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Reichskolonialbund
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The Reichskolonialbund (RKB) (English: Reich Colonial League) was a collective body that absorbed all German colonial organisations during the time of the Third Reich. It was led by Franz Ritter von Epp.
Key Information
The Reichskolonialbund was active between 1936 and 1943.
History
[edit]Background
[edit]
The purpose of the Reichskolonialbund was to reclaim the overseas colonies that Germany had lost as a result of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. The first efforts in rallying support for a re-establishment of a German Colonial Empire in Germany can be traced back to 1923. As a result, a number of pro-colonial organisations, supported by both conservative-minded Germans and nationalists, were established in different parts of Germany. Founded in 1925, the foremost outfit was the Koloniale Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft (KORAG). This organisation, along with other groups, led to the foundation of the preliminary Reichskolonialbund in 1933. The establishment was made in two steps, the second one being its incorporation (Gliederung) into the Nazi Party structure; as a result many references give two different years for the Nazi Reichskolonialbund foundation, 1933 and 1936.
Establishment
[edit]The Reichskolonialbund was established on 13 June 1936 by the former governor of German East Africa, Heinrich Schnee. Whether the organisations that joined it did so freely, or were forced to do so in the name of Gleichschaltung, is a subject of conjecture.[1] Led by Ritter von Epp, the organisation's alleged purpose was to "keep the population informed about the loss of the German Imperial colonies, to maintain contact with the former colonial territories and to create conditions in opinion favourable to a new German African Empire". The foundation of RKB was marred with difficulties, for only two months after its establishment, Rudolf Hess decreed its disbandment. However, after lengthy discussions, the decree was revoked in November of the same year.
As part of the Nazi triumphalism for the Third Reich, the Reichskolonialbund was intended to take over the role of the disbanded German Colonial Society, (Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft) (DKG). Since Germany had no colonies, the Reichskolonialbund was mainly engaged in mostly virulent political agitation.
The agitation was conducted largely in Germany by means of newspapers, magazines, conferences and "Colonial Exhibitions". That was meant to keep open the so-called Colonial Question (Kolonialfrage) and to gather funds for the organisation. The most important weekly publications of the Reichskolonialbund between 1937 and 1943 were Kolonie und Heimat and the Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, the former mouthpiece of the German Colonial Company. The RKB also printed colourful posters for the advancement of its cause.
The Reichskolonialbund had its own youth organization, the Colonial Youth, which was incorporated as a wing of the Hitler Youth. Its members wore the regular Hitler Youth uniform with Reichskolonialbund badges and insignias. The youth regularly staged rallies and collected money for the colonial cause during the events organised by the Reichskolonialbund.
Adult members of the Reichskolonialbund also wore uniform during parades and rallies. The design was inspired by the Schutztruppe uniforms of the German Imperial Era.
The Reichskolonialbund held two parliamentary sessions, the first in Bremen in May 1938 and the second in Vienna in May 1939.
Twilight and end
[edit]
The decline of the Reichskolonialbund began with the onset of World War II, when the Nazi State focused on other priorities, foremost of which was the search for a Lebensraum in the East of Europe. Finally in 1943 the Reichsleiter Martin Bormann pressed for the dissolution of the Reichskolonialbund on the grounds of "kriegsunwichtiger Tätigkeit" ("activity irrelevant to the war"). Hence the Reichskolonialbund was swiftly disbanded by a decree of the Führer in 1943.
The disbandment of the organisation and its assets was unceremonious, akin to an asset stripping (Beschlagnahmung). Most of the Reichskolonialbund's files lie in the archives in Koblenz, where there are 5,140 documents from the period 1925 to 1943.[2]
See also
[edit]
- German colonial empire
- NSDAP Office of Colonial Policy
- German Colonial Society
- Society for German Colonization
- List of former German colonies
- German East Africa Company
- German South West Africa
- Kamerun
- Togoland
- Mittelafrika
- German New Guinea
- Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory
- Qingdao
- New Swabia
- Wituland
- Carl Peters
- Hitler Youth
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ Evans, Richard J. (2005). The Third Reich In Power, 1933–1939. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-1-59420-074-8.
- ^ "The DFG Project". Archived from the original on 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
Further reading
[edit]- Hanswerner Nachrodt: Der Reichskolonialbund. Schriften der Hochschule für Politik - Der organisatorische Aufbau des Dritten Reiches, Heft 30, Berlin 1939.
