GERMAN COLONIALISM Germany was a late-comer to the colonial world of the late nineteenth century, but this history of German colonialism makes clear the wide-reaching consequences of Germany s short-lived colonial project. charts the expansion of the empire from its origins in the acquisition of substantial territories in present-day Togo, Cameroon, Namibia, and Tanzania to new settlements in east Asia and the Pacific, and reveals the colonialist culture which permeated the German nation and its politics. Drawing on the wider history of European expansion and globalization he highlights the close interactions and shared vocabularies of the colonial powers and emphasizes Germany s major role in the period of high imperialism before 1914. Even beyond the official end of the empire in 1919 the quest for Lebensraum and the growth of the Nazi empire in eastern Europe can be viewed within a framework of colonialism whose effects resonate to the present day. is Professor of Modern History at the Free University of Berlin. His previous books include Globalisation and the Nation in Imperial Germany (Cambridge, 2010) and The Quest for the Lost Nation: Writing History in Germany and Japan in the American Century (2010).
GERMAN COLONIALISM: ASHORTHISTORY SEBASTIAN CONRAD TRANSLATED BY SORCHA O HAGAN
University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: /9781107400474 Originally published in German as Deutsche Kolonialgeschichte by Verlag C. H. Beck ohg, Munich 2008 Verlag C. H. Beck ohg, Munich 2008 First published in English as German Colonialism: A Short History by Cambridge University Press, 2012 English edition Cambridge University Press 2012 Reprinted 2012 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Conrad, Sebastian. [Deutsche Kolonialgeschichte. English] German colonialism: a short history / ; translated by Sorcha O Hagan. p. cm. Originally published in German as Deutsche Kolonialgeschichte by Verlag C. H. Beck ohg, Munchen 2008 T.p. verso. isbn 978-1-107-00814-4 isbn 978-1-107-40047-4 (pbk.) 1. Germany Colonies History. 2. Germany Foreign relations 1871 1918. I. Title. jv2017.c6613 2011 325.343 dc23 2011025088 isbn 978-1-107-00814-4 Hardback isbn 978-1-107-40047-4 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents List of illustrations List of maps Acknowledgements page vi xi xii 1 Introduction 1 2 Colonialism before the colonial empire 15 3 Pressure groups, motivations, attitudes 21 4 The German colonial empire 36 5 The colonial state 66 6 Economy and work 88 7 Colonial society 100 8 Knowledge and colonialism 124 9 The colonial metropole 136 10 Colonialism in Europe 153 11 German colonialism and its global contexts 169 12 Memory 186 13 Selected readings 202 Index 224 v
Illustrations 1 Satirical comparison of colonial politics (Germany, England, France, Belgium): Simplicissimus (3 May 1904), vol. ix, no. 6, p.55, caricature by Thomas Theodor Heine. page 2 2 Book Die koloniale Schuldlüge by the former governor of German East Africa: Heinrich Schnee, Die koloniale Schuldlüge, Munich (Süddeutsche Monatshefte) 1927 (7th edition), book cover. 7 3 Caricature of Bismarck s lack of attention to colonialism: bpk / SBB / Dietmar Katz / 30002173. 22 4 Gerhard Rohlfs and Gustav Nachtigal on their expedition to Bornu in 1870: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 01-0017-12. 24 5 Colonial postcard showing Carl Peters and the outlines of the areas in east Africa which he had acquired: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 024-0277-12. 26 6 Satirical caricature of Germany s civilizing mission: Simplicissimus (3 May 1904), vol. ix, no. 6, p.58, drawing by Wilhelm Schulz. 34 7 German settler and staff in front of a farm in the Ovambo area, German South-West Africa: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 071-2401-17. 40 8 General Lothar von Trotha and Governor Theodor Leutwein in Windhoek, German South-West Africa: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 082-2990-451. 41 vi
List of illustrations 9 African workers with ivory ready for transportation: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 041-0243-44. 44 10 Rubber plantation: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 041-0232-32. 46 11 Mission school in Togo: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 042-0244-46. 49 12 Heinrich Schnee with parading askari: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 072-1998-014. 53 13 Albert Hahl, governor of New Guinea, with native people: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 043-4012-13. 56 14 Wilhelm Solf on a horse-drawn carriage: BArch, Bild 137-31813 / unknown photographer / CC-BY- SA 3.0. 57 15 Historical map showing the imperialist threat to China at the beginning of the twentieth century: National Archives, Washington. 60 16 Students in the German Chinese College in Qingdao: BArch, Bild 134-A380 / unknown photographer / CC-BY- SA 3.0. 61 17 German traveller carried by Togolese porters: bpk / 30002864. 70 18 Recruitment of Togolese natives for the protection force: ullstein bild, Archiv Gerstenberg, 00781213. 74 19 Samuel Maharero, leader of the Herero, in western uniform: BArch, Bild 137-003174 / unknown photographer / CC-BY- SA 3.0. 76 20 Colonial postcard illustrating German role in the Boxer war: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, designed by Bruno Bürger and Carl Ottilie, 96002034. 82 21 Hun Speech of Emperor Wilhelm II in 1900: bpk / 30017349. 83 22 German cavalry entering in the Forbidden City after Boxer war: Getty Images, Hulton Archive, Keystone, 2665434. 84 23 General Lothar von Trotha with his staff in German South-West Africa: BArch, Bild 183-R27576 / unknown photographer / CC-BY-SA 3.0. 85 vii
