Colonialism (from the Latin *colonia*: settlement, colony) refers to a policy aimed at the acquisition and expansion of colonies.

The essence of the term ‘colonialism’ lies in the central theme of a society’s expansion beyond its existing settlement area. Colonialism refers to the efforts of a collective to establish and consolidate a relationship of domination over a culturally distinct collective. The colonised collective is deprived of fundamental opportunities to lead a self-determined life, whilst the exercise of domination is typically justified on the basis of an assumed cultural superiority and the notion of a civilising mission

The historian Jürgen Osterhammel identifies two key characteristics for defining colonialism: the exercise of dominion over a society and the associated complete external control of its development, as well as the construction of a specific cultural otherness between the coloniser and the colonised. Equally significant is the assumption of a developmental disparity between the coloniser and the colonised, upon which control of the colonised society is said to be based. Further characteristics include the colonisers’ unwillingness to adapt to the culture of the colonised and the demand for the almost complete acculturation of the colonised to the cultural norms of the coloniser. The association of the term ‘colonialism’ with that of domination is obvious, but carries the risk of an overly narrow understanding of the term, which fails to do justice to the diverse colonial realities. Sebastian Conrad advocates a broad understanding of the term, emphasising the construction of an asymmetrical relationship of identity. Colonial relationships in border regions or in-between spaces are coming into the focus of research alongside ‘classical’ colonial relationships. Colonialism thus has a primary and a secondary aspect: on the one hand, the concrete exercise of domination; on the other, the establishment of a colonial identity based on the production of colonial otherness.

The term ‘imperialism’ refers to all efforts undertaken to establish transcontinental empires. Imperial action means, in particular, asserting one’s own nation-state interests within the context of international politics. Colonialism is therefore a specific instance within the broader framework of imperial world politics.

At the dawn of modern colonialism, economic interests are likely to have been the decisive factor in colonial expansion. The Europeans’ demand for spices, dyes, gold and slaves could be met cost-effectively by developing and controlling new sources of supply. From the very beginning, the Christian missionary ideal played an important role in the process of colonial expansion. The spread of Christianity in the ‘pagan world’ was superseded in the 19th century by the ‘civilising mission’. The ‘elevation of primitive indigenous peoples’ was intended to lend colonialism a humanitarian veneer; the ‘backwardness’ of the non-European world was seen as a direct call for colonisation. Another motive for colonial expansion was overpopulation in Europe, which prompted many people to emigrate and led to the establishment of settlement colonies. Towards the end of the 19th century, imperialist rivalries amongst the colonial powers played an increasingly significant role in the process of colonial expansion. This led to the so-called race to colonise the remaining parts of the world. Colonial expansion projects required the interplay of several driving forces in order to be put into practice.

The shift in recent research away from the ‘saltwater hypothesis’^[1] enables us to examine colonial relations within Europe. In particular, Prussian policy towards the Eastern Marches, the German discourse on Eastern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the relationship between the Habsburg Empire and its eastern territories, and the National Socialist policy of expansion during the Second World War have become subjects of interest within colonial history. In the German discourse on Eastern Europe, parallels can be found at the level of rhetoric and conceptualisation that allow this discourse to be interpreted as a colonial discourse. One example is the reinterpretation, towards the end of the 19th century, of the medieval ‘Landesausbau’ (land development ) as the colonial mission of the German people, which was intended to legitimise the German Empire’s policy of Germanisation. Similarly, the National Socialist occupation policy can be interpreted as colonial. Here, parallels can be found in both discourse and practice that point to a form of colonialism directed towards Eastern Europe. The establishment of rule in the occupied territories was not aimed at a temporary seizure of power, but was designed to dominate these territories indefinitely and place them at the service of the German Empire. Against the backdrop of a colonial tradition in the German-speaking world, Hitler’s colonial statements should no longer be regarded merely as an expression of dictatorial megalomania, but must also be seen as a continuation of a deeply rooted social discourse.

The phenomenon of modern colonialism is generally considered to have spanned the period from the expansion of Portuguese and Spanish spheres of influence into Africa and South America until the end of the Second World War. Given that this spans a period of almost four centuries, one cannot assume that colonialism constituted a uniform and one-dimensional historical process. Rather, the long history of colonialism is a history of individual ‘colonialisms’ which, whilst similar in their essence, also exhibit key differences.

• Sebastian Conrad: German Colonial History. Munich 2008.
• Johannes Feichtinger, Ursula Prutsch, Moritz Csáky (eds.): Habsburg Postcolonial. Power Structures and Collective Memory. Innsbruck et al. 2003 (Memory, Remembrance, Identity 2).
• Jürgen Osterhammel: Colonialism. History – Forms – Consequences. 6th revised edition. Munich 2009.
• Winfried Speitkamp: German Colonial History. Stuttgart 2005.
• David Spurr: *The Rhetoric of Empire: Colonial Discourse in Journalism, Travel Writing and Imperial Administration*. London 1993 (Post-Contemporary Interventions Series).

[1] Robert L. Nelson: ‘Introduction. Colonialism in Europe? The Case against Salt Water’. In: Ibid.: *Germans, Poland and colonial expansion to the East*. New York 2009, pp. 1–10, here p. 1.

Christoph Kienemann: Colonialism. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2013. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32722 (accessed 31 January 2013).