Schmidt W.

Walther Rathenau and his views on the colonial policy of imperial Germany. Pp. 93–102

UDC 94(430)

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2025.88.3.009

 

Abstract. The article examines issues related to the role and activities of Walter Rathenau in assessing the colonial policy of imperial Germany. In the article, the author attempts to use readily available material to present the historical situation that had developed in Kaiser Germany by 1906, for assessment of the colonial policy pursued by the imperial government. Walter Rathenau’s participation in two inspection trips to the African colonies was of great importance in his further political activities. Important source material on this topic includes not only contemporary memoirs, Walter Rathenau’s correspondence and diary, but also periodical press that reflects, to varying degrees, the significance of his inspection trips to Germany’s African colonies. Periodical publications of that period covered in great detail the situation in the country’s colonial activities, the main contradictions, and the position of Reichstag deputies on this issue. Based on press materials, it is possible not only to trace the attitude of the German population towards the government’s colonial activities, but also, to a greater extent, to assess the role of the colonial issue and its impact on everyday life of society based on publications in the press. In addition, the article examines Rattenau’s works, which were the result of his visits to German colonies. It should be noted that the complexity of covering this topic is due to the fact that references to Rattenau’s views on colonial issues are sporadic and unsystematic.

 

Keywords: colonial policy, Reichstag, Rathenau and Dernburg, German East Africa, German South-West Africa, ideology of colonialism, periodical press.

 

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