A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

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. 4
A frequent argument in the thesis of German exceptionalism is the economic one, an especially significant controversy in the historiography of German colonialism. This is because the German colonies had a large number of business monopolies which have long been used as an explanation for the economic dimension of German colonialism. Marxist scholars like Jürgen Kuczynski, Fritz Müller and Helmuth Stoecker advocate the pivotal supporting role of monopoly capital in this colonialism. 15 Non-Marxist scholars like Mary Townsend, H.P. Jaeck and Horst Drechsler also declare that economic necessities and merchant capital propelled the colonial expansion. 16 These arguments remain strong within studies of German colonialism, though their applicability is increasingly questioned. Calculated government policy for reasons related to international diplomacy is seen as another major cause of German colonialism. For instance, Werner Frauendienst argues that colonialism can only be seen as one minor component of the Weltpolitik or “world policy” of international involvement. 17 Similarly, some historians like Landes, Hallgarten, Townsend and A.J.P. Taylor contend that colonial expansion was designed to serve German strategic interests. 18 A final argument contends that Germany acquired and developed a network of colonies solely to provide a backing for its claims to great power status. 19 Supporting the domestic explanation of colonialism, Hans-Ulrich Wehler finds that domestic peace was sought as a by-product of a strong imperial policy by the “pragmatic expansionist” Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. 20 This so-called “social imperialism” argument asserts that German imperialism was a wholly endogenous phenomenon created to pacify the German population, rather than a creation of external 5
Page 1 and 2: A Deterritorialized History: Invest
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Abstract.........
Page 5 and 6: Introduction In the late nineteenth
Page 7: colonialism. Ronald Robinson and Jo
Page 11 and 12: carried further by another. Similar
Page 13 and 14: etween German and African societies
Page 15 and 16: The German Setting The growth of Ge
Page 17 and 18: that the colonial expansion was not
Page 19 and 20: In 1883 the economic motives for co
Page 21 and 22: European competitors’ exclusionar
Page 23 and 24: interest in 1888 in acquiring a col
Page 25 and 26: 1908. There were also plans to conn
Page 27 and 28: limited to abstract academic invest
Page 29 and 30: where change is performed upon an e
Page 31 and 32: implies a deterritorialization of p
Page 33 and 34: extension of deterritorialization t
Page 35 and 36: eciprocal reterritorialization mean
Page 37 and 38: Deterritorialization rejects focus
Page 39 and 40: historiography has traditionally re
Page 41 and 42: problems of colonial history, but a
Page 43 and 44: epresented a vital dynamic within G
Page 45 and 46: of economic, social and political i
Page 47 and 48: There was great potential for socie
Page 49 and 50: Frauenbund were vehemently opposed
Page 51 and 52: medicine, social organization and m
Page 53 and 54: y the K-A, the Admiralität, and th
Page 55 and 56: society actually facilitated treati
Page 57 and 58: But the Pan-Germans’ relationship
Page 59 and 60:
Nonetheless, not all German papers
Page 61 and 62:
discourses surrounding cultural art
Page 63 and 64:
the civilization of the Germans wit
Page 65 and 66:
Through such cultural deterritorial
Page 67 and 68:
claim to further African territory,
Page 69 and 70:
Foucauldian collection of knowledge
Page 71 and 72:
establishment of boundaries and tri
Page 73 and 74:
Chapter 3 The social and cultural e
Page 75 and 76:
profits. The expansion of colonial
Page 77 and 78:
Yet, while there was much associati
Page 79 and 80:
the colonies in a new manner, since
Page 81 and 82:
security that in turn motivated som
Page 83 and 84:
In addition to territorial disenfra
Page 85 and 86:
capital does not only reterritorial
Page 87 and 88:
the state’s assumption of soverei
Page 89 and 90:
the RKA bureaucracy and the local a
Page 91 and 92:
settlers, administrators and soldie
Page 93 and 94:
dominated by memories of war and hy
Page 95 and 96:
German popular desires were intrins
Page 97 and 98:
colonial policy and declared that t
Page 99 and 100:
German colonial imposition. But aft
Page 101 and 102:
policy. 98 However this still does
Page 103 and 104:
commercial rights for German compan
Page 105 and 106:
101 Though law played an important
Page 107 and 108:
appeals to the Reichstag usually fo
Page 109 and 110:
Conclusion 105 This study has focus
Page 111 and 112:
Lastly, Deleuze and Guattari’s pa
Page 113 and 114:
colonialism is impossibly simplisti
Page 115 and 116:
Deterritorialization helps the hist
Page 117 and 118:
113 Much like the new images of col
Page 119 and 120:
9 D.C.M. Platt, “The Imperialism
Page 121 and 122:
A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and
Page 123 and 124:
56 H. Pogge von Strandmann and Eric
Page 125 and 126:
11 The phrase “perpetual displace
Page 127 and 128:
the notions of labour and independe
Page 129 and 130:
56 Sartre, xiii. 57 Deleuze, Empiri
Page 131 and 132:
Chapter Two 1 Stoecker, 155. Taylor
Page 133 and 134:
Bülow’s Colonial Writings,” in
Page 135 and 136:
46 This is poignantly evidenced in
Page 137 and 138:
70 Ulrich van der Heyden, “Afrika
Page 139 and 140:
94 R1001 8 Deutsch-Ostafrika. 8.9 E
Page 141 and 142:
6 In fact, the Southwest African co
Page 143 and 144:
23 R1001 8 Deutsch-Ostafrika. 8.12
Page 145 and 146:
49 R1001 1 Allgemeine Angelegenheit
Page 147 and 148:
68 Heyden and Zeller, 74. 69 Grosse
Page 149 and 150:
promised death for all Herero found
Page 151 and 152:
111 R1001 1 Allgemeine Angelegenhei
Page 153 and 154:
Herero and Nama wars were similarly
Page 155 and 156:
AA Auswärtiges Amt Appendix Guide
Page 157 and 158:
Periodicals Beiträge zur Kolonialp
Page 159 and 160:
Behnen, Michael. ed. Quellen zur De
Page 161 and 162:
Epstein, Klaus. “Erzberger and th
Page 163 and 164:
Holland, Eugene W. “’Deterritor
Page 165 and 166:
Mongia, Padmini. ed. Contemporary P
Page 167 and 168:
1907-1915.” The International Jou
Page 169 and 170:
Thomas, Nicholas. Colonialism’s C
show all

A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?