- H. Jünemann und H. Mietz: Der Reichskolonialbund – Wiedergabe der Jünemannschen `Rechtfertigungen. Im Mitteilungsblatt des Traditionsverbandes ehem. Schutz- und Überseetruppen e.V. Nr.83 (Jubiläumsausgabe, 100 Jahre Traditionsverband) 1998.
- Wolfgang Reith: "Die Kaiserlichen Schutztruppen". Glanz & Gloria Verlag, Windhoek 2017, ISBN 978-99916-909-6-4
External links
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Reichskolonialbund.
Reichskolonialbund
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The Reichskolonialbund (RKB), or Reich Colonial League, was a Nazi German organization founded in 1936 that unified preexisting colonial societies into a centralized body under state control to advocate for the restoration of Germany's overseas territories forfeited under the Treaty of Versailles following World War I.[1][2] Led by General Franz Ritter von Epp, a prominent Nazi figure and World War I veteran, the RKB conducted extensive propaganda campaigns, including the publication of illustrated magazines like Kolonie und Heimat, public exhibitions, and membership drives that swelled its ranks to over a million by the late 1930s, aiming to cultivate national awareness of colonial history and economic imperatives for reacquiring African and Pacific holdings.[1][3] Its activities emphasized Germany's pre-1914 colonial achievements while framing restitution as essential for autarky and prestige, though these efforts aligned uneasily with the regime's overriding focus on eastward continental expansion for Lebensraum.[4] The organization faced internal tensions, as Nazi leadership viewed overseas colonial agitation as potentially disruptive to diplomatic and military priorities, leading to its abrupt dissolution by Führer decree in February 1943, with assets confiscated and redirected to the war effort amid reversals on multiple fronts.[1] This termination underscored the instrumental nature of the RKB within the Third Reich's ideological framework, where colonial rhetoric served propagandistic ends but yielded to pragmatic racial and territorial imperatives in Europe.[4]
Historical Context and Formation
Colonial Loss in World War I and Weimar Agitation
The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, compelled Germany under Article 119 to renounce all rights and titles to its overseas possessions, totaling approximately 2.55 million square kilometers and a pre-war population of over 12 million.[5] These territories, deemed insufficiently developed for immediate independence, were redistributed as Class C mandates under the League of Nations to Allied powers: German South West Africa (modern Namibia) to the Union of South Africa; German East Africa (Tanganyika) predominantly to Britain; Togo and Cameroon partitioned between France and Britain; Pacific islands north of the equator (including the Marianas, Carolines, and Marshalls) to Japan; and southern Pacific territories (such as German New Guinea and Samoa) to Australia and New Zealand; while the Kiautschou Bay concession in China transferred to Japan.[5] This dispossession eliminated Germany's formal colonial empire, which had generated modest pre-war trade volumes—accounting for less than 0.5% of Germany's total foreign commerce in 1913—yet fueled revisionist grievances over lost raw material access and settlement outlets amid post-war economic distress.[5] In the Weimar Republic, fragmented colonial advocacy emerged through organizations like the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft (DKG), originally established in 1887 to promote overseas expansion, which refocused post-1919 on restitution campaigns emphasizing economic imperatives.[6] Proponents highlighted pre-war achievements, such as infrastructure development—including over 5,000 kilometers of railways in African territories—and argued that reacquisition would secure vital commodities like rubber, cotton, and phosphates, potentially alleviating Germany's resource shortages and supporting autarkic growth, despite empirical data showing colonies contributed minimally to metropolitan GDP.[6] These groups disseminated pamphlets and lectures portraying the loss as a barrier to national recovery, framing restitution as essential for balancing trade deficits and providing emigration avenues for Germany's surplus population, though such claims often overstated colonial profitability to sustain public interest.[6] Prominent figures, including Heinrich Schnee—former Governor of German East Africa (1912–1919) and DKG president from 1930—orchestrated inter-party coalitions like the 1925 Interfraktionelle Koloniale Vereinigung to lobby Weimar politicians and, after Germany's League admission in 1926, submit petitions challenging mandatory administrations.[7][6] These appeals asserted German colonial governance's superior efficiency, citing lower administrative costs (e.g., East Africa's budget under Schnee averaged 10 million marks annually versus higher successor expenditures) and purported benefits to indigenous populations through economic development over alleged exploitative practices by Britain and France.[7][6] Such efforts, while yielding no territorial reversals, sustained revisionist discourse by documenting mandate mismanagement—via reports on labor conditions and native petitions funneled through German networks—positioning Germany as a more competent steward capable of fostering sustainable productivity.[6]Nazi Consolidation and Establishment in 1936
