Oxford University Press Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, Imperialism, and the League of Nations

In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles stripped Germany of its overseas colonies. This sudden transition to a post-colonial nation left the men and women invested in German imperialism to rebuild their status on the international stage. Remnants of an earlier era, these Kolonialdeutsche (Colonial Germans) exploited any opportunities they could to recover, renovate, and market their understandings of German and European colonial aims in order to reestablish themselves as "experts" and "fellow civilizers" in discourses on nationalism and imperialism. Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, Imperialism, and the League of Nations tracks the difficulties this diverse group of Colonial Germans encountered while they adjusted to their new circumstances, as repatriates to Weimar Germany or as subjects of the War's victors in the new African Mandates. Faced with novel systems of international law, Colonial Germans re-situated their notions of imperial power and group identity to fit in a world of colonial empires that were not their own. The book examines how former colonial officials, settlers, and colonial lobbies made use of the League of Nations framework to influence diplomatic flashpoints including the Naturalization Controversy in Southwest Africa, the Locarno Conference, and the Permanent Mandates Commission from 1927-1933. Sean Wempe revises standard historical portrayals of the League of Nations' form of international governance, German participation in the League, the role of interest groups in international organizations and diplomacy, and liberal imperialism. In analyzing Colonial German investment and participation in interwar liberal internationalism, the project challenges the idea of a direct continuity between Germany's colonial period and the Nazi era. Review Lucidly written... Revenants of the German Empire is unquestionably a notable addition to the growing scholarship on interwar liberal imperialism, the League of Nations, and the German colonial legacy that will invigorate debates about the continuities and ruptures in Germany's colonial past. ― American Historical Review "[A] well-written, nuanced examination of a unique German national identity... This excellent book puts the lives and actions of colonial Germans in the 1920s center stage. ― Mark Jantzen, H-Net Revenants of the German Empire offers important insights on the multi-faceted legacy of liberal imperialism and internationalism after World War I. Wempe's command of the archival sources and ability to give voice to a previously little-known network of former German colonists is a testament to the strength of his historiographical contribution. ― Adam A. Blackler Well-written and highly informative... no one took empires more seriously than the imperialists on the ground.... Wempe has given us a fine and dispassionate portrait of just what made them tick. ― Leonard V. Smith, German History This timely and meticulously researched book based on a wide array of archival material masterfully embarks on the interaction of "colonial Germans" with their "fallen empire" after the Treaty of Versailles and how they came to terms with their new roles in practicing imperialism without an empire. By stressing imperially-based notions of "Europeanness" it is truly revisionist. Written with exemplary lucidity and thoroughness it shows that the German colonial past rightly claims more than just a niche chapter in the history of European expansionism. By contrast it provides fascinating theoretical and methodological tools for widening our understanding of individuals' lives in shaping the peculiarities of European colonial empires. ― Professor Benedikt Stuchtey, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany Inter-war, colonial historians and German studies experts have been waiting for a study that examines Weimar colonialism. This book is at the cutting edge of present day scholarship. It is part of a wider endeavor to re-examin