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Dreaming of Empire Dreaming of Empire German Imperialism, The Use of Othering and the Evolution of the Nazis’ Ideological Imperialism from Bismarck to Hitler by Robert Dumont BA, University of Lethbridge, 2013 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History © Robert Dumont 2020 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This Thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. We acknowledge with respect the Lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱ SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. Supervisory Committee Dreaming of Empire German Imperialism, The Use of Othering and the Evolution of the Nazis’ Ideological Imperialism from Bismarck to Hitler by Robert Dumont BA, University of Lethbridge, 2013 Supervisory Committee Dr Oliver Schmidtke, Department of History, University of Victoria Supervisor Dr Kristin Semmens, Department of History, University of Victoria Departmental Member i Abstract Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany engaged in an extremely aggressive form of ideologically based conquest throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Based on the imperial doctrine established in Mein Kampf, this ‘ideological imperialism’ sought to ensure that the German nation state had the resources needed to guarantee a “freedom of existence”. As a result, ideological imperialism became a potent mix of nationalism, a desire for empire, and a rigid form of biological racism. Examining the origins of ideological imperialism has proven to be a difficult task for historians due to the rapid shift of German imperialism away from its traditional roots of overseas conquest. Therefore, this thesis seeks to challenge the argument that German colonialism in Africa and the military campaigns against the Nama and Herero directly led to the development of Nazi imperialism in the 1930s. It addresses this problem by exploring the evolution of German imperialism as a long durée in order to place the rise of the Nazis’ ideological imperialism within the context of the wider German cultural understanding of identity, imperialism, and race. To accomplish this task, this thesis constructs a narrative of othering within German imperialism to reveal how the racialization of the other and its influence on the development of German national identity contributed to the acceptance of the Nazis’ ideological imperialism in the early 1930s. It traces how key events during the Bismarckian, Wilhelmine, Weimar and Nazi periods were framed with reference to the threatening other and how such a practice contributed to the development of the ideological imperialism of Nazi Germany. These events include the unification of Germany through the formation of a Prussian empire in Central Europe, the formation of German identity during the 1866 war with Austria and the KulturKampf as well as the creation of the German colonial empire in Asia and Africa. It also explores the impact of the First World War. ii Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ................................................................................................................................. i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................ iii Dedication.................................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction: The Narrative of Empire and Germany’s Place within It ...................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Unity Through “Blood and Iron:” Bismarck, The Unification of Germany and the Construction of an Imperial German Identity ........................................................................................... 39 Chapter 2: “We Demand Our Place in the Sun”: Wilhelm II, Weltpolitik and the Politics of Symbolism 69 Chapter 3: The Politics of Empire: Hitler, Ideological Imperialism and the Development of a German Continental Empire .................................................................................................................................... 98 Conclusion: The Ruins of Empire ............................................................................................................. 143 Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................. 151 iii Dedication I would like to dedicate this thesis to my mom, Carol, for without her support, encouragement and determination, this thesis would not have been possible. Thank you. iv Introduction: The Narrative of Empire and Germany’s Place within It Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany engaged in an extremely aggressive and rapid form of ideological based conquest throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Based on the prevalence of cultural and political conceptions of the East and the use of othering1, these conquests were based on a form of imperialism that envisioned the creation of a permanent relationship of domination and submission between the conquering bearers of Kultur and the othered peoples of Eastern Europe.2 As such, the ideological justification for this conquest was the imperial doctrine established in Mein Kampf where Hitler states that “as National Socialists we can…establish the following principle concerning the nature of the [imperial] policy of a folkish state: The [imperial] policy of the folkish state must safeguard the existence [of]….the race embodied in the state, by creating a healthy, visible natural relation between the nation’s population and growth on the one hand and the quantity and quality of its soil on the other hand…. only an adequately large space on this earth assures a nation of freedom of existence.”3As a result, the use of othering became a means of providing political and cultural justification for 1 The concept of ‘othering’ is understood as a social and political practice of depicting another group as essentially different. In this respect, ‘othering’ is a fundamental component of forming and reproducing collective identities. This emphasis on fundamental cultural or ethnic differences is regularly accompanied by describing the other group as inferior and/ or threatening to the identity and well-being of another group. It originates from post- colonial scholarship (Said 1995). For more information on the theoretical foundations of the concept see: Sune Qvotrup Jensen, "Othering, identity formation and agency" Qualitative studies Vol 2, No. 2 (2011): 63-78. Also see G. C. Spivak, “The Rani of Sirmur: an essay in reading the archives” History and Theory, Vol 24 No. 3 (1985): 247- 272. 2 Andrew Porter, European Imperialism, 1860-1914 (New York: Palgrave Macmillon, 1994), 5-8. 3 Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, trans. Ralph Manheim (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1971), 643. 1 the Nazi conquests, creating the conditions necessary for Hitler and the Nazi party to link their imperial desires with those of Bismarckian and Wilhelmine periods of German imperialism.4 However, unlike earlier forms of German imperialism, during the Third Reich, the Nazi government took little interest in overseas colonies, turning instead to a focus on continental empire and the acquiring of colonies in Eastern Europe.5 As such, the Rhineland, Austria, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia and Poland were either annexed or outright conquered while France, the low countries, Denmark, Norway, most of Eastern Europe and European Russia all fell under the occupation of the German Wehrmacht.6 As a result, ideological imperialism was not focused on cementing Germany’s position at the top of the “great game” of great power politics. Instead, it was based on three key elements that were designed to shift the mindset of German imperial policy away from the abstract and paradigmatic concept of the interactions of nations and peoples towards the more emotional concepts of race, conquest and space.7 In short, ideological imperialism became a potent mix of nationalism, a desire for empire and a rigid form of biological racism.8 Ideological imperialism should therefore be considered as a form of cultural imperialism that refers to the exercise of domination in cultural and political relationships where 4 Laura Chrisman, Postcolonial Contraventions: Cultural Readings of Race, Imperialism and Transnationalism (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2003), 25-26. 5 Mark Mazower, Hitler’s Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe (New York: The Penguin Press, 2008), xxxviii. 6 Gerhard L. Weinβerg, The Foreign Policy of Hitler’s Germany: Diplomatic Revolution in Europe 1933-36 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980), 18. 7 Robert L. Nelson, ‘The Archive For Inner Colonization, The German East And World War 1’ in Germans, Poland And Colonial Expansion To The East: 1850 Through The Present, et.al. Robert L. Nelson (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 87. 8 Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 4-5. 2 “the values, practices and meanings of a powerful foreign culture are imposed upon one or more native cultures.”9 This radicalization of German imperialism under the direction of Nazi ideology however, presents a significant
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