German Colonialism and

National Identity

Edited by Michael Perraudin and

Jrgen Zimmerer
with Katy Heady

Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
New York

London

10 Colonial Heroes
German Colon ial Identities in
W artime, 1914-18
M ich ael Pesek

Follow in g the defeat of the Germ an Em pire in W orld W ar On e, very few

parades were held in h onor of the return in g troops: m ost Germ an s could
see no reason to celebrate the m ilitary th at h ad w aged an d lost the w ar
for Eu ropean supremacy. How ever, in 1919, som e h un dred colon ial offi
cers an d soldiers under the com m an d of Colon el Paul von Lettow -Vorbeck
paraded th rough the Bran den burg Gate an d were welcom ed en th usiasti
cally by the w aitin g Berliners. Few facts about events in faraw ay East Africa
h ad reach ed Germ an y durin g the w ar years, but th is in form ation gap h ad
been filled by press stories o f darin g deeds by Germ an troops, surprisin g
victories over a n umerically superior enemy an d adven tures in the jun gles
of eastern Africa. Th ese n arratives con tinued to sh ape m em ories of the Ger
m an colon ial project th rough out the time of the W eim ar Republic, wh en
the form er Germ an colon ieswh ich h ad once been n otorious for scan dals
an d m ism an agem en t gain ed im m en se popu larity an d the loss of th e colo
nies cam e to be seen as p ar t of the n ation al post-w ar traum a. Th is essay
reflects upon the m akin g of heroic w artim e n arratives on the battlefields of
th e East African cam paign an d on the pages of colon ial literature w ritten
after the battles h ad been fough t an d the colon ies lost.

W AR, M O D ERN ITY AND T H E H ERO

Accordin g to W alter Ben jam in , the hero is a true figure of m odern ity.1
He represen ts in dividuality in a w orld where th e in dividual risks bein g
absorbed in to the faceless m ass, an d he em bodies the prom ise of in dividual
agen cy in the m akin g of h istory. Yet Ben jam in also n otes th at the m odern
hero is merely the perform er of a heroic role, an d th at m odern ity is a t r ag
edy wh ich offers the role of the hero, but n ot a genuinely heroic life.2 As the
French h istorian an d ph ilosoph er Mich el Foucault poin ts out, it w as at pre
cisely the time in eighteenth- an d n ineteenth-century Europe when societies
were steadily being purged of internal w arlike relation sh ips, an d w ar itself
w as becom in g a profession al an d tech n ological m on opoly of the state, that
w ar cam e to be seen as the prime force of history, a h istory driven by brute

pow er. As Fou cau lt observes, the new h istorical un derstan din g neglected
the much less m an ifest but more fun dam en tal forces by wh ich , in reality,
Eu ropean society w as bein g tran sform ed: in dustrialization , urban ization ,
an d em ergin g bou rgeois culture.3
Th ese m un dan e h istorical forces also h ad their im pact on the way in
wh ich w ars were fough t from at least the latter par t of the nineteenth cen
tury on w ard: arm ies becam e bureaucratic organ ization s, an d m odern tech
n ologies both redefin ed w ar an d m ilitary craft an d reduced the role of the
in dividual soldier. Th e hero rem ain ed a prom in en t topic in n arratives of the
w ar,4 an d W orld W ar One w as in som e respects a prim e exam ple of this.
But, wh ile n ew spapers an d public cerem on ies created pow erful im ageries
of h eroism , th ese were in creasin gly un derm in ed by the h arsh realities of
m odern m odes of w arfare experien ced on the battlefields of Europe. For
H em in gw ay an d m an y of his con tem poraries, W orld W ar On e brough t the
end of h eroism an d ch ivalry.5
Th e East African cam paign , however, provided m ore space for heroic
n arratives. Un like the battles fough t on Eu ropean soil, th is cam paign did
n ot develop in to a stalem ate of trench w arfare. Th e cam paign w as ch ar
acterized by h igh t roop mobility, an d few m ajor battles t ook place; these
lasted n o m ore th an a few days an d in volved only limited use of the ar t il
lery, arm ored vehicles an d aircraft w h ich , in Europe, h ad turn ed the w ar
in to the m odern w orlds first in dustrialized h um an slaugh ter. O f course,
th e East African cam paign h ad its ow n h ardsh ips an d cruelties, but it also
clearly offered greater poten tial for in dividual initiative an d therefore more
space for n arratives of heroism. My m ain argum en t will be th at the East
African cam paign offered an ideal opportu n ity to con stru ct the kin d of
heroic n arrative th at w as scarcely possible for Germ an post-w ar discourse
in con n ection w ith oth er th eaters o f w ar. W hile Germ an y w as defeated
in the m urderous battles of tech n ology an d m ass murder, she rem ain ed
victorious in the m edieval fight of m an again st m an . As we w ill see, the
w artim e hero w as in m an y respects rooted in a discourse th at h ad evolved
lon g before the w ar, in the period of colon ial con quest.

T H E R ETU R N O F T H E CO LO N IAL H ERO

W hen news reach ed the colony th at th e Em peror h ad ordered a Gen eral
M obilization , m ost Germ an s in Germ an East Africa were n ot surprised,
but few feared th at the men acing storm of w ar w ould reach the colon ies.6
O n 13 August 1914, British w arsh ips bom barded the port of Sph in xh afen
on Lake N yassa, an d, in the days th at follow ed, Germ an troops entered the
territory of British East Africa. Th ere w as little en th usiasm for w ar in the
colon y in the en suin g w eeks. Govern or H ein rich Sch nee saw little hope of
victory again st the Allied forces, as the colon y w as more or less surroun ded
by Germ an ys en emies. Yet, while Sch nee wish ed to m ain tain peace at any

