German expansionism, imperial liberalism and the United States, 1776-1945 PDF
Preview German expansionism, imperial liberalism and the United States, 1776-1945
GermanExpansionism,ImperialLiberalism,andthe UnitedStates,1776–1945 This book traces the importance of the United States for Germancolonialismfromthelateeighteenthcenturyto1945, focusing on American westward expansion and racial poli- tics. Jens-Uwe Guettel argues that, from the late eighteenth century onward, ideas of colonial expansion played a very important role in liberal, enlightened, and progressive circles in Germany, which, in turn, looked across the Atlantic to the liberal-democratic United States for inspiration and con- crete examples. In the early years of the twentieth century, thisAmerica-inspiredand-influencedimperialliberalismdom- inatedGermancolonialdiscourseandpractice.Yetfollowing thispre-1914peakofliberalpoliticalinfluenceontheadminis- trationandgovernanceofGermany’scolonies,theexpansion- ist ideas embraced by Germany’s far right after the country’s defeat in World War I had little or no connection with the GermanEmpire’sliberalimperialisttradition.GermanExpan- sionism, Imperial Liberalism, and the United States, 1776– 1945 therefore shows that, for example, Nazi plans for the settlementofconqueredEasternEuropeanterritorieswerenot directlylinkedtopre-1914transatlanticexchangesconcerning raceandexpansionism. Jens-Uwe Guettel is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Religious Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. German Expansionism, Imperial Liberalism, and the United States, 1776–1945 JENS-UWE GUETTEL ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity cambridgeuniversitypress Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107024694 (cid:2)C Jens-UweGuettel2012 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2012 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Guettel,Jens-Uwe,1974– Germanexpansionism,imperialliberalismandtheUnitedStates,1776–1945/ Jens-UweGuettel,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity. pages cm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn978-1-107-02469-4 1.Germany–Territorialexpansion. 2.UnitedStates–Territorial expansion. 3.Germany–Colonies–History. 4.Germany–Relations– UnitedStates. 5.UnitedStates–Relations–Germany. 6.Imperialism– History. 7.Race–Politicalaspects–Germany–History. 8.Political culture–Germany–History. 9.Liberalism–Germany–History. 10.Germany–Politicsandgovernment. I.Title. dd118.5.g84 2013 325(cid:3).343–dc23 2012036770 isbn978-1-107-02469-4Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy ofurlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhis publicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,or willremain,accurateorappropriate. Contents Acknowledgments pagevii Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 TheGreatWarandtheQuestionofGerman HistoricalContinuities 18 Liberalism,Imperialism,andImperialLiberalism 27 ANoteonSources 41 1 Soil,Liberty,andBlood:GermansandAmerican WestwardExpansionBefore1871 43 FreedomandEmpire 44 Progress,SocialControl,Land,andRace 55 VisionsofUnityandAmericanColonies 69 2 FromTheorytoPractice:GermanColonialismand AmericanWestwardExpansionbeforeWorld WarI 79 Nineteenth-CenturyGermanColonialDiscourse, Indians,andAmericanExpansion 82 ExpansionandEmpire:Indians,America,and GermanColonialDiscourseafter1866 87 NativeAmericans,AmericanExpansion,andGerman SouthwestAfrica 111 3 TheAmericanSouthandRacialSegregationinthe GermanColonies 127 v vi Contents RacialSegregationinGermanColonialPracticeand MetropolitanDiscourse,1905–1914 130 “Sothathedoesn’tbecomeslothful”:TheUnited States,RacialControl,andGermanColonialism 133 JimCrowandMixed-RaceMarriageBansinthe GermanColoniesfrom1905to1912 140 JimCrowinBerlin:ParliamentaryMiscegenation Debates,theRKA,andtheAmericanSouth 145 ALiberalAmericanSolution? 151 4 America,Race,andGermanExpansionismfrom theGreatWarto1945 161 GermanLiberalsandtheUnitedStatesduringthe 1920s 175 “Yes,yes,America,you’rebetteroff.But,please,keep yourbenevolencetoyourself”:NaziExpansionism andAmerica 182 Against“Liberalist”Imperialism:NaziLebensraum VisionsasAntiliberalismandAnticolonialism 189 “TheUnitedStatesunderaJewishDictatorship”– NaziAnti-Americanismafter1933 197 FromtheAmericanWesttotheGermanEast? 207 Conclusion: ImperialLiberalism,NaziExpansionism, andtheContinuitiesofGermanHistory 217 Bibliography 233 Index 265 Acknowledgments It would have been impossible for me to complete this book withoutthehelpandscholarlyadviceofmanysupporters.First, I would like to thank my dissertation advisor Jon Butler for letting me conceive of the beginnings of this project under his supervision, although, ultimately,mytopichadlittletodowith hisownresearch.IwouldalsoliketothankFrankTurner,whois missed,andUteFrevertfortheirinputandcriticism.Inaddition, IwishtothankBenKiernanandBenjaminMadley.Theirinterest inmyresearch shaped theargumentative trajectory of mywork once it came to the task of revising the dissertation. In respect to the latter undertaking I cannot thank Andrew Zimmerman enoughforhissupportandengagement withmywork.Iwould alsoliketothankErikGrimmer-SolemandBradleyNaranchfor readingportionsofthemanuscript,andLoraWildenthalforher kind comments on parts of this project that, ultimately, have becomethebasisforaseparatearticleandnewproject. I am also deeply indebted to my mother, Sigrid Gu¨ttel, for her tireless research assistance. Although I live in the United States, far from German archival materials, I could always rely on her willingness to go to various archives in Berlin and seek outthedocumentsIneeded.Iwasthusabletoengageinarchival research, even when I could not be in the archives myself. She wasevenwillingtotranscribeWilhelmSolf’shandwritingforme, vii viii Acknowledgments which was quite a task. The same holds true for my mother-in- law,SarahPauluBoittin.Herpatientandrepeatededitingofthe text has ironed out many Germanisms, grammatical mistakes, and rhetorical imprecisions. The book would not be what it is without her. I also wish to thank Peter Pru¨fert, who is missed, and Waltraut Pru¨fert for helping me to find the book’s cover image. Lastbutcertainlynotleast,Iwouldliketothankmypartner Jennifer Anne Boittin. Without her piercing criticism, scholarly inputandadvice,andwillingnesstorepeatedlyhelpmeeditmy writing,thisbookwouldnotexist.Icannotthankherenough.
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