DEFENDING THE HEIMAT: THE GERMANS IN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA AND EAST AFRICA DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

摘要

As in Europe, the beginning of the First World War unveiled a range of contradictory sentiments amongst the Germans living in the African colonies. Torn between the unrestrained expression of patriotism and deep worries about their personal and collective future, the colonialists needed a reassuring cultural framework to express and channel their emotions. Similar to previous crisis situations, the notion of having a Heimat, a secure place where everybody and everything has its natural and traditional place, became a reassuring image which the colonists relied upon.