cost, Lettow-Vorbeck w as determ in ed to con tribute to the Im perial w ar

effort by tyin g as m an y Allied troops as possible to the region. Th ese differ
in g view s quickly led to an open con flict betw een the civilian an d the m ili
tary leadersh ips, an d con sequen tly to a m ilitary coup d tat. In defian ce of
Sch n ees orders, Lettow-Vorbeck am assed h is troops at the n orth ern fron
tier, from where he not on ly repelled British attacks but also m ade in cur
sion s in to British territory. At the end of 1914, the debate betw een Sch nee
an d Lettow-Vorbeck w as abruptly decided follow in g the battles at Tan ga
an d the Lon gido m oun tain s, where Germ an troops w on decisive victories
over n umerically superior British forces. Th e Germ an s not only captu red
a huge am oun t of m odern m ilitary equipm en t, wh ich w as then u sed to
arm th eir ow n troops, but, m ore im portan tly, the victory w as an en orm ous
boost to Germ an m orale. Th e w ar s oppon en ts were silenced, an d the civil
adm in istration w as push ed out an d subordin ated to the w ar effort; Lettow Vorbeck took over the com m an d of the troops from Schnee.
Th e surprisin g victories in the tw o battles led to the tran sfigu ration of
Lettow -Vorbeck, wh o w as elevated into a rein carn ation of the colon ys
m yth ical foun der, H erm an n von W issm an n .7 Con tem porary com parison s
of Lettow -Vorbeck w ith W issm an n were in form ed by the lon g-run n in g
pre-w ar con flict between the civilian adm in istration an d the m ilitary.
For, alth ough Lettow-Vorbeck w as un doubtedly an able colon ial officer,
he h ad, un like his civilian coun terpart, Govern or Sch nee, little in terest in
the par adigm s of colon ial rule. In th is respect, he follow ed in the foot
steps of W issm an n , alth ough he w as even m ore w illin g th an the colon ys
foun der h ad been to sacrifice even the m ost basic elements of colon ial order
for the sake of success on the battlefield. M an y of the con flicts between
Lettow -Vorbeck an d Sch nee durin g the w ar arose from the pragm atism
of the com m an der-in -ch ief. W hen, for in stan ce, in the sum m er of 1915,
the British Navy san k the Germ an vessel Kn igsberg, the survivin g crew
w as in tegrated into the Sch utz truppe. Th e sailors were ran ked as ordin ary
soldiers, an d Lettow-Vorbeck ordered th at they sh ould w ear the sam e un i
form s an d be paid the sam e salar y as the Askari, an d th at they sh ould even
be equipped with older rifles th an their in digen ous coun terparts. Accord
ing to H auer, these soldiers were called ask ari u lay a (European Askari) by
th e African s. He believed th at the African s paid close atten tion to th is new
system of un iform s an d com m en ted iron ically upon it. Govern or Sch n ee,
wh o h ad alw ays been far m ore com m itted to the van ish in g colon ial order,
revoked Lettow -Vorbecks order, only to be brough t to heel im m ediately by
the latter, wh o in sisted th at h is com m an d be im plem en ted.8 Th e m ak in g of
Lettow -Vorbeck into a hero represen ted an d w as accom pan ied by a su spen
sion of basic features of colon ial order an d discourse.
An oth er pre-war officer wh o cam e to in h abit the pan th eon of Germ an
w artim e heroes w as the last Residen t of Rw an da, M ax W in tgens. He w as
perh aps the last such official wh o genuinely viewed the implemen tation
of colon ial policies as en actin g a politics of con quest. In com parison with

h is predecessor, Rich ard Kan dt, W in tgen s w as more favorably disposed

tow ard the use o f m ilitary m eth ods in colon ial politics. W hen he began
a pun itive expedition again st a rebellious ch ief in n orth ern Rw an da, he
did so in more or less open defiance of orders from his superiors in Dar es
Salaam . W in tgen s, like so m an y oth er m em bers of the colon ial m ilitary,
w as con vin ced th at one of the m ost im portan t qualities of a colon ial offi
cer w as the ability to m ake decision s independently of plan s an d orders
con ceived in the distan t offices of the colon ial bureaucracy. Th e very atti
tude th at brough t h im sh arp criticism in times of peace m ade h im into a
w artim e hero. In sprin g 1917, W in tgen s, w h o h ad becom e cut off from
the m ain body of Lettow -Vorbecks forces, started his ow n cam paign in
the enemys territory; it lasted over eight m on th s an d becam e a n igh tm are
for both British an d Belgian troops, w h o ch ased the elusive Germ an s over
several th ousan ds o f m iles. In his m em oirs, Lettow-Vorbeck expresses both
criticism an d adm iration of W in tgen ss action s.9 For the m ission ary Roeh l,
w h o accom pan ied W in tgens durin g h is retreat from Rw an da to Tabora,
m atters were simpler: bw an a tem bah assi (as W intgens w as n ickn am ed by
Rw an dan s) becam e a H orn ed Siegfried, a sym bol of the pow er an d force
of the Germ an Em pire.10
W in tgen ss trek th rough the h in terlan d gen erated on ly a low level of
figh tin g: it w as essen tially a race betw een Allied an d Germ an t roops with
on ly few open battles. W h at m ade it suitable m aterial for heroic n arr a
tives, h owever, w as not its strategic value, but the backdrop it provided
for in dividual in itiative an d darin g action s. Follow in g W in tgen ss greatest
m ilitary trium ph the capture o f the islan d of Idjiwi, wh ich h ad been occu
pied by a garr ison of 20 Belgian t r oop s Roeh l noted the great im pression
th gt the victory h ad apparen tly m ade on the Rw an dan s. For Roeh l, the
victory h ad r aised th e prestige o f the Germ an s to new h eigh ts.11 Trium ph s
on the battlefields were celebrated n ot on ly for their m ilitary im portan ce
but also for th eir su pposed m ean in g for African s, w h om th e Eu ropean s
h ad believed ever sin ce the period o f colon ial con quest to be im pressed
on ly by the dem on stration of m ilitary pow er. Carl Peterss plea at the very
in ception of Germ an colon ial rule in East Africa th at the reputation of the
Germ an s as the m ost w arlike n ation m ust be m ain tain ed still h aun ted the
m in ds of the Germ an m ilitary; an d an alogou s con cern s preoccupied the
British an d the Belgian s to a sim ilar exten t. Th e African th ereby served
as a m irror for the fan tasies of Eu ropean s, in wh ich the latter n egotiated
th eir iden tities. At th eir core, th ese iden tities were still based on th ose
th at h ad em erged durin g the colon ial con quest, an d th ey con tin ued to be
determ in ed by n otion s o f a m ale w arrior cult. W orld W ar On e seem ed to
provide Eu ropean s w ith the possibility o f stagin g the agon istic dram a th at
Peters h ad su ggested in the 1880s; th e on ly differen ce w as th at the au di
ence n ow also in cluded European en em ies.
Th e con stru ction of the w artim e colon ial hero by th e Germ an s h ad,
as the Sw ah ili n am e of W in tgen s in dicat es, an African slan t. Am azin gly,

