A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...

German colonialism represents a fascinating subject because of its telescoped time frame;
the acquisition, extension and loss of the colonies all happened within three decades.
Germany is additionally remarkable in that its colonialism began on a different track than
the other colonial powers because of the perceived significance of commerce in the
expansion. Finally, Germany presents an interesting paradigm of colonialism in relation
to later events in the twentieth century.
It is the actions of Germany in the First and Second World Wars that have led to
the Sonderweg thesis of Germany’s “special path” of development. The Sonderweg
argument is one of the reasons why many explanations have been sought for German
colonialism and the subsequent heated debate that has surrounded the discussion of
motivations. The dispute has been particularly contentious between ideologically-
opposed historians in divided post-war Germany. 13 The German colonial experience is
frequently cited by scholars as a precursor to the later events of the twentieth century by
fitting the abuses of the colonial period into the Sonderweg thesis of purportedly
Germanic exceptionalism. 14 The Versailles Treaty’s judgment of Germany’s unique
colonial brutality drew on acts of violence in the colonies like the 1904-1906 war against
the Herero tribe of Southwest Africa. But the question must be asked, without engaging
in a comparative discussion of colonialisms, was the German conquest of colonial
territory inordinately brutal? To answer this question, analysis must look beyond the
Sonderweg thesis to consider all of the economic, social, political and cultural
motivations for German colonialism. It is the particular circumstances of these elements
within German colonialism that provide the rationales for this project.
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