In 1936, the Nazi regime enacted the Gleichschaltung of Germany's fragmented colonial advocacy groups, merging entities like the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft and others into the centralized Reichskolonialbund, shifting them from autonomous Weimar-era voluntary societies to a coordinated instrument of state propaganda and ideological mobilization.[8] This consolidation, formalized in May 1936 with registration on June 12, reflected the broader Nazification process by subordinating independent associations to party directives, ensuring alignment with regime goals rather than pluralistic debate.[9] Leadership was vested in Franz Xaver Ritter von Epp, a Nazi Party official and former head of the Kolonialpolitisches Amt, who oversaw the integration as a means to harness colonial sentiment for domestic cohesion without challenging immediate foreign policy constraints.[10] The Reichskolonialbund's establishment emphasized mass mobilization over elite lobbying, with membership surging from around 50,000 in pre-unification groups to rapid expansion thereafter, reaching over 1.3 million by 1939 amid orchestrated drives tying colonial revival to Nazi narratives of national resurrection and economic autarky.[11] This growth stemmed from compulsory elements of coordination, propaganda incentives, and the regime's promotion of imperial themes as symbolic restoration of pre-Versailles greatness, though actual territorial demands were deferred to prioritize rearmament and European expansion.[3] The organization's explicit objectives focused on inculcating public readiness for overseas reclamation through education and sentiment-building, explicitly avoiding provocative international claims that could provoke League of Nations sanctions or alliances against Germany.[12]Organizational Framework
Leadership and Administration
The Reichskolonialbund was chaired by Heinrich Schnee, a former governor of German East Africa, from the consolidation of precursor colonial societies until 1936.[13] Schnee's leadership focused on unifying disparate colonial advocacy groups under Nazi oversight following the 1933 Gleichschaltung.[14] In 1936, Franz Ritter von Epp, a Nazi Party Reichsleiter and World War I general, succeeded Schnee as head of the organization, retaining the position until its dissolution in 1943. Epp, who held additional roles in NSDAP military policy offices, ensured the Bund's alignment with party foreign policy objectives, including colonial revisionism.[4] This integration facilitated bureaucratic coordination with entities like the Kolonialpolitisches Amt, enhancing administrative efficiency in disseminating colonial propaganda. The administrative structure emphasized centralized control under the Reichsleiter, with divisions dedicated to propaganda, economic advocacy, and youth indoctrination to propagate narratives of colonial entitlement. Regional branches, structured along Gau lines, enabled grassroots engagement and local event coordination, reflecting the Nazi emphasis on hierarchical yet decentralized mobilization.[15]Membership and Affiliated Bodies
The Reichskolonialbund underwent rapid expansion after its formation in 1936, transitioning from an amalgamation of elite colonial societies—numbering around 50,000 members in predecessor groups—to a mass organization integrating broader public participation under Nazi coordination.[11] By late 1938, membership exceeded the one-million limit initially imposed by the NSDAP, reaching approximately one million by April 1939 and continuing to grow to two million by 1941, reflecting aggressive recruitment drives aligned with the regime's emphasis on nationalist mobilization.[16][17] This growth incorporated veterans from pre-1918 colonial campaigns through the Deutscher Kolonialkrieger-Bund, whose approximately 12,000 members in 1942 were automatically affiliated with local RKB branches, preserving their ceremonial roles while subordinating them to the broader Nazi framework.[18] Women were actively recruited via subsidiary bodies such as the Women's League of the German Colonial Society, which affiliated with the RKB in 1936 and supported initiatives like the Rendsburg Colonial School for training females in overseas roles, thereby extending the organization's reach into gendered spheres of propaganda and preparation.[19] These affiliated entities emphasized practical contributions to colonial advocacy, including welfare for former colonial residents, while adhering to Nazi directives on demographic and ideological conformity.[20] The RKB maintained operational links to the NSDAP's Kolonialpolitisches Amt, established in 1934 and led concurrently by Franz Ritter von Epp, facilitating policy coordination on restitution claims and economic arguments for autarky through hypothetical colonial resource access, such as campaigns promoting "Kolonialwaren" like coffee and cocoa to underscore self-sufficiency narratives.[21] This integration ensured the RKB's activities reinforced party priorities without independent authority, with membership drives often tied to economic propaganda asserting that restored colonies would alleviate domestic shortages.[22]Core Objectives and Ideological Role
Advocacy for Colonial Restitution
