Article ID: CBB612807033

Water, Sand, Molluscs: Imperial Infrastructures, the Age of Hydrology, and German Colonialism in Swakopmund, Southwest Africa, 1884-1915 (2020)

unapi

How did nature challenge German colonialism in Southwest Africa? What role did water, sand, and a small mollusc play as Germans tried to establish their first and, in many ways, only settler colony? This paper explores the events surrounding the town of Swakopmund, a small coastal settlement defined as the main entry point (Eingangstur) into German Southwest Africa at the time. As a case study, Swakopmund arguably provides an excellent framework when showcasing the importance of widely underestimated environmental protagonists in the construction of the German Empire; it also underlines the value of incorporating environmental history more broadly into discussions of German colonial fantasies in the age of hydrology.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB612807033/

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Authors & Contributors
Selby Hearth
Raith, Erich
Brooke Shilling
Haidvogl, Gertrud
Spitzbart-Glasl, Christina
Samudzi, Zoé
Journals
International Journal of African Historical Studies
Earth Sciences History: Journal of the History of the Earth Sciences Society
Archivio Storico Lombardo
Social History of Medicine
Science in Context
History and Technology
Publishers
WP Druck & Verlag
University of Michigan Press
Cambridge University Press
University of Toronto
Concepts
Colonialism
Germany, colonies
Water
Hydrology
Public health
Infrastructure
People
Leonardo da Vinci
Finsch, Otto
Eylmann, Erhard
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
18th century
17th century
21st century
16th century
Places
Germany
Namibia
Africa
Tanzania (Tanganyika, Zanzibar)
Constantinople
Micronesia
Institutions
South West Africa Company (SWACO)
League of Nations
Universität Hamburg
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