Revenants of the German Empire
Colonial Germans, Imperialism, and the League of Nations
Sean Andrew Wempe
Reviews and Awards
"This timely and meticulously researched book based on a wide array of archival material masterfully embarks on the interaction of "colonial Germans" with their "fallen empire" after the Treaty of Versailles and how they came to terms with their new roles in practicing imperialism without an empire. By stressing imperially-based notions of "Europeanness" it is truly revisionist. Written with exemplary lucidity and thoroughness it shows that the German colonial past rightly claims more than just a niche chapter in the history of European expansionism. By contrast it provides fascinating theoretical and methodological tools for widening our understanding of individuals' lives in shaping the peculiarities of European colonial empires." - Professor Benedikt Stuchtey, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany
"Inter-war, colonial historians and German studies experts have been waiting for a study that examines Weimar colonialism. This book is at the cutting edge of present day scholarship. It is part of a wider endeavor to re-examine the interwar years and networks of internationalism, and brings all of us that extra step further." - Christine Winter, Matthew Flinders Fellow in History, Flinders University, South Australia
"This book situates the understudied case of postcolonial Germany in the recent historiographical literature on the League of Nations - well-written, thoughtfully framed, and full of fresh information." - Lora Wildenthal, John Antony Weir Professor of History, Rice University
"Germany after empire is still largely uncharted terrain. But when Germany's colonial empire fell in 1918, this did not spell the end of German imperialism. As Sean Wempe shows in this fascinating and richly documented study, returning officials, missionaries, and settlers used the League of Nations to insert themselves into the new imperialism of the interwar period that flourished even in the absence of formal colonies" - Sebastian Conrad, author of German Colonialism: A Short History
"A fascinating work that deals expertly with an important period of change in German understandings of empire." - Matthew P. Fitzpatrick, Associate Professor in International History, Flinders University
"The end of World War I meant the dismantling of Germany's overseas empire, but it did not mean the end of colonialist politics. Revenants of the German Empire narrates a new history of German colonialists' disparate efforts to lay claim to Germany's colonial past and to articulate colonial futures. Wempe's distinctive research shows that Germany's early decolonizing experience under the purview of the League of Nations belongs front and center in understanding later European decolonization processes." - Michelle Moyd, author of Violent Intermediaries: African Soldiers, Conquest, and Everyday Colonialism in German East Africa