referen ces to the Sw ah ili n am es of Germ an s in the colon y h ad a longru n n in g tradition w ith in th e Em pires colon ial literatu re, even th ough
m an y o f th ese n am es (like the n ickn am e b w an a sak aran i, given by Afr i
can s to the n otoriously b r u t aj an d dar in g Tom von Prince) h ad rath er
am b igu ou s, if n ot pejor ative, con n otation s. Th is h in ts at th e im por tan ce
o f th e A sk ar is w ith in th e Germ an h eroic n arrative, in w h ich th e Afr ican s
th em selves becam e, in a m ore or less idealized an d deper son alized way,
h eroes, but wh ere on e of th eir m ost im por tan t fu n ction s w as t h at of
claqu eu rs for the heroic Germ an officers. Ask ar i son gs o f p r aise for the
Germ an officers can be fou n d in several Germ an accou n ts. For exam
ple, on e Germ an officer described Ask ar is sin gin g son gs o f p r aise for
Lettow -Vorbeck du rin g an Ask ar i dan ce at th e prison er-of-w ar (POW )
cam p at Abercorn . Accordin g to the officer, th e lyrics o f th e son g p r o
claim ed, Even if he w ear s r agged cloth an d a lon g beard in th e ju n gle,
he is you n g, as w as revealed after he w as given back his u n ifor m , he w as
alw ays cou r ageou s an d he is a w ise m an , we are n ot defeat ed. 12 Th e
issue of Lettow -Vorbecks proverbially u n preten tiou s dem ean or featu r es
in m an y Germ an accou n ts o f the Colon el. Its im por tan ce ow es m ore to
Eu ropean pattern s of h eroic n arrative t h an to th ose of East A fr ica, in
w h ich th e h ero is gen erally con stru cted as a gen erous self-m ade m an
rath er t h an a pu r itan ical ascetic.
It m ay n ot be surprisin g th at the Askari were called into service as w it
n esses to the h eroism of Germ an officers; after all, there were few oth er
can didates for th is role. How ever, the Askari in th is fun ction h ad to be
con stru cted, an d th is w as ach ieved usin g establish ed pattern s of colon ial
discou rse: in particular, by referrin g to the n otion of the savage m in d of
the African as bein g sim ultan eously simple yet sensitive to certain aspects
of person ality. Th e result w as the emergence of a sym biotic relation sh ip in
wh ich the h eroism of the Germ an officer w as depen den t upon the w itn ess
in g Ask ari. In battle, the n on -com m ission ed officer H ofm eister n oted, the
person ality of each Germ an officer w as revealed; he h ad to be fr an k , an d
. . . th e Sh en zi [savage] w as sensitive to his capacities.13 Th e battlefield
th erefore becam e a stage for colon ial h eroes, an d it w as the African , with
his su pposedly primitive an d child-like m in d, w h o w as called upon to m ake
sen se of th is theater.
M an y Germ an s freely ackn ow ledged th at they ow ed much of th eir m ili
tary success to the loyalty an d skill of their black soldiers. In the popu lar
colon ial literature of the W eim ar Republic, the figure of the Askari becam e
a much -lauded hero, perh aps second only to Lettow -Vorbeck h im self.
How ever, the con struction of the Askari as colon ial hero reflected the con
ception s of Eu ropean officers rath er th an the capabilities of the African
soldiers themselves. Th e prevailin g assum ption w as th at the Askari only
acqu ired m ilitary value under the guidan ce of a capable officer. Th is w as
the oth er side of the sym biotic relationsh ip: only th e Germ an colon ial hero
en gen dered the African colon ial hero.

