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Abstract

The 1880s witnessed the emergence of various colonial societies that aimed to advance the German colonial project. As this section (§ 2) of its founding statutes indicates, the German Colonial Society aimed to channel and consolidate these diverse groups and currents. The society was formed in 1887 from the fusion of the German Colonial Association and the Society for German Colonization; by 1890 it had about 17,000 members organized in 186 local associations. The society’s objectives were to direct Germany’s “national effort” toward colonization in a coordinated way and to resolve open questions about the goals and methods of German settlement abroad. In both cases the subtext is clear—unity of purpose had so far eluded even the most enthusiastic supporters of colonies.

Aims of the German Colonial Society (December 19, 1887)

Source

The German Colonial Society has the following aims:

1. To turn the national effort towards German colonization and to spread awareness of its necessity to ever wider social circles;
2. to promote the practical resolution of colonial questions;
3. to encourage and support German-national colonizing projects;
4. to work towards a suitable solution of questions related to German emigration;
5. to maintain and strengthen the economic and intellectual connection of Germans abroad with the Fatherland;
6. to provide a focal point for all movements acting separately throughout our Fatherland but pursuing these same goals.

Source: “Satzungen der Deutschen Kolonialgesellschaft,” Zentrales Staatsarchiv I, Potsdam (now Bundesarchiv, Berlin), Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft, no. 255, Bl. 90; reprinted in Edgar Hartwig, “Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft (DKG) 1887–1936,” in Lexikon zur Parteiengeschichte. Die bürgerlichen und kleinbürgerlichen Parteien und Verbände in Deutschland (1789–1945), vol. 1, Alldeutscher Verband—Deutsche Liga für Menschenrechte, edited by Dieter Fricke. Cologne: Pahl-Rugenstein, 1983, pp. 724–48, here 726.

Translation: Erwin Fink