The Reichskolonialbund articulated demands for the restitution of former German African territories, prioritizing mandates such as British-administered Tanganyika (formerly German East Africa) and the Anglo-French partitioned Togoland, on grounds of their demonstrated pre-1914 productivity in tropical raw materials critical to industrial self-sufficiency. Advocates within the organization contended that these regions had yielded exports including rubber, whose production across German African colonies quadrupled between 1906 and 1914, alongside doubling outputs of palm oil and cocoa, positioning them as economically viable sources for commodities Germany imported predominantly from non-colonial suppliers like the United States (e.g., 83% of cotton and 89% of copper in 1912).[23] This historical performance, per RKB publications, underscored a causal link between colonial access and national economic resilience, arguing that reintegration would mitigate dependencies exposed by global trade disruptions.[24] Central to the bund's ideological framing was the portrayal of the Treaty of Versailles' Article 119—which compelled Germany to renounce colonial sovereignty without assigning direct guilt for wartime aggression—as an punitive overreach that denied equal footing in mandated territories administered under League of Nations oversight. RKB rhetoric positioned colonial recovery not as revanchism but as rectification of this imbalance, essential for achieving autarky amid perceived encirclement by resource-controlling powers; restitution would secure raw material inflows for synthetic production alternatives still in nascent stages, countering the treaty's stripping of assets that contributed, albeit marginally (under 1% of total German trade by 1913), to metropolitan budgets through subsidized exports.[12] Such arguments invoked legal revisionism, asserting mandates as temporary trusteeships rather than de facto annexations, with empirical precedents from colonial-era trade growth (e.g., overall colonial commerce expansion from 1890 to 1914) validating claims of untapped potential under renewed German administration.[24] In pursuing these aims, the Reichskolonialbund extended non-confrontational diplomatic overtures at select international venues, including appeals for equitable treatment in mandated zones framed around principles of fair trade and administrative parity rather than territorial conquest. Representatives engaged in forums like interwar colonial policy discussions, echoing broader German critiques of Versailles inequities without militaristic threats, as evidenced in 1936 exploratory exchanges where colonial return was floated as a bargaining chip for broader European stabilization—though ultimately sidelined by shifting priorities toward continental expansion.[25] This approach aligned with the organization's emphasis on moral and juridical restitution over force, attributing source credibility to pre-treaty economic records while acknowledging, through internal analyses, the colonies' limited profitability under prior management as a rationale for efficiency-driven reclamation.[12]Alignment with Nationalist Economic Imperatives
The Reichskolonialbund positioned colonial restitution as a strategic response to Germany's acute raw material vulnerabilities, emphasizing self-sufficiency in imports that comprised up to 30% of key industrial inputs like rubber and fats by the mid-1930s. Advocates contended that regaining territories such as Kamerun and Ostafrika would enable cultivation of rubber plantations yielding an estimated 20,000-50,000 tons annually under optimized German management, drawing on pre-1914 outputs scaled for modern techniques and reducing dependence on Southeast Asian suppliers amid global shortages. Phosphate deposits in former Pacific mandates, notably Nauru with reserves exceeding 40 million tons of high-grade ore, were highlighted as vital for fertilizer production to bolster domestic agriculture and avert yield declines in grain and root crops.[26][27] This rationale aligned with the Four-Year Plan's autarky objectives, launched in 1936 under Hermann Göring to achieve synthetic and domestic substitution for foreign dependencies, yet colonial proponents framed restitution not as ideological revanche but as a cost-effective augmentation—projecting annual phosphate exports of 200,000 tons from Nauru alone to offset imports that reached 1.2 million tons yearly for German farming. By linking colonies to industrial resilience, the Bund argued that secure tropical sourcing would lower synthetic production costs, which consumed 15-20% of coal resources for alternatives like Buna rubber, thereby freeing energy for rearmament without straining bilateral trade pacts.[28][29] In contrast to expansionist doctrines prioritizing continental Lebensraum, Reichskolonialbund rhetoric stressed negotiated reacquisition through international arbitration or compensatory trade deals, as evidenced in 1936-1937 diplomatic overtures for "equitable adjustments" under League of Nations auspices, portraying colonies as economic multipliers via mandated concessions rather than territorial annexations requiring military outlays. This pragmatic nationalism underscored potential bilateral agreements, such as phosphate swaps for European manufactures, to stabilize supply chains disrupted by protectionist tariffs and currency controls post-Versailles.[30][29]Activities and Propaganda Mechanisms
