Dreaming of empire: German imperialism, the use of othering and the evolution of the Nazis’ ideological imperialism from Bismarck to Hitler
Date
2020-04-17
Authors
Dumont, Robert
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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.
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Keywords
German history, German imperialism, The use of othering, othering, Imperialism, Othering, Nazism, Bismarck, Hitler, Nazi, Weltpolitik, KulturKampf, Wilhelm II, Eastern Europe, Boxer Rebellion, Ideological Imperialism, Cultural Imperialism, Central Europe, The German myth of the East, The East, Myth of the East