The birth of the legend: The odyssey of the cruiser Emden as presented by German daily newspapers, 1914–1915

Abstract

From August to early November 1914, the effectiveness of a lone German commerce-raider, the light cruiser Emden eventually brought the bulk of Allied cargo-shipping in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean to a virtual halt, thus hampering their war effort in Europe. Although the Emden was finally destroyed at the battle of the Cocos Islands, the press were able to continue the story relating the daring escape of some of her crew. The escapees got away from Direction Island in the Cocos in a requisitioned sailing schooner, the Ayesha. What followed were several months of dangerous and arduous progress first through the Indian Ocean, then through Arabia, finally reaching Constantinople and thence to Germany. Theirs was the only German military unit that returned home from overseas and their story was a gift for German propagandists. Scanning the contemporary German newspapers it becomes clear that they were determined to make the most of this story. It was about German seafarers whose courage and chivalrous attitude towards their enemies should be publicly recognised. It was likewise appreciated by the British. During 1914 and 1915, the German daily press kept the public regularly informed about the Emden whenever there was any news. The legend steadily grew to become a permanent and indisputably positive element of the German collective memory and military tradition. Because the news only came intermittently it became all the more exciting for their readers to follow. The press material is stored as a collection of clippings in the Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv) in Berlin, which clearly shows how the narrative unfolded. It was soon taken up by the German propaganda machine to boost the morale of the German people. Reading the articles it is clear that the editors seized upon this as a story of heroic deeds, allowing them to present their countrymen as super-men who proved the superiority of the German fighting man.