Public Events and Awareness Campaigns 1936-1939
The Reichskolonialbund organized public events such as the Tag des Kolonialbundes, held in cities including Munich, to raise awareness of Germany's colonial claims and heritage. These gatherings featured speeches, displays of colonial artifacts, and participation from party officials, aiming to mobilize public support for restitution efforts. Annual Reichskolonialtagungen served as key conferences for colonial advocates, with the 1938 event hosted in Bremen attracting attendees from across the organization.[31] Such meetings emphasized the economic and strategic imperatives of regaining former territories, drawing on historical narratives to foster nationalist sentiment. Exhibitions during these events showcased colonial-era items, including ethnographic objects and maps, to educate and engage urban populations in major centers.[20] The Bund promoted "Colonial Weeks" (Koloniale Wochen) in collaboration with local groups and economic entities, incorporating parades, lectures, and dioramas depicting colonial life to highlight maritime and trade heritage.[20] These campaigns extended to fundraising initiatives, where collections supported propaganda materials and petitions urging international recognition of German colonial rights, though specific signature tallies from this period remain undocumented in primary records. By late 1939, the organization's network of 330 local groups facilitated widespread participation, evidencing empirical reach in pre-war mobilization.[4]Publications, Media, and Symbolic Initiatives
The Reichskolonialbund issued the Deutsche Kolonial-Zeitung as its flagship monthly periodical from 1937 to 1941, containing articles on the administrative histories of Germany's pre-1918 colonies and analyses of their untapped economic resources, such as agricultural exports from Togoland and phosphate mining in German South-West Africa.[32][33] This publication distributed detailed accounts of settler farming successes in East Africa and critiques of post-Versailles mandate administration inefficiencies under British and French oversight, framing colonial restitution as a pragmatic economic imperative rather than ideological fervor.[34] Symbolic outputs included posters and postcards invoking the 1919 Treaty of Versailles as a betrayal of German colonial rights, with designs such as "Der Reichskolonialbund ruft auch Dich!" featuring a globe centered on Africa and outlining lost territories in red to evoke national grievance and overseas aptitude.[35][36] These visuals, produced in color for widespread distribution at exhibitions and member events, alongside the organization's emblem derived from the German East Africa Company flag, reinforced a narrative of cultural and economic continuity without endorsing wartime aggression.[37] Media efforts encompassed radio broadcasts and short films spotlighting archival footage of German infrastructure in Cameroon and settler communities in New Guinea, contrasting them with alleged mismanagement under Allied mandates to underscore themes of efficiency and paternalism.[38] Such segments, aired via state-aligned networks and screened in colonial-themed venues, served to embed colonial nostalgia in everyday discourse, prioritizing informational dissemination over inflammatory rhetoric prior to 1939.[39]Educational and Youth Programs
Colonial Training Institutions
The Reichskolonialbund oversaw specialized adult training programs through affiliated institutions like the Deutsche Kolonialschule in Witzenhausen and the Koloniale Frauenschule in Rendsburg, which emphasized practical preparation for colonial administration and economic roles based on pre-1918 German overseas experiences.[40] These schools, inherited from earlier colonial societies, continued operations after the 1936 unification of colonial groups under the RKB, focusing on skills for hypothetical future restitution rather than immediate territorial recovery.[40] Curricula drew from empirical records of tropical conditions, prioritizing applied knowledge in agriculture, health, and logistics over ideological instruction.[40] The Witzenhausen school, established in 1898 for male students, trained prospective colonial farmers, traders, and administrators in tropical agriculture and related fields.[41] Its program included hands-on courses in crop cultivation suited to equatorial climates, livestock management adapted from German East Africa and Southwest Africa records, and logistical planning for supply chains in remote territories.[40] Governance training covered administrative structures derived from imperial precedents, such as district management and resource allocation, while health modules addressed tropical diseases using data from former Schutztruppe medical logs.[40] Enrollment reached approximately 2,300 students overall from 1898 to its 1944 closure, with sustained activity in the 1930s producing diplomates qualified as "Kolonialwirte" for overseas deployment.[41][42] Complementing Witzenhausen, the Rendsburg school, founded in 1926 exclusively for women, prepared participants for supportive roles in colonial households and settlements.[40] Instruction stressed practical domestic economy under tropical constraints, including food preservation logistics, sanitation protocols from historical colony outbreaks, and basic governance for family-based outposts.[40] Health education incorporated empirical treatments for endemic fevers and hygiene derived from Weimar-era colonial archives.[40] By the early 1940s, annual enrollment hovered around 180-200 women, reflecting targeted recruitment for skilled domestic administration without expansionist immediacy.[40] Both institutions maintained a non-militaristic orientation, equipping trainees with verifiable competencies from past colonial data to sustain economic viability in restored territories.[40]Integration into Hitler Youth Structures
