The German Empire of Central Africa: As the Basis of a New German World Policy (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The German Empire of Central Africa: As the Basis of a New German World Policy

The Moderates, no less than the pan-germans, desire that Germany should be able to show her position strengthened after the war. There are two sub-varieties of Moderate opinion with regard to the direction in which Germany is to gain. One is the M ittel – Euro pa school. This lays the emphasis upon a closer union, political, military and economic, between the German Empire and its Allies austria-hungary, Bulgaria ‘and Turkey – in such wise that there is a continuous belt Of German power from Hamburg to the Persian Gulf, a great central-european realm capable of defying the world. This scheme could be realized with practically no annexation. The other sub-variety sees Germany’s future greatness secured by a great Empire in tropical Africa, in Mittel – Afrika, extending right across the Continent from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. This in volves considerable annexations, but annexations in Africa, not Europe. Very often the two schemes – mittel-europa and Mittel – Afrika – are held both together. But commonly even those who hold both ideas lay greater stress on one than on the other.

It may be questioned whether any strong spontaneous interest is felt by the German masses in the lost oversea colonies. We find, for example, the champions of the Colonial Idea occasionally complain of wide-spread popular indifference, though they note with satisfaction that the war has turned the great mass Of the working-classes, who had hitherto been indifferent to the Colonial movement, or even averse from it, into its most convinced friends (dr. Solf, Secretary of State for the Colonies, quoted in the Kreuz Zeitung for January 9, But if gain is not to be had in other directions, then the gain of colonial territory acquires value as a salve to national pride, which would be wounded, if the war ended in loss all round. It is perhaps for this reason that Of late the idea of the African Empire has seemed to be in the ascendant.

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