Today, the East African state of Tanzania is renowned for wildlife preserves such as the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the Selous Game Reserve. Yet few know that most of these initiatives emerged from decades of German colonial rule. This book gives the first full account of Tanzanian wildlife conservation up until World War I, focusing upon elephant hunting and the ivory trade as vital factors in a shift from exploitation to preservation that increasingly excluded indigenous Africans. Analyzing the formative interactions between colonial governance and the natural world, The Nature of German Imperialism situates East African wildlife policies within the global emergence of conservationist sensibilities around 1900.

Famed historian and author of the groundbreaking "The Case for Colonialism" demonstrates that, contary to modern presuppositions, German colonialism from its early roots to the mid-twentieth century was overall a force for good in the world where development was encouraged and native governance flourished. Historian and university professor, Bruce Gilley, delves into the history of German colonialism from its earliest roots through the 20th century, demonstrating that contrary to modern presuppositions, it served as a global force for good—elevating the lives of its subjects and encouraging scientific development while allowing native cultures to flourish within its governance.

Although it lasted only thirty years, German colonial rule dramatically transformed South West Africa. The colonial government not only committed the first genocide of the twentieth century against the Herero and Nama, but in their efforts to establish a “model colony” and “racial state,” they brought about even more destructive and long-lasting consequences. In this now-classic study—available here for the first time in English—the author provides an indispensable account of Germany's colonial utopia in what is present-day Namibia, showing how the highly rationalized planning of Wilhelmine authorities ultimately failed even as it added to the profound immiseration of the African population.

The first collection of interdisciplinary and comparative studies focusing on diverse interactions among African, Asian, and Oceanic peoples and German colonizers

The 1904 war that broke out in present day Namibia after the Herero tribe rose against an oppressive colonial regime--and the German army's brutal suppression of that uprising--are the focus of this collection of essays. Exploring the annihilation of both the Herero and Nama people, this selection from prominent researchers of German imperialism considers many aspects of the war and shows how racism, concentration camps, and genocide in the German colony foreshadow Hitler's Third Reich war crimes.

Mohammad Salama teaches Arabic in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at San Francisco State University. --Book Jacket.