Learning Empire: Globalization and the German Quest for World Status, 1875-1919

Description

The First World War marked the end point of a process of German globalization that began in the 1870s, well before Germany acquired a colonial empire or extensive overseas commercial interests. Structured around the figures of five influential economists who shaped the German political landscape, Learning Empire explores how their overseas experiences shaped public perceptions of the world and Germany's place in it. These men helped define a German liberal imperialism that came to influence the 'world policy' (Weltpolitik) of Kaiser Wilhelm, Chancellor Bülow, and Admiral Tirpitz. They devised naval propaganda, reshaped Reichstag politics, were involved in colonial and financial reforms, and helped define the debate over war aims in the First World War. Looking closely at German worldwide entanglements, Learning Empire recasts how we interpret German imperialism, the origins of the First World War, and the rise of Nazism, inviting reflection on the challenges of globalization in the current century. Cover Half-title Title page Copyright information Contents List of Illustrations Figures Maps Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction Part I Absent-Minded Empire, 1875–1897 1 Frontier Empire: The United States Gustav Schmoller and the University Germanosphere Labor Frontiers – Henry Farnam and American Trade Unionism From Strasbourg to Minnesota – Max Sering in North America Contiguous Colonies Hermann Schumacher and Ernst von Halle in Chicago The American Challenge 2 Island Empire: Japan Prussians in Edo The Meiji Six Society and ''German Studies'' From Strasbourg to Tokyo – Karl Rathgen in Japan Political Economy at Tokyo University The Association School and the Reform of Japanese Law ''Yellow Peril'' 3 World Economy: China and Venezuela Naval Arms, Neutrality, and the Erosion of Security From Berlin to Peking – Hermann Schumacher in China Karl Rathgen, Imperial Preference, and the Threat of ''Panamerica'' The Venezuela and Transvaal Crises From Hamburg to Caracas – Ernst von Halle in Venezuela Germany at the Crossroads Part II Empire Imagined, 1897–1907 4 World Policy Naval Dreams From Weltwirtschaft to Weltpolitik Alfred Tirpitz Bernhard von Bülow Bülow's Weltpolitik The Fleet Professors 5 The High Seas Fleet and Power Politics The Spanish-American War and the Samoa Question The Second Navy Bill and the Free Union for Naval Lectures Gustav Schmoller: Germany's Economic Future Max Sering: The Trade Policy of the Great States Ernst von Halle: The German Shipping Industry Hermann Schumacher: Germany's Interests in China Germany as Hammer or Anvil 6 National Efficiency and the New Mercantilism The ''Yangtze Accord'' and Anglo-German Estrangement National Efficiency Blue Riband The Bülow Tariff and the New Mercantilism The Politics of Anglo-German Trade The New Fleet Politics 7 Formal and Informal Empire Weltpolitik and the German Colonies - Karl Helfferich The Baghdad Railway The Retreat of ''Germandom'' in Japan The Second Venezuela Crisis Inventing the ''German Menace'' The Russo-Japanese War Full Steam to Bankruptcy 8 Empire in Crisis The Colonial Crisis The ''Hottentot Elections'' The Colonial-Political Action Committee The Colonial-Political Guide and The Railways of Africa The Baghdad Railway and the Young Turks – Karl Helfferich in Constantinople The Kaiser's Professor – Hermann Schumacher in New York The American Empire Part III Empire Lost, 1908–1919 9 Colonial Dreams Bernhard Dernburg's Colonial Reforms Karl Rathgen and the Hamburg Colonial Institute Tropical Fever – Hermann Schumacher in Southeast Asia Morocco and Espirito Santo King Leopold's Ghost in Dixie – Karl Rathgen in the American South Inner Colonization Max Sering and Hermann Schumacher in Russia Karl Helfferich and the Balkan Shatterbelt 10 World Policy Contained Fleet Enthusiasm Deterrent Illusions Financial Reform and the Limits of Professorial Politics The Baghdad Railway and Mesopotamian Oil ''World Policy and No War!'' 11 From World Policy to World War The Last Roosevelt Professor July Crisis The End of Weltwirtschaft The U-Boat Professors 12 War Aims, Peace Resolutions, and Defeat Weltpolitik by Other Means ''New Germany'' The Jewish Question The Friends of the Fatherland Elusive Peace Epilogue Selected Bibliography Manuscript Sources Published Primary Sources Official Records and Documents Selected Books and Pre-1930 Literature Selected Secondary Sources Index