Despite th is pr aise for the loyalty o f the Askari in Germ an colon ial lit
eratu re, the reality on the battlefields w as m uch more am bigu ou s. Deser
tion s am on g Ask ar i were much m ore frequen t th an w as ackn ow ledged
by Germ an officers in th eir m em oirs. Th is w as par ticu lar ly true of new
recru its. Th e Germ an volun teer Dech er r eported th at, after the first battle
o f a com pan y con sistin g m ain ly of youn g recruits, m ore th an 70 per cent
o f the Ask ar i deserted. O th ers were sh ot by th eir ow n officers to prevent
th em from ab scon d in g.14 Such desertion s becam e especially frequen t in
the last tw o years o f the cam paign , wh en Germ an troops were on the
retreat.
Eu ropean s, t oo, w ere seldom the h eroic figures they were portrayed
to be. On ly a few Germ an voices ch ipped aw ay at the h eroic im age of
Lettow -Vorbeck an d h is officers after the w ar. One of th ese w as th at of
Dech er, w h o, in a rem arkable accoun t o f h is w artim e experien ces, sh arply
criticized the sen selessn ess an d w h at he saw as the selfish n ess of the cam
paign . W hy, he w on dered, w as the w ar in th e colon y bein g w aged, if not
to allow the officers to w in fam e an d h on or an d to decorate th eir un iform s
w ith m ilitary m ed als?15 In his accou n t, the officers are portrayed as ch o
leric an d h ysterical bu reaucrats w ith a likin g for floggin gs an d excessive
dr in kin g.16 Despite h is reservation s, Dech er fough t on un til the end o f the
cam paign . M an y oth er Germ an soldiers did n ot, alth ou gh referen ces to
such desertion s barely feature in the overall picture of the h eroic struggle
of th e Em pires colon ial m ilitary in East Africa. One Germ an accoun t,
however, describes h ow m an y officers an d soldiers en ded th eir p ar t ici
pation in the w ar en m asse, follow in g th e captu re of Tab or a, by statin g
th at th ey were sick an d adm ittin g th em selves to the h ospital, where they
wre captu red by advan cin g Allied t r o op s.17 H auer, describin g a scen e on
th e battlefield o f Tan ga, com plain s ab ou t the disast rou s im pression p r ob
ably m ade on Afr ican w itn esses by the escapin g Eu ropean s.18 Later in his
b ook , H au er refers to th e case of tw o officers w h ose death from m alaria
w as in terpreted by th eir Askari as G o d s pun ish m en t for th eir previous
failu res in b at tle.19 Sim ilar com plain ts were m ade by the British officer C.
W. H obley:
In a cam paign of th is ch aracter, where troops of m ixed races are em
ployed, the close con tact between black an d white is an un desirable
an d un avoidable feature. Th e black troops soon cam e to realise the
ph ysical disabilities of the Eu ropean s an d their vulnerability. Th ey saw
Eu ropean s sh ot dow n an d even bayon eted by enemy black soldiers,
they realised th at very few Eu ropean s were crack sh ots, they n oted the
in ferior m arch in g capacity of the wh ite m an , his in ability to find his
way about in th e bush un accom pan ied by a native guide, an d in some
cases they even saw th at the courage of the white w as not greater th an
th at of the black. After all th is can it be wondered th at the prestige of
the white race h as suffered in the w ar !20

RITUALS O F TH E CO LO N IAL H ERO

As m an y con tem poraries n oted, the w ar posed a serious ch allen ge to the
legitim acy of colon ial rule as a European project of brin gin g peace an d
civilization to African s. Sch n ee, for exam ple, feared th at the w ar w ould
destroy the im age of Europe as a force for peace. It is h ardly com pre
h ensible to the African s, he w rote, th at W h ites n ow kill each an oth er
despite h avin g always preach ed peace an d order to African s an d suppressed
their n ative w ars.21 H is w ife, Ada Sch nee, ech oed th is assessm en t when
sh e n oted th at she w as ash am ed of the Eu ropean w ar, an d particularly so
wh en sh e th ough t of African Ch ristian s, to w h om we, wh ether as British ,
Germ an or French m ission aries, taugh t the lesson of peace an d broth erly
love, an d n ow the W h ites slaugh ter each an oth er.22 Th e im pact o f the
w ar on the im age of Eu ropean s as bringers of w h at Germ an s called Ku ltu r
w as feared by an oth er Germ an auth or. H e com pared the cam paign to the
Th irty Years W ar in Europe, an event th at h ad played a lon g-stan din g an d
im portan t role in the Em pires colon ial discourse as a m ean s of m arkin g the
differen ce between Africa an d Europe:
Beh in d us we leave destroyed fields, looted food stores an d, for the
w eeks th at follow , fam in e. We are no lon ger h eralds of culture, our
trace is m arked by death , lootin g an d deserted villages. Th is is quite
sim ilar to the Th irty Years W ar, when the troops an d their baggage
train m arch in g th rough the coun try did not leave beh ind them flourish
in g villages an d fields.23
Th ere h ad rarely before been a time when m em bers of the colon ial m ilitary
h ad reflected with such clarity an d can dor on the con sequen ces o f Eu ro
pean violence on African soil. For m an y years, Germ an colon ial troops h ad
relied upon scorch ed earth policies again st African s. In the first years of
colon ial rule, Germ an officers h ad an sw ered the criticism s th at th is arou sed
am on g the Germ an public at home with terse references to the African style
of w arfare an d to the African m ercen aries lack of h um an ity an d civiliza
tion . Th ey used the sam e m etaph orical com parison with the Th ir t y Years
W ar in Europe to refer to the peculiarities o f th e African situation . Th e
term Lan dsk n ech t (lansquenet) w as used to describe the profession al cu l
ture an d h abits of the Askari m ercen aries, w h o h ad been recruited en m asse
from rem n an ts of the Egyptian arm y in the Su dan .24 W h at m ade th e Askari
differen t from Prussian soldiers w as their h abit of travelin g w ith th eir fam i
lies, the Spartan circum stan ces with wh ich they con tented th em selves, an d
the fact th at they fough t for m on ey rath er th an a higher cause such as their
n ation . Moreover, the lan squen et m etaph or h inted at the supposedly lower
m oral st an dards of an African m ilitary tradition th at w as held to involve
plun derin g, robbery, the m erciless killin g of the enemy, an d the kidn appin g
of women an d children.

