Constructing a German Diaspora: The "Greater German Empire", 1871-1914 (Routledge Studies in Modern European History) - Hardcover

Manz, Stefan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415892260 ISBN 13: 9780415892261

Publisher: Routledge, 2014

Synopsis

This book takes on a global perspective to unravel the complex relationship between Imperial Germany and its diaspora. Around 1900, German-speakers living abroad were tied into global power-political aspirations. They were represented as outposts of a "Greater German Empire" whose ethnic links had to be preserved for their own and the fatherland’s benefits. Did these ideas fall on fertile ground abroad? In the light of extreme social, political, and religious heterogeneity, diaspora construction did not redeem the all-encompassing fantasies of its engineers. But it certainly was at work, as nationalism "went global" in many German ethnic communities. Three thematic areas are taken as examples to illustrate the emergence of globally operating organizations and communication flows: Politics and the navy issue, Protestantism, and German schools abroad as "bulwarks of language preservation." The public negotiation of these issues is explored for localities as diverse as Shanghai, Cape Town, Blumenau in Brazil, Melbourne, Glasgow, the Upper Midwest in the United States, and the Volga Basin in Russia. The mobilisation of ethno-national diasporas is also a feature of modern-day globalization. The theoretical ramifications analysed in the book are as poignant today as they were for the nineteenth century.

About this title

About the Author

Stefan Manz is a Reader in German at Aston University, Birmingham, UK, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415892260
• ISBN 13: 9780415892261
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360