Debates on Islam in Imperial Germany
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- Resource class
- Book Section
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Title
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Debates on Islam in Imperial Germany
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Abstract
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en
This chapter examines the role of Islam in colonial debates in imperial Germany. With the German involvement in Muslim areas in its colonies of Togo, North Cameroon, and German East Africa, experts in Berlin began to discuss policies towards Islam. An important part in these debates was played by experts in Islamic studies, most prominently Martin Hartmann, Diedrich Westermann, and Carl Heinrich Becker. Most of these experts argued for the active employment of Islam to strengthen colonial rule. In Berlin, Islam was also seen as an opportunity to advance German interests in the context of Wilhelm II’s weltpolitik. This was reflected most prominently when the emperor declared that he was a friend of the world’s three hundred million Muslims after visiting Saladin’s tomb in Damascus in 1898, and in imperial Germany’s campaign to mobilize Muslims during the First World War.
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Book Title
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Islam and the European Empires
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Place of Publication
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Oxford
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Publisher
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Oxford University Press
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Date
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2014
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chapter
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11
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page start
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231
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page end
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253
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Spatial Coverage
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Togo