Despite the h orrors an d destruction for wh ich W orld W ar One becam e

kn ow n in h istory b ooks an d public m em ories, it w as also the first w ar in
wh ich question s o f w ar crimes played a m ajor role in public debates. Even
in the faraw ay Afr ican th eater of w ar, th is topic gain ed prom in en ce an d
becam e lin ked with the civilizing m ission of European colon ialism . Th e
w ar itself, as well as the m an n er in wh ich it w as fough t, cam e to seen by
m an y as an expression of European civilization . Unlike the tribal w arfare
gen erally associated w ith African s, the Eu ropean style of figh tin g w as held
to be ch aracterized by the h um an ity an d ch ivalry with wh ich the com bat
an ts treated each an oth er. Rem arks by Lu dw ig Deppe, an officer in LettowVorbecks Gen eral St aff, exem plify th is attitude:
Sometimes it is n ot easy to eliminate the remnants of older times from
the th in kin g an d feeling of the Askari. Th ey do not un derstan d th at, af
ter the battle is over, the whites treat their enemies with the utm ost dedi
cation . Th e blacks are accustom ed to h atin g their enemy, killin g all men
an d women an d sm ash in g the h eads of the children again st the nearest
tree-trun k. After a while, however, the Askari are prepared to accept the
need to treat prison ers well an d to respect the Geneva Cr oss.25
Th e Gen eva Cr oss becam e a new sym bol of European civilization in Africa,
an d the treatm en t of POW s w as Eu ropes new lesson of civilization for
Afr ican s.26 For the Germ an s, the target o f th is civilizing m ission w as pre
dom in ately the Ask ar i. In Germ an accou n ts, we repeatedly find the African
style of w arfare bein g con nected w ith the m etaph or of the lan squen ets. Th e
Germ an volun teer O tto Pentzel com pares the beh avior of h is Askari after
th capture of a Portuguese ou tpost to th at of lan squen ets of the Th irty
Years W ar: it w as on ly with great difficulty th at he w as able to prevent
th em from killin g the Portuguese captives.27 Th e new scenes acted out by
the colon ial hero n ow involved preven tin g the Askari from com m ittin g w ar
crim es or, to be m ore precise, w ar crim es again st Eu ropean com batan ts.
Even after Ask aris h ad undergon e the h arsh disciplin ary regim e o f Prussian
barrack squ ares, they were still regarded as h avin g only superficially learnt
the lesson s of Eu ropean civilization .28
If the Gen eva Cr oss becam e the new sym bol of Eu ropean civilization ,
then ch ivalry becam e its ritual. Both for their ow n benefit an d for th at
of their African audien ce, the Eu ropean s were determ in ed to stage the
Eu ropean slaugh ter on African soil as a civilized an d h on orable affair. Th e
ch ivalrous ritu als involved in th is perform an ce in cluded regular meet
in gs of British an d Germ an officers for lunch durin g breaks in the fighting
as well as the developmen t of frien dsh ips across enemy lin es, as one British
source in dicates.29 An oth er im portan t ritual of ch ivalry w as the release of
Eu ropean POW s in exch an ge for th eir w ord of h onor n ot to participate
furth er in the cam paign .10 Th e Germ an s were particularly keen on th is
ritual, as they h ad few resources for m ain tain in g POW cam ps. Yet th is

practice on ly ever involved the release of Eu ropean prison ers; In dian an d

Asian soldiers, by con trast, were often forced to serve as porters for Ger
m an troops a serious violation of the Gen eva an d H agu e con ven tion s.
Such differen ces in the treatm en t of prison ers hint at the un derlyin g m ean
in g of such rituals of ch ivalry, which n ot on ly celebrated a m ilitary code of
h on or but also served to rein force racial differen ces in a cam paign in which
such distin ction s were difficult to sustain .
For the w ar un doubtedly h ad negative effects on the visibility o f racial
differen ces; th is w as particularly the case for Germ an troops durin g the
safari ya bw an a Lettow , as the Askari term ed th e Germ an retreat of the
years between 1916 an d 1918. Never before in colon ial h istory h ad the
body of the European been exposed to such a h igh dan ger of bein g killed or
w oun ded at the h an ds o f African s. Durin g the colon ial con quest, the kill
in g of Eu ropean s h ad been so rare th at the n um ber of w h ites slaugh tered
served as a m easure of a battles severity. O n the East African battlefields of
W orld W ar One, on the oth er h an d, the death o f Eu ropean s becam e a daily
occurren ce. In deed, som e Germ an an d British sources report th at secret
orders were given to con cen trate fire on Eu ropean s because it w as com
mon ly believed th at their death w as decisive for the outcom e of the battle.31
For m an y Eu ropean s, in cludin g the colon ial m ilitary, the death o f a Eu ro
pean at the h an ds of an African w as seen as a dan ger to colon ial rule an d
the prestige of the W hite M an in Afr ica.32 Th rou gh the rituals o f ch ivalry
discu ssed earlier, the officers h oped to w eaken the im pact of the battlefield
killin gs of Eu ropean s on the colon ial order. In deed, som e sources in dicate
th at agreem en ts were m ade between Germ an an d British officers after the
battle of Kon doa-Iran gi to avoid close com bat situ ation s.33 If such agree
m en ts existed, however, they h ad little im pact on the figh tin g, in wh ich
close-com bat situation s were the rule rath er th an the exception .
Rit u als of ch ivalry were the product of m etropolitan debates abou t w ar
crim es an d rules of en gagem en t, but were adapted to colon ial par adigm s
on ce tran sferred to Africa. Th e East African th eater of w ar th us becam e the
stage upon which the colon ial powers en acted their identities an d com pared
perform an ces, lookin g to the ch ivalrous beh avior of their officers an d their
Ask ari for assuran ces abou t the con dition of their respective n ation al Kultur. For H auer, wh o observed how th ough tfully Germ an Askari treated
w oun ded In dian soldiers in the battle of Tan ga, th is beh avior w as a sign
o f Germ an success in colon ial subject buildin g. In his view, it represen ted
th e victory of a m ale Germ an w arrior culture over the tearfu l an d w eak
In dian , the product of the im perial culture o f the British .34 Th e officer
Deppe describes a sim ilar scene durin g the Germ an in vasion of Portuguese
East Africa:
An Askari brin gs a captured Portuguese sergean t: trem blin g, tearfu l,
an d later even sobbin g, the Portugese approach es. Th en the Askari
strokes his cheek to calm an d com fort him. Th is is touch in g, a gesture

