Imperial Germany and the Boer War

Abstract

Heinrich von Treitschke belonged to those historians who feel at home on the slippery ground of current affairs. Where German colonial policy was concerned – especially that relating to Southern Africa – he committed himself very early on: what flourished there by way of culture, he averred, was German, “Teutonic”, although he was prepared to include Dutch in this category. “Thus”, he wrote in the autumn of 1884, “it would be no more than a natural turn of events if racially related Germany should some day in some manner become responsible for the protection of the Teutonic population of Southern Africa, inheriting the legacy of the British in a neglected colony”. Treitschke's dictum combined the three essential elements of German colonial propaganda: it was anti-British, its objective was (southern) Africa, and it was racialist. Canvassing of the idea that Germany should acquire colonies had begun soon after the unification of Germany in 1871. It translated the desire to make externally evident Germany's recent gain in international importance into the then generally current political demand for territorial acquisitions. At the same time, the desire for colonies was a reflection of the prospective economic potential of the regions under consideration. Starting with Johann Jakob Sturz's concept of a “new India” in the southern part of the dark continent, a lively propaganda campaign developed, targeted at the British Cape Colony and the Boer state of the Transvaal.