Haas, Carlos Alberto (Hrsg. u.a.) Das Auswärtige Amt und die Kolonien

Geschichte, Erinnerung, Erbe

For a long time, Germany viewed its own period as a colonial power as brief and relatively unproblematic in comparison with countries such as France or Great Britain. But this was a mistake. Today, Germany's colonial past is rightly at the centre of controversial debates about colonial heritage in a globalised world. This book examines the Foreign Office, a key player in German colonialism, and spans the period from the German Empire to well into the 20th century. It focuses not only on Germany, but also on the affected societies in Africa, Asia and Oceania. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 brought an end to formal German colonial rule. However, colonial thinking lived on in the heart of German society including in the Foreign Office, which bore joint responsibility for violence and crimes in the German colonies. The consequences of its actions can still be felt today. During the Nazi dictatorship, national conservative, monarchist and anti-republican attitudes in the Foreign Office were combined with the expansionist and racist goals of National Socialism. From 1949 onwards, indifference and ignorance, passivity and relativisation characterised West German policy towards the former colonies in the Global South. Today, the ministry is heavily involved in negotiations on restitution and reparations. It is also confronted with questions about the colonial past by a German society that has become more diverse. For reasons of historical justice, but also in view of a changed world situation, the ministry must face up to its own colonial history.