The Social Democratic Party of Germany and The Colonial Question, 1925-1930

Abstract

[""In the aftermath of its defeat in the First World War, Germany ceded its colonies to the victorious Allies. But large sections of the country and its political leaders continued to lay claim to these territories. The Social Democratic Party of Germany also continued to be preoccupied with the colonial question. This thesis examines the ideological motives behind the SPD’s decision to embrace the Brussels resolution which was adopted at a congress of the Labour and Socialist International in 1928 that lend legitimacy to German colonial claims. It does so by examining how party-internal discourses were shaped by the periodicals and other publications of five competing party segments (the right, the unions, the centre, the youth wing and the left). It argues against the view that the SPD’s decision was primarily driven by economics and instead suggests that an optimistic assessment of international relations (enabled by a certain theory of imperialism) and a faith in a socialist civilizing mission (made possibly by a sense of European superiority) had a greater effect in swaying the party’s leadership. This thesis further indicates that support for colonial reclamation was limited among Germans socialists. Nevertheless, the SPD executive generally sided with the pro-colonial policies of other European socialist parties. Furthermore, the party was largely unwilling to fundamentally challenge the prevailing apologetic discourse about Germany’s colonial past""]