The Kolonialjugend, the youth division of the Reichskolonialbund, was formally integrated into the Hitler Youth as a specialized colonial-themed branch during the RKB's reorganization in 1936, subordinating independent colonial youth groups to the Nazi Party's centralized youth apparatus.[43] This absorption ensured that colonial propaganda aligned with broader National Socialist indoctrination goals, channeling youthful enthusiasm toward revanchist aspirations for overseas expansion. Participants donned standard Hitler Youth uniforms supplemented by distinctive RKB badges featuring imperial motifs, such as the colonial eagle, to symbolize unbroken continuity with Germany's pre-1918 empire despite the Versailles Treaty's territorial losses.[44][45] Core activities within this integrated structure centered on lectures detailing colonial geography, economic resources, and historical narratives of German achievements in Africa and the Pacific, conducted through local RKB chapters and Hitler Youth gatherings to embed imperial entitlement in participants' worldview.[29] These sessions, often illustrated with maps and artifacts, sought to counteract the fading direct memory of the empire among post-1918 generations by cultivating a vicarious sense of possession and readiness for future reclamation. Group pledges and symbolic rituals, such as oaths at monuments to colonial figures like Carl Peters, reinforced ideological commitment without overlapping into adult-oriented vocational training. This focus on mindset formation appealed to urban adolescents detached from rural or familial colonial traditions, leveraging the Hitler Youth's mass structure to disseminate RKB materials nationwide and sustain interest in extraterritorial nationalism amid domestic priorities.[46] By 1939, such programs had permeated Hitler Youth routines, preparing youth for a purported postcolonial revival while adhering to pre-war emphases on education over militarization.[29]Wartime Evolution and Dissolution
Adaptation During World War II
Following the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the Reichskolonialbund adapted its advocacy to the Nazi regime's framing of the conflict as an existential ideological struggle against Judeo-Bolshevism, positioning overseas colonial restitution as a complementary objective to securing Lebensraum in Eastern Europe rather than a competing priority.[4] This rhetorical shift aimed to maintain organizational relevance amid escalating war demands, with colonial propagandists emphasizing that African territories would supply raw materials essential for sustaining the fight against perceived racial enemies in the East.[4] Public activities, such as lectures and exhibitions, were scaled back due to resource diversion toward European fronts, but the league persisted in linking colonial claims to the broader vision of autarkic empire-building.[47] In the wake of the 1940 Western campaign victories, including the fall of France on June 22, 1940, the Reichskolonialbund intensified morale-boosting efforts by portraying restored colonies as an imminent reward for German triumphs, integrating promises of tropical resources into narratives of total victory and postwar prosperity.[4] These arguments served to sustain domestic enthusiasm for the war by envisioning overseas domains as vital for alleviating import dependencies exposed by the conflict, thereby justifying continued sacrifices under the banner of future self-sufficiency.[47] The launch of Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, imposed severe operational constraints on the organization, as manpower and funding were redirected to the Eastern Front, resulting in further curtailment of events and a reliance on print media for subdued propaganda.[4] Economic messaging was repurposed to rationalize wartime shortages—such as rationing of fats and fibers—as transient necessities, with colonial acquisition framed as the causal solution for postwar abundance and industrial recovery.[47] Despite these limitations, the league's publications continued to propagate the idea that continental conquests would enable, rather than preclude, renewed global expansion, preserving ideological continuity amid shifting priorities.[4]Reasons for 1943 Shutdown and Immediate Aftermath
