AfD and the German Colonial Era Thanks for the Oppression! 28 November 2019 By Oliver Georgi The German colonial era in Africa is a story full of cruelty, racism and reckless humiliation by the colonial rulers - but the AfD faction in the Bundestag has obviously no problems with this chapter of German history. On the contrary, it invited a revisionist American policy professor "to a glass of wine in the run up to Christmas" to the Bundestag to "explain why the short German colonial history was an advantage for countries like Tanzania, Cameroon and Togo, which echoes to this day" , "The Balance of German Colonialism Why the Germans do not have to apologize for the colonial period and certainly not have to pay for it!" is subtitled the lecture of Professor Bruce Gilley, which is to take place in the AFD parliamentary group on 11 December and to which the party invites "all MdBs, speakers, staff and press". Organizers are the Deputy Petr Bystron, AfD Chairman in the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Markus Frohnmaier, Development Policy Spokesman for the AfD. Bystron has repeatedly expressed his sympathy for the right-wing "Identitarian Movement" and was therefore for a time watched by the Bavarian constitutional protection. Gilley, who teaches at Portland State University in Oregon, caused indignation in 2017 with the essay "The Case for Colonialism" in the journal Third World Quarterly. In this he called openly to rethink the "derogatory assessment of colonialism", because this was legitimate and had had positive consequences for the development of the countries concerned. After the occupation by the colonial rulers, countries like Guinea-Bissau would have developed into a "cesspool of human suffering" - under Portuguese colonial rule, the country would have become a "prosperous and human Macao of Africa", implied Gilley. "Alleged crimes of the colonial period" His conclusion: The West must consider a repeated colonization of the African countries. "Perhaps the Belgians should return to Congo," he wrote and: "100 years of disaster are enough." The professional world was horrified; Several colleagues accused Gilley of unhistorical work, factual errors and lack of empiricism. In protest of the essay left half of the editors of the editorial staff of Third World Quarterly, in the end Gilley withdrew his essay, probably because of death threats against him and the editor of the Journal. “Gilley is not taken seriously with his position in historical science. It is significant that the AfD does not find another expert for its attempt to salvage German colonialism,“ criticized Jürgen Zimmerer, Professor of African History at the University of Hamburg. The AfD does not challenge that. Gilley's essay "has met all scientific standards," says the announcement of the speech in the Bundestag. For example, he argues that "the European colonial era was a win for many countries, which after decolonization slipped into an ongoing spiral of violence, poverty and corruption". Thus Gilley attacked "one of the hobby-horses of the left", which justified their policy of the open borders "with the alleged crimes of the colonial time"."Alleged crimes" - it is by no means disputed among historians, how reckless and inhumane not only the other European colonial powers, but also the Germans acted in their colonies. The historian of at the University of Göttingen, Rebekka Habermas, who wrote a well-respected book about the German colonial era in Togo in 2017, speaks of an "omnipresence of colonial violence" and describes well-documented sources of everyday racism, brutal maltreatment and sexual assault by the German colonialists. The AfD group defended Gilley's invitation on Thursday. "Professor Gilley is an internationally renowned scientist," said Frohnmaier of F.A.Z. The events of the AFD Group are "controversial ideas, which should encourage discussion and critical debate." Also, the AfD faction does not deny that there have been "terrible colonial crimes" in countries like Togo, Tanzania and Cameroon. The phrase "alleged crimes" refers "to the view of the left, who wants to brand almost all manifestations of European presence in Africa as a crime." Such a shortened view is "unhistorical". And further: "The AFD faction stands for a differentiated and true work-up of the German colonial history." Ever since she sits in the Bundestag, the AfD is in the debate on the work-up Professor Gilley responds: Thanks for the Justice! "In my days as a journalist, the first rule was you gave the subject of your article a chance to respond. I guess standards of fair journalism have slipped considerably at the Frankfurter Allgemeine. As to citing Dr. Rebekka Habermas’s book (published in 2016, not 2017) Scandal in Togo as proving 'the omnipresence