The true face of German colonialism – imperial dreams, fragile power, and ruthless violence
The scandal was so great that even the Reichstag in distant Berlin became involved: in 1900, Togo’s German colonial administrator Geo Schmidt was said to have raped a young African woman. Renowned historian Rebekka Habermas explains the context and true import: Schmidt was in a protracted fight with the African population, missionaries, and the very land itself over control of Togo. In vivid prose, Habermas illustrates the relationships between and motives of those involved and the colonial echoes of the scandal which reverberated through German society. New, astonishing insights – and a compellingly written microhistory of colonialism.