The Reichskolonialbund (RKB) was dissolved on February 15, 1943, following a directive issued by Martin Bormann, head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, acting on Adolf Hitler's behalf, which prohibited all colonial-related activities.[48][49] This decision came in the immediate aftermath of the German defeat at Stalingrad on February 2, 1943, and Joseph Goebbels' declaration of total war on February 18, 1943, which demanded the redirection of all resources and personnel toward the war effort.[4] Bormann cited the RKB's operations as "kriegsunwichtige Tätigkeit" (activity unimportant for the war), arguing that colonial propaganda and organizations diverted attention and assets from frontline priorities amid escalating defeats on the Eastern Front.[48] The shutdown reflected a strategic pivot away from overseas colonial revisionism, which had been tolerated but progressively defunded since the war's onset, toward exclusive focus on continental expansion and survival in Europe. Subsidies to the RKB had been slashed earlier, signaling its marginalization as Nazi leadership prioritized Lebensraum in the East over distant African ambitions, rendering colonial advocacy incompatible with total mobilization.[50] This causal shift was driven by the regime's recognition that maintaining parallel ideological fronts weakened the unified war economy, especially as Allied advances in North Africa further diminished prospects for colonial recovery.[4] In the immediate aftermath, the RKB's assets, including property, publications, and organizational infrastructure, were liquidated and transferred to the Nazi Party (NSDAP) treasury to support war financing.[48] Personnel were reassigned to military or labor roles under the total war framework, with former colonial advocates like Franz Ritter von Epp attempting to redirect efforts toward Eastern occupied territories, though without official sanction.[4] The dissolution effectively ended all public colonial agitation, marking the abrupt termination of a propaganda apparatus that had once mobilized hundreds of thousands of members, and integrated its remnants into the broader NSDAP apparatus without preserving distinct colonial functions.[49]Internal Debates and Controversies
Tensions with Continental Expansion Priorities
The Nazi leadership, under Adolf Hitler, consistently subordinated overseas colonial ambitions to the imperative of continental expansion, as articulated in Mein Kampf (1925), where Hitler dismissed pre-1918 German colonial policy as a strategic error that distracted from the necessity of acquiring Lebensraum—contiguous agrarian territory in Eastern Europe—for German racial settlement and food security.[51] He argued that overseas possessions could not resolve demographic pressures or autarky without naval supremacy and European hegemony, positioning them as potential post-victory acquisitions rather than immediate priorities, a view reinforced in his unpublished Zweites Buch (1928), which critiqued colonies' limited utility amid continental threats from Russia and France.[52] This prioritization reflected causal realism: eastern lands offered direct access to soil and resources for peasant colonization, whereas African territories demanded vulnerable sea lanes incompatible with Germany's geostrategic vulnerabilities. The Reichskolonialbund (RKB), reorganized in 1936 under Franz Ritter von Epp, challenged this orthodoxy by promoting former African mandates like Togo and Cameroon as essential Lebensraum alternatives, emphasizing their raw materials (e.g., phosphates, rubber) for synthetic production and critiquing autarky's limits without tropical imports, as echoed in RKB publications like Deutschland braucht Kolonien (1936).[29] This persistence created internal friction, as colonial advocates invoked irredentist narratives to parallel eastern settlement but faced marginalization; Ostforschung experts and SS planners, focused on ethnic Germanization in Poland and Ukraine from 1939 onward, viewed overseas claims as diluting resources for the Drang nach Osten.[53] RKB efforts, including propaganda equating African space with eastern imperatives, thus highlighted a debate over expansion vectors, yet yielded to policy directives prioritizing Europe's heartland. Empirical assessments underscored colonies' logistical infeasibility during total war: by 1941, after Operation Barbarossa, supply chains to Africa risked Allied interdiction, contrasting with the adjacency of eastern territories for rapid exploitation, as Nazi economists prioritized synthetic fuels and Ukrainian grain over distant plantations.[4] This realism exposed RKB advocacy as aspirational, with colonial visions confined to secondary planning amid the regime's eastern commitments, culminating in diminished influence as continental campaigns consumed strategic bandwidth.[21]Party Critiques and Operational Limitations
Within the Nazi Party, officials in the Propaganda Ministry and the Reich Propaganda Office raised objections to the Reichskolonialbund's activities, viewing colonial propaganda as a diversion from the regime's core emphasis on anti-Bolshevik messaging and territorial expansion in Eastern Europe. These critiques highlighted how resources allocated to overseas colonial agitation undermined the unified narrative of Lebensraum priorities, with persistent colonialist advocacy seen as potentially confusing public focus during the lead-up to and early phases of World War II.[4] Operational limitations stemmed from the composition of the Reichskolonialbund's membership, which expanded rapidly to nearly two million by the late 1930s but included few individuals with direct colonial experience due to Germany's post-1919 territorial losses. This enthusiasm-driven base often resulted in campaigns lacking technical depth or practical insight, rendering educational and promotional efforts superficial and less effective in sustaining long-term ideological commitment.[54] Financially, the organization relied heavily on membership dues and allocations from the Nazi Party apparatus, creating vulnerabilities to reallocations amid escalating war preparations and resource constraints after 1939. Party correspondence documented concerns that such dependencies exposed the Reichskolonialbund to abrupt funding shortfalls, limiting its autonomy and scalability compared to more strategically prioritized entities.[4]Long-Term Impact and Assessments
