A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
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A frequent argument in the thesis of <strong>German</strong> exceptionalism is the economic one,<br />
an especially significant controversy in the historiography of <strong>German</strong> colonialism. This<br />
is because the <strong>German</strong> colonies had a large number of business monopolies which have<br />
long been used as an explanation for the economic dimension of <strong>German</strong> colonialism.<br />
Marxist scholars like Jürgen Kuczynski, Fritz Müller and Helmuth Stoecker advocate the<br />
pivotal supporting role of monopoly capital in this colonialism. 15 Non-Marxist scholars<br />
like Mary Townsend, H.P. Jaeck and Horst Drechsler also declare that economic<br />
necessities and merchant capital propelled the colonial expansion. 16 These arguments<br />
remain strong within studies of <strong>German</strong> colonialism, though their applicability is<br />
increasingly questioned.<br />
Calculated government policy for reasons related to international diplomacy is<br />
seen as another major cause of <strong>German</strong> colonialism. For instance, Werner Frauendienst<br />
argues that colonialism can only be seen as one minor component of the Weltpolitik or<br />
“world policy” of international involvement. 17 Similarly, some historians like Landes,<br />
Hallgarten, Townsend and A.J.P. Taylor contend that colonial expansion was designed to<br />
serve <strong>German</strong> strategic interests. 18 A final argument contends that <strong>German</strong>y acquired and<br />
developed a network of colonies solely to provide a backing for its claims to great power<br />
status. 19<br />
Supporting the domestic explanation of colonialism, Hans-Ulrich Wehler finds<br />
that domestic peace was sought as a by-product of a strong imperial policy by the<br />
“pragmatic expansionist” Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. 20 This so-called “social<br />
imperialism” argument asserts that <strong>German</strong> imperialism was a wholly endogenous<br />
phenomenon created to pacify the <strong>German</strong> population, rather than a creation of external<br />
5