viii List of illustrations 24 Caravan crossing a stream: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 023-0262-33. 91 25 Chain gang of convicts in Dar es Salaam in East Africa: Library of Congress, Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection, E. M. Santos, LC-USZ62-91959. 94 26 Market day in Togo: Staatsarchiv Bremen, 7,1025 Fotos 4288. 96 27 African workers on the railway line linking Dar es Salaam and Morogoro in German East Africa: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 072-1998-022. 98 28 View of the city of Qingdao: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 002-0055-11. 102 29 Colonial shooting club in Cameroon: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 043-3036-06. 104 30 Local court in German East Africa: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 042-0246-23. 108 31 Identification mark as used in German South-West Africa: Jürgen Zimmerer and Joachim Zeller (eds.), Völkermord in Deutsch-Südwestafrika: Der Kolonialkrieg (1904 1908) in Namibia und seine Folgen, Berlin (Ch. Links) 2003, p. 28, photograph by Joachim Zeller. 111 32 Mission school in Ovamboland in German South- West Africa: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 068-2179-266, Otto Neumeister, Reichskolonialbund-Bildstelle. 116 33 Albert Hahl with Tolai woman and their child: bpk / 30038861 / Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. 120 34 Robert Koch on research trip to Africa: ullstein bild, Noppens, 00232153. 130 35 German officers packing skulls of dead Herero: Anonymous, Meine Kriegserlebnisse in Deutsch- Südwest-Afrika: Von einem Offizier der Schutztruppe, Minden in Westfalen (Wilhelm Köhler Verlag) 1907, drawing by unknown artist. 132
List of illustrations 36 Collage of Robert Koch s activities in Africa: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 042-0247-20. 138 37 Aka people from central Africa in a colonial exhibition in Berlin: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 001-0025-05. 139 38 Exhibition of New Guinea in the Colonial Museum in Bremen in the 1930s: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 039-7023-11. 140 39 Street in the German quarter of Qingdao: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 002-0105-07. 145 40 Women upholstering at the Colonial School in Rendsburg: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 039-7028-32. 147 41 Women practising throwing the javelin at the Colonial School in Rendsburg: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 026-0403-06. 148 42 Emaciated men and women who had fled German troops during the Herero war: ullstein bild, 00173115. 161 43 Cartoon showing Georg von Siemens in Ottoman attire (Baghdad railway): Lustige Blätter (1900), vol. xv, no. 9, p.1, caricature by W. A. Wellner. 171 44 Togolese men pulling wagons of cotton: Staatsarchiv Bremen, 7,1025-4309. 174 45 Print showing Americans, Russians, and Germans staking out new claims for territorial possessions: bpk / Kunstbibliothek, SMB / 30012450. 178 46 Germans working in Brazil: Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gaelzer-Neto Estate. 182 47 Remainders of the German troops from East Africa returning to Berlin in 1919: BArch, Bild B 145 Bild- P008268 / unknown photographer / CC-BY- SA 3.0. 187 48 Poster warning of the horrors on the Rhine : BArch, Bild Plak 002-012-046 / R. v. Boehmer / CC-BY- SA 3.0. 190 49 Colonial ambitions of the Bund Deutscher Mädel and the Hitlerjugend: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 044-7078a-01. 192 ix
x List of illustrations 50 Celebration of 1 May holiday in Windhoek 1939: Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt am Main, 062-0729-19. 193 51 Wieczorek-Zeul, German minister, and Sam Nujoma, president of the Republic of Namibia, on a visit in Berlin 2002: BArch, Bild B 145 Bild-00005147 / Bernd Kühler / CC-BY- SA 3.0. 197 52 Celebrating Herero day in Namibia 1994: Zimmerer and Zeller (eds.), Völkermord in Deutsch- Südwestafrika,p. 176, photograph by Joachim Zeller. 199
Maps Map A German South-West Africa page 39 Map B Cameroon 43 Map C Togo 48 Map D German East Africa 52 Map E German New Guinea 55 Map F Kiaochow 59 xi
Acknowledgements I am grateful for helpful and stimulating comments on parts of the manuscript by Andreas Eckert, Geoff Eley, Minu Hashemi Yekani, Christoph Kalter, Dörte Lerp, Bradley Naranch, Tim Opitz, and Ulrike Schaper. My thanks go to Stefanie Senger for procuring the images, to Kelly Mulvancy for compiling the index, and to Matthias Thaden for help with the page proofs. This work was supported by a grant from the Academy of Korean Studies funded by the Korean Government (MEST) (AKS-2010-DZZ-3103). xii