German Expansionism, Imperial Liberalism, and the United States, 1776–1945 - Softcover

Guettel, Jens-Uwe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1107622611 ISBN 13: 9781107622616

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2015

Synopsis

This book traces the importance of the United States for German colonialism from the late eighteenth century to 1945, focusing on American westward expansion and racial politics. Jens-Uwe Guettel argues that from the late eighteenth century onward, ideas of colonial expansion played a very important role in liberal, enlightened and progressive circles in Germany, which, in turn, looked across the Atlantic to the liberal-democratic United States for inspiration and concrete examples. Yet following a pre-1914 peak of liberal political influence on the administration and governance of Germany's colonies, the expansionist ideas embraced by Germany's far-right after the country's defeat in the First World War had little or no connection with the German Empire's liberal imperialist tradition - for example, Nazi plans for the settlement of conquered Eastern European territories were not directly linked to pre-1914 transatlantic exchanges concerning race and expansionism.

About this title

Review:

'This impressive monograph offers a provocative new look at Germany's imperial imaginary. Jens-Uwe Guettel expertly shows how pre-World War I German liberal imperialists were attracted to the United States because they saw it as a model empire and racial state. Here, then, is a tightly argued intellectual history of a transatlantic connection and its legacy, a history that takes its readers beyond notions of national exceptionalism and linear continuities and asks us to rethink both the trajectories of nineteenth-century liberalism and the origins of Nazi imperialism.' Dirk Bönker, Duke University

'Nuanced and compelling, Jens-Uwe Guettel's fascinating study of the deep and complex entanglement of German and American 'imperial liberalism' offers many new insights that promise to reshape the debates over German and American exceptionalism. This is a most welcome contribution to the transatlantic history of ideas and colonial practices that will help bridge historiographical divides.' Erik Grimmer-Solem, Wesleyan University

'Guettel's book makes several important historiographical interventions, regarding transnational history, the nature of liberalism, continuities of empire, and German exceptionalisms. It is informative, mind-changing, and brilliant.' Lora Wildenthal, Rice University

'Jens-Uwe Guettel simultaneously challenges American and German exceptionalism by revealing how the United States served as a model for German expansionism in Europe and overseas in the long period from the American Revolution to the end of the Second World War. German Expansionism, Imperial Liberalism, and the United States, 1776–1945 portrays imperial liberalism in its full complexity, beyond the bowdlerized Atlanticism cooked up to nourish Cold War alliances. It will be of great interest to readers interested in political thought, imperial and colonial studies, and transnational history.' Andrew Zimmerman, George Washington University

'Guettel's book is admirable for a number of reasons. It expertly dissects the twin myths that U.S. expansionism was uniquely devoid of violent, imperialist characteristics, and that the history of German imperialism is somehow reducible to proto-Nazi violence ... The book also successfully contextualizes prewar German imperialism within a liberal milieu which shared a set of assumptions with its American counterpart regarding the correct forms of imperial penetration and the requisite means for dealing with recalcitrant indigenous populations ... As Guettel shows, imperialism and the forms of socio-racial knowledge it engendered were an integral part of liberalism on both sides of the Atlantic.' H-Diplo (h-net.org/~diplo)

'This ambitious work is at once a major contribution to transnational history and a provocative meditation on the nature of nineteenth-century German liberalism. In short, Guettel has crafted an insightful, stimulating, and well-argued contribution to the history of ideas.' Larry L. Ping, German Studies Review

Book Description:

This book traces the presence of the United States in German colonial discourse and practice from the late eighteenth century to 1945, focusing on American westward expansion and racial politics. It highlights the effects America's expanding borders had on German liberalism and colonialism before the outbreak of World War I.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1107622611
• ISBN 13: 9781107622616
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292