Evelyn Wareham. Race and Realpolitik: The Politics of Colonisation in German . Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2002. 205 pp. $35.95, paper, ISBN 978-0-8204-5961-5.

Reviewed by John Perkins

Published on H-German (April, 2004)

The amount of scholarly attention that has regards German colonialism in the South Pacifc. been devoted to the German is, to In the Federal Republic of a largely in‐ this reviewer at least, somewhat surprising. Its ex‐ vented nostalgia emerged toward the one-time istence was brief, from the mid-1880s until (efec‐ "," especially towards those in the tively) 1914. The colonies acquired consisted of Pacifc. This development evoked a negative re‐ territories that other imperial countries had no sponse, mostly among scholars in the former Ger‐ desire to annex. The total area was relatively lim‐ man Democratic Republic and mostly focusing on ited and much of that embraced desert and the colonies in Africa. It might also be suggested sparsely populated jungle. Very few Germans that a largely mythical perception of the Pacifc Is‐ were attracted to settle in the colonies acquired. lands has not been without attraction among Ger‐ At the peak, on the eve of the First World War, the man academics. total was less than forty thousand. Overall, in The core of the German colonial empire was spite of the parsimonious approach of the Ger‐ in Africa. The remnants were in the Pacifc. The man government, the administrative costs of em‐ reluctantly annexed Papua, in re‐ pire considerably exceeded revenue. The trade of sponse to Australian pressure, after Germany de‐ Germany with its colonies, at its peak, amounted clared a over New Guinea in 1884. In to less than one per cent of the total. 1899 Spain sold Germany the then Carolinas, Mar‐ Several factors have contributed to the signif‐ ianas and Palau islands, an area of 2,376 square cant interest since 1945 in the pre-1914 German kilometers. After ceding the Philipinnes to the empire. They include, particularly evident among as an outcome of the Spanish-Ameri‐ Australian scholars and reminiscent of what hap‐ can War of 1898, the remnants of Spain's Pacifc pened in the interwar era, a reaction against the empire were no longer perceived as viable for anti-German attitudes inculcated during World such a impoverished European country. Western War II. The results have been generally positive as Samoa was added at the end of 1899, in an agree‐ H-Net Reviews ment ceding the eastern islands, with the strategic foundly infuenced by those of other colonial port of Pago Pago going to the United States. powers, most notably the United Kingdom. The The last German colony to be acquired, the is‐ important contribution by German colonial of‐ lands of Western Samoa, a mere 2,570 square kilo‐ cials in the provision of the empirical evidence for meters in extent, never had more than three hun‐ the theories is simply overlooked. Some of the ad‐ dred resident German citizens (around half the to‐ ministrators also made signifcant contributions tal Europeans) and the non-European population towards the evolution of "racial science." The text was less than forty thousand. The German admin‐ provides no guide as to the extent to which the istration, the focus of this study, never exceeded colonial administrators actually read the tomes of ffty ofcials. The islands were not of signifcance the race theorists. Some of the theoretical work for naval strategy. The were not easy considered appeared years after the debate on the people to rule, divided as they were into mutually ground had ended. To cite the author in one in‐ hostile factions that resorted frequently to vio‐ stance: "Richard Thurwald's [1910 ethnological] lence and were generally reluctant to accept an study of [racial] capacities to work is a clear ex‐ imposed "native ruler" as a medium of colonial ample of a type of thinking which informed the rule. The Germans did not even attempt to exploit initial debate over potential labour supplies for the Samoans as a source of labor for copra planta‐ German Samoa, although published seven years tions, the islands' export staple. after it had concluded" (p. 95). According to the author, her work, originat‐ A notable feature of German colonial praxis ing in a master's thesis at the Victoria University was the range of "native" policies adopted. In of Wellington, is an exploration of the infuence of Southwest Africa it embraced genocide, with the German racial theories on the policies pursued by Herero war of 1904-05. In Western Samoa the the administration of German Samoa and their preservation of the indigenous Polynesian popu‐ role in the tensions within the colony. Neither of lation was at the forefront. To that end strict lim‐ these objectives is satisfactorily achieved. It is ac‐ its were placed on the alienation of land for Euro‐ cepted that theories of race cannot be isolated pean plantations. Communal copra production from the political, social and economic context was encouraged. Wareham views this measure as within which they were generated and that in encouraging integration in the global capitalist which the efort was made in this case to apply economy. Rather it was intended to promote an them. It is further conceded that policy, both in economy of peasant cultivators, where the market Berlin and in Samoa, was heavily infuenced by served as a vent for surplus and a medium of nec‐ that of other colonial powers. For German Samoa, essary exchange. The latter included the necessity for example, the policy implemented by Sir to pay the poll-tax as a contribution to the cost of Arthur Gordon in Fiji was an important model. the administration. With a signifcant number of residents of Samoa By far the best chapter in the book is that de‐ being "natives" of other imperial powers it would voted to the ofcial policy towards miscegenation. have been difcult for the German colonial of‐ (Here the issue is referred to as that of "half- cials to pursue quite divergent "native" policies. castes": a term which seems to infer that the prog‐ The German discourse on race apparently, in‐ eny resulting from interracial relations were correctly, occurred in isolation from that of the mules as regards their fecundity). Administrators, rest of Europe. German theorists probably con‐ "theorists" and European residents were divided tributed more than their "fair" share to the "theo‐ on the question. Some planters viewed misce‐ ry." Nevertheless, their conclusions were pro‐ genation involving Samoan women and Chinese

2 H-Net Reviews males--single men imported as indentured labor‐ author, web location, date of publication, originat‐ ers--as "improving" the Samoan race, which es‐ ing list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences sentially meant creating a willingness to work for Online. For other uses contact the Reviews editori‐ minuscule wages. For themselves, most planters al staf: [email protected]. were led, either by their sexual desires or practi‐ cal housekeeping concerns, into liaisons with Samoan women, rather than being infuenced by "racial theorists." Initially, the colonial administra‐ tors adopted the missionary position and endeav‐ ored to encourage the sanctifcation of these li‐ aisons by marriage. The progeny of the relation‐ ships were perceived as a problem by the admin‐ istration. Until 1910 they were ofcially accepted as "foreigners" (i.e. Europeans), even as German nationals, if they were deemed to be "culturally European." In that era identity was also a problem for the progeny. Readily accepted by the Samoan community, adopting a Samoan identity gave them access to land. On the other hand, as with the "natives" generally, this action denied them access to liquor outlets. For "pure-blooded" Samoans, having a "half-caste" male relative was a useful means of obtaining alcoholic beverages. From 1910 interracial marriage was prohibited and the claim of progeny to European status auto‐ matically denied. Prohibitions against them natu‐ rally did not change the incidence of interracial li‐ aisons. For reasons unclear to this reviewer, eleven pages of a relatively slim volume are devoted to the German, and in a few cases French, quota‐ tions translated in the text. A sampling by the au‐ thor convinces that they are worth at least an A+. A useful bibliography is appended. The German and New Zealand archives, along with those of relevant missions have been trawled. The out‐ come, however, does not add a great deal to the knowledge and interpretation of the history of German Samoa. Copyright (c) 2004 by H-Net, all rights re‐ served. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonproft, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the

3 H-Net Reviews

If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at https://networks.h-net.org/h-german

Citation: John Perkins. Review of Wareham, Evelyn. Race and Realpolitik: The Politics of Colonisation in German Samoa. H-German, H-Net Reviews. April, 2004.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=9155

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

4