of pure h um an ity: the victor is kin d to the enemy. An d it is in terest

ing from a ped agogical poin t o f view, if one con siders th at the sam e
African h ad recently been h appy to kill his enemy, but n ow cares for
prison ers like a moth er. He h as learn ed the lesson of our humanity. It
is stran ge to see the blacks in th is situation . But it is also sh am eful from
the poin t of view of racial pride [R assen st olz ].35
Th e am bigu ou s n ature of th is scene arises for Deppe from the fact th at
Eu rope h ad allow ed the w ar to en croach upon Africa, thereby delegitimizin g both the core m essage of Eu ropean colon ialism an d con ception s of the
su pposed prim itiven ess of African s. For Deppe, it seem s, Europe h ad lost
its m on opoly on civilization .

T H E DEATH O F T H E CO LO N IAL H ERO

In m ost Germ an accoun ts, the im age of the w ar in the colon ies ch an ges
dram atically follow in g the begin n in g of the Allied offen sive of 1916. W h at
h ad begun as a series of skirm ish es alon g the frontier becam e in creasin gly
brutal. One volun teer remembers th at the w ar now becam e m ore fun c
tion al, or m ore Eu ropean , in con trast to the ch ildish gu n figh ts he h ad
fough t w ith Portuguese troops on the south ern frontier in the first m on th
of the w ar.36 H ofm eister recollects the w ar becom in g in creasin gly ch arac
terized by savage figh tin g m eth ods. Th e illusion of the w ar as a ch ivalrous
con flict soon faded away. W here casu alties of differen t races h ad previously
been crem ated separately, such practices were no longer perform ed at all
arvother m an ifestation of the van ish in g distin ction s between African s an d
Eu ropean s in w artim e.
Colon ial order relied upon m ain tain in g differen ces betw een African s
an d Eu ropean s. It w as not only the color o f the colon ial m asters skin th at
served as a sign of differen ce, but also h is cloth es, h is possession of ser
van ts an d lu xu ry good s, an d, as the h istorian Albert W irz n otes, w h at he
ate an d h ow he ate it. Th e con sequen ces o f the w ar for the m aterial cir
cum stan ces of both civilian an d m ilitary European s posed a sign ifican t
dan ger to the colon ial order, an d these con sequen ces are described in m an y
Germ an accoun ts. After the Germ an s lost th eir colon ial in frastructu re due
to the Allied offen sive of 1916, con dition s for the troops becam e in creas
in gly h arsh . M ore an d m ore, the Germ an s were forced to lived from h and
to m outh ; an d un der these circum stan ces, the differen ces in diet th at had
existed between Eu ropean s an d Afr ican s in peacetim e becam e virtually
im possible to su stain . Before the w ar, the Germ an s h ad im ported m ost of
th eir daily food from In dia or Europe an d h ad lived m ain ly from can n ed or
preserved products. In the first year of w ar, Germ an s were forced to begin
alterin g their eatin g h abits as their stocks of such food st u ffs rapidly ran
out. Th ey ch an ged to fresh meat an d locally grown vegetables, an d moved

in creasin gly tow ard local cuisin e. Accordin g to Lu dw ig Boell, w h o h ad

been an officer in Lettow -Vorbecks general st aff, the Germ an arm y ceased
to distin guish between food for European s an d African s in Septem ber of
1916.37 W hen later recallin g the situation durin g th at period, Lettow -Vor
beck n oted th at it h ad cau sed him to aban don h is belief th at bread w as
an in dispen sable com pon en t of the European diet. If the Germ an s ate any
bread at all at th at time, it w as m ade of m tam a (millet), m uh ogo (cassava)
or cooked rice.38
Du rin g the first two years o f the w ar an d the in itial m on th s of the safari
y a bw an a Lettow , the statu s of the European h ad also been visible in his
greater access to luxury good s an d servan ts. It h ad been n orm al for five or
m ore porters to carry the person al equipmen t an d belon gin gs of a single
officer, an d for several servan ts an d cooks to en sure h is com fort. In con
t rast, Ask ari were allow ed only one porter an d possibly one oth er servan t.
W hen desertion s by porters becam e frequen t durin g the later stages of the
cam paign , the Germ an s lost n ot on ly the m ean s to tran sport their belon g
in gs, but in m an y cases also the belon gin gs th em selves, wh ich were often
simply th row n aw ay by the escapin g porters. W hen the Germ an s crossed
the border into Portuguese East Africa at the end of 1917, Lettow -Vorbeck
ordered a reduction in the size of his force. O fficers were n ow allow ed
on ly on e porter, which m ean t th at they lost m uch of their equipm en t.39
Th e diaries of Govern or Sch nee illustrate the loss of com fort an d, con se
quently, of statu s th at resulted from th is. After the crossin g of the river
wh ich m arked the border, th e Rovu m a, Sch nee lost h is porters, servan ts
an d cooks in quick succession . Stripped of his en tourage an d deprived of
pow er by Lettow -Vorbeck, the colon ys m ost sen ior official becam e just
an oth er member of the train of the Germ an arm y on its lon g m arch . Th e
au ra of lavish sovereignty wh ich h ad surroun ded h im before the w ar m ust
h ave seemed like a distan t memory. H e observed the desertion s of h is per
son n el w ith in creasin g fatalism . M ost of his orders were ign ored.40 H e w as
already a political irrelevance by the time he becam e a POW in 1918.
Sch n ees decline as a political figure w as an extrem e exam ple of a loss
of com fort being con nected w ith the disappearan ce of a colon ial m ast er s
au ra. Lookin g back on th is ph enomen on , one officer in terpreted it as a loss
o f h is ow n civilization : After all, life in the p ori [bush] becom es a h abit.
Even th e Cen tral Eu ropean , wh o regards h im self as civilized, descen ds to
the state of a n om ad. It rem ain s an open question wh ether th is is a real loss
or n ot.41 As a con sequen ce, the heroic n arrative w as forced to grapple with
experien ces th at provoked a crisis of self for the colon izer. Food sh ortages,
tropical illn esses, the death of com rades, desertion s by porters an d the
resultin g loss of person al belon gin gs an d com fort becam e daily occurren ces
for Germ an soldiers. As in the expedition s of the mid an d late nineteenth
cen tury, the European w as exposed to the frigh ten in g world of the dark
con tin en t; an d, once again , the lan guage of adven turism an d of w earin ess
with m odern civilization supplied the tools with which these experien ces
could be adapted to the colon ial discourses of the m etropolitan self. In a

