German Colonial Law and Comparative Law, 1884-1919
Zollmann, Jakob (2014). "German Colonial Law and Comparative Law, 1884-1919". In Duve, Thomas (ed.). Entanglements in Legal History: Conceptual Approaches. 1. Max Planck Institute for European Legal History. pp. 253–294. ISBN 978-3-944773-00-1.
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Abstract: The German colonial empire arose out of a comparison; out of a comparison the end of this colonial empire was justified. Since the 1840s, “colonial striving” (koloniale Projektmacherei) had not subsided in Germany’s bourgeois circles. Referring to other European states and their overseas possessions as well as the riches which they derived therefrom, and their growing position of power in the world, was part of the argumentative repertoire of colonial enthusiasts. With the 1871 founding of the nation-state, “colonial abstinence” appeared less and less “coherent”, “conceivable or, even, in accordance with reason”, since even smaller states like Portugal, Spain or Holland actively pursued colonial politics.1 Aside from the economic, social-Darwinistic or social-imperial justifications, these (envious) comparisons always played a role whenever it came to promoting or justifying German colonial possessions.2 The exit point for these comparisons was the “perception ... of an own deficit in comparison to nations ..., which were estimated to be more successful”. “The comparison then led to the attempt to imitate an admired example”.3 Thus the attempt began to create a “German India” in Africa, a “German Hong Kong” in China. Such comparisons expressed the hope for geo-political and colonial parity as a German “world power” which, indeed, had yet to be achieved.
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DOI: 10.12946/gplh1 OpenAlex: W4213079479
