poliical claims of Polish-speaking ciizens of Imperial Germany. By plac-

ing he Prussian Eas wihin he conex of global hisory and by emphasizing

he overlapping effecs of overseas as well as inner colonizaion, Conrad gives

readers a compelling picure of how a German global imaginaion formed,

an imaginaion ha encompassed overseas and borderlands locaions while

elevaing he issue of race o increasing prominence in debaes over naional

characer and culure.

Dennis Sweeneys Foucauldian reading of pan-German colonial propagandaakes up many of Conrads asserions while providing addiional evidence of

dramaic ransformaions in he German imperial imaginaion during he early

wenieh cenury. While he organizaional and ideological linkages beween

he League and colonial ineres groups have long been recognized, Sweeneyshows wih grea precision how leading pan-German heoriss were oen grea

innovaors in melding he compeing srands of German colonial ideology

WelpoliikandLebensraumino a modern vision of an expanding imperialsae. Their image of Greaer Germany was no ha of a naion-sae wih

defined borders bu a macropoliy, a flexible imperial formaion wih grada-

ions of sovereigny geared oward saisfying he resource and labor needs of

a growing capialis economy as well as he biopoliical imperaives of popula-

ion managemen and racial hygiene. Their fuure vision of a Germanic worldempire included he colonies bu vasly exceeded hem in scale. Sweeney also

shows how he evens of World War I enabled once radical perspecives o

ener he ranks of mainsream conservaive and liberal paries. I was he dis-

urbingly innovaive and forward-looking naure of pan-German visions of

world empire, he concludes, ha rendered hem imporan in he evoluion of

a German imperial poliics bridging he gap beween Wilhelmine naionaliss

and he Nazis.

The las se of chapers explores some of he complicaing facors ha lim-ied Germanys abiliy o mainain an overseas empire and helps accoun for

he disincive shis in he German imperial imaginary occurring beween


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und brgerliche Gesellscha; Zimmerman,Anhropology and Anihumanism; and Wal-her, Creaing Germans Abroad.

. Berman, Mhlhahn, and Nganang, eds., German Colonialism Revisied; Perraudinand Zimmerer, eds., German Colonialism and Naional Ideniy. See he works edied

by Van der Heyden and Zeller, includingKolonialismus hierzulande; Mach und An-eil an der Welherrscha; andKolonialmeropole Berlin. See also Honold and Sherpe,eds., Mi Deuschland um die Wel; Bechhaus-Gers and Leuner, eds., Frauen in dendeuschen Kolonien; Grnder, ed., Da und dor; and Mhle, ed., Brannwein, Bibelnund Bananen.

. Langbehn and Salama, eds., German Colonialism; and Langbehn, ed., GermanColonialism.

. Wieland and Kascher, Die Reichsagsdebaten, ; Smih, Talk of Geno-cide, .

. Sobich, Schwarze Besien, Roe Geahr; and Schrder, Sozialismus und Imperi-alismus.

. Poley,Decolonizaion in Germany; Ma, Weisse Helden, Schwarze Krieger; andKloz, Global Visions, .

. Ecker and Wirz, Wir nich, die Anderen auch, ; Lindner, Plaz an derSonne?, ; Zimmerer e al., Forum, ; and Ciarlo, Globalizing GermanColonialism, .

. For a full range of he debaes and conroversies, see Zimmerer and Zeller, eds.,Genocide in Souhwes Afica; and Frser, Henrichsen, and Bollig, eds., Namibia-

Deuschland. Accouns of he miliary campaign can be found in Gewald, Herero

Heroes; Hull, Absolue Desrucion; and Erichsen, The Angel o Deah has descendedviolenly among hem.For comparaive accouns of colonial warfare ha do no singleou he evens in Namibia, see Klein and Schumacher, eds., Kolonialkriege; and vonTroha, The Fellows Can Jus Sarve, .

. Furber and Lower, Colonialism and Genocide, ; Majer, Das BesezeOseuropa, ; and Linne,Deuschland jenseis des quaors?

. Liulevicius, German Myh o he Eas; Thum, ed., Traumland Osen.. Naranch, Made in China, ; Zimmerman, Wha Do You Really Wan?,

; Sunseri, The Baumwollfrage, ; and Koponen, Developmen or Ex-

ploiaion.. Seinmez, The Devils Handwriing.. Lowry, African Resisance, ; Shor, Everymans Colonial Library,

; Grimmer-Solem, The Professors Africa, ; and Naranch, Colo-nized Body, Orienal Machine, .

. Ecker, Wirz, and Brommer, eds., Alles uner Konrolle; von Troha, KolonialeHerrscha; and Sldenwagner, Spaces o Negoiaion.

. Walher, Racializing Sex, ; and Reagin, The Imagined Hausfrau, .. Cf. Fehrenbach, Race aer Hiler; Camp, Oher Germans; and Hhn, GIs and

Fruleins.. Deusch,Emancipaion wihou Aboliion; Pesek,Koloniale Herrscha in Deusch-

Osafika; Zimmerer, Deusche Herrscha ber Afikaner; Sunseri, Vilimani; Ecker,


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