way wh ich is at on ce un surprisin g an d par adoxical, the m etaph or of the

lan squen et cam e to be employed to describe the w artim e experien ces of
Germ an s. Perh aps m ost significantly, th is m etaph or reflects the lowerin g of
barriers between Germ an officers an d soldiers, on the one h an d, an d Afri
can Askari, on th e other. Th e colon ial hero becam e the last lan squen et of
Germ an h istory. W h at h ad once been used to m ark the differen ces between
Germ an an d Afr ican m ilitary cultures n ow stood for the specific identity
o f the Germ an soldier at war. Th e follow in g description of a cam p scene by
the officer Deppe w h o com pares it to Sch illers dr am a cycle of the Th irty
Years W ar, W allen stein is typical:
As soon as th e troops arrived at the cam p a true idyll of peace emerged.
Th e Askari erected the hut for h is fam ily with in an h our, h is children
played n earby or raced th rough the cam p. W omen did their h ouse
w ork. It is a scene which rem in ds me of W allenstein.42
In addition to the (idealized) com parison w ith the w orld of seventeenthcen tury lan squen ets, the peaceful idyll of the cam p suggests th at the m ili
tar y order of Germ an troops in the cam paign w as n ot entirely dom in ated
by the officers, but also included pattern s of African m ilitary tradition .
Th e safari y a bw an a Let tow becam e a distin ctive society wh ich included
the figh tin g t roop s, the fam ilies o f the officers an d Askar i, the servan ts,
cooks an d porters. At the end o f Germ an colon ial rule, colon ial society
h ad becom e n om adic. Accordin g to the h istorian of the Eastern European
cam paign of W orld W ar One Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, the m edieval an d
post-m edieval w orld of the lan squen et w as a prom inen t topic in the Ger
m an popu lar h istorical im agin ation at the period, an d particularly durin g
W orld W ar On e itself. Th e Th irty Years W ar cam e to represen t a world
of w ar, a society born in an d existin g on ly by w ar; an d the lan squen et w as
seen as a new kin d o f h um an being w h o tran scen ded old social identities
an d gave birth to a new people or race o f w ar.43 W h at Liulevicius describes
for the Eastern Fron t is very sim ilar to the experien ces of Germ an s in the
East African cam paign . It w as com m on for accoun ts of the safari y a bw an a
Let tow to describe it not so much as a colon ial society at w ar, but as a w ar
society in the colon y a society in wh ich colon ial relation sh ips between
Germ an s an d African s h ad been replaced by som eth in g differen t. W hile
heroic w artim e n arratives con tributed to a resurgen ce of colon ial m yth ol
ogy back in Germ an y, w artim e experien ces also led to a refash ion in g of the
very identities upon wh ich these m yth ologies were based.

N O TES
1. W alter Ben jam in , Gcsam m elte Sch riften , vol. 1 (Fr an k fu r t/M .: Su h rkam p,
1991), p. 577.