Influence on German Public Sentiment
The Reichskolonialbund significantly shaped German public sentiment by promoting a revival of colonial aspirations, portraying the loss of overseas territories under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles as an enduring national grievance. Its propaganda emphasized Germany's pre-1914 colonial achievements and economic benefits, resonating with widespread revanchist feelings in the 1930s. Public events like the annual Tag der Kolonie, attended by tens of thousands, reinforced this narrative through exhibitions, lectures, and cultural displays that evoked imperial pride and victimhood.[36][11] Membership growth provided a measurable indicator of popular engagement, expanding from approximately 50,000 in 1936 to between 1.3 and 2 million by 1939, drawn from diverse segments including veterans, youth, and middle-class enthusiasts. This surge paralleled the Nazi regime's early successes in remilitarization and territorial revision, suggesting the league amplified existing sentiments of entitlement to global influence rather than creating them anew. Integration into state-sponsored media and education further embedded colonial rhetoric in everyday discourse, sustaining support for restitution even as wartime exigencies loomed.[11] Despite this influence, the league's impact on policy remained circumscribed, with Nazi leadership prioritizing European expansion over distant colonies, as articulated in Mein Kampf and subsequent directives. Public enthusiasm thus contributed to regime legitimacy by validating the broader anti-Versailles agenda, yet yielded no territorial gains, highlighting the gap between aspirational sentiment and strategic realism. Wartime adaptations maintained some momentum through soldier-oriented materials, but by 1943, resource constraints underscored the marginalization of colonial priorities amid total war.[4][25]Post-1945 Historical Evaluations
In the immediate post-war period, Allied denazification processes framed the Reichskolonialbund (RKB) as a revanchist instrument of Nazi expansionism, with membership frequently cited as grounds for professional exclusion and scrutiny. For instance, colonial advocate Heinrich Schnee's denazification trial rejected his claims of non-ardent Nazism, barring him from public office due to his RKB leadership role. Similarly, proceedings against figures like Bernhard Nocht highlighted RKB involvement alongside other Nazi affiliations, associating it with ideological continuity rather than isolated cultural activity. This portrayal aligned with broader efforts to dismantle organizations perceived as fueling territorial irredentism, though evidence of direct aggressive plotting by the RKB remained limited, often overshadowed by its propaganda focus on pre-1918 African holdings.[25][55][56] Subsequent scholarly assessments have countered this by underscoring the RKB's economic pragmatism, portraying its activities as nostalgic advocacy for overseas trade revival rather than militarized conquest. Historians note that RKB propaganda emphasized German aptitude for benign colonial administration and resource extraction, continuing even after 1939 until its 1943 dissolution amid conflicts with wartime priorities, suggesting no causal drive toward immediate aggression. Works like Willeke Sandler's analysis highlight the RKB's role in fostering cultural continuity through public education on empire as an extension of domestic Heimat values, detached from the regime's core continental Lebensraum doctrine. This view posits the RKB as a subordinated lobby operating in a "time warp" of Weimar-era aspirations, pragmatic in intent and marginal to Nazi strategic aggression.[57][58][47] Revisionist historiography further distinguishes the RKB from genocidal precedents by rejecting direct linkages to the Holocaust, attributing such narratives to overextended analogies between overseas settler policies and European racial extermination. The RKB's distinct prioritization of diplomatic restitution for equatorial territories—framed economically rather than racially annihilatory—lacked the ideological fusion of settlement and eradication central to eastern policies, as evidenced by its tensions with party hardliners favoring continental focus. This causal separation is reinforced by the organization's shutdown when it diverged from war aims, indicating no integral role in escalatory violence; instead, it preserved pre-Nazi colonial memory without advancing exterminationist frameworks.[29][21]References
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flagge_Reichskolonialbund2.svg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reichskolonialbund.svg