A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
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epresented a vital dynamic within <strong>German</strong> expansionism. 1 From the very beginning of<br />
the expansion and the conquest of Angra Pequeña, much interest in colonialism was<br />
aroused in the <strong>German</strong> press and <strong>German</strong> society. 2 In fact there is much to support<br />
Wehler’s argument that <strong>German</strong> imperialism was unique amongst imperialisms because<br />
of the relative importance of its social dimension. 3 By examining the various<br />
manifestations of the social through domestic relations, constructions of social difference,<br />
interactions between societies, the role of women, labour, social organizations, and the<br />
initiatives of these social organizations, it is evident that social groupings both within<br />
<strong>German</strong>y and in the colonies played a vital role in the history of <strong>German</strong> colonial<br />
expansion. Yet this is not to fix a concrete conception of either, for both <strong>German</strong> and<br />
African societies represented heterogeneous and evolving societies, as the history of<br />
<strong>German</strong> colonialism in Africa poignantly demonstrates. 4<br />
At the very beginning of the conquest, some elites in <strong>German</strong>y advocated<br />
colonialism as a strategy to distract the population from domestic social problems, an<br />
early “social imperialism” argument. Many agreed with the arch-conservative Treitschke<br />
that an interventionist colonial policy would displace tensions within the metropolis to<br />
the colonial periphery. But this palliative benefit of colonialism was not realized, for the<br />
colonies never provided a rallying point for the <strong>German</strong> population. One aspect of this<br />
desire for social pacification was the physical transfer of “excess” or “disruptive”<br />
<strong>German</strong>s to the colonies. As a whole however, the settlement of Africa was a dismal<br />
failure, amounting to little more than ten thousand emigrants over thirty years.<br />
Additionally, instead of transporting reform-minded citizens to the colonies as<br />
conservatives hoped, the settling of the colonies was mostly accomplished by<br />
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