of colonial violence,' the book, as a self-described 'micro-history', can prove nothing. Even if it is taken as evidence of macro-history, it serves as a ringing endorsement of the German colonial record and its high standards of governance, especially since it was written by a dedicated anti-colonial ideologue who force-fits all data into a 'colonialism bad' ideological template and yet still cannot escape the book’s obvious conclusions to any educated reader: the Togolese, who had been systematically raped, murdered, plundered, and enslaved by their indigenous rules prior to the German period experienced a brief period in which a single alleged rape by a single German official became the subject of a wide-ranging inquiry, public debate, court trial, and ultimately professional sanction. If only the people of Togo could have enjoyed anything like the rights under German rule before or after. Finally, FA’s use of a photo of the German explorer and cartographer Hans Gruner is particularly ironic. Well into the 1920s, oral historians found the local population idolized the memory of Gruner for his kindness, knowledge, and efficiency. In 2013, the newspaper Modern Ghana noted that he 'is still famous in Togo for his remarkable knowledge of Ewe customs' and said the value of the map he drew (still being used) especially for settling land disputes 'cannot be overemphasized.' ‘Thanks for the oppression?’ How about ‘Thanks for the justice?’” AfD und deutsche Kolonialzeit:Danke für die Unterdrückung! Von Oliver Georgi Die deutsche Kolonialzeit in Afrika ist eine Geschichte voller Grausamkeit, Rassismus und rücksichtsloser Erniedrigung durch die Kolonialherren - doch die AfD-Fraktion im Bundestag hat mit diesem Kapitel der deutschen Geschichte offenkundig keine Probleme. Im Gegenteil: Sie hat einen revisionistischen amerikanischen Politikprofessor "auf ein Glas Wein in der Vorweihnachtszeit" in den Bundestag geladen, um zu referieren, "warum die kurze deutsche Kolonialgeschichte ein Vorteil für Länder wie Tansania, Kamerun und Togo war, der bis heute nachhallt". "Die Bilanz des deutschen Kolonialismus. Warum sich die Deutschen nicht für die Kolonialzeit entschuldigen müssen und erst recht nicht dafür bezahlen müssen!" ist der Vortrag von Professor Bruce Gilley untertitelt, der am 11. Dezember im AfD-Fraktionssaal stattfinden soll und zu dem die Partei "alle MdBs, Referenten, Mitarbeiter und Presse" einlädt. Veranstalter sind die Abgeordneten Petr Bystron, AfD-Obmann im Auswärtigen Ausschuss, und Markus Frohnmaier, Entwicklungspolitischer Sprecher der AfD. Bystron hat wiederholt seine Sympathie für die rechte "Identitäre Bewegung" bekundet und wurde deshalb eine Zeit lang vom bayerischen Verfassungsschutz beobachtet. Gilley, der an der Portland State University in Oregon lehrt, hatte 2017 mit dem Aufsatz "The Case for Colonialism" ("Argumente für den Kolonialismus") im Journal "Third World Quarterly" für Empörung gesorgt. In diesem forderte er offen, die "abschätzige Bewertung des Kolonialismus" zu überdenken, weil dieser legitim gewesen sei und für die Entwicklung der betroffenen Länder positive Folgen gehabt habe. Nach dem Ende der Besetzung durch die Kolonialherren hätten sich Länder wie Guinea-Bissau in eine "Kloake menschlichen Leids" entwickelt – unter portugiesischer Kolonialherrschaft hätte das Land hingegen zu einem "prosperierenden und menschlichen Macao Afrikas" werden können, implizierte Gilley. "Angebliche Verbrechen der Kolonialzeit" Seine Schlussfolgerung: Der Westen müsse eine abermalige Kolonialisierung der afrikanischen Länder in Erwägung ziehen. "Vielleicht sollten die Belgier nach Kongo zurückkehren", schrieb er und: "100 Jahre des Desasters sind genug." Die Fachwelt war entsetzt; etliche Kollegen warfen Gilley unhistorisches Arbeiten, sachliche Fehler und mangelnde Empirie vor. Aus Protest gegen den Aufsatz verließ die Hälfte der Redakteure die Redaktion des "Third World Quarterly", am Ende zog Gilley seinen Aufsatz zurück, wohl auch wegen Todesdrohungen gegen ihn und den Herausgeber des Journals. Gilley wird mit seiner Position in der historischen Wissenschaft nicht ernst genommen. Dass die AfD für ihren Versuch der Ehrenrettung des deutschen Kolonialismus keinen anderen Experten findet, ist bezeichnend", kritisiert Jürgen Zimmerer, Professor für die Geschichte Afrikas an der Universität Hamburg. Die AfD ficht das indes nicht an. Gilleys Aufsatz habe "allen wissenschaftlichen Standards genügt", heißt es in der Ankündigung zu dem Vortrag im Bundestag. So habe dieser "sehr fundiert" dargelegt, dass die europäische Kolonialzeit "für viele Länder ein Gewinn war, die nach der Entkolonialisierung in eine bis heute währende Spirale aus Gewalt, Armut und Korruption rutschten". Damit habe Gilley "eines der Steckenpferde