2. I bid., vol. I , p. MX).

3. Mich el Foucault, V om Lich t des Krieges z u r G eb u rt d er Gesch ich te (Berlin:

M erve, 1986).
4. Brun o Preisen drfer, St aat sb ild u n g als Kn igsk u n st: sth etik u n d H errsch aft
im preu isch en A bsolu tism u s (Berlin: Akadem ie, 2000), p. 17.
5. Bern d H ppau f, M odern ity an d Violence: O bservation s Con cern in g a Con
tradictory Relation sh ip, in W ar, V iolen ce an d th e M odern Con d ition , ed.
by Bern d H ppau f (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1997), pp. 1-27; D ou glas M ack am an an d Mich ael M ays, Th e Q uicken in g of M odern ity, 1 9 1 4 - 1 9 1 8 , in
W orld W ar I an d the Cu ltu res o f M odern ity , ed. by D ou glas M ack am an an d
M ich ael M ays (Jackson : Un iversity Press of M ississip pi, 2000), p. xxi.
6. H ein rich Sch n ee, D eu t sch - O st afrik a im W eltk riege w ie w ir lebten un d
k m pften (Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer, 1919), pp. 28 an d 69.
7. Ch risten P. Ch risten sen , N ordsch lesw iger v erteidigen D eu t sch - O st afrik a:
Berich t ber die Fah rt des Block adebrech ers K ro n b org u n d d as Sch ick
sal sein er M an n sch aft in D eu t sch - O st afrik a 1914- 1918 (Essen : Essen er
Verlagsan stalt, 1938), p. 116.
8. Bun desarch iv (BA) M ilitr ar ch iv Freiburg, N 103/91, M arin eabteilu n g:
Kriegsakten betreffen d SM S Kn igsberg; Au gu st H auer, Ku m bu k e: Erleb
n isse eines A rz tes in D eu t sch - O st afrik a (Berlin : Deu tsch -Literarisch es In sti
tu t J. Sch neider, 1923), p. 49.
9. Paul von Lettow -Vorbeck, H eia Safari! Erin n eru n gen au s O st afrik a (Leipzig:
H ase Sc Koeh ler, 1920; Biberach : Koeh ler, 1952), p. 155.
10. Kar l Roeh l, O st afrik as H elden k am pf: N ach eigen en Erlebn issen d argestellt
(Berlin: W arn eck, 1918), p. 67.
11. Ibid., p. 33.
12. BA-M ilitrarch iv, N 103/91: Ru dolf W ielan d, in : Sch utztruppe f r Deutsch O st afr ik a. Erlebn isse un d Ein drcke vom Bekan n tw erden des W affen still
stan des bis zur H eim keh r der letzten 25 Lettow -Krieger. Note: tr an slation s
from Germ an th rou gh ou t th is essay are my ow n .
13. Record by Vizew ach tm eister der Reserve Dr. H ofm eister, in K m p fer an
v ergessen en Fron ten : Feldz ugsbriefe, Kriegstageb ch er u n d Berich te, ed. by
W olfgan g Foerster, H elm uth Grein er an d H an s W itte (Berlin : Neu feld &
H en iu s, 1931), p. 66.
14- M axim ilian Dech er, A frik an isch es un d A llz u -A frik an isch es: Erlebtes un d
Erlau sch tes in D eu t sch - O st afrik a (Leipzig: H illm an n , 1932), p. 57.
15. Ibid., p. 175.
16. Ibid., pp. 118- 20.
17. Record by Vizefeldw ebel der Reserve Pfeiffer der 8. Feldkom pagn ie, K m p
fer an d v ergessen en Fron ten , p. 82.
18. H au er, Kum buk e, p. 63.
19. Ibid., p. 225.
20. C.W . Hobley, Ban tu Beliefs an d M agic (Lon don : W ith erby, 1922), p. 288.
21. H ein rich Sch nee, D eu t sch - O st afrik a im W eltk riege, p. 121.
22. Ada Adeline Sch n ee, M ein e Erlebn isse w h ren d d er Kriegsz eit in Deu tsch O st afrik a (Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer, 1918), p. 41.
23. Ludw ig Deppe, M it Lettow -V orbeck durch A frik a (Berlin : Sch erl, 1919), p.
205.
24. H erm an n von Ben gerstorf, Un ter der T ropen son n e A frik as (H am bu r g,
1914), p. 5; W ilh elm Fllm er, Die Schutz- u n d Polizeitruppe in Deutsch O st afr ik a, D ie Deu tsch en Kolon ien , 9.13 (1913), p. 71; Th eod or Tafel,
Von der Sch utztruppe in O st afr ik a, D eu tsch e Kolon ialz eitu n g, 31.28
(1914), p. 467; C. W aldem ar W erther, Z u m V ictoria N y an z a: Ein e A ntiSk lav erei-Ex pedition u n d Forsch un gsreise (Berlin : Paetel, 1894), p. 114.
25. D eppe, Lettou-Vori>ecfe, p. 57.

26. See, for exam ple, rem arks by th e Ger m an m ission ary an d n urse Agn es von
Lew in ski in her m em oirs, Un ter Kriegsw ettern in O st afrik a (Leipzig: Fran
ken stein &c W agn er, n .d.), p. 12.
27. O t to Pentzel, Bu sch k am p f in O st afrik a (Stu ttgart: Th ien em an n , 1935), p.
44.
28. Artur H eye, V itan i: Kriegs- u n d Jagd erlebn isse in O st afrik a, 1914- 1916
(Leipzig: Grun ow , 1922), p. 16.
29. W ynn E. W yn n , A m bush (Lon don : H u tch in son 1937), p. 4 0 ; Public Record
O ffice, Lon don (PRO), W ar O ffice Recor d s, W O 106/273: Record of the
3rd Battalion th e Kin gs African Rifles durin g th e Great Cam p aign in East
Africa 1914- 18.
30. Rich ard W en ig, Kriegs-Safari: Erlebn isse un d Ein dr ck e au f den Z gen
Lettow -V orbeck s durch d as stlich e A frik a (Berlin: Sch erl, 1920), p. 28.
31. See, for exam ple, Kaiserlich es Gouvern em en t von D eu tsch -O stafr ik a,
Z u sam m en stellu n g der Berich te ber die in den A u gu st, Septem ber, O k t o
ber 1914 stat tgefu n den en Gefech te der Kaiserlich en Sch u tz tru ppe f r
D eu t sch - O st afrik a (M orogoro: Regierun gsdruckerei, n .d. [1914]), p. 84:
Bericht Bau m st ar k s ber d as am 7. O k tober 1914 stattgeh abte Gefech t bei
Gazi in D eu t sch - O st afr ik a.
32. H eye, V itani.
33. Ch risten sen , N ordsch lesw iger, p. 123.
34. H auer, Ku m bu k e, p. 69.
35. Deppe, Lettow -V orbeck , p. 172.
36. O tto Pen tzel, Bu sch k am p f in O st afrik a (Stu ttgart: Th ien em an n , 1942), p.
45.
37. Roeh l, O st afrik as H elden k am pf, p. 105f.
38. Lettow -Vorbeck, Erin n erun gen , p. 170; Roeh l, O st afrik as H eld en k am pf, p.
105.
39. Dech er, A frik an isch es un d A llz u -A frik an isch es, p. 247.
40. PRO W O 106/1460: East Africa D iar y of Dr. Sch nee, Govern or of Germ an
East A fr ica.
j-1. Deppe, Lettow -V orbeck , p. 74.
42. Ibid.
43. Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, W ar L an d on th e Eastern Fron t: Culture, N at io n al
Iden tity , an d Germ an O ccu pation in W orld W ar I (Cam bridge: Cam bridge
Un iversity P ress, 2000), p. 40.